Kaizen Wednesday: A Single Step

Remember this game!  Oh my, starting at the beginning it looks like a daunting task getting up to that blue ribbon, doesn't it?  Not so nice when you hit a chute and go backwards.. but the ladders are quite pleasant!  The amazing thing is that you eventually always get to the top.. as long as you stick around long enough.  But it's the not ladders that get you there.. it's the those single steps.  The spaces between are actually what propel you forward.



All changes, even positive ones, are scary.  Attempts to reach goals through radical or revolutionary means often fail because they heighten fear.  But the small steps of kaizen disarm the brain's fear response, stiumlating rational though and creative play.

~ Robert Maurer, One Small Step Can Change Your Life

Try to imagine that gameboard without all those ladders and chutes.  It's a lot less daunting isn't it?  When we look to make broad sweeping changes in a big grand way (new year's resolution style)  we're hoping for ladders but we end up getting a lot more chutes than what life already throws us.  Instead, a simple step by step by step... that's how really life- lasting change occurs.

So this month.. as we look at our financial stablity, have you taken a few small steps?  Have you managed to cut back on something?  Have you made a bill right when you've gotten it rather than letting it sit?  Just a little tiny step... it's there waiting in front of you.