Incremental Change

Incremental change. 

I came across a Japanese philosophy of improvement called kaizen that I found quite interesting. The word basically means "a change for the better." 

 This change is accomplished through a series of slow, incremental actions. What I like about this approach is that by keeping a mindset of slowly achieving a goal, we might not be so quick to give up if we don't see instant results. 

Recently I attended a talk where the speaker had us take an inventory of our habits. I was quite pleased in all areas except one. As much as I was attempting to incorporate healthy habits into my life I was missing the boat when it came to drinking enough water.

Using this approach of kaizen I strategized that if I began by adding a glass of water first thing in the morning while I'm getting ready, I could begin to make a change in drinking enough water. This would not require too much extra effort on my part, but would automatically up my daily consumption of H2O.

After this habit became a part of my routine I could look for another time in the day to encorporate one more extra glass of water. I've known for a long time that keeping the body hydrated is important, but for some reason I have been reluctant to do so. I'm thinking maybe it just never became a habit of mine. 

Just like what we learned from the persistent tortoise, slow and steady wins the race, and we just have to keep our eye on the prize.  The speaker asked us to commit to the healthy habit that we chose for a period of twenty-one days. I'm not really sure there is an across the board number that works for everyone, but I'm willing to give it a go. 

If there is something you have been considering changing maybe using the philosophy of kaizen might be a simple way of helping you get started. 

"Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day-in and day-out"

Robert Collier