How many times have you promised yourself to start a new life from Monday? And each time they broke their promise! Why is this happening to us all the time, and what should we do to break this circle? The answer is known by Japanese time managers!
Convert the dream to the goal
All our good impulses end in nothing for one simple reason: by taking a decision to do charge in the morning / teach languages / read ten books a month, we are committed to dealing with excessive enthusiasm. For example, wishing to improve our physical form, we spend all the forces on the first training, and while learning the language, we give ourselves a word to teach ten new words a day — and that is why we burn quickly. Any action requires the formation of a positive habit, but we have already worked out a negative reaction to overload.
What prevents us from embodying dreams in life? Fear of change inherent in every person. This fear makes our brain resist an unusual activity. Therefore, good intentions remain unincorporated, and dreams are not realized.
Do you know the difference between a dream and a goal? This is the presence of a clearly formulated action plan. How to make such a plan and learn to act in accordance with it?
Little steps to the big goal
The Japanese succeeded in taking over the best of other peoples and applying themselves. It worked with american technologies of time management and self-organization. Based on Western ideas, the Japanese developed a strategy of small steps, or kaizen.
What is it about? You can explain figuratively: in an effort to climb a high mountain, you can run up, climb as quickly as possible, making maximum effort, and exhale without passing even a third of the way. And you can move gradually, resting after every few hundred meters, and climb the next hundred with new forces, correctly assessing the situation and comparing the cost of energy. Guess which of the two cases is the one who goes down the mountain, the more likely?
The main «textbook» of kaizen is the book of doctor of philosophy and psychologist with the medical education of Robert Maurer «Step by step to achieve the goal». This book was created based on the work of the author of the strategy — the famous Japanese manager and recruiter Masaaki Imai. What does kaizen really offer us?
Unequal wisdom
The concept of «kaizen» is composed of two words «kai» (change) and «zen» (wisdom, understanding). This means that people must live all their changes without hesitation, consciously and with wisdom. Good habits are being developed gradually, not by storm. Step-by-step self-improvement technologies are successfully used not only in business and sports, but also in family relationships.
Kaizen's basic offer: you do what you need, just 1 minute per day. A minute to study a new word, a minute of gymnastics, a minute to a good word for a native person.
What a good principle of one minute:
- You set specific, easy-to-accomplish tasks.
- Necessary habit is made deliberately.
- You do not waste much effort to succeed.
- Short positive actions bring joy and pleasure.
- Progress is taking place gradually, and you notice it.
- You escape from self-doubt and feelings of guilt, increase self-esteem.
- The success inspires to increase the time for the necessary actions and move forward.
Kaizen is a great way to change for the better without spending too much time and effort without stress and leaving the comfort zone.
Step by step
How to move to real kaizen practice? First of all — set a goal. For example, you want to lose weight. Here are some steps to take:
- Ask simple questions. For example, «what is useful today to eat for dinner?».
- Think small thoughts. For example, «what can you do in a day to lose weight?»
- Do simple things: drink a glass of water before breakfast or walk on foot.
- Solve local issues. For example, find a healthy food shop in the city.
- «Preserve» small awards. Went before bed? Let yourself sleep 5 minutes longer!
From small specific problems and issues, it is gradually necessary to move to more global ones, for example, «what should you do to love your body?». Little questions are «road markers» on the way to a global goal formulated by big issues.
The main conditions for the success of a one-minute strategy are consistency and regularity. Do not cling to everything at once, do not miss a single day — it's very important to get used to good, useful and important.
Psychologists and time-managers say that Kaizen is a simple and convenient way to rebuild thinking in a new positive way, to believe in oneself and to achieve the set points. The strategy of small steps really works — and works incredibly successfully. We can see this by looking at the successes of Japan in all spheres of life.
But what if you got to lose weight, learn to cook borscht, learn a foreign language? There will always be new vertices that you want to conquer. For example, learn the subtleties of Chinese cuisine, put a new urban record or become a real polyglot. Enjoy the leisurely, enjoyable kaizen trip!