Throughout October, the Koiop Connect Head Office team took on One Foot Forward, a month-long challenge designed to encourage more movement, greater connection and intentional moments of mindfulness throughout the working week.
Across four weekly check-ins, the team collectively recorded an incredible 1,328,324 steps. But as the month progressed, it became pretty clear that the most valuable part of the challenge wasn’t necessarily sitting at the top of the leaderboard.
It was what happened around those steps.
Walks became opportunities to reset. Lunch breaks became permission to switch off. Time with family, friends, pets and each other became moments worth noticing. And mindfulness started to look a lot less like something formal and a lot more like simply being present.
Week One: Starting Strong
The challenge kicked off with a huge 448,223 team steps, with Kristin, Jake and Darren all recording more than 105,000 steps for the week.
But the first week also established what One Foot Forward was really going to be about.
Kia and Darren squeezed in more than 5,000 steps around the Dubbo River while away for work, turning 44 minutes outside into fresh air, sunshine and a slightly memorable encounter with bugs, flies and the warning of a snake ahead.
Away from the leaderboard, the team started sharing the things helping them slow down. Deb found mindfulness in gardening, James in playing the drums, while Kia made a conscious effort to actually take her 30-minute lunch break and switch off.
The biggest lesson from Week One was perhaps the simplest: not every week has to be a personal best. Some weeks, taking your lunch break, slowing down and spending time with the people you love is enough.
Week Two: Movement Meets Connection
The team added another 321,714 steps in Week Two, with Deb jumping to the top of the leaderboard on 65,303 steps.
This week, connection started featuring just as prominently as movement.
For Darren, it was spending time with a participant, their family and support team. Tareka found connection on the sidelines at her son’s Oztag, having a yarn with other parents and cheering on the kids. Suevanah spoke about intentionally connecting with her family every morning and afternoon.
Mindfulness was becoming personal too. Tareka introduced nightly journalling and gratitude, while James found his reset cooking dinner with music playing.
One reflection summed the week up beautifully: outdoor time, mindfulness and connection don’t always have to be three separate things. Sometimes they naturally happen together.
Week Three: Progress Looks Different for Everyone
Week Three brought 289,110 team steps, with Darren taking first place, followed by Deb and Tareka.
By this point, the leaderboard was starting to tell an interesting story.
Tareka had moved from 19,362 steps and seventh place in the first check-in to 39,292 steps and third place by Week Three. It was a great example of what can happen when a simple challenge creates a little extra focus and motivation.
But again, some of the best moments had nothing to do with numbers.
Suevanah described afternoon walks with her son as a daily reset: a chance to slow down, enjoy the fresh air and be present. Darren found a little joy in making a new four-legged friend on his walk home, while family time, laughs and conversations featured heavily across the team’s weekly connection highlights.
Mindfulness looked different for everyone: reading, reflecting, appreciating ordinary moments, relaxing on the balcony and simply taking some time out at the end of the day.
Week Four: Finishing With Perspective
The final check-in added another 269,277 steps to the team total. Darren finished the week on top with 49,825 steps, while Tareka climbed again to second with 47,987.
Tareka’s progression was one of the standout stories of the month. From seventh place in the first week to second in the final week, her weekly steps increased from 19,362 to 47,987.
James also finished strongly, moving into fourth place in the final week after spending much of the month towards the lower end of the leaderboard. His final week included reconnecting with himself after improving his sleep, spending time playing music with mates and finding mindful moments walking along the waterfront.
The final week also brought the challenge back to what mattered most: family, good sleep, creativity, conversations, fresh air and taking time to appreciate the ordinary moments.
More Than One Million Steps
The team total is something to celebrate, but One Foot Forward became about far more than counting steps.
The leaderboard changed every week. Some people started strongly, some built momentum as the month continued, and some weeks simply didn’t go to plan.
And that was part of the point.
The challenge created a reason to walk a little further, but it also encouraged the team to think more consciously about how they were looking after themselves.
Movement created opportunities to get outside.
Getting outside created space to slow down.
Slowing down created room for connection, reflection and mindfulness.
And mindfulness didn’t always mean meditation. Across the month it looked like gardening, painting, journalling, playing music, reading, taking a proper lunch break, walking by the water, playing with a dog, talking to Mum, spending time with children and simply noticing what was happening in the moment.
One Foot Forward, Beyond October
Perhaps the biggest takeaway from October is that wellbeing doesn’t need to be another thing to perfect.
It can be built into the things we already do.
Take the walk. Step outside. Have the yarn. Take your lunch break. Play the music. Spend time with your people. Give yourself permission to switch off.
The step challenge may have finished, but the habits, conversations and reminders it created are worth carrying forward.
One foot forward, one mindful moment at a time.
