Think Small - Make Big Changes with Small Actions

Does anyone else remember their New Years Eve? You may have sat down like I did and made a list of all the things you would change in 2009. And you may have even succeeded – for a few days. But if you are like most people, your news year’s resolutions were busted and broken before the president’s day white sale at Macys. But why? Why can’t we stick to the bold, grand plans that we make every new years eve? Do we lack the will power? Do we not want it enough? Do we not try hard enough? Or maybe, just maybe we tried TOO hard?

When we want to change our lives, we often make big changes and take drastic steps. Today, I’m going to suggest that Achieving BIG does not come from Acting Big. Rather, it comes from acting small. I present to you the notion that when we try to make big changes, we often see the challenge as too much and we give up too soon. But consider what might happen if instead of big changes, we acted small. I’d like to suggest to you that when we act small we can not only reach our goals but we can sustain a lasting success.

Welcome to the world of Kaizen. Kaizen? What’s that? It a Japanese principle based on the notion that a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. Its the idea that by improving something just a little each day, you can achieve big and sustaining success.
It’s the notion that by breaking a big problem into small, achievable steps you can be more successful than if you try to attack it all at once.

Kaizen tells us to ask small questions. Imagine your boss coming to you and saying “The company lost 1.5 million dollars last year. What are you going to do to fix it?” Fix it? Me? I can’t even imagine it. I’m just one person what can I do? Better to do nothing at all. While the boss may have been trying to create a sense of responsibility in her employee, instead she created a sense of fear, helplessness and paralysis.

Imagine instead if the boss had said “Times are tight. Is there one small thing you can do to help us cut costs?” One small thing? Just one? Well sure, that’s reasonable. How about that business trip I was planning next week? Maybe I can cancel that. As you can imagine, many small steps like this by many employees can add up. But notice how changing the question from the big to the small changes the reaction.

Imagine that you want to lose 50 pounds. 50 POUNDS. Impossible Right? Let’s see, you would need to set aside at least 60 minutes from your already crowded day for exercise. And you would need to cut out all treats - no cake, no candy, no donuts, no sugar. In fact, if it tastes good, don’t bother. Let’s face it, you can probably do it...few a few days. But then it gets too hard and you say “I can’t do it. “

So I say, DON’T. Don’t do it that way. Take small actions instead. Say to yourself “this one week what 1 thing can I do to improve my health?” Instead of 60 minutes of intense exercise, can I walk in place for 1 minute? Instead of a complete change in my diet, can I use sugar substitute instead of sugar in my coffee?” Then next week, add 1 more thing. By slowly building on the little successes, you will be more likely to achieve your goal. Take small actions.

That’s it. That’s Kaizen. Its small and its easy. Because Kaizen is all about taking small steps to achieve big goals. Remember these words of Normal Lear “Life is made of small pleasures and happiness is made by the tiny successes.” To learn more about Kaizen, I would recommend reading “One Small Step Can Change Your Life” by Robert Maurer.