Commit to Constant & Never Ending Improvement

Commit to Constant & Never-Ending Improvement

WE HAVE AN INNATE DESIRE TO ENDLESSLY LEARN, GROW AND DEVELOP. WE WANT TO BECOME MORE THAN WHAT WE ALREADY ARE. ONCE WE YIELD TO THIS INCLINATION FOR CONTINUOUS AND NEVER-ENDING IMPROVEMENT, WE LEAD A LIFE OF ENDLESS ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND SATISFACTION – CHUCK GALLOZZI

In Japan the word for constant and never-ending improvement is KAIZEN. Not only is this an operating philosophy for modern Japanese business, it is the age old philosophy of warriors, too – and it’s become the personal mantra for millions of successful people all over the world.

Human beings are born to achieve and achievement is what differentiates a man from the animal. Achievers – whether in business, arts, sports – are committed to continual and ceaseless improvement. If you want to be more successful, you need to ask a lot of questions to yourself.

• Going about doing the job at the workplace how can I make it more interesting, better in terms of quality, quick in terms of efficiency, profitable in terms of fulfilling customer’s satisfaction?

• How can I motivate myself and my subordinates to consistently accomplish superior results?

The Mind – Numbing Pace of Change

In today’s world, a certain amount of improvement is necessary just to keep up with the rapid pace of change. Change is inevitable. We need to keep pace with changing times or you are lost into the oblivion. New information, new technologies, new processes, new methods are being discovered and used more often. New words come into use anytime a trend or fad catches on. And what we learn about ourselves, about our health, and about the capacity for human thought continues almost unabated.

Improving is therefore necessary simply to survive. But to thrive, as successful individual do, a more dedicated and concerted approach to improvement is required.

Improve in Small Increments

Whatever you set out to improve your skills, change your behavior, or better your family life or business, beginning in small, manageable steps gives you a great chance and opportunity of long-term success. Even if you decide to improve 1% every day, in a year you are going to improve by 365%. Doing too much too fast not only overwhelms you (or anyone else involved in the improvement), it can doom the effort to failure – thereby reinforcing the belief that it’s difficult. When you start small, achievable steps you can easily master, reinforces your belief that you can easily improve. For example: If you have decided to climb 100 steps, you need to take incremental steps to achieve the feat.

Decide What to Improve On

At work, your goal might be for your organization to improve upon the quality of your product or service, your customer service program, or you’re advertising. Professionally, you might want to improve upon your computer skills, your negotiating skills, or your communication and decision making skills. At home you might want to improve upon your parenting skills, cooking skills. You could also focus on improving your health, fitness, your knowledge of investing and money management. Or perhaps you want to develop greater inner peace through meditation, yoga, and prayer. Whatever your goal, decide where you want to improve and what steps you’ll need to take to achieve that kind of improvement.

To keep yourself focused on constant and never-ending improvement, ask yourself everyday, “How can I / we improve today? What can I / we do better than before? Where can I learn a new skill or develop a new competency?” If you do constantly, deliberately, regularly on a day to day basis with a bull dog determination, you will embark on a lifelong journey of improvement that will ensure your success.

Do not Dare to Skip Steps

He who stops being better stops being good. One of the realities is that major improvement takes time; they don’t happen overnight. What you are today is the sum total of your personality which you developed over a period of time.  For example: If you want to be better in terms of leadership, communication at work place, you need to come out with a different set of thought process which ultimately sets a new behavioral pattern. In other words, you need to unlearn those things which you have learned in the past and put your new learning habits to set a momentum. Learning new things and making a commitment to get better each day, every day you eventually over a period of time become successful in achieving goals.

Becoming a master takes even more time. You have to practice, practice and practice! You have to horne your skills through constant use and refinement. It takes several years to have the depth and breadth of experience that produces expertise, insight and wisdom. Every book you read, every class you take, every experience you have, every mistake you correct is another building block in your career and your life.

Don’t shortchange yourself by not being ready when your big break appears. Make sure you have done your homework and honed your craft. Actors usually have to do a lot of preparation – acting classes, community theater, bit parts in movies and television, more acting classes, voice lessons, accent training, dancing lessons, martial arts training, learning to ride a horse until one day they are ready for the dream part that is ready for them.

Make a commitment to keep getting better and better every day in every way. In doing so, you will enjoy the feelings of increased self-esteem and self-confidence that come from self-improvement, as well as the ultimate success that will inevitably follow.

The author of this article / write up is Iyer Subramanian. He has been writing a number of articles in Business Manager, Hospitalitybiz, Express Hospitality. Can be contacted by e mail: iyerpdkgnm@yahoo.com