Kaizen: the case for absurdly small improvements

Kaizen means "change for the better," and Longhurst presents it as an antidote to the pressure of dramatic self-reinvention. Instead of overhauling your life overnight — and burning out — you make continuous, tiny improvements that compound over time.

The power is psychological. A goal like "exercise for an hour daily" triggers resistance; "put on your running shoes" barely registers, so you actually do it. Small steps slip past the brain's fear of big change, and momentum builds from there. Consistency beats intensity.

Originally associated with post-war Japanese manufacturing and business, kaizen translates neatly to personal habits: contentment is built incrementally, one small, sustainable step at a time, rather than seized in a single heroic effort.