You’ve probably heard of the Japanese concept of kaizen. It’s a pretty popular idea these days. Seriously, it’s my nephew’s middle name for Pete’s sake. For those of you who don’t know, kaizen means “continual improvement,”1 but it’s really more than that. Kaizen is a philosophy that says you can make enormous improvements over time by constantly finding very small ways to make things better.
Kaizen is a unique way to approach life and business proactively. Instead of trying to change everything at once – a fool’s errand to be sure – this is a helpful mindset that encourages you to make little improvements wherever you can because they eventually add up to a lot. When you’re not ready for a big change, kaizen gives you a way forward.
My favorite source of daily wisdom, Brian Johnson, likes to point out that all the great teachers have said the same things. Indeed, one can find the wisdom of kaizen echoed in a variety of ways across the millennia:
- Over 2000 years ago, the Buddha said, “Little by little a person becomes evil, as a water pot is filled by drops of water… Little by little a person becomes good, as a water pot is filled by drops of water.”2
- Reflecting on the fact that the word character comes from the ancient Greek word meaning ‘the mark left by a chisel,’ Jim Rohn explained that “character is the result of hundreds and hundreds of choices you make that gradually turn who you are … into who you want to be.”3
- Stephen Covey said that “Your growth will be evolutionary, but the net effect will be revolutionary.”4
- Productivity researcher Piers Steel, Ph.D., pointed out that, “over the course of a year, a 10-percent improvement in efficiency translates into more than an extra month of getting stuff done.”5
- Fitness expert Michelle Seger, Ph.D., encourages us to find more opportunities to move (OTM’s) because little bits of exercise add up to a healthier lifestyle.6
- James Clear likes to talk about the power of 1% improvements.7
- I’ve spoken of the cumulative effect of 1000 little choices and the power of 5 minutes a day as part of my broader philosophy that everything counts.
But no version of this advice has ever struck as hard as this line from startup investor Naval Ravikant:
“All of the value in life, including in relationships, comes from compound interest.”8
Wow.
I’ve long known about the value of compound interest in, say, retirement savings, but I’d never considered that the same math applies to the time and energy you put towards things like …
- Investing in a skill
- Investing in a project
- Investing in a career
- Investing in a relationship
- Investing in yourself
The value that you can create for yourself and others doesn’t increase linearly with the time and energy you put in, it increases exponentially. It compounds.
Now, you might be thinking, Actually, I’ve experienced stagnation or diminishing returns in these sorts of investments. That’s a really common perception. But ask yourself, are you actually still investing? Or are you just resting on your laurels? In your career, are you practicing relentless learning? In your art, are you actually working to pursue mastery? In your relationship with your significant other, are you still giving care and attention as you did in the beginning? If you’re not really trying – if you’re taking things for granted – then of course you’re experiencing stagnation.
Because it asks us to make small investments, kaizen is easy to do. But because it’s easy to do, it’s also easy to not do. You could stop looking for ways to improve – you could stop walking the path of becoming better – and not even realize it. So on that note, I’ll leave you with the words of the great UCLA basketball coach John Wooden:
“You have to apply yourself each day to become a little better. By applying yourself to the task of becoming a little better each and every day … you will become a lot better. Only then will you be able to approach being the best you can be.”9
1 Shimoff, Marci. Happy for No Reason: 7 Steps to Being Happy from the Inside Out. Atria Books, 2009.
2 Easwaran, Eknath. The Dhammapada. Nigiri Press, 1986
3 Rohn, Jim. Leading an Inspired Life. Nightingale-Conant, 1996.
4 Covey, Stephen R. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change. Fireside, 1990.
5 Steel, Piers, Ph.D. The Procrastination Equation: How to Stop Putting Things Off and Start Getting Stuff Done. Harper Perennial, 2012.
6 Segar, Michelle, Ph.D. No Sweat: How the Simple Science of Motivation Can Bring You a Lifetime of Fitness. Amacon, 2015.
7 Clear, James. “This Coach Improved Every Tiny Thing by 1 Percent and Here’s What Happened.”
8 Ferriss, Tim. Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers.
9 Wooden, Coach John, with Steve Jamison. Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court. McGraw Hill, 1997.