One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way

by Robert Maurer

Kaizen is an ancient philosophy captured in this powerful statement from the Tao Te Ching: “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

Kaizen has two definitions: using very small steps to improve a habit, a process, or product using very small moments to inspire new products and inventions

In our “bigger is better” culture of IMAX movies, supersize meals, and extreme makeovers, it’s hard to believe that small steps can lead to big changes. But the wonderful reality is that they can.

Before inviting you to begin your journey through this book and to experience the power and possibilities of kaizen, I would like to cover one more topic: spirituality. By this I do not mean necessarily a faith in God, but a sense of purpose and a feeling of fulfillment.

Kaizen is as much a philosophy or belief system as it is a strategy for success in changing or enhancing some behavior. There are two elements of the spirit, or purpose, in which kaizen plays an essential role: service and gratitude.

Regular physical activity could improve nearly all of Julie’s health problems, give her more stamina to sustain her through her grueling days, and boost her spirits.

many people are crippled by the belief that innovation is the only way to change.

There is an alternative to innovation. It is another path altogether, one that winds so gently up the hill that you hardly notice the climb. It is pleasant to negotiate and soft to tread. And all it requires is that you place one foot in front of the other.

This alternative strategy for change is called kaizen.

“When you improve a little each day, eventually big things occur. When you improve conditioning a little each day, eventually you have a big improvement in conditioning. Not tomorrow, not the next day, but eventually a big gain is made. Don’t look for the big, quick improvement. Seek the small improvement one day at a time. That’s the only way it happens—and when it happens, it lasts.” —John Wooden, one of the most successful coaches in the history of college basketball

low-key change helps the human mind circumnavigate the fear that blocks success and creativity.

I believe that the kaizen approach is a highly effective method of building new neural connections in the brain,

Just remember: While the steps may be small, what we’re reaching for is not. To commit your life to honoring and maintaining your physical health; to the passion, the risk, and the excellence of a demanding career; to the pursuit of a rewarding relationship with another human being; or the continual upward revision of your personal standards, is to strive for powerful goals, often elusive and at times frightening. But for now, all you need to do is take one small step.

Change is frightening.

The brain is designed so that any new challenge or opportunity or desire triggers some degree of fear.

Some lucky people are able to get around this problem by turning their fear into another emotion: excitement.

When life gets scary and difficult, we tend to look for solutions in places where it is easy or at least familiar to do so, and not in the dark, uncomfortable places where real solutions might lie.

One of the most powerful ways to “program” your brain is the kaizen technique of asking small questions.

However, the kaizen method works not by manic exhortation to revolutionize the company, but by requests that are much simpler and restricted in scope.

“What shapes our lives are the questions we ask, refuse to ask, or never think to ask.” —Sam Keen

The hippocampus’s main criterion for storage is repetition, so asking that question over and over gives the brain no choice but to pay attention and begin to create answers.

Your brain wants to play! A question wakes up your brain and delights it.

If health were my first priority, what would I be doing differently today? What is one way I can remind myself to drink more water? How could I incorporate a few more minutes of exercise into my daily routine?

Your brain loves questions and won’t reject them . . . unless the question is so big it triggers fear.

By asking small, gentle questions, we keep the fight-or-flight response in the “off” position.

Ask a question often enough, and you’ll find your brain storing the questions, turning them over, and eventually generating some interesting and useful responses.

Fear, as we’ve seen, is frequently the reason people don’t get what they want.

If you are unhappy but aren’t sure why, try asking yourself this: If I were guaranteed not to fail, what would I be doing differently?

If you are trying to reach a specific goal, ask yourself every day: What is one small step I could take toward reaching my goal?

If you are generally content with your life but would like to remain alert to possibilities for excellence, you can ask yourself a slightly different version of the question above: What is one small step I could take to improve my health (or relationships, or career, or any other area)?

Is there a person at work or in my personal life whose voice and input I haven’t heard in a long time? What small question could I ask this person?

This question is for anyone who has a festering conflict with another person,

Every day, ask yourself: What’s one good thing ab...

you tend to feel pessimistic or negative, try asking yourself this question: What is one small thing that is special about me (or my spouse, or my organization)?

Mind sculpture, developed by Ian Robertson, is a newer technique that involves total but still-imaginary sensory immersion. It requires its practitioners to pretend that they are actually engaged in the action, not just seeing but hearing, tasting, smelling, and touching.

Ian Robertson, one of the world’s leading authorities on brain rehabilitation, theorized in his book Mind Sculpture that during mind sculpture, the brain doesn’t understand that it’s not really performing the imagined activity.

In this way, you can approach a difficult task with a purely mental rehearsal, avoiding the unproductive fear that comes with the “feet-first” strategy. You can train your brain by small increments to develop the new set of skills it needs to actually engage in this task.

Try to give yourself at least a month before you actually have to perform this activity.

Repetition is essential: Whatever you do repeatedly, even if for only a few seconds at a time, the brain decides must be important and so begins committing cells to the new behavior.

When you are ready to practice mind sculpture, sit or lie down in a quiet, comfortable spot and close your eyes.

Imagine that you are in the difficult or uncomfortable situation and looking around you through your own eyes. What do you see? What is the setting? Who’s there? What do they look like? See the expressions on ...

Now expand your imagination to the rest of your senses. What are the sounds and smells and flav...

Without moving an actual muscle, imagine that you are performing the task. What are the words you use? What does your voice sound like and how does it resonate throu...

Imagine a positive response to your activity. If you are mind sculpting for public speaking, for example, see the audience leaning forward in their seats, looking responsive and interested. Hear the scratch of pencil on...

When your allotted time for mind sculpture has become habitual and even fun, you may find that you are automatically performing the forme...

“Confront the difficult while it is still easy; accomplish the great task by a series of small acts.” —Tao Te Ching

I’m not suggesting that you apply overly rigid standards to potential friends or mates (recall my client Grace, who refused to date men who couldn’t dance or whose jobs weren’t prestigious enough), but it’s unwise to turn a blind eye to characteristics you find downright unlikable.

Small rewards are not only sufficient as an incentive to get a job—especially a dreaded task—done, but they are optimal. This is true whether the reward is used as part of a corporation-wide initiative or in your personal life.

Dr. Deming understood that most people want to be proud of their work and want to offer useful contributions.

But small rewards encourage internal motivation because they are really a form of recognition rather than material gain, signaling that the corporation or boss appreciates the employee’s internal desire to improve and contribute.