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Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, people used to go for walks.

Just because. Just for fun. For no big reward other than feeling good and getting some fresh air.

And now? Oh, we don鈥檛 do anything just because. I always joke about switching my smartwatch on when I go for a stroll to record an activity, saying that 鈥淚 don鈥檛 do steps for free鈥�. Of course, I鈥檓 being totally facetious and I get nothing out of doing this other than the deep satisfaction of ending the day with the precise knowledge of how many steps my little body has taken since I woke up. And of course, this is fascinating in itself from a psychological perspective for many different reasons, but it鈥檚 not the point we鈥檙e focusing on today.

The point here is, we seem to have taken things a whole lot further. Now, it鈥檚 not just about recording physical activities, but providing incentives for doing them in the first place that are not only instant, but monetary too.

I guess we can track the idea back to the Pok茅mon GO craze from a few years back, but things have become a whole lot weirder and more extreme recently, and that鈥檚 a hill I鈥檓 willing to die on.

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Have We Finally Gamified Health Enough?

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For years, health apps have tried to make exercise feel less like exercise. We got badges, streaks, leaderboards and push notifications reminding us that we鈥檇 spent most of the day sitting down. Being told by your watch to 鈥淢ove!鈥� or, to the contrary, that you need to 鈥渞ecover鈥� still feels very much health and fitness related.

But Steppa takes the concept one step further. Why settle for digital rewards when you could risk actual money?

The app sits at the intersection of two enormous trends: society鈥檚 growing obsession with health tracking and our increasing willingness to turn absolutely everything in life into a game.

According to the logic behind the platform, putting money on the line creates accountability. If missing your daily walk costs you financially, you鈥檙e supposedly more likely to get moving. Because if there鈥檚 nothing on the line, it鈥檚 just way too easy to stay indoors, curl up on the couch and make an excuse for why you鈥檙e not doing your steps.

And sure, it鈥檚 difficult to argue with the psychology, nor am I trying to. Humans are notoriously motivated by the prospect of losing money, and that鈥檚 not something worth denying 鈥� I mean, I鈥檓 certainly motivated by money (in certain contexts, calm down). The question in this situation, however, is whether that鈥檚 necessarily a healthy foundation for building long-term habits.

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Is It Betting, Fitness Or Something In Between?

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Steppa鈥檚 central argument is that it isn鈥檛 really gambling because users are betting on themselves. And sure, to a point, that鈥檚 true 鈥� you are essentially betting on yourself, and in many respects, you鈥檙e in control of the outcome. Indeed, unlike a casino game or sports bet, the outcome is largely within the participant鈥檚 control. If you want to win, all you have to do is walk. Easy, right?

But the idea still feels oddly familiar. After all, the core mechanic remains the same. You put money in, take a risk and hope to get more money back.

The difference here, however, is that instead of relying on luck, you鈥檙e relying on your own discipline. And at first thought, yes, that鈥檚 something we have control over. But in reality, do we? Surely if we had complete control over our own sense of discipline, we wouldn鈥檛 need to bet on it in the first place 鈥� we鈥檇 just walk, right鈥�?

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The Monetisation Of Literally Everything

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Perhaps the most interesting question is whether apps like Steppa reveal something larger about modern life 鈥� something a little weird and maybe even a little icky.

For years, technology companies have searched for ways to monetise our attention. And then they monetised our social interactions, our hobbies and our spare time.

Now, we鈥檙e monetising our walks.听What used to be a simple health habit has become something measurable, trackable and potentially profitable.

There鈥檚 something slightly absurd about needing a financial incentive to take a stroll around the block. But, at the same time, plenty of people already spend money on gym memberships, fitness coaches and wellness programmes. Steppa simply repackages the same motivation in a different format. Why walk for free if you can get paid to do it?

So perhaps the app isn鈥檛 creating the trend so much as reflecting it.

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When Walking Becomes A Side Hustle

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Perhaps the strangest reports surrounding the concept are stories that some employers have allegedly become frustrated by workers spending large chunks of the day pacing around to hit their targets, and I think that鈥檚 kind of hilarious.

It鈥檚 not difficult to imagine. A century ago, employers worried workers weren鈥檛 moving enough. Now they may have the opposite problem 鈥� employees aggressively marching laps around the office car park because they鈥檙e 1,500 steps short and there鈥檚 money at stake. They鈥檙e walking so much that some employees have had to implement absurd rules specifying things like 鈥渢he number of laps鈥� you鈥檙e allowed to walk around the office per hour.

And the image is funny because it captures the contradiction at the heart of the idea.听Health is supposed to improve our lives, but when optimisation becomes the goal, even something as simple as walking can start to feel like work.

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So Is This Healthy?

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The honest answer is that it probably depends on the person. If a financial incentive helps someone become more active, there are certainly worse habits to encourage. Walking more is unlikely to feature on many lists of society鈥檚 greatest problems.

But, there鈥檚 something fascinating about the fact that we鈥檝e reached a point where exercise, finance and gamification have merged into a single product. Steppa may be a clever accountability tool, it may be a fitness app with a gambling twist or, it may simply be the latest example of our inability to leave any part of life unoptimised, untracked or unmonetised.

Either way, it says something about the moment we鈥檙e living in. Because apparently, getting your steps in isn鈥檛 enough anymore 鈥� now your walk needs a business model too.