The Kaizen, Tiny Steps

I’m a sucker for a challenge, whether it’s to exercise more, eat a variety of vegetables or discover & learn new repertoire. As a piano teacher, I created so many challenges over the years like March Madness, The Scale Challenge and my every-popular Nightmare Challenge that made even my most practice-resistant students step up!

But when I began coaching, I learned how to make sure my challenges are successful, whether they’re for myself or my clients. First, I make sure they are flexible. I no longer set daily goals because it’s too easy to give up the first time a goal is unmet.

That’s why when it came time to get certified as a coach years ago, I chose the Kaizen-Muse method. I wanted something creative, one that allowed me to use my own interests like music, meditation and mindful writing in the method. But I also wanted something flexible, something that helped people create and build their own motivation.

Kaizen means changing for the better, using tiny steps. And I do mean tiny. The steps can feel laughingly easy. Want to work out? Try exercising for one minute each day. Want to add variety to your food? Try eating one new vegetable a week.

The idea is to pick a goal you know you can achieve. And once you can achieve that goal, you can add another tiny step to it. It works because our brain loves the dopamine hit of achieving a goal. And once we achieve a goal - even the tiniest goal possible - we have momentum and want to build on that success.

It’s important to make the goal very easy, but also to embrace the “ish”. Instead of saying every day, try saying daily-ish or weekly-ish. That way if you miss a day, your brain won’t interpret it as a failure or setback and you’ll be motivated to try again the following day. 

Here are some ideas for goals for music, meditation & mindful writing. Set goals on a daily-ish or weekly-ish basis. Accept that there will be days when goals are forgotten or are difficult to meet. If you’re consistently not meeting your weekly-ish goals, try making them even easier. Even 30-seconds of deep breathing will help!

MUSIC

• Listen to a new song: Discover different genres or artists to broaden your musical taste. 
• Create a 5-song playlist: Curate a short playlist for different moods or activities.
• Learn about an artist or band: Spend 5 minutes reading about the background of a favorite musician.
• Listen to a song mindfully: Focus entirely on the music without doing anything else for one song.
• Add color: Choose a song and draw lines or shapes, coloring them in based on the mood of the song. 

MEDITATION

• 1-minute meditation: Start with a one-minute meditation session to establish a daily-ish or weekly-ish habit.
• Focus on breathing: Spend 1 minute focusing solely on your breath.
• Gratitude meditation: Think of one thing you're grateful for while meditating for 2 minutes.
• Body scan: Spend 2 minutes doing a quick mental scan of your body, noting areas of tension and relaxation.

MINDFUL WRITING

1. Write one sentence: Start a habit by writing just one sentence about your thoughts or feelings.
2. Gratitude journal: Write down one thing you're grateful for
3. Describe an object: Spend a minute or two describing an object in detail to practice mindfulness.
4. Stream of consciousness: Free-write continuously for 2 minutes without worrying about grammar or punctuation. Make it messy!
5. Daily affirmation: Write down a positive affirmation or intention each day to set a mindful tone.

Embrace the “ish” and let your goals motivate you. Keep them small and fun and let your tiny successes spark new ones. You might be surprised how far you’ll come!