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Walking is Fitness - Five Things I Learned Walking 20,000 Steps Every Day For Two Years

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Author: Walking is Fitness
Categories: Productivity Psychology Fitness
Tags: productivity, psychology, fitness
Views: 2 · Last viewed: 2026-10-16 14:00 UTC

Short Summary

Main recommendation: commit to walking every day, starting with 10 minutes daily for 90 days, rather than aiming for a fixed 20,000 steps. The speaker says a pre-decision to walk regardless of circumstances, plus personal challenges, made a two-and-a-half-year 20,000-step streak possible, and he mentions habits take about 66 days to form on average.

Key Points

  • The streak began in mid-March 2018 and ended August 31, 2020, spanning two and a half years; the speaker notes he missed one day by five steps (19,995), so technically, 'if you're an accountant,' it could be counted as two years instead.
  • Pre-decision mattered most: he committed publicly for a year to 20,000 steps daily and posted his count and a photo each day, so he never woke up wondering whether he would hit it.
  • Daily emotions fluctuated, but the sense of accomplishment at day's end stayed constant, and on some days that satisfaction became motivation.
  • Personal competition against his own past totals was a major motivator, and he kept setting personal challenges after the streak ended.
  • The speaker reports feeling physically, emotionally, and mentally stronger, and says completing a hard thing every day built confidence he had not previously had.

Details Worth Noting

  • Concrete instructions: Decide in advance that you will complete the walk regardless of how the day goes, rather than deciding each morning. Start with a commitment to walk every day for 10 minutes. Keep that commitment for 90 days, since the speaker says habits take about 66 days on average to form, and treat the 90 days as building your own "fitness chain" or streak. Use personal challenges to stay motivated if you want more than the baseline. Check your step count before bed so you don't miss the goal by a small margin.
  • The streak was tracked by posting daily step counts and photos on Facebook and Instagram.
  • On the day his wife had breast cancer surgery, he walked laps in the hospital parking garage to hit his goal.
  • He ended the streak not because of injury or illness but because the activity had started controlling his life; he wanted walking to serve his health goals rather than dominate them.

Bottom Line

A fixed daily target matters less than a firm, pre-made commitment to show up consistently, and even a short daily walk can often become a lasting habit within about three months, based on the speaker's own experience and general habit-forming guidance he cites.