—video transcript—

I’ve shared with you the idea of starting with the most simple solution first, anytime you’re facing a challenge. An example that I’ve given in that regard is… You’re having an off day, you’re missing deadlines, feeling listless, and, rather than do a big psychoanalysis of yourself, get a glass of water. You might be dehydrated! Some sips of water and you could be completely fine. So there’s an example.

I wanted to extend this thought just a bit more and plant,some more seeds for you to apply this concept in your life.
Years upon years agp, I heard of the word Kaizen. You may have heard of it as well. It is a term used in relation to creating improvements and efficiencies in business. The Kaizen method is from a Japanese word that means improvement. But applied in business settings, it can affect everyone from the CEO to factory line workers, making small incremental improvements that shockingly sometimes and drastically improve the overall process of a company.

So for a factory line worker, imagine moving a button, like switch, up two or four inches, something like that, so that they don’t have to reach just as far to keep something moving on the assembly line – a small incremental improvement, such as that, so basic, could not only help them move faster, but may eliminate repetitive motion injury by letting them not reach as far, whatever that may be. But a small improvement overall brings about bigger, better results.

I resonate with this concept so much because I apply it in the physical space of my own home. Where I’m sitting right now., obviously I use this headset when I’m doing my videos and even for work conference/video calls, I use a lot of batteries in this headset. They get gobbled up ,the energy from the battery, very quickly. Right in this drawer over here – you can’t even see, I mean, it’s very close – I have batteries for the headset. So in the middle of a meeting, I have had to reach in there quickly to get my batteries and replace them in the headset so that I can continue participating. That was a Kaizen event in my life, a move that made the batteries very accessible to me. Not disruptive. I don’t even have to get up from this very seat to make sure I’ve got batteries for the headset that I use so frequently for so much of what I do in my work.

Kaizen is why I have a pair of scissors, literally in every room of the home. Why should I run to the catchall kitchen drawer to get a pair of scissors when I often need those scissors in my office here, in my bedroom in the bathrooms?I have scissors everywhere.
So these are just a few examples, but imagine the very practical application in your everyday life. Apply it to perhaps get you incrementally on the path to bigger goals.

A great example that a lot of people reference is say… You wanna work out every morning. Well, rather than set a goal of, “I will start training for a marathon every morning.” how’s about you just make your running attire very accessible by sitting it right in your path when you wake up. So it’s there for you to put on, and you just look at it at as a ‘one day at a time’ endeavor to get started. The bigger task may be so mentally overwhelming that it impedes us. Our brains are wired to avoid pain, seek pleasure, and be efficient. So anytime we engage it with this big lofty or presumably challenging task, your, your mental processes may shut down in an effort to keep you safe and keep you in a state of pleasure and peacefulness and efficiency. But in modern times, we have to find ways to override that.

So making those incremental improvements can be so beneficial in your pursuits. Think Kaizen event.

Again, it’s finding those simple solutions. Perhaps one simple solution is all you need to make an improvement, but getting that one simple solution may reveal other notches on the dial that you can apply to ultimately reach bigger goals, gain greater efficiency, and free your time up to pursue the things that are just, by nature, gonna be more challenging.

Honestly, that’s a concept behind my digital decluttering course that I have The little minutia of dealing with digital clutter throughout my day used to impede me from having time to be more creative and learn new things and break free from the laptop on occasion and just go do other things that I truly find more inspiring or more meaningful. But by Kaizen event, incrementally tackling the clutter and getting it to a place where I could then manage it efficiently forever, it freed me up to study neuroscience dive deep into personal growth and self leadership concepts, create a course to share what I learned with others. And now I apply all those Kaizen moments to find the most simple solution tactics to so many other areas of my life.

So start with the most simple solution and think Kaizen. What are those incremental improvements that can take you ultimately to the next level? Let’s think smarter and work not harder anytime we don’t have to. So – get a drink of water, maybe go out in the sunshine, think about some new ideas, and I’ll see you soon.

Thanks for being here, guys!