Facing a Problem? Walk a Different Route

Part 1 of a 3-piece series.

You know how people talk about the value of another point of view? Seeking another viewpoint can help us when weighing decisions, brainstorming, working in a group, developing empathy, and in many more ways. It helps us see things in ways that we don’t normally see them, thus elevating our perspective. It allows us to zoom out from our individual viewpoints from where we stand and see the bigger picture that we and our ideas are a part of.

I’ve found that the same is true of going on walks. If you like to go on walks, then you understand the benefits you get from them — being in nature, getting cardio, fresh air, and some high quality thinking. Or maybe some not-thinking (meditation), too, which is also an ideal use of walking time.

If walking is part of your regular life, you may have different routes that you take to experience some variety. But if you’re like most, you only walk one route, because it’s the one that you know, or it’s the one that you decided is most suitable for you. Or maybe it’s just the most direct way to get from point A to B on your daily commute, and in a hustling-bustling world, commuting should be as efficient as possible, right?

Not always. We’ll get more into that in part 3 of this series.

Have you noticed that when you take the same route every day, you stop noticing the route itself? The texture of the ground under your feet is no longer noteworthy. All the trees and bushes have been passed by too many times to beckon your gaze. The shops and restaurants you zoom past have turned into background blur. The billboard that you used to find offensive no longer bothers you, or even catches your attention. 

Maybe you walk this route 5 times a week for a year. You could do it in your sleep. You know it so well that you can anticipate the smell of dog pee when you approach a certain street corner (legitimately something that happened to me on my everyday walk to the metro station when I lived in Santiago, Chile). It’s gone from something novel that you had to learn, to something that you’ve lived, seen, smelled, heard, and felt so regularly that it’s nothing but background to you. You’re on autopilot.

This is why I highly recommend walking a different route whenever you can. Constantly mix it up if you are able to. Because when you walk a different route, you’re forced into learning. You need to be present, alert, and aware of your surroundings. Your brain starts making new connections as it notices new landmarks, and even new smells. You are fully conscious and awake when you’re walking a new route.

Especially if you take public transit or bike in a big city, or even if you stroll around your suburban neighborhood, there are plentiful different routes that all get you to the same place. If you usually drive, I encourage you to take public transit and/or walk on your daily commute, one day per week. The benefits are surprisingly vast.

If you’re able to, go on a walk just to walk. Give yourself an hour. Wander around your neighborhood and explore new corners. Look at the different plants and cloud formations and buildings. Feel the textures of the ground under your feet. Enjoy the nature and smell the flowers (if it’s that time of year). Listen to the different birdsongs. Allow your curiosity to lead you. Turn your head in all directions to absorb as much as possible.

This is the second important piece of the equation. Don’t just walk a different route, but intentionally engage with your surroundings on that new route. Observe. Look up at the sky, all the way to your left and right, and even behind you once in a while. When you walk a different route, you have the ability to see something (your neighborhood, for example) that you’ve seen hundreds of times from a completely different point of view. Even walking up the street one way and back down the same street the other direction, you may see all the same trees and buildings, but you will see them from a different perspective on your second pass-through.

Your life is full of problems (if it wasn’t, you wouldn’t be doing anything). Many times, our problems are solved by gaining another point of view from which to see the problem. Don’t get comfortable with the same route you always take, nor the same methodology you always follow to solve problems. Exploring a new way to get from point A to B may reveal exactly what you need to solve your current problem, and it is absolutely worth the detour. You may stumble across a new strategy or concept that optimizes your process. You may even encounter the answer to a very important question that’s been troubling you. If nothing else, you get to experience the same world from a new vantage point. You never know what surprises are awaiting you.

“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.”

Up Next – part 2 of this series: Chin Up, Buttercup | Seeing More through Tree Gazing