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Kaizen (改善)is the Japanese principal of continuous improvement, literally translating as “good change.” The practice underlies business culture in Japan, emphasizing continual small improvements at every level in an organization, but has become a concept practiced in businesses around the world.
In his blockbuster book Atomic Habits, James Clear also boils progress down to continual small improvements, “getting 1% better every day.”
This is because of the inevitability of big results when a system improves a little bit, again and again, over time. It’s the law of compounding returns.
And when the default of life, including your financial life, is entropy – disintegration, chaos, and decay – the continual effort to improve counts double.
But what I love about the idea of continuous small improvements isn’t the outcome or results this approach promises, but rather the process itself.
We can focus on practice, as much as outcome. We can focus on the daily tuning in to our desires to spend or priority to save, check in on the quality of our work with which we earn, and examine our financial management for inefficiencies or mistakes.
The practice of doing these things, these small things, repeatedly over time can be inherently satisfying because it helps underscore your commitment to financial security, keeps you connected to your goals, and helps neutralize or desensitize any negative emotional triggers connected to your finances.
Just like an athlete gets back on the court and practices again and again, or my daughter replays those tricky measures in her piano music again and again, we can put eyes on that spreadsheet, or bill, or statement and practice again and again – the decision-making, the strategizing, the prioritization.
And like anything, with practice, we get better at it. We get mentally stronger. We get wiser with our decisions. We gain confidence.
Sometimes it’s not easy because things are messy and we feel stuck. We’d rather procrastinate or avoid. But the breakthroughs don’t happen through avoidance. They happen by consistently engaging with the problem in a constructive, curious, problem-solving way.
I’ve rewrestled the same cashflow challenges or financial planning conundrums numerous times, but eventually through consistently practicing my systems, making small tweaks in the right direction, and revisiting the challenging questions, I find another opening, idea, or strategy and take another step forward. And because life and finances are always evolving, and are inherently messy, I know that this work is never done. It’s a continual process, one that benefits from small continuous improvements that come from consistent, repeated practice and effort.
How would your financial life benefit if you took a kaizen approach? If you generated one small improvement, and then another and another? A “personal finance as a practice” approach?
Try putting the big goal (or big problem) in the background for a time and get into the simple practice of continual small improvements, starting right where you are now. You may surprise yourself with the results, as well as enjoy the experience more.
We are what we repeatedly do… therefore excellence is not an act, but a habit.
Will Durant, as inspired by the words of Aristotle.
Because it means that impressive results or enormous changes are possible without herculean effort or magic formulas. Small adjustments, good systems, the right processes—that’s what it takes.
Ryan Holiday
I hope you enjoyed this edition of Under 2, an email series designed to share quick bites of wisdom to empower your financial journey (while keeping it short). Be sure to sign-up below to get these messages in your inbox.
All for now,
Lindsey