Six Small Trail Habits That Make You Happier
How letting go on the trail can reshape your life beyond the trailhead.
As the excitement of New Year’s resolutions fades, I find myself reflecting on how we create changes that actually last. This January, inspired by Mel Robbins and James Clear, I’ve been thinking about identity-based habits.
In Atomic Habits, Clear sees that sustainable progress happens when our daily actions reflect the person we want to be. In a world that often feels socially and politically divided, many of us share a simple goal: to be happier. If we want to be happy people, we have to act in ways that reinforce that identity.
For me, that starts with small escapes from the everyday, whether a bike ride or a walk with my dogs on a trail. They are small habits that build a more contented and connected life.
Learning to let go to be happy.
I’ve noticed that the happiest people on the trail aren’t usually the fastest, strongest, or dressed in the latest gear. They’re not chasing perfection or projecting an image. What sets them apart is what they’ve learned to let go of.
Over time, these trail people found joy by repeatedly showing kindness and grace to themselves and others. Somewhere between their first step from the trailhead and the last mile home, they’ve shed habits and beliefs that no longer serve them. Here are six things people leave behind when they discover true happiness on the trail.
Six things to leave behind on the trail.
1. The need to rush
Happiness on the trail isn’t about how far or how fast you go. It’s about how much joy you gather along the way, smiles per mile, not miles per smile. Setting out without a quota of miles to prove yourself as a “real” hiker or cyclist gives happiness room to grow.
There’s a time for pushing your limits, building strength, and testing endurance. There’s also a time for slow wonder, letting nature set your pace and the moment determine your ride or hike. When you stop measuring joy by speed or distance, you start noticing the wind, the light filtering through the trees, the birds, and the unexpected encounters with people you meet.
2. Self-judgment
Happier trail-goers let go of comparisons, whether to the speedsters in sleek gear or to past versions of themselves they wish they could be again. Those comparisons drain the joy from a day outdoors and turn what could’ve been simple fun into disappointment.
When you release self-judgment and stop measuring yourself against others, the trail opens up in new ways. It’s no longer about who’s faster, stronger, or better equipped. You see that the trail welcomes everyone: beginners, seasoned cyclists, families, commuters, weekend wanderers, and those simply seeking peace outdoors. That’s where happiness begins to take root.
3. Stress from the day
Happier people learn to leave their worries, inboxes, and deadlines at the trailhead. Each step or pedal stroke lifts a little of life’s weight off their shoulders. Why carry that heaviness into a place meant to set you free? The more you drag your burdens along, the heavier it is to make space for joy.
The trail asks for nothing, no credentials, no performance. It just offers room to think, to breathe, and to let go. You might start your journey tangled in thoughts, but by the time you return, you’re lighter, your worries lifted away, your mind quieter. All of this happens without needing to explain a thing.
4. Us vs. them mindset
Happier people see the trail as a place for everyone, not just a select few. They embrace a spirit of a shared space, trusting that each person is there for their own good reason, in their own season of life.
Trails are at their best when they’re shared with respect and care for others. They become places where friendships deepen, where the less mobile experience freedom, where runners, cyclists, and birdwatchers find community, and where the lonely feel a little less alone. Happy trail users honor and respect different speeds and ways of moving, and understand that everyone belongs.
5. Perfectionism
Happier people make peace with wrong turns, mud, wind, hills, and mechanical quirks. They stop treating these moments as failures and start seeing them as part of the story. They become chapters they’ll retell as times they rose to the challenge and celebrated.
The outdoors is unpredictable, and that’s part of its pull. We step outside because we’re not in full control of what we’ll encounter. Muddy shoes and a slipped bike chain stop being problems to fix and start becoming stories to laugh about later. Your time on the trail doesn’t have to be flawless to experience joy. It becomes happier the moment you let perfectionism go.
6. Letting go of earning your joy.
Happier people understand that joy on the trail doesn’t have a price tag. It doesn’t require suffering, high performance, or proving you’re a “real” cyclist or hiker. The walk or ride itself is the reward.
Letting go of the belief that you earn joy changes everything. You define what happiness looks like for you, and claim that definition proudly. It grows stronger, more generous, and contagious with each visit and encounter. Joy is as simple as showing up, being present, and allowing yourself to feel good without guilt and apology.
People simply want to be happier.
I keep circling back to where this all started: letting go of big New Year’s resolutions and impossible goals, and trading them in for small, doable changes.
The idea, borrowed from Atomic Habits, is that real change comes from tiny steps you repeat, not from huge promises you can’t keep. The above six trail lessons are really six old habits to lose so you can travel lighter and experience joy. This is less about chasing perfection and more about shifting everyday habits.
As a trail leader, I want to see happier people on the trail. There are many ways to get there. Picking just one of these six ideas and trying it in small ways can shift how you feel in the outdoors. Over time, they stack up, sometimes in surprising ways, and start to change your rides or hikes.
While this little PSA is mostly about finding happiness on the trail, you can absolutely carry these habits into the rest of your life, at home, at work, and in your community.
Happy trails from Tom on the Trail!
I needed to hear this today. Thanks, Tom!