The Voice Within
A blog by Mary McDowall
New launches are exciting. There is a rush of anticipation, excitement (sometimes masquerading as fear) and a healthy dose of creative chaos.
Fellow coach, Kathy Kane, and I just launched our signature program, the KMI Master Mind Facilitator Certification Training. Every time we thought we had everything ready it seemed like we discovered another layer of details. Details became synonymous with delay. Details, in general, are my death and my default. My creative process is to think BIG, to think really, really big. Thinking big builds excitement and enthusiasm and I fall in love with my project. But when its time to get to work my default mode kicks in. I begin to think of every single possible detail that needs to be done. Ahhhhh If I'm not aware this is happening it can be the death of a promising idea. Enter Kaizen small steps to the rescue. Small steps create tiny moments of success to keep the process moving. Kaizen small steps let you focus on just the very next thing to do. And sometimes the very next thing is to walk away, to eat, to nap, anything but the details. On February 20th we hit publish on our website and officially launched our training program. There are still lots of details to attend to. Still lots to learn about launching. And I'm not sure if I dotted the i in details but that's OK. My next small step is just to pause and look back at how far we have come. How much we have achieved and how excited we are to get started. If you are curious and want to take a look at our website, it's www.kmimastermind.com. If you are interested, why not come to a Q & A session on Saturday, March 5, 2016 at noon ET on Zoom - Meeting ID: 847-711-1436 (app available at www.zoom.us) What strategies have you found for dealing with details? Share in the comment section below. ~ mary
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Have you heard of Kaizen?
It is often referred to as small steps towards continuous improvement, but it is so much more. For me, discovering the gentle but powerful philosophy of Kaizen was life changing. Lots of people and programs talk about small steps. There isn't anything really revolutionary about this wisdom. Mark Twain is quoted as saying: "The secret of getting ahead is to get started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one." You may have tried breaking things down into small steps with varying degrees of success. Or maybe when you hear small steps you think "Who has time for that? Not me, I have too much to get done!" I thought that too once. Then I found Jill Badonsky's Kaizen-Muse™ Creativity Coaching program and I learned about Kaizen small steps. So what's different about Kaizen small steps? Well for one thing they can be really, really small. Laughably small. So small that you can't fail to take the step. OK, I thought, I will give this a try. My 'demon' is clutter and in particular paper clutter. So my first small step was going to put one piece of paper away a day. So for the next 30 days guess how many pieces of paper I put away. Zero. This wasn't working. What was I doing wrong!! First, telling myself that I needed to do something every day was setting me up for failure. A kinder way would be to say 'more days than not'. Then if I missed a day I would still be succeeding. And Kaizen small steps are about creating small success moments. Second, I couldn't see how putting one piece of paper away would make even a tiny dint in my paper clutter. I had falsely assumed that I needed to stop after completing my small step. Kaizen small steps are meant to be continuous and led naturally into another small step. It's ok to stop after one but not mandatory. Third, I was resisting filing that first piece of paper. I knew that Kaizen small steps can help to break through resistance and procrastination so maybe my small step wasn't small enough? No, it was pretty small. Finally, it dawned on me that I really didn't really like my small step. Kaizen small steps need to engage your spirit and not just your logical side. So I asked myself the small question, "How can I make this more fun?". The result was to engage my playful side. I named my filing cabinet R.O.S.I. ( Receptacle of Significant Information). Over time R.O.S.I. developed a personality and filing became like feeding her. I also had R.O.S.I. write me a letter and tell me what she needed and wanted me to do. It became a game. And it became a learning moment. What I learned was that the Kaizen small steps are really small and engaging. And with the right small step you can shift from inaction and stagnation to action and metal alertness with your imagination firing on all cylinders. This tiny shift can be life changing. As a creativity coach I help people to find their next small step so they can experience the power of small for themselves. What small step might you try to build momentum towards a goal or dream you want to achieve? Can you make it smaller? Does it feel like the right next step? I have often thought about writing a blog. Been advised to write a blog. Resisted writing a blog. So why now? What changed?
I realized I was stuck. And to get unstuck I reminded myself to practice my Kaizen training. Kaizen is about taking small steps, thinking small thoughts, asking small questions and accepting small rewards. And I mean really small. Because the smaller these are the less likely they will trigger fear. And it is fear that got me stuck. |
About MaryI share how I see the world through everyday topics that connect me to my creativity - my challenge with clutter, master minds, ideas, strategies and process - mostly though the lens of my kaizen training. Let's ConnectCategories
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