Rule 10 of the Personal Kaizen 10 Rules for Life is to Practice Radical Humility. I read Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People after finishing my undergraduate engineering degree. Covey encourages us to “put first things first” and live by the values and principles in your life. Humility became my top value, where it has remained for over 25 years. Below are four ways you can practice radical humility. Understand your insignificance in the universe. We all live in an insignificant place in a brief moment of time. We are not the center of the universe. We’ve…

"There is a lot of evidence that one of the best anti-anxiety medications available is generosity” -Adam Grant, Author and Organizational Psychologist Becoming part of something bigger than ourselves by generously donating some of our own personal resources (time, money, advice, support) might be one of the best things we can do for our well-being. Rule 8 of the Personal Kaizen 10 Rules for Life is to Give Back to Others. Studies show that the act of ‘giving’ or ‘generosity’ can boost physical and mental health by lowering blood pressure and stress levels. Giving back can also increase feelings of…

FIRE is an acronym for Financial Independence, Retire Early. The idea is to work hard and save a high percentage of your income while you are young so that you can achieve FIRE financial independence to retire and live off of your savings sooner. The key variables in FIRE include your savings rate while earning income, your estimated spending rate during retirement, and how your savings grow before and after retirement. There are many communities, blogs, videos, and websites sharing tips on the variables above. This post provides a basic description with examples. FIRE Savings Rate The first variable in…

Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know is a 2021 book by Adam Grant that several colleagues have recommended. Grant is an organizational psychologist at The Wharton School (UPenn), where he has been the “top-rated professor for seven straight years.” He previously authored the bestsellers Originals and Give and Take. The book is broken into three main themes (individual, interpersonal, and collective) that examine the critical art of rethinking. The themes teach you to question your own opinions, then open other people’s minds, and finally help with collective rethinking for excellence at work and life. Think Again…

Rule 5 of our “10 Rules for Life” is to Experience Love and Be Loved. Rule 5 encourages us all to remember that love is a verb. If we are ever feeling "less in love" with someone or something the simple solution is to "do something loving" for your partner or loved one. Author Gary Chapman describes five different love languages in his bestseller The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts. He explains that the secret to keeping your relationship fresh and growing is to ensure your action is seen as loving by your partner. Each of us has…

Rule 4 of the Personal Kaizen 10 Rules for Life is to "Live in the Moment with a Positive Mindset." Living in the moment is something we can all improve. One of the best ways to become more present is to begin a simple practice of meditation. Meditation calms the mind, lowers blood pressure and stress, and improves focus. There are many different ways to meditate - if you are not currently prioritizing meditation in your life we recommend you experiment with the methods below. Here are several simple meditation practices you can try today. Breathing meditation We will start…

Rule 3 of our "10 Rules for Life" is to Be Proactive. "Be Proactive" is also Habit 1 in Stephen Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Whenever something impacts you, YOU are in control of the response. Effective people choose to take the initiative and act back. The key lesson in Habit 1 is understanding whether you control, influence, or only have concerns about an issue or impact on your life. One of the keys to a happy life is not wasting any of your time worrying about things that happen in your life you have no control…

Whether you are a student, business leader, parent, entrepreneur, Olympic athlete - we all share the need for developing our mental fitness as part of our personal development journey. Strengthening mental fitness improves our ability to manage stress, make decisions and influence the way we think, behave and feel. This is a core component of Rule 2 in our 10 Rules for Life. Muscular Meditation Have you ever noticed how much more clear your mind feels after a long walk? You can improve your mental fitness by creating time for daily muscular meditation - any activity that involves repetitive and…

I recently came across a new Japanese word that I need to share with the Personal Kaizen community. Ikigai (生き甲斐) is a Japanese word that translates to "a reason for being." I love that the Japanese language sees so much importance in this concept that it has its own word! The idea is similar to the French "raison d'être" or what we would call the "meaning of life" in the English language. Ikigai is believed to be the primary reason the people of Okinawa, Japan are in a "blue zone" where people often live to 100+ years old. We believe…