HOW ONE MINUTE CAN BE YOUR LIFE-CHANGER

Many people usually set far-reaching, ambitious goals that they’d like to achieve as soon as possible. When that doesn’t happen (which is pretty often, considering how unrealistic it all is), they get disappointed and give up. And then, there are certain bad habits we effortlessly develop, such as laziness and procrastination. I believe you have met those ladies at some point in your life.

Well, I have a much better and much more beneficial acquaintance for you. Let me introduce to a Japanese technique for overcoming laziness and steadily reaching your goals, no matter how easy or hard, short or long-term, simple or complex they might be. It’s called the “one-minute principle” and it is a practice that can be applied to lots of different tasks – from physical exercise to learning a foreign language to reading a big, difficult book to learning how to use a computer or another piece of technological equipment to unhoarding your house to transforming your garden; as Masaaki Imai, the method’s inventor believes, it can even be applied to the business world for challenging professional tasks. It is a Kaizen practice and it is one of the best for self-improvement. The word Kaizen is Japanese and a compound formed by the words ‘Kai’ meaning change and the word ‘Zen’ meaning wisdom, so I like to think of it as a wise change anyone can make in their life.

This simple yet efficient method is based on the idea that one must do something for just one minute at the same time every day. That’s right. All it takes is a small first step today. The fact that it’s only a minute will render it very exciting and fun; progressively, it will become one minute you will be eagerly waiting for every day and you’ll soon find yourself expanding it to more minutes and then to half an hour and, depending on your life’s daily agenda, perhaps to several hours. This is also a great way to measure and monitor your progress toward your desired goal.

When we try to do numerous things at the same time, we usually end up achieving none of those, which in turn can have its toll on our psychology and our spirits. However, by focusing on a single thing every day at the same hour and making it “the minute of [that specific goal of ours]” can go a long way both practically and spiritually. The Western doctrines suggesting that we have to work hard for a long time every day in order to achieve great goals may find this seemingly easy practice dubious and ineffective, but in reality, it is something that can truly change your life in the most appropriate way: by changing who you are, by changing you on the inside.

You see, that progress and devotion you’ll develop due to that one minute of fun will help you build your self-trust; it will help you believe in your strengths and abilities; it will free yourself from feelings of guilt and uselessness. As I said, it is nothing less than a life-changer!