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Kaizen
-- How to Eat an Elephant
All
actions in physical space happen in
time and in a sequential fashion.
Everything is a process.***
By becoming aware of how this
sequential
process works, you can consciously
and intentionally align your personal behavior with the way the
physical universe functions to improve your life.
This is what Kaizen is all about.
Kaizen
is a continuing series of small,
positive changes made with the
intention of improving the quality,
joy, and comfort in any area of
one’s life.
Kaizen is a series of small
steps; as distinct from
constant change and as distinct from
innovation, which is making a large,
major change in
the shortest possible time.
***
Even when things appear to happen
instantly, it's still
a sequential process.
Some events occur so fast,
that
without technical aids such as
high speed cameras, we
cannot
perceive the progression as it
occurs. We see
only
the results.
We've
been programmed to believe the
change comes in big and major
pieces. This is called "Innovation."
The only problem with innovation is
that it's too big to cope
with, it usually doesn't work,
and
it's scary as
hell. Kaizen
offers a way around this and several
other problems.
The
human psyche is designed to resist
change. Most of us like
routine; we like the normal, the
dependable, that which is in harmony
with us. So when facing
major changes we baulk, we resist,
and all to often, simply refuse to
change. The result of
refusing to adjust or or adapt to
the new context is often
uncomfortable, painful, and could
even produce disaster.
Kaizen offers a way around this
problem, too.
Fear
of failure is still another major factor
in our inability to make major
changes. In many social
traditions, particularly, the Christian tradition there is a
strong psychological link between
being wrong and being
punished. Failure is
associated with pain.
The way around this is again found
in the Kaizen approach.
Make steps so small that success is
relatively easy.
Instead
of major changes,
use the mountain-climbers motto:
"Take one step at a time."
Or answer the ancient Sufi masters
question: "How do you eat an elephant?"
We don’t
actually eat elephants, but
symbolically speaking the answer is
“One bite at a time.”
Some additional
examples:
In
whatever goals you're striving to
reach, think in terms that you're
familiar and comfortable
with. Now stretch
one small step beyond what is easy
for you to do.
Avoid a big jump. Just
take a small step.
Tomorrow, perhaps you'll be
ready for two steps.
You
probably won't be able to lose
thirty pounds, but you could lose
one or two pounds. Then
after that, you could probably lose
another pound or
two.
You
could postpone the next cigarette or
the next drink or the second helping
of food for ten
minutes. And after ten
minutes, you might consider
postponing them another five
minutes. Later,
you could begin by postponing them
for fifteen minutes, and so
on.
Think
of a small way you could improve the
efficiency of your work or your
tasks at home.
You'll
probably resist cleaning your whole
house, but you could easily
clean one shelf in the pantry. Then
later, or tomorrow or the day
after, you might tackle a second
shelf.
How
could you be just a bit nicer to
your family, friends, co-workers,
and the people you encounter in the
grocery market or a restaurant?
And
the
words you just read. . .
They were typed one
letter at a time.
It’s much easier,
psychologically, emotionally and
physically, to make a series of a
thousand small steps than it is to
make one huge jump. The
N.V.P. Team utilizes this one-bite-at-a-time
approach to re-creating our
lives.
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Recommended
reading no this topic:
One Small Step Can Change Your Life: | 
