Kaizen, Meditation And The Power of Small Steps to Transform Your Life
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Kaizen is a Japanese word literally meaning ‘good change’ or ‘change for the better’. It’s about tapping into the power of small steps to change your life.
It has taken me years to really appreciate the power of kaizen. And I’m learning more about it everyday.
Go back a few years and I was always thinking about how to make big steps. Big change. Really trying to change the whole world and feeling like I’m getting nowhere…
This just led me to working harder and harder and not fully caring and appreciating the people right in front of me.
As time passed, I started to read more about Kaizen, and realised that all big changes start small. Really small.
I read the book One Small Step Can Change Your Life by Robert Maurer, and realised the power of his 6 approaches to change using Kaizen. Here they are:
Ask small questions - when you ask yourself ‘how can I meditate for one minute a day?’ it’s much easier to answer than ‘how can i create a daily 30 min meditation for the rest of my life?’ And not only that, you’re MUCH more likely to take action too! Why? Because small questions bypass the fear system. And so your procrastination goes down.
Think small thoughts - Rather than thinking how can I be a kinder person, just do one tiny act of kindness! Send a small gift or praise someone for their efforts. Small, simple but they won’t forget it. This area also includes visualisation. So do tiny visualisations of the steps you need to take next to move your life towards whatever is meaningful for you.
Bestow small rewards - Instead of going on a big holiday or buying a brand new car, you can give yourself or others small treats. And these little treats can feel good. Then you won’t feel you need to do something huge to deserve going to the movies or taking a few hours off to relax, or spend quality time with a loved one. And there are many relaxing activities that are free to do and feel good too.
Take small actions - If you want to start a daily walking habit, you could begin by just putting your shoes on. Or just going for a one minute walk. Or just parking your car a few metres further away than usual. Start so small, it’s almost embarrassing to tell others. Begin there.
Solve small problems - If you find an issue about something, rather than ignoring it, solve it. If you’ve had a tiny disagreement with a friend or loved one, rather than leaving it hanging, you may want to take action to fix things now…before they grow. Use your intuition on the best approach here as sometimes small things can resolve themselves too! That’s the power of doing less rather than doing more.
Recognise small moments - If you’re into mindfulness, you’ll appreciate this one. It’s remembering that small moments make all the difference. It’s small moments where happiness is found. It’s small moments that change our lives. So learn to value the tiniest of moments. Small moments are everything.
I guided a LIVE meditation on kaizen mindfulness recently to our daily mindfulness club members. You can now listen to it here. And if you join, you can listen in on our discussion after this too.
Did you know you don’t have to show up live to benefit from the Daily Mindfulness Club? For more info about the Club, send us a message. We are the best value daily mindfulness coaching program you will find.
