“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” ~Lao Tzu

Self-improvement is a lifelong journey requiring constant self-analysis, recognition and acknowledgement of bad habits, a desire for personal growth and most importantly, positive action.

Sometimes, the goals we set seem like a gigantic leap from where we are to where we want to be. While it is essential to start with the end in mind, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed and intimidated by the steps required to make our dreams a reality.

For example, losing fifty pounds might seem like a big undertaking especially when you look at what it would entail – a change in diet, cutting down on favourite foods, exercise, sweat. You find that there is resistance to all these changes and then it is easy to give up.

There is a scientific reason for this reaction, involving a part of the brain called the amygdala.

What is the amygdala and how does it affect our personal development efforts?

The amygdala is an almond-shaped set of neurons located in the brain. It is responsible for our fight-or-flight or stress response when we are faced with imminent danger.

According to Clinical Psychologist, Dr. Robert Maurer in his book, One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way:

“When you want to change but experience a block, you can often blame the midbrain for gumming up the works. The midbrain is where you’ll find a structure called the amygdala. The amygdala is absolutely crucial to our survival. It controls the fight-or-flight response, an alarm mechanism that we share with all other mammals.

It was designed to alert parts of the body for action in the face of immediate danger. One way it accomplishes this is to slow down or stop other functions such as rational and creative thinking that could interfere with the physical ability to run or fight.”

He explains that the amygdala’s fight-or-flight response in today’s modern lifestyle, “…sets off alarm bells whenever we want to make a departure from our usual, safe routines.”

This departure includes actively working on overcoming fears, attempting to accomplish huge goals or changing habits. It could bring on feelings of stress, panic and anxiety and cause us to shut down and abandon the cause of the discomfort, i.e. the new change.

But how do we overcome this problem so that we can achieve personal growth?

Take it one small step at a time!

Enter the concept of Kaizen.

改善

What is Kaizen?

Kaizen means ‘continuous improvement‘.

It is a Japanese philosophy that encourages continuous incremental improvements to create positive lasting change.

It is about creating systems and processes to advance, eliminate wastage and increase efficiency.

Although Kaizen is traditionally used in business it can be applied to self-improvement.

Dr. Maurer explains that Kaizen is effective in preventing the amygdala from thwarting our efforts: “The little steps of kaizen are a kind of stealth solution to this quality of the brain.” He says in the book, “As your small steps continue and your cortex starts working, the brain begins to create ‘software’ for your desired change actually laying down new nerve pathways and building new habits.”

History of Kaizen

Interestingly, the Japanese concept now known as Kaizen, actually originated in America.

One of the most recognized proponents of this continuous improvement was W. Edwards Deming, an American engineer, professor and statistician.

He has been credited with introducing the Japanese to the system after World War II as Japan had suffered massive economic damage during the war.

Deming’s methods have helped Japan to thrive and become the third largest economy in the world.

Taiichi Ohno, an industrial engineer at Toyota, implemented these Kaizen techniques at the automotive company and was able to build and expand on the philosophy to create the Toyota Production System.

Further, Mr. Masaaki Imai, a Japanese organizational theorist and management consultant, who did some work with Mr. Ohno, introduced the concept of Kaizen to the Western world in 1986 through his book, Kaizen: The Key to Japan’s Competitive Success.

How to Use Kaizen To Improve Your Life

As with other goal-setting and personal development methods, there must be a period of introspection to determine what you want to change or develop.

Spend some time in quiet reflection to journal and identify the areas in your life that you would like to improve or goals that you want to accomplish. Then, work backwards to determine the smallest step you could take today to start you on your path.

To effectively implement Kaizen in your daily routine, consider using a goals planner to track your small steps towards achieving your goals. Check out this recommended goals planner to get started.

Examples of Kaizen In Daily Life

Let’s say you want to write and self-publish your own book. Small steps towards this goal could be writing one paragraph a day, gradually increasing by one paragraph per day until you reach your targeted daily writing quota.

You may also find that when you start writing, you write more than the planned amount of one paragraph. This is good, for it means that you are overcoming any fear or inhibitions associated with the task of writing your book.

Here are some more examples of where Kaizen can be used to build consistent habits for self-improvement:

Goal: Lose weight
- Kaizen application: Eat one bite less.
Goal: Run a 5K
- Kaizen application: Go outside for a 10-minute walk.

Goal: Quit smoking
- Kaizen application: Smoke half a cigarette less.
Goal: Meditate for 20 minutes every day
- Kaizen application: Meditate for 1 minute
Goal: A cleaner home
- Kaizen application: Set a timer and clean for just 5 minutes.

Goal: Read more books
- Kaizen application: Read one page
Goal: Save $500
- Kaizen application: Save $1.00 per day
Goal: Communicate more with your spouse
- Kaizen application: Give a compliment during the day.

Each of these examples is meant to be improved upon every day in some small increment that would lead you to achieve your objective. So to read more books you could increase by one more page each day.

If you find that you are still falling behind or experiencing anxiety about moving forward, either try a different method – listen to an audiobook for one minute- or reduce the step to be even smaller – decrease one page to one paragraph per day. Gradually work your way up from there but continually seek to make progress.

Incorporate Kaizen into your daily life. Look for areas where you can make tiny changes towards improvement. These small efforts will add up over time, helping you become the person you aspire to be.