One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way

Robert Maurer Ph.D.

Apr 2014 · Sold by Workman Publishing Company

About this ebook

Improve your life fearlessly with this essential guide to kaizen—the art of making great and lasting change through small, steady steps.

The philosophy is simple: Great change is made through small steps. And the science is irrefutable: Small steps circumvent the brain's built-in resistance to new behavior.

No matter what the goal—losing weight, quitting smoking, writing a novel, starting an exercise program, or meeting the love of your life—the powerful technique of kaizen is the way to achieve it. Written by psychologist and kaizen expert Dr. Robert Maurer, One Small Step Can Change Your Life is the simple but potent guide to easing into new habits—and turning your life around. Learn how to overcome fear and procrastination with his 7 Small Steps—including how to Think Small Thoughts, Take Small Actions, and Solve Small Problems—to steadily build your confidence and make insurmountable-seeming goals suddenly feel doable.

Dr. Maurer also shows how to visualize virtual change so that real change can come more easily. Why small rewards lead to big returns. And how great discoveries are made by paying attention to the little details most of us overlook. His simple regiment is your path to continuous improvement for anything from losing weight to quitting smoking, paying off debt, or conquering shyness and meeting new people. Rooted in the two-thousand-year-old wisdom of the Tao Te Ching—“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”—here is the way to change your life without fear, without failure, and start on a new path of easy, continuous improvement.

Ratings and reviews

I really appreciated his approach to the subject and his articulation through examples. It has already had a profound impact on my approach this thing called life

This is an amazing book. I was so intrigued with the first chapter that I read the book in 2 days. I have often wondered why I would focus on a goal, have all of the tools and knowledge I needed for the goal, but would never complete it. It's because I was always trying to take big steps towards my goals, and it may work at first, but eventually I would get overwhelmed and give up. Now I realize that Kaizen is the way to go. By taking small, incremental steps towards my goals, it feels manageable and much easier for me to handle. I don't feel overwhelmed and scared of a large task in front of me. As the saying goes, "Slow and steady wins the race." I am so grateful to Robert Maurer for writing this book.

Absolutely loved this book. Enjoyed every page. I highly recommend it to everyone. It helps to remind us that we are humans capable of change, capable of attaining happiness without making drastic decisions. Personally it helped me identify a lot of emotions that I interpreted as weakness, and how to expect to be afraid in the face of change without inflicting emotional distress.

About the author

Robert Maurer, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist on the faculty of the UCLA and the University of Washington Schools of Medicine. He is the founder of the Science of Excellence, a consulting firm, and travels extensively presenting seminars and consulting on kaizen to diverse organizations, including corporations, hospital staffs, universities— even the U.S. Navy. Dr. Maurer lives in Spokane, Washington.