2023-12-18 08:00:00
Japanese culture continues to be the mirror we turn to when we need that introspective and calm point that we so need in our current, frenetic pace of life. We look at their diet, the physical activity with which they avoid the gym or how they reconnect with nature by walking in silence (shinrin-yoku). The Japanese country also gives us keys to improve mental health. An issue that is now being analyzed in depth in Spain given the worrying data: six out of ten young people between 15 and 29 years old do not feel well in this sense.
Let us remember Mr. Miyagui in the film that marked the eighties, Karate Kid: “Give wax, polish wax.” Daniel, the protagonist, became desperate with this indication from Mr. Miyagui to learn karate: he wanted a very quick training but his teacher forced him to concentrate on this exercise that was so simple and apparently useless for martial arts. This scene can illustrate in some way the Kaizen philosophy or method: small, patient and constant exercises to achieve big changes.
A business method applicable to personal life
The Kaizen Method emerged in Japan after World War II to improve teamwork and with it business productivity.20BITS
It is a philosophy that supports what Mr. Miyagui taught us: improvements are achieved by applying a method based on small changes, sometimes even imperceptible, that must be sustained over time as a routine. If this is achieved, the result will be as spectacular as Daniel’s victory in the karate competition in the film.
The Kaizen Method emerged in Japan after World War II focused on the business environment with a premise that sounds very familiar to us today but was unprecedented at that time: getting staff involved and understanding that teamwork improves productivity. company productivity.
First step: identify your goal
There are no closed formulas on the application of the Kaizen Method to improve our mental health. What does exist is a clear philosophy for the various techniques developed by therapists and easily found in clinics and books: small changes in the daily routine give rise, with perseverance and patience, to great achievements. Simple changes that do not generate effort and therefore do not cost us to maintain over time.
First of all, we must identify what we want to change: what makes us uncomfortable or what is a pending goal. From finishing a book to having a physical activity routine. The Kaizen Method advises taking small steps and not getting frustrated with not achieving it quickly: if you don’t exercise you can’t have a sudden one-hour daily routine in the gym, but you will have to do exercises that little by little increase in intensity and duration.
Second step: simple and daily changes
The Kaizen Method can start with just a few minutes a day, which seem insignificant but create the routines for the big change we want to achieve. A dynamic that implies the recognition of stress and frustration and that helps us not procrastinate, something so everyday in today’s society.
In short, small changes that penetrate the subconscious, modulating our way of thinking and creating new future routines, moving them further and further away from stress, anxiety, frustration, fears and low self-esteem.
References
Anáhuac University Network (2020, November 17). Kaizen method. What is it and how can you benefit from it? https://www.anahuac.mx/generacion-anahuac/metodo-kaizen-que-es-y-como-puedes-beneficiarte-de-el
Reina Sofía Center (2023, September 19). Youth, Health and Wellbeing Barometer 2023.
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