Kaizen – Chapter 10: Take the Red Pill, Quit the Quo

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You may or may not be familiar with the word and the concept of kaizen. It is actually one of my favourite concepts and a cool way of looking at things…

'Kaizen' is a Japanese term that essentially means continuous improvement. Change for the better. Incremental forward movement. Refine to perfection.

To me the concept is summed up as - moving forward all the time, improving, small yet definite strides, consistently over time. If you live this concept then great things will develop.

Every day, in every way, I’m getting better and better - Émile Coué

Slightly cheesy quote, sure, but the ethos behind it is sound and essential. You want to be making sure that whatever the discipline or endeavour is, that you have moved forward, nurtured, grown, improved a little each and every day.

Some days it may be a lot, huge successful strides… other days more subtle, nothing spectacular, negligible but most definite forward movement towards the desired objective, ready to fight again the next day.

If you are doing so then you are always, slowly but surely moving towards your goal… so not only are you that much closer but you will also feel good about the fact that you are going in the right direction as opposed to staying still (or going backwards), which will give you the added confidence and belief to keep on doing so.

As well as applying this concept to specific projects, you should also apply it to life in general. Exercise, get slightly fitter, improve your diet, be a better person, love more, give more, use your time more wisely, look better, feel better, become more valuable to others and an asset to the world.

Continuous improvement.

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Yes, you will slip up. A day may get missed, a week perhaps, maybe more. You may stay still for a bit or even drop back. But you have to make sure that the general spiral keeps on going in the appropriate direction. It’s what you do the majority of the time remember. So make sure that majority is as large as possible and the dips and slip-ups are kept to a minimum.

But if you do slip-up don’t panic. Just get back on the horse. Remind yourself of what you’re trying to do and why and continue where you left off. What you had previously done up to that point still exists, you’ve just fallen back a little. Just get going again, you’ll get back to where you were soon enough and surpass that point and you will ultimately emerge stronger.

So, on an overall level, spiritual level if you like or just being a winner, get better every day. If it’s a more specific project then complete a task towards it every day.

Remember, we are all a work in progress… as are our goals and desires. It’s all a process of refinement. Work towards something, refine, move forward… then refine, keep moving forward, keep refining… and smash it!

Increase Your Value

You always have to increase your value… invest in yourself. Take what you’ve got, improve, add to it, enhance so you offer increasingly more… whether it be to your employer, employees, customers, family, partner, friends, business associates (or potential ones), etc etc.

If you keep increasing your personal value you will be able to command more money, respect and make yourself a far more valuable commodity for others. Do not rest on your laurels.

This may take the form of courses and qualifications in the workplace, a sport or hobby, continued reading and education, spiritual awakening and anything else that ups your personal ‘score’.

Albert Einstein once said:

Don’t look to become a person of success, look instead to become a person of value

And he was quite a clever man by all accounts.

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On the subject of value; always give more of yourself away than is expected or asked. In business or personal life. If you offer a product or service, don’t just give what is expected to the value of what the prospect is paying (certainly not less!)… give far more, separate yourself from the crowd.

Not only will the customer be very happy, they will also pass on that fact to others. Firstly, make sure you meet what is promised, then go above and beyond, you will be rewarded in many ways. ‘Going the extra mile’ is an overused phrase but do it and be happy to do so and it will pay dividends.

The more astute can apply this principle to personal situations I’m sure…

The next chapter is an interesting one – we meet the 'Blue Pill Heads' and the 'Not Much Crowd'!