Just because it's there...

I was on a walk with a client during her session the other day. Yes, we do that at Zenergy Health & Wellness. A "Walk n' Talk" I like to call it. Sometimes a client will come in and just "not be feeling it" for various reasons. Some clients are better than others at acknowledging this and taking advantage of the fact that we have MORE options and tools at our disposal within a session than staying in the studio to lift weights and work on mobility, and they ask to go for a walk instead. Fresh air, movement and conversation - A powerful combination!

It's pretty rare that a client doesn't feel BETTER after a "Walk n' Talk" session. We can chat about their mindset and habits, plan some weekly targets together etc. Sometimes they share stories about their week or what's been on their mind in terms of their health habits lately. Sometimes they just need to unload some stress. It's powerful. And it's healthy for so many reasons for both client and coach.

I typically bring my phone and track the walk for them, for their file. This particular day, after the walk, here's something that popped up in my Samsung Health app:

There's two sides to this that come to mind. 👇

The Motivator

For some folks, this may be a motivator to do MORE activity to try to get into that 10% of users. "If I add just under an hour more of 'x'" I can be in that top 10%!". That competitive approach may appeal to some. To each their own.

The De-Motivator

For others, this may actually have the opposite effect. "I need to do another hour almost to get into the top 10% of users?? I don't want to do that! I guess I'm not doing that great afterall".

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Coach's Thoughts

I won't deny that I think in some cases, "gamifying" movement / physical activity has helped modern society. In this case however, Samsung Health is ADDING to the already abundant COMPARISON lifestyle that we live today. We compare WAY TOO MUCH. It's as simple as that.

I don't think this message needed to be there. "Hey nice job on your morning walk today ... BUT... Here's what the 'best' people are doing". I know for a fact there are people getting into their own heads when they see something like this.

How could Samsung do better you ask?

Having a surprise pop up message CAN be helpful, but why do we have the push the comparison to everyone else. This is LIFE, not a sport or a game. There's no need in health to say "well here's what the 'top' people are doing", when the message could be more along the lines of...

"Nice work starting your day with exercise! You moved your body for 38min this morning. That's 10min more than last Tuesday! It's also right in your average time over your last 15 walks. Keep it up!"

After a quarter century working with people and their wellbeing, I can safely say for a FACT that we are VERY GOOD at TWO things:

1) Comparing ourselves to OTHERS. Constantly. Sometimes when we don't even realize it.

2) Focusing our attention OUTWARD rather than trying to better OURSELVES.

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Just because a message is there, doesn't mean YOU need to give it any weight and/or attention.

Just because an option is there for us, doesn't mean YOU have to take it.

Just because 'so and so' is doing 'x-y-z' doesn't mean YOU have to.

For health and wellbeing, YOU are the priority.