The Kaizen Way is what Toyota uses in its production system to ensure high quality and reliable products. Kaizen is all about small consistent little steps towards continuous improvement. Human beings hate change. Our brains are wired to resist any attempts at changing the status quo. In the ancient days this might served us well as it prevented us from straying so far away from our tribes. Going against the tribe meant a definite death for our ancestors. So people played it safe and did whatever the tribe wanted.
Today things have changed. In a capitalist society individual initiative and creativity is celebrated. Yet many of us are still trapped in ancient ways of thinking for fear of being cast away from our tribes, friends, families, peers. Some of us even fear to pursue health, wealth and success because they fear to stand out from the crowd.
One way to break out of this pattern is to use the Kaizen Way. Kaizen is all about small action steps taken towards improvement and repeated consistently. For instance if you want to lose weight start by taking a one minute walk as you are watching TV and do this consistently for 30 days. Double the workout time every other day. You will be amazed at the change.
If you want to start saving money. Start by saving 10k per month in a savings box. Double the amount saved every other month. You will be amazed what this little act will do.
Read one page a day of a good financial book like the Richest Man in Babylon and act on only one piece of advice from the book. I guarantee you that your bank balance will increase.
The Kaizen Way can be applied to all areas of life including relationships, money, health, savings, investments, work, etc. Embrace the Kaizen Way and you will soon see your wallet overflowing with dimes.
This post was inspired by Robert Maurer’s book, The Kaizen Way.
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