Kaizen is a Japanese term (actually first developed in the U.S. during the industrial World War II manufacturing frenzy) which means “change for the better” or “continuous improvement”. I’ve written/spoken about it before, but the value of this concept hit me last week when I saw a friend of mine who I hadn’t seen in two years because… well, you know why.
I was at a properly-attended social function when he happened to walk by. Instinctively I stood up and gave him a bro-hug, like we might’ve done casually just two years ago. It was a bit awkward, and I probably should’ve played the handshake-or-knuckles “hello” game, but emotions took over. After we said our pleasantries and “stay safe”, I started thinking about kaizen. We can’t recover everything, make the world go back to normal, recreate our lives from 2019 overnight. But we can take incremental steps.
Even as habits have changed since March, 2020, people are able to (somewhat) rationalize the “Covid-19” weight gain- in pounds. Try not to agonize over the daunting concept of losing 19 pounds, but perhaps focus on losing a pound every week or so. That may be manageable and doable. Success breeds confidence.
We are constantly reminded to get 30-minutes of exercise a day. But for many of us, the willpower, motivation, or wherewithal to do that just isn’t always there. But walking around the block once daily with the dog? That works. Seven-minutes? OK, it’s a start. Maybe in two weeks you’re up to walking around the block twice- 14 minutes. Incremental steps, piecemeal gains, but realistic goals to get you on your way.
Got the blues? Find little things to help make you happy. A song; a memory. I literally watched two ducks floating in a pond while waiting to tee off while playing golf last Saturday. Two ducks. They bobbed without a care in the world (I suppose). How tranquil, ideal, simple. I’m sure my blood pressure dropped a notch right there (especially after bogeying the preceding hole, an easy par 4).
At the end of the day, doing little pieces of something is better than doing a whole lot of nothing. Mountains are hard to climb if you gaze forlornly at the top, but the time has come to start focusing on smaller chunks- the next ridge, opportunity, success. Maybe that’s how we can find our way back.
Think about it…