Chapter 1: Why We Need Kaizen

Before we get into the nitty gritty of what Kaizen is and why it  works, let’s first consider the alternative and why it’s so important.  

As mentioned in the brief introduction, the approach many of us  impulsively make toward self-betterment, is to try and change  everything all at once. That example of starting a new training  program where you train four times a week and cut your caloric  intake is one that a lot of people can relate to. Perhaps you have  done something similar yourself? 

The only problem, is that this kind of approach completely  misunderstands human psychology, and the reality of our  lifestyles.

Think about it. If you are currently out of shape, then it’s probably  because you aren’t working out enough, and because you aren’t  eating right.  

But why is that the case? Chances are, it’s because you’re  currently too tired and too demotivated to do those things. 

Probably you come home in the evening and you feel absolutely  exhausted. You just don’t have the energy or the will power to  exercise, and that’s completely understandable. 

And so you expect to now all of a sudden pull this kind of energy  out of nowhere? You think you can go from being too tired to work  out at all and to being able to work out four times a week? 

And let’s break down what that actually means for a moment. 

It means coming home from work and then getting changed into  your gym clothes. You’ll then need to drive to the gym in the cold,  shower after your workout and get changed, then drive home.  Then get your stuff ready for the next workout. 

So that one workout actually takes more like two hours, which  means you’re dedicating a whole new 8 hours to your new  regime. 

You realise that’s an entire working day? Including lunch?

You’re going from NOTHING to 8 HOURS? 

Can you see the problem here? 

Meanwhile, you’re also expecting yourself to go out in the cold.  You’re expecting yourself to be organized the night before. You’re  expecting yourself to run and sweat in front of strangers, and to  miss out on your favorite TV.  

You’re not trying to learn one new habit, but rather learn a whole  bunch of new habits. While at the same time unlearning a bunch  of other habits.  

And that’s not all. Now that you’re burning 8 hours of extra  energy, you are also planning on eating 500 fewer calories?  You’re going to work twice as hard, while taking in half the  amount of energy. 

This is looking like a great plan. 

The Neuroscience 

As though this wasn’t already enough of a challenge, what you  probably don’t realize is just how much your neuroscience is  working AGAINST you in a situation like this. Our brains are highly plastic. That means they are adaptable to  change and can physically restructure themselves according to

our behaviors. You might think that would be good news when  trying to form new habits or lose old ones. 

But in fact, it also works against us. That’s because the brain  adapts hard to repeated stimuli. The brain adapts and changes  shape according to a very simple rule: neurons that fire together,  wire together. So if you repeatedly do one thing followed by  another, then those two experiences become linked in the brain  over time. 

And each time you do those things together subsequently, you  further reinforce and strengthen that link. The connections  become myelinated, meaning that the tendrils are insulated and  signals travel faster down them. They grow more nodes at the  connection points.  

Eventually, it gets to the point where you no longer have to think  about the association. Doing A automatically triggers B. Changing  this takes a HUGE amount of work, and in some cases is nigh  impossible. 

So to attempt to make this kind of wholesale change across  multiple different habits all in one go… well it’s somewhat futile. 

That’s where Kaizen comes in. And it’s why this is such a  powerful and transformative tool. In the next chapter, you’ll learn  more about it and how to put it to maximum use.

How it Happens 

At this point, you might now be wondering how this happens.  When you lay it all out like that, it appears obvious that making  gigantic changes to your routine would never be effective. If that’s  true then, why do we still spend our time determining that we’re  going to “change our lives starting tomorrow.” 

There are a few reasons. The first is that it’s simply that much  more appealing. Nobody likes the prospect of hard work, or of  something taking a huge amount of time. 

On the other hand, the idea that “everything can change” in a  single day is immensely gratifying. And so it should come as no  huge surprise that we can get caught up in this notion. 

The other issue facing us is the media. Because of course, it  makes a whole lot of sense for advertising agencies to want us to  take a more one-and-done approach to our self-transformation.  Gyms want to sell gym memberships. They do that by telling us  that we need to go all in or go home. They tell us that we should  buy all the workout equipment, the expensive protein shake, the  year-long membership. 

Then of course what comes next is that we feel guilty watching  the money come out of our accounts every month. While we get  no fitter or stronger…