Kaizen Explained 

Kaizen is a highly successful and proven approach to making changes.   It involves a continuing series of small, incremental, positive changes that eventually and collectively result in major transformations.   Kaizen is a process that came out to the Japanese reconstruction process following WWII.   The word kaizen means "change for the better" -- "improvement."   It was originally developed for business, however, it is applicable to any aspect of  one's life.   The goal of kaizen is to improving the quality, joy, comfort, efficiency, and/or functionality in any area of one’s life.   

In our present-day social system, most of us have been programmed  to believe that successful change comes in big steps and major pieces -- that large change is good change -- that the way to succeed is to  make the largest possible change in the shortest possible time.   This approach is called "Innovation."   The problems with innovation are that it's too big to cope with,  it  usually doesn't work,  and it's scary as hell.    Innovation  doesn't work because it is counter to the human nature which resists change and sees major changes as threatening.    Kaizen offers a way around these problems.   Changes are most successful and lasting if they  are small and if each new step is followed by an integration time.   

The human psyche is designed to resist change.   Most of us like routine; we like consistency; we like the normal, the dependable, the usual;  we like that which is in harmony with us as we presently are.   So when facing major changes most humans baulk, they resist, and all to often, simply refuse to change.   The result of refusing to adjust or to adapt to a new context (a new set of external circumstances) is often uncomfortable, painful, and could even produce disaster.   Kaizen offers a way around this problem, too.   

Fear of failure is still another major factor in our inability to make major changes.   In many social traditions, particularly, the Christian tradition there is a strong psychological link between being wrong and being punished.   Failure is associated with pain.   Failure is associated with sin which, in turn,  is associated with eternal damnation in hell.  The way around this is again found in the Kaizen approach.   Make steps so small that success is relatively easy, mistakes are correctable,  and fear of failure is minimal.   

Instead of major changes, use the mountain-climbers motto:   "Take one step at a time."   Or answer the ancient Sufi masters question:  "How do you eat an elephant?"   We don’t actually eat elephants, but symbolically speaking the answer is “One bite at a time.”   Here are some additional examples:   

   In whatever goals you're striving to reach, think in terms what you're familiar with and comfortable with.    Now stretch one small step beyond what is easy for you to do.    Avoid a big jump.   Just take a small step.    What you will notice is that as you become familiar with this new small stretch, the anxiety goes away, and you find that your comfort zone has expanded.  Tomorrow, perhaps you'll  be ready for another small step.

   You could postpone the next cigarette or the next drink or the second helping of food for ten minutes.   And after ten minutes, you might consider postponing them another  five minutes.    Later, you could begin by postponing them for fifteen minutes, and so on.   

You'll probably notice that,  by making this small delay before eating the next bite of food,  the desire for more food often dissipates.   This is because  the body requires a few minutes to adjust to the food you have already eaten.    Once that adjustment has been made, if the stomach is full, the body says, "Stop eating."  After this delay, the desire for food is often  greatly reduced.  

It’s much easier, psychologically, emotionally and physically, to make a series of a thousand small steps than it is to make one huge jump.   The Theta Healing /Theta Transformation (which  is at the heart of TLC-Life-Center's  "Evolution of Consciousness" Programs ) '   utilizes this one-bite-at-a-time approach to re-creating our lives.   

Recommended reading on this topic:    
One Small Step Can Change Your Life:  The Kaizen Way  
A book by Robert Maurer,  Workman Publishing, New York.

Also, check the Internet.    Wikipedia ' has an excellent description.

Recommended additional reading on our websites:    
What is a Context? '    
     Describes what a context is, why they are important, 
     and how to intentionally create a context that can change your life.

Creating Community   '  
    How to  Use the Concept Called Tithing 
    to Enhance Your Own Life and Your Children's Lives.