Reprogram your brain and continuously improve with Robert Maurer's book "The Spirit of Kaizen"

EPISODE 216

Robert Maurer's book "The Spirit of Kaizen" explores the concept of continuous improvement, which is at the heart of the Kaizen philosophy. Kaizen is a Japanese term that refers to the practice of making small, incremental changes to improve processes and outcomes over time. The book delves into how this philosophy can be applied to different areas of life, such as personal growth, work, relationships, and health.

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One of the reasons why "The Spirit of Kaizen" is considered a powerful book is because it offers a practical and actionable approach to self-improvement. Instead of advocating for dramatic, sweeping changes, Maurer emphasizes the power of making minor, incremental, sustainable improvements over the long term. This approach benefits people who feel overwhelmed by the prospect of making significant changes and are looking for a more manageable way to achieve their goals.

Moreover, the book offers a unique perspective on the Kaizen philosophy that goes beyond its application in the business world. Maurer explores how the principles of Kaizen can be applied to various aspects of life, such as personal relationships and health. This broadens the book's scope and makes it relevant to a broader audience.

In summary, "The Spirit of Kaizen" is a powerful book because it offers a practical and sustainable approach to self-improvement and provides a unique perspective on the Kaizen philosophy applicable to various areas of life.

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Run Sheet

INTRO
Dr Robert Maurer on Inspire Nation discovers how he got interested in Kaizen.
Good change (2m04)

WHAT IS IT
Robert Maurer on David Kadavy gives us a final message
Life is full of small moments (1m01)

HOW TO DO IT
Aurelius Tjin talks about the practical value of small improvements
One percent better a day (3m03)

Productivity Game explains why Kaizen is an effective strategy for change
Avoiding your fight or flight response (3m20)

OUTRO
James May looks into Toyota's continual desire to streamline their process
Toyota and Kaizen (4m30)

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Transcript

Mike Parsons: Hello and welcome to the Moonshots Podcast. It's episode 216. I'm your co-host, my Parsons, and as always, I'm joined by Mark Bien Freeland. Good morning. 

Mark Pearson Freeland: Hey, good morning, Mike. Good morning, moonshots family. Good morning, members and listeners. Boy, do we have another action packed episode for all of our listeners and everybody consuming the show today, Mike, don't we?

Mike Parsons: I think the only way I can answer this is 

Mark Pearson Freeland: Yosh Yosh, so. Ending, sadly, Mike, our series on Japan. And as a quick reminder, we've gone through the life-changing magic of Tidying with Mary Kondo. We did the Japanese Secret to a long and happy life. Spoiler alert, the secret is icky guy with Hector Garcia.

Mark Pearson Freeland: Today we are diving into the spirit and creating something of lasting effect. The spirit of Ka. Authored by Robert Mara. Really brought to life by a range of different businesses as well as individuals who can help you and I as well as our listeners start to put into practice, maybe Mike, this very, very substantial, but also very small day by day habits of, 

Mike Parsons: well, this is really the twist, isn't it?

Mike Parsons: Mark that. Kaizen is both big and small all at the same time. I'll give you another twist on Kaizen, a great practice of letting small things, you know, build up into great results. The crazy thing is it works not only in your personal life, but your professional life. It is to me, one of the biggest patterns.

Mike Parsons: That we've seen in 216 shows that we see all around the world across different genres, categories, industries, different types of experts, and that is the consistency of doing small things every day has enormous effect. I'm thinking. Atomic Habits. James Clear. I'm thinking, do you remember the Compound effect, which was specific for entrepreneurs?

Mike Parsons: Mm. With Darren Hardy? Yeah, exactly. So no matter where you go, The evidence points to the consistency of habit and doing small things continuously over time for great effect. And we have both a doctor and a researcher and a very famous author who has gone and studied both sides of this equation for us, so we can understand how you do it.

Mike Parsons: But I also think what's really, really good, mark, is we get to study why it works so well. And I think this. So important because so many of us harbor big dreams. But the great irony is the best thing to do is to start small in order to realize your big dreams. And I think this catches so many 

Mark Pearson Freeland: of us out, doesn't it?

Mark Pearson Freeland: Mark? Yeah, I totally agree. I think the, the call out that we are gonna learn today in show number 216 is similar exactly as you say, Mike, to. Concept of starting small, such as we found in the compound effect. And I think what's really attractive to me with regards to kaizen is there's no hyperbole.

Mark Pearson Freeland: There's no gimmicks. It's no overnight get rich quick schemes. It is just about breaking things down. Things that perhaps you started to uncover during our goal setting series with KPIs and some productivity and actually putting it into action and determining how can we go out and try to be maybe that best version of ourselves without feeling overwhelmed, without feeling fear, without feeling as though it's just too much and therefore we want to give it up.

Mark Pearson Freeland: Yes. I think there's a lot we 

Mike Parsons: can learn from. I think, you know, for all of our listeners and our members, if, if you harbor some really big dreams and ambitions and are wondering where might you start or whether you need a little reminder on your journey, if you're already off to the races, this is the show you, we are going to get into this idea of how small changes deliver big results.

Mike Parsons: And Mark I. It would only be appropriate to start with Robert Mora himself, don't you? 

Mark Pearson Freeland: I think you're totally right, Mike. So, listeners and members, we are gonna dive into this spirit of kaizen by hearing from the author, uh, the doctor Robert Mora, who breaks down exactly why. He got interested in Kaizen.

Mark Pearson Freeland: Yes. How did you get 

Mike Parsons: interested in Kaizen to even start to think of these things? 

Robert Maurer: Well, it was one of those things where your life is not your business and, and you wanna make God laugh, tell 'em your plans. But my major research passion, cuz I work in a medical clinic, is trying to understand what makes people successful.

Robert Maurer: If you look at the history of the plagues, Michael Smallpox, Kyle Malaria, yellow. Everyone was cured by looking at who wasn't getting sick and trying to figure out what made them different. So my research team at ucla, we began collecting studies from around the world that were following people anywhere from 15 to 75 years to see which of these people in the face of adversity and challenge and setbacks.

Robert Maurer: Would ultimately succeed, not just in their work, not just in their health, not just in their relationship, but in all three. And we found very exciting consistency across all the studies. And then one day I, I saw an ad for the, the, the Lexus automobile. And for the umpteenth year in a row, it was the highest quality car.

Robert Maurer: And I thought maybe there's something about the way people build cars successfully. Mm-hmm. that meta metaphorically. Could use. So began studying how Lexus got the ideas that made them such quality products. They learned it from an American named Edward Deming who taught them that if you're gonna make quality, uh, improvements in your life, start with extremely small steps.

Robert Maurer: And build them one small step at a time, which Toyota embraced and gave it the name Kaizen, which literally means Xena course is change. Kai means good, good change. And so I started looking at all the research around the world on people who were making extremely small steps when they wanted to accomplish large goals.

Robert Maurer: Whereas in our, in our culture, as you know, we have this extreme makeover, super size sup, Dolby 70 millimeters, uh, approach to life. Big problem, big solution. And as all of us have discovered, sometimes those big steps lead to Big 

Mike Parsons: falls. Big steps, big falls. There is like, this is like straight off to the races with Robert Mara and Mark, what I love.

Mike Parsons: Is like, I mean, you don't get much closer to the heart of what we are doing here on the Moonshots podcast with our members and listeners than trying to be not only the best personally, but trying to be at our best professionally as well. And I love the fact that we've found a guy who's been studying millions of people mm-hmm.

Mike Parsons: millions of companies around the world. And he found the pattern, uh, and he sort of pulled it all together in one. Body of work. I actually think that this idea of making good change every day is everything we're trying to learn out loud together on this show. This is what we're all trying to get done, isn't it, mark?

Mike Parsons: Yeah, 

Mark Pearson Freeland: it's, it's the ambition that I think we have with learning out loud as well as cultivating a growth mindset. You know, when we hear from Robert Maer in that first clip, the thing that strikes me. Is, well first of all, the amount of work that he put in to find this, this secret, and I think of all the moonshots individuals that we've dug into those.

Mark Pearson Freeland: Member, those, uh, individuals who do the research and pull together lots of time and effort are the ones that really stand out to us as being so interesting. Mike. And I think the reason why is because they're curious. They're putting in that work to try and uncover those secret little, uh, tips and tricks, those secret habits perhaps, that then lead to great success and what I think is really interesting.

Mark Pearson Freeland: With the idea of kaizen as well as that first clip is the call out that to achieve big things, it can start small. It doesn't need to be the big overnight successes that I think a lot of us, uh, you know, see on maybe digital media, uh, in the news. Um, our favorite celebrities and so on. Hmm. I think the story that Robert Ma says about Lexus, and then he goes on to build with, uh, Dr.

Mark Pearson Freeland: W Edwards Deming and his work on, uh, naming, I suppose you could say the idea of Kaizen after he identified those principles that the, the Japanese teams were putting into practice is that it can be that small little. Um, inches, let's say that then lead to the big, big successes that a car manufacturer might be able to go out and, and, you know, report on their annual , annual reviews.

Mike Parsons: Yeah. And, and just one call out there is, uh, Mara was, was talking about not just these people achieving really great things in. Health, but their mind, uh, in their relationships, which, you know, I think we really strongly have seen a relationship between this sort of holistic look at being the best version of yourselves.

Mike Parsons: You can't possibly say that, oh, I'm gonna be. Incredibly unhealthy. Yeah, I'm gonna be a high performer at work. Those things just don't go together, and we're so lucky to study the work of Robert Mara today and find out, well, what does this look like? How do we do it? And that's the question we always ask.

Mike Parsons: The other question that we love to ask is, what small contribution can you our listeners make? And we are very lucky, mark. We have a lot of members who every single month give up one cup of coffee, uh, in order to support our show, uh, and to be part of this journey. Learning out loud, but as. Officially we would always do in a moonshot shma, I believe we need to tip the hat to, to our members and to our patrons.

Mike Parsons: That's right. 

Mark Pearson Freeland: Tipping our hat and introducing our moonshot's members and subscribers. Those individuals who are part of the Moonshot's family Day in day out, helping us make those small incremental steps include Bob, John, Terry, Marlene, Ken Dimar, Marja, and Connor Yasmin. And Mr. Bunger, our annual members, a special high five, and lots of, uh, good wishes and karma from us for those individuals.

Mark Pearson Freeland: But who's next on that list? Within the annual memberships include Paul and Berg, Kaman, David, Joe Crystal, Ivo, and Christian, Sam, Kelly, Barbara, and, and. Matthew Eric Abbey and Chris Deborah Lase. Steve and Craig, Javier, Daniel, Andrew and Ravi Yvette, L gv. Karen Raul, PJ Niwa, Hola, and Ingram, Dirk, Emily, Harry, and Karthik.

Mark Pearson Freeland: Vanatta. Vipa, Marco and Sund, jet. Pablo, Roger and Steph. Our brand new members, a special to Anna and Gaer. Thank you for recently. Demonstrating your desire to learn out loud with us by joining us as moonshots members 

Mike Parsons: and, um, you know, you are pretty lucky. Uh, Gabriel Anna, you received a double trumpet from Mark, which I don't believe has ever happened in the history of this moonshots podcast, and, uh, the, um, The, uh, accounts and administrations team did highlight to me that uh, we do need to call out a special, uh, tip of the hat to Cowman Bergen Paul, who have all had their official moonshots anniversary.

Mike Parsons: That's right. They've been members for over the years, so we are delighted. To bring out the party poppers, the birthday cake. It's a celebration for Kalman Bergen. Paul, thank you so much for your support because without you guys, we couldn't afford to be producing this podcast cuz it actually takes us quite a lot of cash time, effort, and tools and it's your contributions.

Mike Parsons: That help us fund all of those so we can learn out loud together. So this brings us to the perfect moment to say, well, now that we are together, now that we've got the birthday cakes, we've had the double trumpets, it is time to go back to Robert Mara and really find out, well, what is life all about? And he would propose it's all.

Mike Parsons: The small moments. Do you have a final message for people out there who are, uh, maybe they have some creative dreams, uh, that they want to follow, and Kaizen might be able to help them? To think in 

Robert Maurer: terms of, um, paying attention to each moment. Um, mother Teresa said it beautifully when she said, um, that life is a series of small moments so that, um, each moment you have a chance to be kind to somebody.

Robert Maurer: Each chance you have a chance to look and see, um, what's working in your life and what isn't. And taking life a moment in time. We are in such a hurry to move forward, you know? We sometimes miss the very pleasure that we have in that moment, the way children see it. So to slow, slow down our thought process, if not our physical activity so that you can see what's happening in each 

Mike Parsons: moment.

Mike Parsons: So to, I mean, kind of feel what is going on and, and be, uh, I mean that happens to me when I'm having these conversations sometimes, is that I'm looking at the clock and I'm trying to remind myself to really be in the convers. 

Mark Pearson Freeland: I think Mike, what's great about that clip is it's not only a. Reinforcer of the idea of Kaizen, but it's also a reminder of something that we should all try and actively put into our lives when we are trying to deliver perhaps our best work, but also when we're just trying to live our lives when we're trying to create.

Mark Pearson Freeland: Interesting products when we're trying to educate our children or those around us. And what I like about where Robert Marra goes there, you know, he references Mother Theresa. I'm getting a, a real vibe of Eckhart. Of 

Mike Parsons: course, I was gonna say this as well, mark. He, he got all mindful, I mean, it's a whole nother side of Kaizen, right?

Mike Parsons: Rather than just the small habits. It's, it's all about being present in the here and now. And you're absolutely right. Eckhart Toley would be so proud. 

Mark Pearson Freeland: I think it's very, again, interesting how we have, I think Tructure. And learned through the Moonshot Show, including people like Ecole, the value of being present.

Mark Pearson Freeland: And what I mean by that is just paying attention to your surroundings, uh, possibly maybe even a little bit of Cal Newport, the digital minimalism instead, rather than being distracted by lots and lots of different things you have. Create the environment proactively to do your best work. I think what I'm hearing from, um, Robert Mara, by Extension Mother Thereza, is slowing down.

Mark Pearson Freeland: There's no need to run through life. There's no need to be disappointed, and I think this is gonna be the big insight that we're gonna run into a couple of times on today's show. Mike, there's no need to be disappointed when you don't reach your Destin. So fast. And what I mean by that is you are not suddenly, uh, the most successful boss around you are not driving the Tesla.

Mark Pearson Freeland: You are not, um, the number one podcast in all of the world, Mike. It's something that we can achieve over time, perhaps , but it's, it's enjoying the journey. It's slowing down and. Noticing those small achievements that we have, such as our beautiful members joining us week in, week out. Yes. Noticing those moments, isn't 

Mike Parsons: it?

Mike Parsons: Yeah. I, so I think the question then becomes like, how do you, let's, let's assume that you are all powered up on Kaizen. Let's say you're all powered up on Atomic Habits by James Clear, and you are really ripping at it, and you've got like good daily habits. Maybe you wake up in the morning and you journal, maybe you wake up in the morning and you work out.

Mike Parsons: This other side that Robert Mara is presenting to us is about being present in those small steps and small habits. How do you keep yourself. Present Mark, like, what are you doing to be in the here and now? And to be clear, not being distracted or not being. Disconnected. How do you, how do you do it? 

Mark Pearson Freeland: Well, it's one of my favorite, favorite topics, Mike.

Mark Pearson Freeland: You know, we've, we've dug into this idea of productivity and so on, um, a lot on the show. And for me, I've noticed that during the course of, you know, a few weeks and months of understanding and learning and valuing, The benefit of being able to stay in that moment rather than, you know, getting distracted by lots of different things is the positive impact it can have.

Mark Pearson Freeland: So what I now notice when I'm getting into a moment where I have to deliver some good work, you know, for example, I've got a few things to do today on my to-do list, an. Behavior for me at least, which I've recognized over the years through the course of reflecting, of journaling, of writing down perhaps moments when I do get distracted, but also just, you know, noticing, okay, well when do I feel the most, um, distracted Is those moments when I let my mind get a little bit overwhelmed and it doesn't know where to start.

Mark Pearson Freeland: Instead one, one of the practices that I try and put into place in order to stay in the moment and by extension to use Eckhart's language, you know, present, and B in the now is through, uh, documenting. And what I mean by that is, yes, there's journaling, that's a very good practice and one that we do, but more.

Mark Pearson Freeland: Productivity orientated, you know, more, uh, from a perspective of what am I gonna do today is my to-do list for the day. And we've spoken about this a little bit on the show before, is creating a priority list that I know I have to get done today or this morning in a certain period of time, regardless of emails.

Mark Pearson Freeland: Chats, slack, WhatsApp, regardless of any other things that come across my plate. What are the essential things I need to do today? What are the things I need to be in the moment to go out and deliver? So, 

Mike Parsons: so are you saying that your, if you will, mindfulness, you are being present? Is about clarity on what you should be doing right now.

Mike Parsons: You 

Mark Pearson Freeland: got it. Exactly. So the clarity might come through in a very physical way, such as a to-do list. Mm. And I use both digital as well as physical to-do list. I use to-do list the um, The online browser app. Big fans aren't, we we're big fans of Todoist, which particularly for collaboration. Yeah, big fan. And actually we haven't called out Todoist on the, on the show for a while.

Mark Pearson Freeland: Um, but also I, I use physical, so maybe it's poster nodes, whiteboards and so on. And I find a combination of those help me stay. On track, I think is the key word, and what I find for me at least, Mike, when I'm on track, I'm able to stay present. I'm able to notice the things that are around me because I know I'm working towards that destination.

Mark Pearson Freeland: When you remove, for me at least the to, to-dos, the whiteboard, the lack of clarity over what I'm trying to accomplish. I'm stuck in my own brain because I can't, I'm not sure which way to go. Okay. 

Mike Parsons: Okay, so let me, let me build on this. So you've, out of the million options that we all have, you've got a clear sense of priorities and what you're gonna do today.

Mike Parsons: You are in the process of doing one of those activities, but we have so many distractions. In fact, you could be doing that thing. But actually thinking about something else, how do you go that next step? Is there, is there anything you do to kind of bring yourself completely and totally into that moment?

Mike Parsons: Yeah, 

Mark Pearson Freeland: absolutely. So when I'm in the moment and I need to be, Focus when I need to make those small incremental changes, let's say for, um, a particular job or project and so on, is I need to feel physically as though I'm in that space. So again, I'll, let me, let me take you on the journey, Mike. Hopefully I won't feel too meta when I'm feeling overwhelmed and there's too many things to.

Mark Pearson Freeland: My body tends to, uh, internalize. It's trying to compute. So therefore, the physical elements, I e where I am mm-hmm. what's around me, the, uh, blue sky, the temperature in the room, all of that goes out the window. From a, an emotional perspective, I won't pay attention to that. You're 

Mike Parsons: so caught up in the, uh, either the distraction or the the, uh, the eagerness to get something, uh, done.

Mike Parsons: You lose connection with the world around you. Now, what's quite interesting about that is what you are touching upon is what we call the mindfulness senses. Mm. And it is the most powerful way. To cut through and bring yourself into the moment. So if you are making small steps that are part of a bigger goal, you can get the most outta them.

Mike Parsons: If you focus on what's around you, it's exactly what you said. But if you pay attention and bring your mind to the things you hear, smell, see, taste, and touch, this can bring you. Directly into the moment, it stops you from thinking, oh, and in 45 minutes I've gotta do a call. Mm-hmm. , it's like, no, I'm here right now.

Mike Parsons: I can feel the softness of the carpet on my feet. I can feel the firmness of the chair. I can smell that late summer crispness of the trees. You know, I hear the birds chirping. These are all ways of bringing yourself. Back into the present. And how good is this Mark? If you think about it, you've got, you've awoken to this big dream and ambition that you have in life to be the best version of yourself.

Mike Parsons: You're gonna, you've crossed the Rubicon, you're gonna go for it. You're gonna make your, you're gonna step into the arena as Brene Brown would say, and then you adapt. You adopt and you participate in positive habits. You do small things for big results over time, but you can use mindfulness, which we studied with Eckhart Toll and many others, to bring yourself into those moments.

Mike Parsons: So not only do you know it's part of a longer term goal, but you can actually enjoy it for all the goodness that it has, regardless of the fact that it just happens to be a step on the. To your fulfilling what you want your life to be. Mm. You can just enjoy the completeness of the moment. And I think Robert Mara would be damn impressed if we could do that.

Mike Parsons: Right? 

Mark Pearson Freeland: Yes, exactly. And I think what's interesting for me as I reflect on my career, but to a bigger extent, maybe even my life, you know, with school and, and college and and so on, you don't necessarily, nobody really tells you. Stay present. You know, obviously people tell you to plan. What are you gonna do in the future?

Mark Pearson Freeland: What's your career? What are you gonna study? And so on. And it's all about getting to the next point, isn't it? The next point is to pass my exam. The next point is to get into a good college. The next point is to find a partner. The next point is in so on and so forth. And I. To build on what you were just saying, Mike, and this was something that I only really learned quite, quite, uh, recently, over the past couple of years, by slowing down and noticing those moments, the smell of the spring flowers, the birds, and so on.

Mark Pearson Freeland: You do better work, don't you? And you enjoy it far, far more because suddenly your life has the, the richness of trying to learn that new skill to pull into, uh, practice a show document for the Moonshot Show to find the clips that you and I can discuss with our listeners and our members, and by slowing down and really noticing those moments rather than.

Mark Pearson Freeland: What else do I need to do later today? What else do I need to do this week? Am I going in the right direction? There's time for that. But by breaking it down into those small, incremental moments, as Robert Mara would say, it can be a lot more enjoyable, can't it? 

Mike Parsons: It certainly can. And you know who wants to spend life?

Mike Parsons: Um, Worrying about the future, like the future will be what it's gonna be, or ruminating and dwelling on, you know, past. Misdemeanors, mistakes, regrets, whatever. Like at a certain point you need to like let go of the past because it will just keep pulling you back to the past. Mm-hmm. And you also need to like, well I just need to put in the best effort I can today, here and now, and I don't need to worry about the future.

Mike Parsons: Right. I'll have done my best effort. Um, so if you. Enjoying this little side tangent, I have to say, mark. Uh, I would advise our members and listeners to head over to moonshots.ao and check out episode 123, where we went very deep into the power of now, uh, with the author of. That said book . Um, and you can enjoy us getting right into that and overcoming all those little whispers in the back of our mind, uh, letting our ego run rampant.

Mike Parsons: Um, so it's a great study of how to bring yourself into the now, which is very thinning because Robert Mara has presented to us not only a way to be. In our personal lives, but also in our professional lives. He's even thrown in some mindfulness. Mark, I'm wondering is there anything more that we can learn from Robert Mara, the author of the Spirit of Kaizen?

Mark Pearson Freeland: I think we certainly can, Mike. I think we've made the case as to the value and the power of. Let's say starting small or thinking about things in a much smaller fashion and considering how we go out and approach those big things by attaching, uh, success to those small moments and so on. I think now what I really want to try and dig into is how you and I can put it into practice.

Mark Pearson Freeland: So we found this great clip from Aurelius Tain who breaks down, and as we're gonna dig into, uh, the clip now, the practical value of those small improvements. How we can all get 1% better each day. 

Aurelius: When you start a new venture trying to learn a new skill, or perhaps improve on an area of your life, it's quite exciting thinking about the big picture and the big goals and ambitions that you have.

Aurelius: However, this can backfire because when we don't get there, we get discouraged, and then we end up giving up. So in this video, I wanna share with you a simple technique that's going to help you reach your goals without feeling burnt out, overwhelmed, and discouraged. An advice you probably heard of is to have big audacious goals and to think big.

Aurelius: Although there's nothing wrong with this and you should have, you know, a big dream and that North Star to always head for. But in order to get to our ultimate goal, we need to make small steps. There's a Japanese term called kaizen, which simply means continuous improvement. The Kaiser method can be used in all aspects of your life, including your finances, your relationships, business or work, and of course, your.

Aurelius: The theory goes, if you make 1% improvements every day for a year, you'll get 37 times better at that skill or whatever it is that you are trying to improve on. To give you an example, I started calisthenics, which is a form of exercise that involves using your body weight only. My goal was to be able to do a muscle up, which is simply a chin up, and as you are up on the bar, you push yourself up.

Aurelius: Of course, at first I've failed and I've failed many times, and weeks had gone by and I simply couldn't even do one muscle. So what I did instead is to make incremental steps towards doing a muscle up in calisthenics. This is called progression. So before you even attempt to do muscle up, you have to first get the basics down.

Aurelius: This means being able to do some tune-ups and dips and other exercises that play a role in a muscle up. Once I have the basics down, I was finally able to do my first muscle up. To give you another example, when I started my YouTube channel, I had no idea what I was. When I compare one of my first videos to one of the latest videos, I can see all those incremental changes that I made towards making better video.

Aurelius: The camera. Audio and lighting is one thing, but also being able to speak in front of a camera was another skill to learn instead of overwhelming myself with all these things that I had to learn. I just try to improve with every video that I put out. This could be a small tweak with the camera audio or lighting, or even the angle of where I'm sitting.

Aurelius: If you're trying to get into the habit of reading, it may be overwhelming. Trying to aim for, let's say, two books a month. Instead of doing that, why not aim just to read a chapter a week or a chapter a day, depending how much time you've got, instead of putting so much pressure on yourself trying to finish that book.

Aurelius: Why not really dive yourself into that chapter or that page? The reason why many people fail and give up is because they're looking for that quick fix. They want to go straight to the good stuff without going through the necessary steps and processes to attain success. So remember, if you're ever feeling overwhelmed with the thought of reaching this big goal, instead what you should do and refer to is a Kaizen method.

Aurelius: It's a small, incremental and continuous steps that you take. That produce big results. 

Mike Parsons: Oh, mark, no quick fixes. That has to be like the mantra here. And it's so tempting, isn't it, to set wildly ambitious goals and then think that they're gonna happen overnight. Um, and if you think about it, if you. And again, I like what Aurelia said, don't, there's nothing wrong with dreaming big.

Mike Parsons: Hmm. But it's almost to me my, like, if I dream big about something, then I almost kind of l once I've had that dream and that North Star, I lock it away and I try and transition into manifesting it in the day and. The key for me is to, knowing that this activity I did today is related to, connected to part of that big dream makes it feel good and satisfying and like the.

Mike Parsons: The mental toughness here is not only the courage to dream big and to plan daily habits, but I think at the core it is to celebrate not only let's say, uh, he was talking about doing pull-ups on the bar, right? It's not only I'm gonna. Achieve a certain goal, maybe it's a hundred pull-ups. And then, so today I start with just doing the shoulder, uh, routine to get strong before I can even do one.

Mike Parsons: But I think the highest form of Kaizen is being ready to enjoy. And this is key to enjoy the fact that today was really hard. Mm-hmm. . If you can get yourself to that point where today was really hard, it wasn't much fun, it wasn't, uh, pleasant. And I think we, we have way too much of a bias as humans for it, for things to be pleasant if you can.

Mike Parsons: Unlock a part of your mindset, which actually says, oh, that's good. I really struggled today, so therefore I must have been learning. I must have been growing, and that's gonna make me better and that's gonna help me achieve my goal. I think this is the mental space which separates those that are. And those that are great because you can say, Hey, I'm gonna get 1% better today.

Mike Parsons: And then you're gonna go, oh, I'm just gonna stick with a pleasant workout. Right? Because you could do that, couldn't you, mark? You could just say, oh, I'll just go for Horizon. I won't really run really long in the heat. I'll just do quick, quick little run in the morning, you know, nice and easy, pleasant

Mike Parsons: That's tempting isn. 

Mark Pearson Freeland: Yeah, absolutely. There's, for me, and I, I love where you are, where you are going with this, Mike and I, I totally agree. The idea of mental toughness, the idea of celebrating the small wins helps me compartmentalize the effort that then goes into trying to achieve that ultimate goal. So to say it in a, in another way.

Mark Pearson Freeland: I have, uh, perhaps found something very, very difficult. Let's see, I'll, I'll focus on a career perspective for now cause it's quite tangible. A project that maybe doesn't quite work out. Uh, an individual who kind of grates, um, challenges in delivery, that sort of thing. It always feels like it's the end of the world rather than the emotion that I feel Maybe.

Mark Pearson Freeland: Six hours, six weeks, six months down the line post the event where I can reflect on it and think I've become a little bit stronger there. I now have the experience from that. Bad experience to become better at what I do. Hmm. And what I'm hearing from that clip from Aurelius, this idea of the 1% better a day as well as the spirit of Ka, is that failure, i e the act of something not quite going to plan, should not lead to us giving up.

Mark Pearson Freeland: It should not lead to an overwhelming sense of disappointment instead. And I think this is way, uh, to build on what you were saying, Mike. Celebrate those moments, celebrate that journey of, uh, failure. You know, the, uh, the idea of, uh, starting small allows us to not necessarily think that every failure is a failure.

Mark Pearson Freeland: If we have those small moments, such as doing one pull up or such as running one kilometer, hmm, you can feel good about yourself along the. Instead, if you are attaching success to, oh, we launched a project, it was the best thing ever. Um, it was in all of the marketing magazines. Oh, it was the number one app around the world, whatever it might be, whatever that ultimate goal in or dream in your mind, you might have when you remove that sort of, let's say, ambition, which I think it probably is.

Mark Pearson Freeland: Suddenly it feels much more like the, a journey, as we were talking about earlier in the show. Mm-hmm. Break it down so that you can see each of the crossroads or the, the, you know, the signposts along the road that you're, you're going down and it suddenly becomes a lot more fun, doesn't 

Mike Parsons: it? It does. And it, like, there's a couple of reinforcing techniques that I use, which is, um, you know, uh, the classic story of you go to the gym and then the next day you really saw, right?

Mike Parsons: Mm-hmm. . Well, basically that's your muscles. Uh, they're growing back, but they actually grow back a little bit bigger than they were before, right? So if you encounter discomfort, if you can pre-program yourself to say, oh, good, this is really uncomfortable. I must be learning, growing and getting better, bigger, ba faster, stronger, whatever the appropriate verb is, like to me.

Mike Parsons: This, if you can prepare yourself for that. For example, if you know you're gonna go on a run, and let's say it's a long run or you're gonna go on a long swim, what you do is you can visualize yourself finishing, but equally, Visualize and prepare yourself for continuing to run, continuing to swim. When it hurts, I'll go one better that you visualize the moment where you feel like stopping.

Mike Parsons: But you don't. Mm-hmm. Now, this is really interesting because, you know, we, we are presented with so much overnight success stories, side hustles stories, quick fix stories. It's too good to be true stories, right. Take a pill and everything's fixed. Right. That kind of story. Mm-hmm. If you can shift away from, if only I could win the lottery, life would be so much easier.

Mike Parsons: Remember Jim Carey says, I. People could win the lottery and have everything they wanted because they'll realize that that's not what's gonna make them happy. Right. Fantastic. It is. So, this is such a key moment that if you can overcome your programming and you know, your, your desire to survive and to have nice, pleasant things, because that's kind of your body saying, Hey, I need to survive.

Mike Parsons: Let's keep this nice and easy, right? Mm-hmm. , if you can, No way. I am going to keep going when I'm uncomfortable, when it hurts, right? Mm-hmm. , if you actually have a visualization of that, then we all know when we do. We create a new company. When we do an ambitious fitness goal, we all know there's gonna be the valley of darkness.

Mike Parsons: And so many of us, and I am so guilty of, you know, in life, when the Valley of Darkness comes, I run for the Hills Mark . You know, and what do we do, mark? What do we do when it's getting really hot? We blame others. We say, oh, I don't really want to do this. We come up with all these excuses, Don. 

Mark Pearson Freeland: Oh, absolutely.

Mark Pearson Freeland: And I'm, I'm definitely, uh, guilty of it. Mike, you know, when something hits the fan, what do you do? Yeah, you, you look for. A way out. Blame you. Look for the way out. Yeah. And maybe what you do, uh, is put your head under, quit your job, um, close the laptop and, and go to the pub. Yeah. You know, there's so many avenues for escapism.

Mark Pearson Freeland: Yes. That can be beyond just internalizing it all. It's physical, physical manifestations of literally running away, 

Mike Parsons: isn't it? Totally. So imagine. If you knew you were doing something ambitious and you said, oh, um, I'm not gonna hope for a quick fix here. I've got this big goal. I'm gonna have lots of small, repeatable, daily habits, and I'm gonna grind my way there.

Mike Parsons: In fact, I'm gonna visualize myself when I feel like stopping. I'm gonna keep going with my business, with my fitness goal, whatever it is. Or maybe it's working through a tough relationship because it really matters. Grind through, make the effort, visualize yourself in the moment, in that valley of darkness, you should check out the hero's journey.

Mike Parsons: Just Google. Google that. Um, when you're in your hero's journey and you know, you've come over the peak of inflated expectation and you come crashing down to reality, uh, what is commonly called the honeymoon is over, and now it's tough. Mm. Do. One thing, visualize yourself sticking with the positive habits, staying on course, and just say to yourself, oh, it's hurting.

Mike Parsons: It's good. What is yako willing say, mark, when problems come. Good, good . Build this muscle and you will be able to stay the course, build this muscle, and you won't give in to what is genetically programmed into us, which is survival. The search for the pleasantness, and we've got a great clip now that's talking about exactly this and it's how it manifests in our life, and it's called the.

Mike Parsons: Oh, flight response. 

Productivity Game: So why is Kaizen such an effective strategy for change? Well, when we use Kaizen, when we take embarrassingly small steps towards a goal, we tippy toe past the Amygdala's fear detection system and avoid activating our fight or flight response. This removes the urge to distract ourselves and allows us to take action without the fear of failure.

Productivity Game: The more action we take, the quicker we lay the foundation for new positive habits. Robert says that with Kaizen, your resistance to change begins to weaken. Where once you've may have been daunted by change. Your new mental software will have you moving towards your ultimate goal at a pace that may well exceed your expectations.

Productivity Game: If you would like to experience the extraordinary power of Kaizen, here are two counterintuitive ways to get started. First start by asking smaller questions. When Michael and award-winning author of the English patient wants to create a compelling character for his new book, he doesn't think, how can I create a fascinating character that my readers will love?

Productivity Game: He simply thinks of a scene like a plane crash and asks himself a few small and specific questions like, Who is the man in a plane? Why is he there? Why does he crash? These questions are small and playful. The mind has fun coming up with answers to these types of questions. When I want to read a new book in hopes of learning something to improve my life, I start by asking myself, what are some interesting chapter titles in this book?

Productivity Game: After opening the book and finding one interesting chapter title, I ask myself, what's one interesting story or example in this? Soon I find a story and that leads to more questions. Eventually, I get through an entire book, but rarely in a sequential order. Notice how this is different than if I ask myself, how can I read this entire book and improve my life?

Productivity Game: It would seem like a big undertaking, and I would put it off until I had more time, or I felt like doing it. So the next time you find yourself asking big questions and feeling anxious, shrink the question. Ask questions. What's the very next thing or what's just one thing I can do to get started. The second way to start adopting a Kaizen mindset is to start focusing on smaller rewards.

Productivity Game: In the book, Robert talks about a businessman named Jack Stupp, who had developed severe rheumatoid arthritis and was hospitalized with over 20 swollen joints. His doctors advised him to avoid exercise at all times, but Jack was stubborn and he started taking small steps by giving himself small rewards along the way.

Productivity Game: Every morning he told himself that all he had to do was get out of bed. When he got out of bed and stood upright, he would give himself a short and sincere compliment like Attaboy Jack. Then he'd walk down the street to the gym by focusing on having an enjoyable conversation with. There once on the treadmill.

Productivity Game: Jack started by walking for just two minutes and rewarded himself with more praise and encouragement. Robert says that by the time he met Jack, he was in his seventies and he had won the MR World Body Building contest for his age division. I've learned that using small rewards works very well when running a marathon.

Productivity Game: On. Instead of focusing on the satisfaction of finishing a marathon, I focus on a small reward every mile by getting to listen to one of my favorite songs. By asking small questions and using small rewards that seem silly in the moment, you're actually implementing a brilliant strategy to achieve large goals.

Mark Pearson Freeland: Mike, this might be the big takeaway. I know I don't wanna jump to the end of the show and discuss the, uh, the element that's sticking with me, but already, and I'm sure our listeners and members would agree, the productivity game breakdown that we just heard there specifically around how to avoid your fight or flight response is very, very practical.

Mark Pearson Freeland: And those two questions, one asks smaller questions. And two, focus on smaller rewards. I can already see myself trying to put it into practice. I can already see myself as similarly to what we've already spoken about on today's show, put into practice those elements or habits, uh, from a. Um, focusing on each moment perspective.

Mark Pearson Freeland: You know, we spoke about to-do lists and, and you know, the feel of carpet and so on, but actually when it comes to delivering work, let's say, or ambition and objective, vision, legacy of life, asking those smaller questions and rewarding yourself for maybe achieving small moments such as a cold shower each.

Mark Pearson Freeland: Or running, uh, 500 meters more than you did yesterday, perhaps in order to unlock, you know, maybe it's just a ater boy. It's a pat on the back. Yeah. Isn't buying yourself a car or anything like that. It's small reinforcement mantras perhaps, isn't it? 

Mike Parsons: Isn't it crazy how if you go small, you bypass. Like that whole fight or flight response.

Mike Parsons: So you shift from, like if I say to you, if you haven't run, if you like, you're not a runner, okay, imagine this. And I say to you, run 10 Ks. Run 10 miles, right? I think that instantly triggers. Oh, no way. . Oh man, that's no way I could do that. That's way too long, right? Mm-hmm. , yes. But if I say to you, Hey, I bet you couldn't run a hundred meters.

Mike Parsons: You'd be like, yeah, sure, okay, I'll run a hundred meters. No problem. Notice how it instantly. Goes in a different way. Bypass is a part of the survival gene, if you will, and it becomes playful. Sure, I can do it. You want me to do it backwards? Right. , you know, to me that is such a powerful way of understanding why Kaizen works so well is the resistance to, you know, walking or running a very small distance and every day improving that by small increments.

Mike Parsons: If you do that every day, you know, before, before long, you will find out that you've actually come a long way. And it is so true that it becomes like you, it's almost if I say to you, you know, can you run a hundred meters? You're like, the curiosity takes over because you're like, well, of course it's only a hundred meters when I start saying, A mile a kilometer, five or 10.

Mike Parsons: Like I remember, uh, the serious doubt I had when my friends first suggested to me a few years ago that we run a marathon together. And I was like, oh boy. Like I went straight to fight or flight. I was like, I don't think I can do that. And you know what? I did it and I started running and build up and.

Mike Parsons: Lots and lots and lots of, uh, kaizen small steps and stumbles along the way. And, and, and now I'm, I'm hooked. But the crazy thing is, mark, we talk a lot about this being something that you can do in your personal life, but it can work professionally too. It works on the other side, doesn't it? 

Mark Pearson Freeland: Yeah, it really, really does.

Mark Pearson Freeland: And I mean, we've got one more clip, Mike, that brings us, uh, to a point where we are putting into practice this idea, this spirit of kaizen, those small little steps, maybe those little rewards along the way by asking those smaller questions of ourselves. Uh, when we hear from James May, and he does a great breakdown as we're gonna hear.

Mark Pearson Freeland: Into Toyota. So let's hear from, uh, James May about Toyota and how they use Kaizen at the Toyota 

Robert Maurer: factory in Darby. Morning everyone. Every day begins with a strange ritual, 

Mark Pearson Freeland: 1, 2, 

Mike Parsons: 3, 4, 5, 6, 

Mark Pearson Freeland: 7, 

Robert Maurer: 8, 9, 10, 1. Apparently these early morning exercises are a way of stimulating productivity. 4, 5, 6, 7, 

Mike Parsons: 8, 9, 10, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 

Robert Maurer: 10.

Robert Maurer: Yosh, 

Mark Pearson Freeland: Yosh.

Robert Maurer: In fact, Toyota are obsessed with their quest for continuous improvement. It's a principle of the Japanese philosophy of lean production called Kaizen, pioneered by Toyota. Today. It's used throughout the industry. Toyota have tried to kaizen every single part of their production system, looking for ways to make it as efficient.

Robert Maurer: Possible take these ingenious machines. They deliver wind strings to the light. So Toyota's workers don't waste time feting and carrying them. Each has its own song. So you hear them coming. This one's called Google. Google is Dave's brainchild. This all looks a bit quite homemade. Is it? Have you made these?

Robert Maurer: We made, we all made in house. That's by wide 

Mark Pearson Freeland: promoter of an event system. Oh, 

Robert Maurer: is it? Yes. So is there an event he's driving around somewhere with one stuck? No. No, we haven't had plenty of spare. You're not supposed to have spare paths. That's not just in time. How long before they get together and take over the world?

Mark Pearson Freeland: Uh, hopefully not in my working life. , 

Robert Maurer: I'm getting quite fond of these singing Kaizen Creations rather Melan co sets off on this lonely journey. Back to the Windstream, Philip points playing. Its mournful ful tune as it goes. Nobody cares. It's not the robots like Google that are clever here. It's the people.

Robert Maurer: Entered them. Kaizen is a team effort. Toyota encouraged all their employees to come up with two Kaizens every month. And today that includes me. But before I can come up with a Kaizen, I need to learn how to do a job in the first place. So I'm getting a crash course in steering wheel building under the watch fly of Toyota's Kaizen guru Gary Newington.

Robert Maurer: So this is a real live situation, actually Part of the production. Part of the production here. Got it There. Got it there. After a quick demo, it's my time to shine. Two screw. Dropped 12. Getting these screws on is tricky there. So that one goes there. So have you come up with any s there? You can think will make it, uh, easier to build.

Robert Maurer: The screw thing is a bit, it's a bit fiddly. Pick two. Picking up two is quite difficult. You know, I shake slightly cuz I'm so old then I, I got to on the clock. I don't think Gary trusts me so I leave him and his team to knock up a kaizen. Suggestions for kaizens come. Is throughout the factory and it seems everyone I meet has one of their own.

Robert Maurer: They're practical, like making these parts move with the worker over the space 

Mike Parsons: of 400 cars. 

Robert Maurer: It's a mile walk in a few seconds apart 

Mark Pearson Freeland: and just saving 

Robert Maurer: that or a movement like that, you can get rid of that. That makes a difference. They're ambitious. This device moves windscreens, right? To the car. Previously it was a manual operation.

Robert Maurer: Now it's completely automated. It saved 6.3 seconds per car. But what amazes me is how minuscule time savings can have a massive impact. So what 

Mike Parsons: our cars and department came up with for us is a sticker pick. Turn it. So now you can just pick 

Productivity Game: sticker very quickly. Do you want one on your watch? That would be, no, not the watch.

Mike Parsons: Not watch. . . So what This saves it, it saves 0.3 of a second in, in picking the part, however we fit. To the vehicle. So across the, the shop that's, uh, 28.8 seconds per vehicle. Did you guys 

Productivity Game: work that out? It's right. 

Mark Pearson Freeland: That's good. With 

Robert Maurer: all this kaizen inspired innovation, I'm intrigued to see how Gary and his team have sold the trouble I was having with the steering wheel screws.

Robert Maurer: I like that already. They've built me a screw dispenser push. Oh, 

Productivity Game: look at 

Robert Maurer: that. Two. No more than two. No fewer than two. The screwdriver to this court means it's exactly where I need it. Okay, here we go. With the new kaizen new improved steering wheel thing, right? This is where it gets interesting. Got this screw straight on there.

Robert Maurer: Straight there. Much better.

Mike Parsons: Kaizen. It sounds like he was one over Doesn. 

Mark Pearson Freeland: Yeah, it does, doesn't it? I like the call out. I mean, James May has a way of bringing it to life and you can obviously see and hear the, um, effects that those, uh, improvements are having within Toyota. Uh, within Toyota. From a practical perspective, what I think is interesting, Mike, is how you and I have explored how Kaizen might impact our mindfulness, our approach to our daily habits.

Mark Pearson Freeland: Then what we are hearing in that clip there is the impact it can have across the board when everybody is working to this, uh, approach and methodology. Suddenly the impact, or sorry, the output, I should say, is enormous when you factor in all of the different individuals. Working on minuscule uh, improvements 

Mike Parsons: each day.

Mike Parsons: Yeah. You, you really get a sense of how to solve a big challenge. Like how do we make building a car easier? Break it down into small things and chip away at it, and the parallel with life. If you wanted to embark on building a house, doing your first marathon, start small. This technique has to be one of our absolute favorite, uh, most consistent, uh, approaches in life that we've discovered through 216 shows.

Mike Parsons: When you say that , 

Mark Pearson Freeland: I think you're totally right, Mike. I think this, um, approach is definitely. It's a show that is overdue, isn't it? We've probably dug into this idea, the spirit of Kaizen. Um, but actually giving it a proper, dedicated show, I think is demonstrating how much you and I really, really, uh, value this, isn't it?

Mark Pearson Freeland: Yeah, 

Mike Parsons: yeah. It's been, it's been really wonderful. I, I am, uh, slightly. Uh, I have been tipped off as to what you, you like, which is small questions and small rewards, but I will, I will confirm. Is that the thing you are gonna go for asking these smaller questions? You know what, 

Mark Pearson Freeland: I think it really, really is. R uh, I appreciate the, um, value of going after those big, hairy, audacious goals.

Mark Pearson Freeland: Of course. Um, and obviously we've done a whole series if listeners and members wanna check it out on productivity and goal setting, but I think. Starting small, asking those small questions and then giving myself those small rewards along the way will help me A, stay in the moment, but also B, hopefully work towards that great big outcome.

Mark Pearson Freeland: What about you? What's standing out from the spirit of Kaizen? 

Mike Parsons: Um, well, you know, the, um, I don't know. I mean, I'm such a disciple of Kaizen these days. The thing that I really. Thought that, um, the clip, that productivity game did around it bypasses the, um, fight or flight response. Mm. That was sort of the closing of a loop for me.

Mike Parsons: That was of understanding. It was like, ah, I know small kind of work, starting small to get big results and repeating over time, but the science of don't let your fight or flight response kick in. I was. Oh, that's why it works. It was really good, wasn't it? 

Mark Pearson Freeland: Yeah. I think the fight or flight, um, challenge is something that obviously that we all have, and certainly as I've shared on the show, something that I've probably contended with a lot, as I'm sure we all have, but it's reassuring.

Mark Pearson Freeland: As well as pleasing to see it come back in Yes. Year, isn't it? Yes. Kaiser being a method to stay grounded, I think it is as well as we heard from Rob Mara, staying present in the moment so that you don't freak out over those, uh, potential failures. I e I'm not. I haven't got that six pack in six weeks , or I don't have, I'm not rich overnight.

Mike Parsons: reassuring. Well, well there you go. It is good to, to see you at the end of this show, feeling reassured, and I hope you, our listeners and members are feeling. Such as well here on show 216 we have been studying Robert Mora and the spirit of Kaizen. Who would've thought that one book had so much to give?

Mike Parsons: And it started with this whole idea of understanding that Kaizen is good change, positive change consistently, whether you are talking about your personal or professional life. And Robert gave us an invitation to enjoy those small. To be here and enjoy the now because if we do this, it's so easy to be 1% better every day.

Mike Parsons: And we can do that by asking smallest question questions and giving small rewards to avoid that fight or flight response. So whether you are trying to run tomorrow or whether you are Toyota building the cars of the future, you can embrace the spirit of Kaizen and you can be part of that journey and learn out loud.

Mike Parsons: Way to the destination of being the very best version of yourself. And that is most definitely what we are all about here on the Moonshots podcast. That's a wrap.