THE KAIZEN PHILOSOPHY

You may have heard the story of the 20 mile march. Two groups of explorers were having a race to see who would be the first to reach the South Pole. Both parties had different ideas on how to reach the pole first.

The first party, led by Robert Falcon Scott, decided to march on the days when the weather was favourable. On these days, they would walk as far as they possibly could, often to the point of exhaustion. When the weather turned, they would wait in their tents for the storm to pass.

The second party, led by Roald Amundsen, had a different approach. Every single day, no matter what the weather, they would walk just 20 miles. Even if they felt they were capable of doing more, Amundsen would tell his party to stop, rest and recuperate.

What party do you think reached the pole first?

If you guessed Amundsen’s party, you are correct.

Scott’s party, although making great progress during the fine days, chose to make no progress on the days where the weather was unfavourable. This meant that their journey was flawed with inconsistencies, that faltered their momentum.

Amundsen’s winning party on the other hand, although only travelling 20 miles each day, were able to reach the pole first, due to their consistent and unwavering pursuit of their goal.

This, in a nutshell, is Kaizen.

KAI-ZEN (改善)

Kaizen is a Japanese word that translates to change for the better. It is also the philosophy that small, consistent, and regular progress will always lead to the accomplishment of goals - as seen in the story of the 20 mile march.

Kaizen is a philosophy that you can apply to any aspect of your life. Set a goal and implement small steps each day that work towards achieving the objective.

In a health and fitness sense, the Kaizen philosophy works extremely well. One of the biggest obstacles for people when trying to achieve a certain goal, such as fat loss, or aiming to lift a certain amount of weight, is staying consistent.

However, if you can achieve Kaizen and stay consistent, you will progress and achieve more than you ever thought possible. #kaizenyourlife