Thursday, February 16, 2012

Adopt The Attitude of Kaizen

Adopt the Attitude of Kaizen

Practice as if you are the worst, perform as if you are the best.

Do you have a personal rating system to measure where you are in any area of your life? It’s interesting in areas such as work, and school there are systems in place that measure performance, however when it comes to our own lives we never seem to have that system in place. The Japanese have a term called Kaizen. It means constant improvement. The concept that we should always be growing and improving in all areas of our lives is important.

Develop a rating system that helps you to measure where you are at in any given moment. When I coach individuals or groups I will stop them at certain points and tell them to rate themselves based on attitude, energy, and effort. I have them use a rating system from 1 to 10. 1 is the stinkiest, slimiest, sloppiest they could be and 10 is the super, shiniest, sharpest they could be. By monitoring where we are on a constant basis we can adjust our performance and attitudes.

I am not suggesting that you try to be a 10 all the time. That would be exhausting. I am suggesting that you pay attention to where you are so that you know how much you have improved, or need to. By adopting a system to evaluate personal improvement and performance we can save time and be much more effective in the Kaizen of our health and fitness, relationships, career and any other area that needs improvement.

Keep a journal and document your progress. If your life is worth living it is worth documenting. By journaling you can reflect on where and how you improved and develop a road map for success. It’s your life, get started now.

Live Out Loud!