Self-Improvement
Overcome Laziness in One Minute by Using This Japanese Technique
Being lazy – we are all guilty of it. I am sure many of us have given up on certain goals, no matter how big or small, or have failed to achieve things just by putting them off for tomorrow, or next week..or never.
It happens to the best of us. We have an idea of something that we want to do, be it a new project, a new hobby, a simple attempt to start working out on Monday.. we’ve all been there. Starting off very passionate about something and then we lose that passion somewhere along the way, little by little, until we put the whole thing to an end.
We start off and put in all our effort into something and think we’ve done enough when we haven’t really done much to be honest. Or maybe we simply tell ourselves that we’re not good enough for it, or once we see an obstacle or a difficulty we make excuses or say we don’t really need or want that anymore.
Sounds familiar? I’m sure all of you can think of at least one time that you have done the aforementioned.
When we create a new goal or set a new challenge for ourselves, at first we go really hard and do a lot very fast. The last time I came up with a new goal, the first three days that was all I dedicated myself to and all I did was work on it. Three days later, my passion for it was gone. I had lost literally all interest in it. People tend to lose interest because they get tired of the ‘new’ responsibility in their lives. Habits and routines are hard to change, we are all aware of that, and when adding something new to our lives, we tend to be lazy about anything “extra” that we are supposed to do from now on.
The Japanese Technique Of Kaizen
This Japanese Technique only takes ONE minute a day and it promises results in bettering ourselves.
Kaizen originated in Japan, and was invented by Masaaki Imai. The word itself has two roots — ‘kai’ (change) and ‘zen’ (good). Together, it means “change for the better.”
Imai says, “The message of the Kaizen strategy is that not a day should go by without some kind of improvement being made somewhere.”
The practice of Kaizen includes the idea of the “one-minute principle” for self-improvement. At the heart of this method is the idea that a person should practice doing something for a single minute, every day at the same time.
Even the laziest person can do this! I am sure we can, and probably have, made excuses for any bigger or longer tasks, but we are talking about ONE MINUTE A DAY! No one is saying an hour or 30 minutes, or nothing major like that. One minute at the same time every day is all it takes!
“You can’t do Kaizen once or twice and expect immediate results. You have to be it for the long haul.” said Masaaki.
Being in it for the long haul shouldn’t be much of a problem since it only requires one minute a day.
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It Is The Feeling Of Success That Will Inspire You To Keep Going
Whether it is a new workout routine, doing push ups or running, or learning a new skill; whatever your goal is, when you are doing it for only a minute a day, the task doesn’t seem so difficult and you don’t make excuses anymore. Taking small baby steps towards your new goal will bring you great results.
When you realize it wasn’t as hard as you were thinking, you will start to increase the amount of time that you spend daily on your goal. After a few days, weeks, or as long as you think, you will increase the time for it to five minutes, and before you know it, you will be at 30 or even 60 minutes!
After some time, your task will become a part of your daily routine and also your habit, and you will no longer feel about it as you have previously felt about any other tasks from the past that you have given up on.
It’s important to challenge yourself, but keep your goals within reaching distance. What Imai and others in his field have noticed, is that it is the smaller challenges, when combined with continuous effort, that are more rewarding and provide more self-improvement.
It will surprise you how much one single minute a day can change your life for the better!
