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Use The 1% ‘Kaizen’ Rule To Reinvent Yourself

It’d be pretty nice if you could snap your fingers and get what you wanted, just like that—get in shape, land a promotion, finish 20 books.
But, as life goes, it doesn’t work this way. Change takes time—getting in shape means a lifetime commitment to changing your diet and exercise, getting a promotion requires hard work and diligence, and finishing 20 books requires, well, actually sitting down and reading.

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Once we think about the “time” factor it starts to freak us out. We get impatient, binge on our habit for a week maybe, and give up when it gets too hard and there doesn’t seem to be any improvements.
So, how about we switch our mindset? I’m not suggesting we give up the hope of ever reaching those big goals. I’m merely stating that we become more patient in how we develop our habits. The Japanese have a wonderful philosophy to improve effortlessly and continuously, The Kaizen Principle.

The Kaizen principle is a Japanese management philosophy that literally translates as ‘continuous (Kay) improvement (zen)’. Although it was originally used by Japanese Conglomerates like Toyota as an effective business improvising strategy, it’s application in daily life can yield equally effective results. So, what did the Japanese propagate?

Their advice? Just do 1% better every day:

What does 1% a day mean? Nothing really. It just means get a little better each day. It’s hard to quantify. But the important thing to know is this: 1% better each day, compounded, is 3800% better each year. 1% worse each day, compounded, means you lose 97% of the value each year.
3,800% better? When you put it like that, doesn’t that make those small changes seem so much more important? In fact, it seems almost too good to be true that putting in minimal effort daily can result in such huge output. But when you break it down, it’s actually not.

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Sure, the effort might take months, even most of the year, to be cognizable. But it makes it possible for you to see a major improvement that didn’t seem all that tough to get to.

Rather than focus on the end goal or the time it takes to get there, let’s start focusing on the little percentages we add every day. Not only because this is 10 times easier than the alternative, but because in the long run, we’ll have made that much more of a difference for ourselves—as long as we stick to it.

Use The 1% ‘Kaizen’ Rule To Reinvent Yourself

Why Kaizen Works?

“Small actions are at the heart of Kaizen. By taking steps so tiny that they seem trivial or even laughable, you’ll sail calmly past obstacles that have defeated you before. Slowly—but painlessly!—you’ll cultivate an appetite for continued success and lay down a permanent new route to change.”

The Kaizen approach to self-improvement works by breaking down big, overwhelming goals into super small, discrete pieces. Kaizen encourages action. The small successes you experience with your baby steps feed on each other and start building some momentum, which leads to taking bigger and bigger actions.

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What’s more, one of the underlying assumptions of Kaizen is that there is no magic bullet that will suddenly make things better. Change comes through small, continuous improvement. Instead of wasting your time searching for the “one thing” that will change everything, Kaizen calmly directs your attention to the task at hand and offers this needed reminder:

Use The 1% ‘Kaizen’ Rule To Reinvent Yourself

“You already know what you need to do. Get to work and find small ways to improve along the way.”

Use The 1% ‘Kaizen’ Rule To Reinvent Yourself

Finally, Kaizen isn’t a “one and done” approach to life. It’s a process of continual improvement. You’ll never “arrive” with Kaizen, so the temptation to rest on your laurels once you’ve seen a bit of improvement is reduced. The Kaizen mindset reminds you that all improvements must be maintained if you wish to secure your gains.

As Rory Vaden says:

“Success isn’t owned, it’s rented. And the rent is due every day.”

How to Implement Kaizen in Your Life?

Ask yourself this question every single day:

What’s one small thing I can start doing that would improve my life?

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Then, start small. Like really small:

Want to start the exercise habit? Just do a single push-up as soon as you roll out of bed in the morning. The next morning, add another. And so on and so forth. In two months, you’ll be doing 60 push-ups in the morning. In a year’s time, you’ll be giving your gym’s champ a run for his money.

Want to establish a morning and evening routine? Start with the evening, and concentrate on the 10 minutes right before you go to bed. Plan what you’ll do during those 10 minutes — it can be as simple as brushing your teeth for 2 minutes, flossing for 1, and reading for 7 — and make it a habit. Every day, add 5 more intentional minutes until your whole evening becomes a satisfying routine. Then work in the morning.

Want to start journaling? Instead of making it a goal to write a page each day, just start off with writing for a minute. That’s it. You might only get a sentence or two down, but that’s okay. The next day, add a minute. In a month, you’ll be writing in your journal for 30 minutes if that’s something you want to do.

Want to start reading more? Start with one single page. Add another page each day, until you’re reading a chapter a day.

Want to start meditating? Begin with a minute of breathing exercises. That’s it.

Want to lose weight? Cut out one sugary drink a day. Or cut your usual afternoon snack in half.

You get the idea. Think of the smallest step you can take that would move you incrementally towards your goal. Then try to make it even smaller.
When tackling big goals, it’s usually advised to only work on one goal at a time, but with the Kaizen approach, working on several things at once it entirely doable.

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Try to do just 1% better than the day before. Start small and make your increases gradual. Avoid the temptation to get impatient and start rushing forward and taking bigger leaps. Take it slow, steady, and consistent.

Simply try to do a little bit better than you did the day before.

Yes, the improvements will be gradual. Some days you may not even notice your improvement and it will be tempting to abandon ship and try something else. But with Kaizen, Time is your ally. You’ve got to play the long game with your self-improvement — you have to develop what wrestling legend Dan Gable calls the “Patience of Change.”

Once you’ve reached your goal, start a maintenance plan, and keep it up for the rest of your life. Lost enough weight? Keep up the manageable diet/exercise plan you’re on, indefinitely. Reached the point where you’re reading 30 minutes a day? Keep it up, and enjoy watching a library of read-books accumulate year after year.

Self-improvement isn’t a destination. It’s a process. It’s like shaving; even though you did it this morning, you’re still going to have to wake up and do it again tomorrow. The process never ends.

Give up on the idea that you’ll someday “arrive.” You’ll never arrive. Instead of focusing on the results of your effort to improve yourself, focus on the process. Joy in the journey, and all that jazz.

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And remember this: If you want to maintain the improvement you’ve made, you have to keep doing the things that brought you that success in the first place. Don’t let your early success lull you into a false security, and allow yourself to slack off.

What About Setbacks?

Of course, you’ll encounter setbacks. Some days you may get worse by 1%. That’s okay. It’s just 1% worse. Forget about yesterday and concentrate on today. Get back into the saddle and start doing 1% better again.

Change is possible.

You can get better.

It just takes time and patience.

With small strokes, you shall surely fell great oaks.

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Concluding Thoughts:

              Whether you wish to train yourself or others to instill better habits, small rewards are the perfect encouragement. Not only are they achievable and convenient, but they also stimulate the internal motivation required for lasting change. The Kaizen approach to life requires a slower pace and an appreciation of small moments. As you experience success in applying Kaizen to achieve goals like weight loss or career advancement, you will be naturally encouraged to hold on to its essence: ‘an optimistic belief in your potential for continuous improvement.‘

Use The 1% ‘Kaizen’ Rule To Reinvent Yourself

Recommended Reads:

What Is Kaizen? (or How to Build the “Continuous Improvement Habit”)

Improve yourself the Kaizen way: How to progress quickly 1% daily