There is so much wisdom and power in this concept that if only more people adopted and directed it towards their own quality of life it would literally change the world. Well it would definitely change the individuals world!
It may have come to popularity as a business strategy/philosophy (initially born out of the Toyota car company of Japan) but it’s core concept is just as applicable and powerful when implemented in our own lives- gradual, continuous improvement.
The opposite of this would be the ‘all or nothing method’ which, in my experience, never delivers anything that could be considered true value with regard to a persons wellbeing yet is the most common path chosen by most.
So here’s kaizen, adapted for personal health, wellbeing, fitness qaulity of life and anything else you want to add in 3 sentences:
- Understand and accept what your current starting point is
- Get educated on what you need to do to change your current situation
- Commit to improving it one step at a time
At it’s very foundation, getting fit, healthy and enjoying at the rewards they bring comes down to a few very basic principles. The have never changed and they never will.
So far I have put together a list of 8 foundational areas. In no particular order, they are:
- Mindset- a true commitment to living a healthy, active and rewarding life
- Nourishing your body
- Nourishing your mind/soul
- Managing your stress levels
- Regular and adequate movement/exercise
- Monitoring
- Time
- Having a life
Everything that you will ever read about health and fitness is covered in these 8 areas. For example, water and food falls under section 2, meditation and sleep falls under number 4 and your weekly exercise routine falls under number 5.
Looking at the list, you’d find it hard not to agree that any person who implemented it wouldn’t end up fit and healthy and probably fairly happy as well. By focusing on developing them, a high quality of life becomes guaranteed so long as no unplanned catastrophic life events occur.
And as you can see, there’s noting ground-breaking there. It’s the same stuff I’ve been promoting for years (and will continue to do) and also the same principles that every other health and fitness professional has been promoting for years.
So why do so many people struggle to live a healthy life if the information is freely available and everyone agrees?
In my experience, they fail to adopt the concept of kaizen where they must focus on the bigger picture of their future lives. Instead, they opt for the ‘all or nothing method’ which, more often than not. seems to end in the ‘nothing’ part of that equation.
If applied, kaizen will get you to your desired goals because gradual, deliberate, continuous change snowball over time to produce massive, life-changing results. This concept is one of the most powerful agents of change that exists for improving a persons circumstances.
One the reasons for this is that it never overwhelms you because you never need to commit to anything too big for you to handle. You get to set the pace of progress so instead of having a million things to change overnight, you can just pick one over the next week.
If some unexpected challenge happens in your life, it’s pretty easy to stay on track because you only have this one commitment to focus on which, if you’re serious about your goals, shouldn’t be too hard to stick to.
BUT, ……………….
There’s a trade off. Isn’t there always!!!!!!
It takes time, patience and a commitment to take action. In a society which rams instant gratification down our throats every chance it gets, this can be too hard to do for many people. It becomes the deal breaker so they opt instead for the ‘all or nothing method’ which has a terrible track record for delivering sustainable results of any real value.
The ‘all or nothing method’ is a crafty slave master though. It says, “Ignore that Kaizen fella. You’ll be there for ages before you see any progress. Wouldn’t you like to see the same progress in a fraction of the time?”
And of course, who wouldn’t? So you overhaul everything over night, dig deep and tear into your new program, diet or whatever it is.
But here’s the kicker- it has never worked for anyone who had big changes to make. NEVER.
Most people end up in a worse situation than they started because the rebound is so hard that they have further to fall.
Summary
The foundation principles of health, fitness, wellbeing, fat loss and whatever else you want are small in number and freely available to 99% of people on the planet.
The reason most people struggle with them is simply due to the approach they take in pursuing them. Life is far too short to drag yourself through it due to the choices you make on a daily basis.
Adopt the philosophy of Kaizen and watch your world change:
- Understand and accept what your current starting point is
- Get educated on what you need to do to change your current situation
- Commit to improving it one step at a time
Let me know your thoughts in the comments section.
Steve McGrath
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