Nilofer Merchant: Got a meeting? Take a walk

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

Translator: Joachim Mangilima Reviewer: Nelson Simfukwe

What you're doing,

Unachofanya

right now, at this very moment,

sasa hivi,wakati huu,

is killing you.

kuna kitu kinakuua.

More than cars or the Internet

Zaidi ya magari au mtandaoni

or even that little mobile device we keep talking about,

au hata simu za mikononi ambazo huwa tunaziongelea

the technology you're using the most almost every day

teknolojia unayoitumia zaidi kila siku

is this, your tush.

ni hii, makalio yako.

Nowadays people are sitting 9.3 hours a day,

Siku hizi watu wanakaa kwa wastani wa masaa 9.3 kwa siku,

which is more than we're sleeping, at 7.7 hours.

muda ambao ni zaidi ya ule tunaolala wa masaa 7.7.

Sitting is so incredibly prevalent,

Kukaa imekuwa ni jambo la kawaida mno

we don't even question how much we're doing it,

kiasi hatujiulizi,kuhusu muda mingi tunaotumia kukaa,

and because everyone else is doing it,

na kwa kuwa kila mmoja wetu anafanya hivyo,

it doesn't even occur to us that it's not okay.

hatuoni kuwa kufanya hivyo si sahihi.

In that way, sitting has become

namna hii,kukaa kumekuwa

the smoking of our generation.

uvutaji wa sigara wa kizazi chetu.

Of course there's health consequences to this,

na ukweli ni kuwa kuna madhara ya kiafya,

scary ones, besides the waist.

ya kutisha,ukiondoa kiuno.

Things like breast cancer and colon cancer

vitu kama kansa ya matiti na utumbo mpana

are directly tied to our lack of physical [activity],

yanhusishwa na ukosefu wa mazoezi,

Ten percent in fact, on both of those.

asilimia kumi, katika zote hizo.

Six percent for heart disease,

asilimia sita kwa ajili ugonjwa wa moyo,

seven percent for type 2 diabetes,

asilimia saba kwa ajili ya kisukari namba 2,

which is what my father died of.

ambacho ndicho baba yangu alichokufa nacho.

Now, any of those stats should convince each of us

takwimu hizi zinatakiwa zitushawishi

to get off our duff more,

kuinuka zaidi,

but if you're anything like me, it won't.

lakini ukiwa kama, hazitakushawishi.

What did get me moving was a social interaction.

kilichonifanya niinuke ilikuwa ni mahusiano ya kijamii.

Someone invited me to a meeting,

Mtu mmoja alinialika katika kikao,

but couldn't manage to fit me in

lakini hakuweza kunipatia nafasi

to a regular sort of conference room meeting, and said,

katika chumba cha kawaida cha mikutano, na akasema,

"I have to walk my dogs tomorrow. Could you come then?"

"kesho nitafanya matembezi na mbwa wangu. Je unaweza kuja?"

It seemed kind of odd to do,

ilionekana kama ni kitu cha ajabu kufanya,

and actually, that first meeting, I remember thinking,

na katika kikao hiki cha kwanza, nakumbuka niliwaza,

"I have to be the one to ask the next question,"

"itabidi niwe wa kwanza kuuliza swali la kwanza

because I knew I was going to huff and puff

kwa sababu nilijua nitakuwa napumua sana

during this conversation.

wakati wa mazungumzo haya.

And yet, I've taken that idea and made it my own.

lakini sasa,nimechukua wazo na limekuwa langu.

So instead of going to coffee meetings

kwa hiyo baada ya kwenda katika vikao vya kahawa

or fluorescent-lit conference room meetings,

au vyumba vya mikutano,

I ask people to go on a walking meeting,

nawaomba watu twende katika mikutano ya kutembea,

to the tune of 20 to 30 miles a week.

kufikia umbali wa maili 20 hadi 30 kwa wiki.

It's changed my life.

imebadilisha maisha yangu.

But before that, what actually happened was,

lakini kabla, kilichotokea ilikuwa ni,

I used to think about it as,

you could take care of your health,

nafikiri kama hivi,

unaweza ukaangalia afya yako,

or you could take care of obligations,

au kuangalia majukumu yako,

and one always came at the cost of the other.

na moja lazima lichukue nafasi ya jingine.

So now, several hundred of these walking meetings later,

lakini sasa, baada ya mamia ya maili za vikao hivi vya kutembea,

I've learned a few things.

nimejifunza vitu kadhaa.

First, there's this amazing thing

Kwanza, kuna kitu hiki cha ajabu

about actually getting out of the box

kuhusu kutoka katika mazoea,

that leads to out-of-the-box thinking.

kunakosababisha usiwe na mawazo ya mazoea.

Whether it's nature or the exercise itself, it certainly works.

kama ni mazingira au mazoezi ,lakini inafanya kazi.

And second, and probably the more reflective one,

Na pili, na labda muhimu zaidi,

is just about how much each of us

ni jinsi ambavyo kila mtu,

can hold problems in opposition

wakastahimili matatizo

when they're really not that way.

hata kama hawako hivyo.

And if we're going to solve problems

na kama tutatua matatizo

and look at the world really differently,

na kuiangalia dunia,

whether it's in governance or business

kama ni katika utawala au biashara

or environmental issues, job creation,

au mambo ya mazingira,utengenezaji wa ajira,

maybe we can think about how to reframe those problems

labda tunaweza tukafikiri jinsi ya kuyaangalia upya matatizo haya.

as having both things be true.

ili vitu vyote viwe sahihi.

Because it was when that happened

kwa sababu ilikuwa hivyo

with this walk-and-talk idea

kuhusu wazo hili la kuongea na kutembea

that things became doable and sustainable and viable.

kwamba vitu vinaeza kufanyika na vikadumu.

So I started this talk talking about the tush,

nilianza mazungumzo haya nikiongelea kuhus makalio,

so I'll end with the bottom line, which is,

kwa hiyo nitamalizia kwa kusema

walk and talk.

tembea na ongea.

Walk the talk.

tembea na ongea.

You'll be surprised at how fresh air drives fresh thinking,

utashangaa jinsi ambavyo hewa safi inasababisha mazungumzo safi,

and in the way that you do,

na katika hali hii,

you'll bring into your life an entirely new set of ideas.

utaleta mawazo mapya katika maisha yako.

Thank you.

Asante.

(Applause)

(Makofi)