Week 1 - Baby Steps

I didn’t start this project with a dramatic plan. No cold plunges. No juice cleanses. No 4:30 a.m. alarms or declarations that “everything changes today.”
It never sticks because it’s built on adrenaline, not intention.
And, most importantly, it’s just not me. I like my winter sleep.

This time, I started smaller.

This week, the only real commitment I made was walking home from work. Not a workout. Not a challenge. Just a simple 30-minute walk through downtown, music in my ears, hands shoved in my pockets, letting the cold bite a little but not enough to scare me back inside.

At first it felt strange. I could hop on the train, stay warm, and be home ten minutes faster. My old instinct said this is wasted time — time I could be using to “get things done.” That’s the mindset I’m slowly unlearning. I’ve spent years optimizing for efficiency, productivity, output. It served me then. It doesn’t serve me now.

But something happened during those walks.

I felt more present.
My brain slowed down.
My shoulders dropped.
The noise faded just a little.
I even noticed things I’ve walked past a thousand times cafes, storefronts, little details in buildings you only see at walking speed.

It wasn’t a transformation. Not even close. But it was a shift in direction. And that’s really what Week 1 was all about. Not perfection. Not reinvention. Just a new pattern repeated a few times until it started to feel normal. Maybe even good.

What I’m not saying out loud yet, but feel circling around the edges, is that bigger changes are coming. In my health, my habits, and probably my work too. The kind that don’t happen overnight but sneak up on you through consistent, quiet decisions. Walking home from work isn’t the change. It’s the cue that change is possible.

This journey to the weekend of the Masters, and everything waiting for me beyond it, isn’t going to be built on one big decision. It’s going to be built on hundreds of small ones. Today I walked home. Tomorrow I’ll do it again.

That’s the whole story for now.

And honestly, that’s enough