While most people settle for average, you strive for the best. You don’t want to work at a dead-end job because you want to build a successful business. You don’t want to be unhealthy, because you want to transform your body into a muscle machine. Some days you’re proud to have set challenging goals for yourself, but on most days, you’re stressed and disappointed. You’ve been working towards your goals for months and made little progress.

The result? You question your capabilities and consider lowering your standards. But what if there was an easier way to achieve your goals? It would still require hard work, but you’d make consistent progress. Best of all, you’d start reaching your goals and gain your confidence back. So what’s the solution? The Kaizen method because it will help you achieve more and replace bad habits with effective ones. Here’s how you can use the Kaizen method to reach your goals:

Why Kaizen Is The Answer To Achieving More

The Kaizen method is a series of small steps to improve a habit. These aren’t your typical “small steps,” because they’re so small they appear insignificant at first. This might be the opposite of what you’re currently accustomed to, and where most run into trouble. Here’s why towards the early stages of any goal it’s easy to get excited. You’re able to put in long hours for the first few weeks until you burn out or lose interest.

For example, people wanting to lose weight start going to the gym 3–5 days per week when first starting out. Yet, instead of breaking down their goal into smaller steps they aim to reach their goal as fast as possible. Because they’re overworking themselves, they burn out and become frustrated.

A better approach to losing weight would be to take smaller steps and make consistent progress. Instead of going to the gym 3–5 days per week, start by power-walking during TV commercials. Following this, gradually increase your task’s difficulty as it becomes easier.

How do I know Kaizen works? I’ve used it to start a Podcast, change careers, and have experienced success. But don’t take my word for it, Toyota achieved massive success using Kaizen in their assembly line.

“There are no big problems – there are just a lot of little problems.” – Henry Ford

Less Is More When You Want To Reach Your Goals

Nothing worth accomplishing is “easy”, but it doesn’t have to feel exhausting. Here’s how Kaizen can fit into your busy schedule. Before you start working towards your goals, start asking small questions. For example, if one of your goals is to lose 10 lbs this year ask the following: “How can I burn 100 calories today?” “How can I drink 2 bottles of water today? Easy right?

Completing small tasks can feel like you’re making little to no progress, but you’ll start building positive habits. As you’re completing your tasks, track them in a journal to stay motivated and focused.

Another problem you face is your fight-or-flight response triggered by your amygdala. This is a psychological reaction our ancestors used in the past to flee harmful events. Small questions work because they avoid triggering your fight-or-flight response. With small questions you’re making it almost impossible for you to fail by working on small tasks.

Remain Committed By Rewarding Yourself

Think of your motivation as a gas tank, in the morning it’s full, but throughout the day it gets depleted. In the perfect world, you’d have 1 goal and more than enough motivation to stay committed. Nonetheless, the reality is that you have many goals and obligations that drain your motivation such as a soul-sucking job or nagging friends. By the end of the day, you’re exhausted and unmotivated to pursue your goals.

Small rewards work because they’re a form of recognition instead of a material gain. For example, take American businesses and the notion that they reward their employees with large cash rewards. This fails because employees tend to focus on ideas big enough to produce large rewards. This results in little to no progress for companies trying to solve problems.

Instead, focus on small rewards so you continue to make consistent progress. For example, after writing for 25 minutes reward yourself with a 5-minute break on YouTube. This way you’ll have an incentive to complete your tasks, and be closer to reaching your goal.

“Acknowledge all of your small victories. They will eventually add up to something great.” – Kara Goucher

Achieve Any Goal You Decide To Chase

What if you were able to achieve any goal you’d decided to pursue? You’d break down your goal into smaller tasks and follow a proven system to help you achieve it and improve your confidence. The truth is you can achieve any goal you decide to pursue, but it will take courage, sacrifice, and hard work.

Start by asking small questions to break down your goal into smaller tasks. As your making progress no matter how small it is, remember to reward yourself for your hard work. Challenge yourself to reach your biggest goals using the Kaizen method. Don’t wait until the beginning of the year to set new goals. Start today.

You have only one life to live, so tell us what big things will you achieve this year?