Hi guys, and welcome back to another episode of Change Wired Podcast, where we explore and learn the neuroscience, the psychology, productivity and health systems and habits of transformation, behavior design and how to unlock your next level in business, career, health, life, personal development, personal evolution, career, health, life, personal development, personal evolution. And my name is Angela Shurina. I'm an executive coach, culture and change leadership consultant and I'm here to help you, to help myself, rewire the way we change. Let's dive in. Let me ask you a question. Let's start with a question. Today, they say questions are the best way to engage the brain.
Speaker 1Have you ever decided to completely overhaul your diet and your lifestyle, your health? Wake up at 5 am, meditate daily, run five days a week with sugar, sleep eight hours a night and off starting Monday. Yeah, me too. It all changes tomorrow or on Monday or next month. Right, let me guess. By Thursday, if we even make it that far, we are back to ordering takeout or eating our favorite food, taking out or eating our favorite food, skipping workouts, eating our favorite dessert just one last time, hitting snooze five times, or we're deciding to work on our business and do 30 cold calls and 50 cold emails and by the third day we're either exhausted or just not doing it. Like this is not happening, I'm giving up.
Speaker 1Big change triggers big resistance. And it's not laziness, it's actually your brain doing its job. What's your brain's job? Your brain's job is to keep you alive. And how does your brain do that? It calculates energy balance, how much energy you spend, how much energy you get, and it tries to minimize the spending, because getting energy always requires work and, as far as evolution is concerned, we were never guaranteed to get that energy from food. When we try to change too much, too fast, we activate a part of the brain called amygdala, your brain's alarm system. It senses danger, not because change is bad, but because it's uncertain and might require a lot more energy. And the bigger the change, the bigger the uncertainty, the bigger the potential energy difference, which your brain does not like. Even positive change triggers fear if it's too big. In psychology this is called an amygdala hijack. It floods you with stress hormones, clouding rational thinking. You know, going for a walk is good, but suddenly your brain is like let's stay on the couch, let's watch some TV, eat something. It's safer here. And it has nothing to do with safety. It has to do with potential energy savings.
Speaker 1And this is where Kaizen method comes in. The word Kaizen comes from Japanese I actually learned it just a couple of days ago Comes from Japanese Kai means change and Zen means good. But the deeper philosophy and how it's used in the world is continuous improvement through small steps. This method was originally embraced after a second world war by Japanese manufacturing. Toyota famously embraced it and then there was like whole Toyota method. But then it was also adapted to human behavior.
So I finished a book yesterday by Dr Robert Moore, author of One Small Step Can Change your Life, and he used Kaizen in clinical psychology. He helped his patients to overcome major fears, from phobias to depression, by asking them to take tiny steps like walking in place during one commercial break, just one break, one minute. Why does this method work? And works and will work Back to our brain? Because small steps bypass the fear center. And the reason why they bypass the fear center? Because the change is smaller and so perceived uncertainty is smaller and perceived potential energy change is smaller as well. So your amygdala is not triggered the way massive overhaul and I'm going to change my whole life does. It feels doable and it feels like you're not going to spend all that much energy and it builds trust with your brain. Like not, a lot of things are changing, so we are okay. Let's bring this home to our lifestyle and health goals that we are usually talking about on our wellness Wednesdays.
Speaker 1So want to improve your nutrition, instead of trying to go on this crazy diet that's going to change everything. Ask yourself what is the smallest thing I can do better today about my nutrition, like a glass of water or one fruit, one batch with each of my meals always one meal. Want to improve your sleep? Try turning off screens 15 minutes earlier and heading to bed 15 minutes earlier, or 10. Or 5. Not 2 hours, just 5 minutes. Want to start meditating? One breath, yes, literally. Just try one deep inhale and exhale. Before you check your phone in the morning. Want to move more? Or before heading out of the door, just take a deep morning. Want to move more? Oh, before heading out of the door, just take a deep breath. Want to move more? Tie your shoes. Just literally put your sports shoes on. Tie them, that's it, and your brain will often go. Well, since we've got our shoes on, might as well go for a walk. Here's the thing Small steps lead to big momentum.
It's kind of like this principle in investing you put in small amount and then small amount and then small, and then all of a sudden you want to put in more. Or even if you don't, it compounds and if it's in the right places it can even bring you percentages that you've never put in there. And some might say, but that's slow. But here is the very, very obvious truth that I learned and realized over the years in my personal life and career it feels slow, but the truth is it's faster than quitting doing something for two days and then never getting back to it. It's faster than starting over. It's faster than doing nothing. Small steps build consistency. Consistency builds habits. Habits shape your new identity, and that identity that's what changes your life identity. And that identity that's what changes your life, that identity for which going for a run every day doesn't feel all that bad or big anymore.
Speaker 1So today my challenge for you is to ask yourself this one question often what's the smallest next step I can take toward my health goal? Not the biggest, not change of my life kind of step, but the smallest that I cannot not do? Then just do that. Let the habit sprout slowly, let the identity grow gently, not appearing like a butterfly from yesterday's worm, but instead sprout that you barely notice's worm, but instead sprout that you barely notice the growth. But it's happening. Transformation doesn't have to feel like trauma. It can feel like gentle movement, like taking one step.
So today, guys, again, whenever you're thinking about business goal, lifestyle goal, health goal, career goal, relationship goal, don't think about how can I change my life and change everything. Don't trigger your own brain's alarm system, which will not allow you to do the change, which will not allow you to do the change. Instead, ask yourself what is the smallest, tiniest step I can easily see myself doing every day and then do that and see, just experiment with it for the next months. Just do the smallest thing and see what happens. I challenge you and I'm 100% certain that it's going to truly transform your life.
Speaker 1Thanks for tuning in to ChangeWire today, and if today's episode helped you rethink how you approach change your health, your career, your business, I'd love you to share it with someone, someone who might be stuck or burned out by go-be-go-go-home culture. If you're a leader attempting to transform your team, your business, culture, entire organization, or change the world, maybe it's time to ask of people to make smaller changes, not big and transformative one in one giant leap. And hey, if you want more tips on rewiring your behavior and becoming change-wired in health, relationships or leadership or life, make sure to stay tuned. Subscribe review rate so we could reach more ears and so I get the motivation to keep doing this Once more. At a time, guys, we can change ourselves, our friends, family, teams, organizations and the entire world. So stay changed, wired and ask yourself what's the smallest step I can take today towards my goal and then take it. Stay changed, wired and we'll talk very soon.