The Kaizen Approach to New Year’s Resolutions
What cultivates our culture’s collective ‘Time To Change’ mentality this time of year? Why are New Year’s Resolutions so compelling? Perhaps a better question: Why are they so hard to keep?
It’s human nature to keep growing and learning, to acknowledge the mistakes we’ve made and strive to improve. January symbolizes a new year, a natural time to reflect on new hopes and dreams. It makes sense that we’re compelled to ponder these issues.
Unfortunately, 80% of our New Year’s resolutions fail. Yet there IS a way to succeed. By understanding how our brains work, and the natural processes that support behavior change, we can greatly increase our odds of succeeding with our resolutions…both at New Year’s and year-round.
Our brains are hardwired to resist change — it’s a survival strategy. Any major diversion from our status quo is bound to trigger at least a minor fear response. Whether the change is related to eating, exercise, or just managing stress better, our amygdala (the ‘fight-flight-or-freeze’ brain area) alerts the body to prepare for action, while input from our cortex (the rational thinking brain area) can be restricted, or sometimes bypassed entirely. When changes are too significant, our brains can respond to the fear state with a mega dose of stress hormones. At these times, we also experience lower levels of creativity, rather than the ongoing positive energy we need to reach our long-term goals. This is why, when we hit a bump in the road with a new behavior, we yearn to revert to our old ways. It’s simply more comfortable — and less fear-inducing.
To succeed at change, we must ‘outsmart’ the amygdala. We can do this by breaking change down into Kaizen steps — tiny steps that move us down a continual path of change, for good. Kaizen steps are taken one at a time, guided by intuition, and put into a context that’s specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-sensitive. For these reasons, we are bound to succeed. These small steps bypass the fight-flight-or-freeze mechanism. Our brains say: “Hey this is so tiny I don’t need to get worked up, no big deal, no risk of failure or unhappiness here.” Kaizen steps allow the brain to build new, permanent habits. If achieving each step is also acknowledged, progress towards larger change can occur at a surprisingly brisk pace.
A health and wellness coach trained in these behavior change processes can help you set Kaizen steps that align with your intuitive wisdom and internal motivation. I also recommend The Wellness Inventory, a tool you can use in conjunction with coaching or on your own.
As you approach your resolutions for 2020, consider breaking them down. It doesn’t matter how small each step is. What matters is that you move in the direction you want to go. That’s success!
Keep it small and keep going!
