One step at a time, literally and figuratively. Pedometers, progress, and life goals...

I found an interesting article on exercising with pedometers on sparkpeople.com, and realized it can be applied to more than just exercise. Here's the text of the article:

"Researchers from the University of Tennessee asked overweight women to clip on pedometers to track their steps. They divided these women into two groups. One group was told to aim for 10,000 steps a day (the common recommendation considered to be "active"), while the second group was told simply to walk briskly for 30 minutes, most days of the week (a common--but minimum--fitness recommendation). The study found that the step counters averaged over 10,000 steps daily, while the minute counters averaged between 8,270 to 9,505 steps on the days the DID meet their 30-minute goals, and merely 5,597 steps on the days they didn't exercise for 30 minutes. The researchers conclude that setting your goals in steps (rather than minutes) may be the best way to increase your overall activity."

This applies to life as well. If we're concentrating on just "taking up time," we tend to do little to expand our horizons. If we concentrate on just taking one step forward, our actions tend to have more meaning. Missing the "forest for the trees" is a common mistake people make when focusing on moving forward. Instead of just knowing that their actions count, as long as they put effort into it, they get caught up in the details and see minor setbacks as failures rather than what they are: mistakes. Hopefully, you'll try this one step forward idea out and you'll see that it's the action of moving forward that matters the most.