By Master Coach Kesh
Approximate Reading Time: 3-4 min
KAIZEN AND THE CONCEPT OF LONG TERM, SMALL IMPROVEMENTS - FITNESS AND WELLBEING AS A LIFELONG PRACTICE
“We grossly overestimate what we can do in a month and grossly underestimate what we can do in five years.”
This phrase by John Danaher, head coach of one of the best grappling teams in the world, truly resonates with me. In a world predicated on the shorter term results that come from flashes of inspiration, a common problem we see at Restore Human is that people are unable to sustain these positive behaviours once that inspiration diminishes (which is unavoidable unfortunately!).
Why is inspiration so difficult to maintain over the longer term? Well, the primary issue is having to attach visible positive outcomes to every action. At the start of any process it’s quite easy to get some quick wins: stop consuming so many candy bars and soft drinks and within a week some noticeable change is there to see. Start a running/exercise program and in a couple of weeks you may see some big changes and feel much better.
The sticking point comes at the moment where you are still doing the things that got you early successes but they don’t seem to be having the same effect. Restricting calories further doesn’t seem to make the weight scale budge, and adding more miles to your weekly running regimen or doing more high intensity workouts just seems to hurt your knees or make you feel wiped instead of making you feel better!
What’s the solution to this dilemma? Surely just stopping these positive behaviours isn’t going to be the way? Definitely not!
Instead of stopping them, we need to begin thinking of kaizen. Kaizen is a concept that my Strategy professor at Oxford University introduced to me two decades ago. A Japanese concept, it refers to businesses that seek to continually refine their processes and to involve all the players in the process from the CEO to the shop floor.
So how do we apply Kaizen principles to your health and fitness?
The first thing is to split the year into chunks of say, one month. In the first month, pick ONE behaviour you want to work on and hammer at it: make it clear and measurable with no room for ambiguity: In January I will eat 5-10 portions of vegetables a day. Make a chart, tick off every successful day as you go along.
In February you might tackle a second nutritional goal and stack it with a movement goal: I will make sure I eat a serving of protein at every meal and walk 5,000 - 10,000 steps every day. This is added to the 5-10 portions of vegetables a day.
One thing to understand here is that if you don’t hit these daily goals on a given day IT’S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD! We are doing this for long term health changes, so as long as your trend is towards more healthy behaviours over time you will reap the benefits!
In March we might start to add on a simple movement goal by adding 2 or 3 physical training sessions a week, so now we are gaining strength, walking regularly, and eating much better in only 3 months.
By making smaller changes over time we can ensure that we don’t get overwhelmed by having to be ‘perfect’ from day one and instead get a little mini-boost as you get the freshness of a new thing added into your schedule, while retaining the cumulative benefits of the previous behaviours.
And so, this process goes on all year—by the end of which you are potentially eating fresh, whole foods, exercising regularly, going for long walks and hiking with friends (adding in a social element to aid in the behaviour change), practicing self-care by getting regular massage, have taken up a new activity that allows you to play while keeping fit, are reading interesting books and more and more.
By planning for the longer term and keeping a journal of all the things you are doing, the plans you have, the successes and the challenges you begin to see, the puzzle of health and wellbeing is clearer and less intimidating. This wonderful journey is a lifelong puzzle that isn’t over until we aren’t here to tackle it any more - but small, incremental changes stacked on top of each other can make truly incredible change a reality, not a dream!
Coach Kesh
