Once you have made the choice to embrace your future, to open yourself to your full potential in life, the next step is to plan the steps you will need to take to get there. Now that you know what you want, you need to figure out how to get it, making plans to eliminate discouragement along the way.
Progress Is Gradual
Change does not happen overnight. It can take time, like sowing seeds and growing new plants, to see new opportunities and results manifesting in your life from doing things differently. The plans you make can take time to carry out and it may seem that progress or change is slow. However, you have to trust that progress is being made, gradually and continually, the same as growing a new plant.
In Japan, there is a principle called kizen and this word is made up from two Japanese symbols ki and zen, which mean change and good. So in other words, it means change for the better. In Japanese business, kizen is the principle of gradual and continuous improvement. Kizenetics is a word that we created from that Japanese word kizen, for applying the principle of kizen to the human condition, making gradual and continuous improvements to your life.
Too many people focus on making dramatic, huge changes in their lives. This can be effective in some areas, or for some temperaments who need to see fast results and like to ride that momentum, however generally speaking, making one small change on a regular basis and seeing a little more progress each day is far easier to maintain over a longer period of time. In business especially, gradual continuous change is far more effective for making profit and seeing good returns.
Small Incremental Steps
Therefore, when it comes to implementing change, design your plans to take small, incremental steps or changes on a continuous basis. It is far easier to persevere with smaller steps on a regular basis than huge changes that require a lot of energy and effort to maintain. When you have more to do to bring about the change, you increase the pressure on yourself to keep up those changes on a day-to-day basis, and the sense of failure is greater when you find you cannot maintain such dramatic steps.
Small incremental changes however are easier to stick with and then build upon. For example, say you want to exercise more. You may choose not to exercise today, but to start with one jumping jack tomorrow. Just that one small movement is an increase in your fitness level. After one week, you may increase to two a day, and the next week three a day. After a full year, you will be up to 52 jumping jacks a day. You can apply the same principle to any exercise such as pushups, running, or even lifting weights. Planning slow, gradual, easy increases will ensure your plan is successful, and more importantly, that the change or new habit becomes a routine part of your life.
So, create a plan, map out exactly what steps you need to take to get to your goal, and make those steps slow and gradual, focusing on continuous improvement. Apply the principle of Kizenetics and you will surprise yourself at the amount of change you can actually incorporate into your daily life.
Make the decisions, make the plans, and reach out and take hold of your dreams.
