Make Your New Year’s Resolutions Happen
New Year is on the horizon, and as we enter 2017, many of us will be thinking about what we can do to be better in the new coming year — on both a personal, professional and cultural level.
In January, my co-founders at BOLDR and I will be organising an interactive seminar with Dr. Gabija Toleikyte which will look at how we can change our habits, modify our brains and create lasting change. There will be some personal stories of success and maybe even a sample of the new coaching product we have been building.
I will follow up with some more details in the new year. But in the meantime, let me talk about the Kaizen approach.
Kaizen and Radical Change
After all the festivities when all turkey and any remaining crumbs of Christmas cake are gone, many of us start to think about how radically different we want our next year to be. And then come the New Year’s resolutions with big ambitious goals.
Yet, the Kaizen approach to self-improvement rejects the idea of such radical change. Sure, some people seem to be able to lose weight at the drop of a hat, whilst simultaneously quitting smoking and hitting the gym six days a week. But, for most of us, such major change is just not sustainable. And can often be overwhelming.
Change is a process that consists of many steps, so if we want to see a real difference in our lives, we need to find a way to embrace each of these steps.
So How Do I Do it?
Instead of aiming for one big change, focus on small and continual improvements. Simply do a little bit better than yesterday.
Seen in isolation, it’s a small goal — for example, if you exercised for 5 minutes yesterday, all you could do is exercise for 6 minutes today, and 7 minutes tomorrow — but, after a month or so, the compounding effect will be obvious. After a year, the change will be dramatic.
Why It Works
The Kaizen approach works because it breaks change down into manageable chunks, tiny achievable steps and forces us to focus on small differences whilst the larger, life-changing change slowly creeps up on us over time.
Work It Into Your 2017 Plan
So, when you’re conducting end-of-year reviews and creating plans for 2017 with your employees or employer, keep Kaizen in mind. Create an improvement plan that has incremental small steps. After all, this approach applies equally well to businesses and individuals, and, in my opinion, is the best way to conceptualise and achieve real progress.
And if this is still proving difficult, come and join us in January when we will talk about how the brain works to make real lasting change.
What’s your New Year’s resolution? And do you think the Kaizen approach can help you attain it?
