One Small Step Can Change Your Life : The Kaizen Way by Robert Maurer is a small book with big message, change yo life now… one small step at a time. No seriously, like right now.

According to Dr. Maurer, when shit hits the fan, we are all too quick to want to come up with some grand plan that will supposedly change everything in one giant leap. I have the need to change my life, make a list and if your list looks likes mine, it usually starts off with something like… be healthier, be wealthier, and save the world on the side (what can I say I’m a nice guy). 2 seconds later panic sets in as a dwell on the notion, how the heck am I going to do this today?

I start to sweat, my nerves get frayed, I reach for a beer, kick my neighbor’s dog, and head for Vegas because I earned it. All this thinking about my list is killing me.

Hold it. This book is about small changes lead to big changes and it makes a compelling case that that is actually because thats how our noggins work. We when panic and stress out, we reach for coping mechanisms (Vegas baby), and do the opposite of what we need to do get out of trouble. So why do we set ourselves up for guaranteed failure by making grand plans of magnificent change if we just can’t handle it? I can’t take it anymore!!!

The way to do it is to break whatever problem ya got down into tiny steps that slip through brain’s defense mechanism in stealth without setting off its stressors (your brain doesn’t like to get pushed around apparently).

So say you eat candy bars for breakfast, lunch and hey you’re eating one right now. Okay, your 300 pounds are begging you to stop, but man this one Snickers bar just hits the spot and besides you’ve tried cold turkey before… which only made you want to eat more after you got the shakes. Fine, eat it, enjoy it, big guy, but do you need that last bite of it? Would you really miss it if you just threw that last bite out in the trash? Hmm…

Right on, that’s the basic idea. Eat your Snickers bar, chuck that last bite in the trash and pick up this book for the next tiny step to change yo life today. See ya in Vegas. Maybe I’ll pass on Craps… I get cleaned out everytime I play that stupid game anyway.

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