Does Anyone Actually Have Time for a 10k Daily Step Goal?

I love to walk. Love it. I’d take three walks a day if I had the time, knocking out 15k steps each and every day. But I, like most people, don’t have the time for that.

On social media, you see a lot of narratives about discipline and fitness and lifestyle and how everyone has the same 24 hours in a day (we don’t, actually). People say that anyone who claims they can’t devote themselves to fitness, or healthy eating, or yes, hitting step goals is “lazy” or “making excuses".

Creators in this space love to say they’re “not motivated, they’re disciplined” — and often when you call out the specific scenarios that help these creators achieve their goals (like: “Fitness is your full-time job”), they’ll frequently invalidate that claim. “I made time for this even when I had a desk job,” they’ll say.

But here’s the thing: There are so many factors that affect what people truly have time for. And while the 10k steps a day narrative is a popular one, I’d argue that getting in these steps is the most time-consuming wellness goal of all. It’s not always impossible to squeeze in a 30-minute workout or bake some chicken and veggies for dinner, but 10,000 steps require a lot of time devoted…and it’s time most people simply don’t have.

Yes, there are hacks available: You can invest in a walking pad to get more steps in when it’s too cold to walk outdoors. You can park really far away from every store when you’re running errands. You can take your kids out in the stroller and pound the pavement while they nap. These can help, but they can’t necessarily get you there every single day. And that’s okay.

As we’re finally starting to discuss, the 10k steps idea is really a myth. This isn’t a magical number, but of course, hitting it each day means you’ve done a good bit of walking. So if a daily 10k step goal resonates with you, if it feels like a reasonably challenging goal, and if you love the way you feel after consistent 10k step days…that’s amazing! But if you simply don’t have the time for this type of step goal? Also amazing,

Social media has us feeling like wellness is one-size-fits-all, and that if you can’t make these trendy goals work for your life, you’re failing and will never be healthy. Reject that, sis. What works for some of us won’t work for all of us, and the 10k (or 15k or 20k or whatever you’re seeing online) isn’t a magical solution…and it isn’t right for everyone.