The Simple Power of Walking
The free idea generator
This week I wanted to try simplifying the format of the newsletter a bit. So I am going to take a theme or a technique and throw it out there for you to consider.
Walking is one of our best tools in the creative arsenal. Yet as the weather gets cooler it becomes less appealing to walk early in the morning and clear your thoughts. Once you get around to it there’s no question you’ll feel better, as long as you’re bundled in the right clothes (long johns!).
Book Recommendation: Do Walk - Navigate earth, mind and body. Step by step. by Libby DeLana.
Libby discusses her quest to go walking every day, rain or shine, and the effect that it had on her mental wellbeing.
Challenge: See if you can go for a walk 2-3 times a week early in the morning before most people are up. If you’re not a morning person, try to do a longer walk 2-3 times a week in the evening. Go by yourself and bring an audio recorder to jot down notes. If you use your phone, set it to Airplane Mode which will disable cellular data.
Advanced Mode: Try using this Open Awareness Technique.
Adjacent Idea: Commuting to an office is a cousin to going for a walk. It will germinate ideas in a similar way as taking a shower will. Because these are all ways of disrupting your patterns. If you ride a bike to work, experiment with not putting your AirPods in and just seeing what comes up as you interact with the surroundings.
Adjacent Book: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Marakami
Here’s a Mind Map to try to put all these ideas together and turn on some different corners of the brain:
What is your favourite time to go for a walk?
Next Steps: The Most Creative Podcast, which is audio versions of these newsletters, is lagging behind. My goal for next week is to send you a Spotify/Apple link where there will be a few short episodes that you can listen to on your coffee break.
Go One Step Further with Elliott
Project Lab Co-Working Session (Tuesday Nov. 21st 7pm EST/4pm PST)
Confident Enough on Camera (Course)
Keeping Your Projects Moving (Course)
This Book Will be a Failure (My first ebook)
The Most Creative Instagram (Prompts and Ideas in your feed)
I used to go on a walk every morning. But then I realized mornings are my best time for sitting down and writing. So now I take walks in the evenings.
I remember reading about scientific evidence that suggests that moving your body helps you generate ideas. Even a bit of moving. That's why many people wave their hands all over the place when talking. It helps you think.
Added Do Walk to my reading list. Thanks for the rec!