If you were asked how many unrealized plans, ideas, unachieved goals have accumulated in your life and what prevented you from putting them all into practice, what would you say? Robert Mauer in his book "Step by Step to Achieve the Goal" suggests to solve life's problems with the help of Kaizen system.
The essence of Kaizen
"The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step," Lao-tzu. Kaizen is a process of continuous systematic improvement in small steps (from Japanese kai - change, zen - for the better). This system is successfully applied in business and personal life. Change always causes fear. The advantage of the Kaizen method is in the gradual change of the situation. You perform small actions that do not scare the brain, which means that non-standard solutions to the situation will arise in the cerebral cortex.
Kaizen strategies
Here's how you can achieve your goals and teach it to your child.
Take small steps, to form new skills and habits. Kaizen-style small steps are a clever trick against the brain's property of suppressing creativity in a moment of fear. The small step you take is like saying to the brain, "That's not scary at all, look, you did it!".
Ask little questionsthat quell fear and inspire creativity.
If we are faced with global questions, it is as if the brain is blocked, refusing to offer answers. But if we formulate the question clearly and specifically, not about the whole area, but about a small part of it, interesting solutions immediately come up. Instead of "How can I save up for a set-top box?" a child can ask himself "How much money can I save every week?".
Take small actions, guaranteeing success.
By taking small steps, you can easily bypass the obstacles blocking your path. Learning a foreign language is a big and global task. But even a daily 10-minute conversation in a new language or a class twice a week at Palme School can help you learn a new language.
will get you closer to your goal.
Solve small problemsthat could ruin the whole thing.
Solving small problems on the spot prevented more serious problems later. Analyze what small mistake you made today and how to correct it. For example, you put off an activity for the evening and then were too tired to do it.
Give out small rewards, incentivizing improved outcomes.
Psychologists say that the higher the size of the reward, the more the intrinsic motivation to improve disappears or is inhibited. A large reward discourages the desire to strive for a goal or eventually becomes a goal itself. Small rewards, on the other hand, are stimulating. Taking a bath, eating chocolate, playing a computer game for half an hour, or reading a book - there are many such ways.
How to teach children to apply Kaizen philosophy in their lives
- Show what the children will gain and how it will help in achieving the goal
- Explain the point: today you are better than yesterday, and tomorrow you will be better than today.
- Give clear examples. For example, compare Kaizen to a ladder. We go up a little bit each day. "Until you take one step, you can't see the next."
Or an anthill. These little creatures can build a house 2 meters high step by step.
How to form a habit
- Plan. Think together about ways to put ideas into practice. For example, you could buy a year-long course to gradually and systematically develop your brain and thinking.
- Visualize. Children love visuals. For example, they memorize one animal name in a foreign language during the week and assemble an entire zoo on the board by Saturday.
- Use small rewards. For example, giving up sweets and putting that money in the piggy bank.
- Summarize each week. Discuss what qualities the child has acquired. If it did not work out as planned, find out what prevented it. The Kaizen system suggests asking the question "why?" 5 times. This helps to realize the problem more deeply.
- Encourage. Praise your child in his daily endeavor to be a better person. Teach healthy self-criticism.
And what small step toward your goal can you take right now?
