What’s in it for me? Take small steps – then giant leaps.
Change can be hard.
Whether it’s eating healthier, regular exercise, or saving money, most of us struggle to stick to these plans.
New Year’s resolutions are quickly abandoned, business strategies barely make it past the first month, and exercise routines end just after the purchase of new running shoes.
But according to author and psychologist Dr.
Robert Maurer, there’s an easy way to make changes in our lives.
It involves taking inspiration from the Japanese concept of kaizen, or “continuous improvement.
” There are simple strategies that you can use to start making changes right away, in any area of your life.
In the words of the philosopher Lao Tzu, “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with the first step.
” That’s the essence of kaizen.
Hi, my name is Julia and in these Blinks, we’ll go over Dr Maurer’s book ‘One Small Step Can Change Your Life - The Kaizen Way’.
You’ll discover how to take that first step on your journey – and change your life for the better.
So let’s get started.
In this Blink, you’ll learn the power of repetitive questions; how the “mind sculpture” exercise can help you face challenges; and techniques for creating lasting habits.
Chapter 1: By taking small steps, you can make changes more easily.
Let's start by thinking of a change you want to make in your life.
Maybe you want to eat healthier or set aside a little money each month for some savings.
Or you might have a bad habit you’d like to give up.
There’s a chance you’ve already tried and found making this change difficult.
Like I said earlier, change can be hard.
Even when you go in with the best intentions, sticking to your resolutions isn’t easy.
Believe me when I say - it’s not just you.
Most of us struggle.
The average American will make the same New Year’s resolution for ten consecutive years – and fail every time.
But it doesn’t have to be so hard.
Robert Maurer argues that making changes can be surprisingly straightforward.
All you need is kaizen.
Maybe you’ve heard of kaizen before, perhaps in a business context.
This concept of continuous improvement is all about doing things slowly and taking small steps in order to make larger positive changes.
Maurer recommends kaizen to his clients – chainsmokers, unhappy bachelors, wiped out parents .
.
.
all kinds of people.
It’s effective for anyone who’s trying to live a healthier, happier life.
Let’s look at six different ways you can use kaizen in your life.
The great thing is, you don’t even need to use all of these techniques.
Each one works on its own, and you can start using them right away.
First, though, let’s take a quick look at the science behind kaizen.
How does it work, exactly?
Why are small steps so effective?
Essentially, kaizen is a kind of hack – a way to bypass our biological instincts.
Most of the time, the human brain doesn’t handle change so well.
Because sudden change triggers our fight-or-flight response, which happens in the part of the brain called the amygdala.
Whether it’s something big, like changing careers, or small, like cutting down on chocolate, our brains just don’t like it.
Change is perceived as a threat.
But with kaizen, the changes don't feel so scary.
By making minor, gradual changes, you can tiptoe past the amygdala and avoid triggering alarm bells.
That’s how kaizen works – tricking your brain by taking small, sneaky steps.
So, how do you start?
Chapter 2: Asking yourself small questions is an effective way to lay the groundwork for change.
Let’s say the change you’re trying to make is a particularly daunting one, like starting a big creative project.
One of the best ways to begin is with a question – a small question.
This is the approach that Michael Ondaatje, the author of The English Patient, uses when he starts a new novel.
Faced with a blank page, he asks himself questions.
Not big, difficult questions like “What kind of character would readers like?
” Instead, he thinks of a scene, like a plane crash, and then asks small questions, such as “Who’s the guy in the plane?
” or “What year is it?
” You don’t have to be an aspiring novelist to benefit from this approach.
Asking small questions is a useful technique for making any change.
For example, if you want to deal with your credit card debt, start by asking yourself a small question, like “What can I do in five minutes today to reduce my debt?
” If you don’t have an immediate answer, that’s OK.
The important thing is to ask the question.
Although our brains aren’t big fans of change, they love questions.
A simple question can keep the brain engaged, which stimulates creativity and eventually produces solutions.
Make sure you choose your question carefully to avoid triggering your brain’s fight-or-flight response.
You don’t want to wake up the amygdala with a difficult question, like “How can I get healthy?
” So keep it simple.
Ask something like “What’s one way I can remind myself to drink water regularly?
” Then, once you’ve thought of a question, keep asking it.
Turn it into a habit.
Ask yourself the question when you make coffee every morning.
Or write it on a Post-it note and stick it somewhere visible, like your desk or dashboard.
Repeatedly asking small questions may not seem significant, but you’re actually doing something pretty radical.
You’re slowly reprogramming your brain – without it noticing.
And you’re taking the first steps to real change.
Chapter 3: Tap into the power of your imagination using the “mind sculpture” technique.
Let’s look at another hack for your brain.
It’s a technique called “mind sculpture,” and it was developed by the psychologist Ian Robertson.
While it may sound a little strange and abstract, mind sculpture is actually very simple.
It’s all about using your imagination to mentally rehearse for a future activity.
The swimmer Michael Phelps used mind sculpture while training for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
He lay in bed and imagined that he was on the starting block.
Then he visualized himself swimming, picturing each movement.
In his head, he was doing everything perfectly.
Phelps repeated this exercise to prepare himself for every possible scenario.
So when he got water in his goggles during an event, he didn’t panic.
This was something he’d already imagined happening.
He was able to stay calm and go on to win yet another gold medal.
Mind sculpture is an effective way to trick your brain.
You feel like you’re gaining experience, even though it’s only in your head.
It also fits in nicely with the kaizen philosophy.
You’re using “small thoughts” to slowly make big changes happen.
Try it now, if you’d like.
Think of an upcoming challenge or an activity that worries you – giving a presentation at work, for example.
Close your eyes and imagine yourself in the situation, in as much detail as possible.
Who else is there?
What can you see and hear?
Next, imagine that you’re performing the task – so in this case, the presentation.
What are you saying?
How does your voice sound?
Finally, imagine that the response is positive.
Visualize the smiling, interested faces of your audience.
Once you’re comfortable with this exercise, you can also start imagining a worst-case scenario.
For instance, maybe someone looks bored during your presentation.
Picture yourself successfully dealing with the situation; imagine exactly how you’d speak and feel.
You can use this technique for anything you’re nervous about doing in the future.
Every day, set aside a few seconds to practice mind sculpture.
Just like the “small questions” activity we looked at before, repetition is the key to success.
So far, we’ve explored “small questions,” “small thoughts,” and “small steps.
Chapter 4: Make your first step as small as possible.
” You may be wondering, how “small” are we actually talking about?
Maurer’s advice is to make each step as small as possible – especially when you’re just starting to make a change.
For example, Maurer once had a client called Julie.
She was a stressed-out single mother who weighed more than she wanted to and didn’t have time for exercise.
What advice do you think Maurer gave Julie?
“Go jogging?
” “Get up an hour earlier and walk to work?
” No.
Instead, he told her to exercise for just one minute a day – to march in front of the TV.
That may sound ridiculous, but it was doable.
Julie was happy to try this activity, and, more importantly, she could keep it up.
She was then able to build up her exercise habit slowly.
Ironically, this led to faster progress.
Within a few months, Julie was doing proper aerobics workouts – exercise that would have been unthinkable, and unsustainable, if she’d started off with it.
Julie made good progress because she began with the smallest possible step.
While it may seem counterintuitive, small steps lead to faster change.
And even if progress is slow at times, so what?
Isn’t slow change better than no change?
Here’s another example.
Maurer knew a woman who spent ages trying to cut down on sugar in her tea.
She managed to go from four teaspoons to one.
But giving up that last teaspoon of sugar was just too difficult.
So she did it slowly, removing one grain at a time.
Then two, then three .
.
.
.
It took a year for her to remove all the grains of sugar from the spoon, but she did it.
And years later, she still drinks her tea without any sugar.
This is worth keeping in mind when you’re deciding on your first step.
It’s OK to make it really small.
Spend just one minute doing something, or do it one tiny step at a time.
As you get into the habit of thinking small, use the same approach for any problems you encounter.
Chapter 5: Focus on small problems first, and look out for early warning signs.
Instead of getting overwhelmed by the big picture, start by tackling small problems.
This is the approach that William Bratton used when he was the New York City Police Commissioner.
Bratton’s task was to tackle subway crime.
In the 1980s, there were 15,000 felonies on the subway each year.
Big interventions, like budget increases or putting more cops on the beat, didn’t seem to be making a difference.
So Bratton decided to take smaller steps.
He and his officers focused on petty crimes, arresting people for things like public urination and turnstile jumping.
Surprisingly, this intervention also had a dramatic effect on major felonies.
In just over two years, major crime on the New York subway decreased by 50 percent.
There’s a lesson here.
When you’re facing a crisis, sometimes the best thing to do is focus on small, manageable problems.
For one, it’s much easier.
But also, small problems are often indicators of larger issues.
For instance, the turnstile jumpers on the subway often turned out to be criminals who were wanted for violent offenses.
So don’t ignore small problems.
Look out for warning signs, and deal with them early on.
Say you’re exercising, and you notice minor yet persistent pain.
Don’t ignore it, as you might end up with a serious injury.
Similarly, look out for red flags with new dating partners, such as excessive drinking or being rude to the waiter.
Is it really just a small flaw?
Or is it a sign of something more serious?
Of course, you don’t need to worry about every little thing in life.
But it makes sense to pay attention to small problems while they’re still small.
Potentially, you can save yourself a lot of trouble in the future.
Focusing on small problems probably sounds pretty intuitive, right?
Chapter 6: Small rewards can be more effective than big rewards.
But what about small rewards?
You might find it hard to believe, but small rewards often work better than big rewards.
Just look at the success of employee suggestion programs.
In US companies, rates of participation are pretty dismal – around 25 percent – and most employee ideas are rejected.
In Japan, however, about 75 percent of employees participate, and the vast majority of suggestions are adopted.
The reason for this striking difference?
According to Maurer, it comes down to the reward.
US employees tend to be offered large prizes, with an average value of about $450, while the prize value for Japanese employees is less than $4.
At Toyota, the reward for the best employee suggestion of the year is not an expensive car or watch.
It’s a fountain pen.
Japanese companies have discovered that small rewards are more motivational, which lead to higher participation and better suggestions.
The problem with big rewards is that they create pressure.
Knowing that there’s a big cash prize up for grabs, an American employee feels that they have to come up with something really impressive.
With small rewards, on the other hand, the person feels more relaxed and creative.
There’s a sense of freedom in being able to enjoy the task itself rather than focusing on the end goal.
This attitude has obvious benefits in the workplace, but it can also help us in our personal lives.
Maurer once met a businessman, Jack, who was suffering from rheumatoid arthritis.
Despite the severity of his disorder, Jack remained mobile and active.
How did he do it?
That’s right – small steps and small rewards.
For Jack, it was a struggle just to get out of bed in the morning.
So once he was up, he would reward himself with a compliment: “Atta boy, Jack!
” Then, after managing to walk to the gym, his reward was a chat with the staff.
He’d continue this way throughout the day – moment by moment, one little reward after another.
If you’re in need of some extra motivation, try rewarding yourself with something small.
It might be a square of chocolate, an extra five minutes in front of the TV, or even a mental pat on the back.
Whatever works for you!
Chapter 7: Appreciate the little things in life, and pay attention to small moments.
By now, hopefully you’re convinced that the small steps of kaizen can make a big difference.
So why stop there?
Apply the kaizen mindset to other areas of your life too.
Give small things the attention they deserve.
Relationships, for instance.
What’s a relationship, really, but a series of small moments?
We tend to focus on the big things – a special gift or a memorable vacation.
But it’s the little, day-to-day moments that can make or break a relationship.
The psychology professor John Gottman conducted an in-depth study of couples, focusing on their daily routines and interactions.
As a result, he was able to predict the couples’ futures with 93 percent accuracy.
He could tell whether each couple would be happily married or divorced in the next few years.
As you’ve probably guessed, some of the most telling predictors of relationship success are the little things.
That includes small gestures of positive attention.
Some of these gestures are so small that you might not even be aware of them.
It could be putting down the phone or remote control when your partner walks through the door.
Or asking them about their dentist appointment.
These subtle moments can strengthen a relationship and make it last.
Try to be mindful of similar moments in your own relationships, romantic or otherwise.
Show appreciation for the little things with your words and gestures.
That means complimenting your partner, or expressing gratitude to the people you work with.
You can even practice in the car by being considerate of other drivers and giving them more space.
And remember, this isn’t just a one-time thing.
Kaizen is all about continuous improvement – moment after moment, day after day.
So be persistent and patient.
And try to enjoy the journey rather than focus on the destination.
So, those were the blinks to One Small Step Can Change Your Life, by Robert Maurer.
Final Summary
The key takeaway from all this is: Change doesn’t have to be difficult.
Use these techniques inspired by kaizen, such as asking small questions and practicing mind sculpture, and do things slowly and gradually.
Because over time, kaizen can help you live a happier, healthier, more fulfilling life.
And that’s no small thing.
And here’s one final piece of actionable advice for you: Counter negative thoughts with positive questions.
Many of Maurer’s clients struggle with negative thoughts, like “I suck at this” or “Why can’t I lose weight?
” To counter this, Maurer suggests a regular practice of asking simple, positive questions, such as “What’s one thing I’ve accomplished today?
” If you also struggle with negative thinking, try asking yourself a positive question every day and write the answer in a journal.
With repetition, you’ll help reprogram your brain to focus on the positives rather than the negatives.