My notes for One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way (Robert Maurer)

• The concept of Kaizen involves making small, incremental changes to achieve a goal

• Ask yourself, "What is a small step I can take toward reaching the goal?"

• The brain is made of 3 parts: the brainstem, the midbrain (amygdala) and the cerebral

• The amygdala controls our flight or flight response, and when there is a big change or goal ahead of us, it resists the change --> fear

• By implementing small changes at a time, the flight response, which blocks creativity, can be circumvented

• ASKING SMALL QUESTIONS

• Asking small questions can inspire creativity

• If a question is too big, it can create fear in your brain and shut down thoughts and creativity

• asking a small question repeatedly will allow your mind to come up with a creative answer slowly

• THINKING SMALL THOUGHTS

• By simply thinking about your response in a certain situation beforehand, you can prevent the flight mode in an unexpected difficult situation

• TAKING SMALL ACTION

• The ideal solution is always the smallest effective one

• To slowly overcome your brain's resistance to change

• SOLVING SMALL PROBLEMS

• Learning to spot and solve small problems you can avoid dealing with larger problems later on

• BESTOWING SMALL REWARDS

• Small rewards can motivate people to lead to great results

• RECOGNIZING SMALL MOMENTS

• Live in the moment
• Focus on small gestures