Making a lifestyle change can be difficult. Most of us have tempted change, as with a New Year’s resolution, and failed. So, when it comes to living a lifestyle that is most likely to result in healthy longevity, it usually involves change. Can we make positive lifestyle changes? Most definitely, the answer is YES. 

Most of us fail because the change we attempt is too ambitious as a single goal. The Japanese employ a strategy that has been enormously successful both for professional and personal change. It’s called Kaizen and means “change for the better.” The principle is simple…small steps toward larger change. Small goals toward a larger, ultimate goal are attainable. Small successes build confidence and competence, empowering us to attain the next goal.  

For example, if you wish to lose weight, you ask, “What is the smallest step I can take toward losing all the weight I wish to?” (That is correct, the smallest step). You make that your goal. Once you achieve it, you take the next small step toward your goal and continue until you reach your ultimate goal. If you do not achieve a small goal, then you modify that goal to make it more achievable and continue the process. Using this strategy, you cannot fail. 

It’s natural to set high goals for the betterment of our lives, and we should. But getting to that goal is like climbing stairs, with each stair a goal in itself. Change achieved in this way is more durable, becoming our new normal.  

So, the way to change that will lead to a healthy longevity is to be patient. Climb the stairs toward your goal, but do it one step at a time, with each step a goal itself. The steps may not be the stuff of bragging, but they are the necessary path to where you want to go.