I love the idea of living a life with Kaizen as the grounding center!

The definition of Kaizen according to the book which accompanies the Spirit@Work Cards® is:

“The capacity to do the same thing a little bit better every day may not look like a spectacular achievement in the short run, it is. The Japanese call this Kaizen: continuous improvement in personal life, home life, social life, and work-life, involving everyone. Kaizen is a Japanese word, which literally translates into ‘better way.’ It’s the art of doing the same thing better, rather than doing things differently. Kaizen is the practice of making small improvements in the status quo through continuous, ongoing efforts.”

The book continues with:

“Kaizen is subtle and effective. Reverence for the details of little things, the magic and Wonder of small, incremental changes over time, can be remarkable – like the result of constant incremental change in a bonsai tree or in a Zen garden.”

I have always taken baby steps in anything I’ve done. Life seems easier when projects are broken down into smaller parts. There’s less stress involved when I’m playing with a portion of something rather than the entire thing. A great example would be this blog site. The thought of creating a blog site with 200 blog entries in it felt insurmountable. Writing one blog at a time … not so bad. Writing the first blog was really hard to do. I trembled as my hand hovered over the Publish button. Today the blog site has more than thirty posts. They didn’t show up in one day. They were added slowly, over time, each time getting a little easier, improving blog by blog.

I loved this section of the accompanying poem:

Help me treasure the practice of improving what I do,

Developing Mastery in every part,

Every approach, and every perspective.”

It might sound like something insurmountable. You have a lifetime to achieve Kaizen. Practice it daily and you will grow and realize your full potential … over time.

How can you bring the practice of Kaizen into your life?

Higher Ground Leadership Principles® and The Spirit@Work Cards® are registered trademarks of the Secretan Center.

“Every day, we are faced with dozens of decisions. We can choose the style in which we make them. We can act in the best interests of the Soul by bringing more Mastery, Chemistry, and Delivery into the world, as well as Kindness, compassion, Honesty, truth, and Love – or we can act from personality by being competitive, ego-driven – even hostile and angry.”

Wise words found in the book which accompanies the Spirit@Work Cards®.

When I think of Kindness, simple acts come to mind: cleaning the snow from the car beside you in the parking lot, letting a mother with young children go ahead of you in a grocery line, smiling at people you interact with in your daily life, opening a door for a person, and speaking in Kindness. There is an endless list of possibilities of how a person can add Kindness to another person. In most cases, it takes very little time to do so.

The amazing thing I’ve noticed about Kindness is that it can make such a difference to the person receiving it. I believe that in the life we’ve created we’ve almost forgotten about being kind. It’s become something that surprises another because of its rarity. I wonder how something so simple to accomplish slipped through the everyday actions of our lives.

The poem that accompanies the card has this to share:

“Kindness gives strength, understanding, and goodwill.”

and,

“Help me be kind in my actions.

Let me connect, with kindness,

To another and another

In every action, in every interaction.”

I know that if you start by making a conscious effort to practice Kindness that it becomes an unconscious part of your everyday life. It happens without thinking about it because it becomes part of the fabric of who you are as a person.

How are you going to start to practice Kindness in your life?

Higher Ground Leadership Principles® and The Spirit@Work Cards are registered trademarks of the Secretan Center.

“Unconditional and totally attentive listening – sacred listening – is a beautiful gift to the Soul of another.”

“We serve best by listening with sacred attentiveness and then acting constructively on what we have heard.” 

“Sacred listening is open listening; it is effective listening that seeks to understand, without being defensive or manipulative.”

     These are three of my favourite sentences from the book which accompanies the Spirit@Work Cards®.

     Imagine a world where your words are heard exactly the way you wanted them to be understood. A world where people listen and hear each other as a natural way of life. By listening whole heartedly we would be able to hear the nuances in their voice, see their body language, and feel the spiritual energy of the person talking.

     When we listen to a person consistently, with our full attention, we open up a space for trust. We’re able to develop a deeper, more meaningful relationship, instead of a superficial one where each person is saying only what they think the other wants to hear.

     If you were to take listening within yourself, what would you hear? Do you listen daily to what your heart and Soul want and need from you? Do you honour their requests?

     Amazing things happen when you give yourself the gift of listening. Deep down you know exactly what is right for you in any given moment. Your true passion, and the path to happiness, is within you. It’s waiting to be heard and acted on.

     When was the last time you took a moment to listen to nature? The sounds of the birds singing and chirping, the barking dog off in the distance, or the rustle of the leaves in a gentle breeze, can all have a calming effect on the Soul. The full benefit of listening to the sounds of nature can be achieved by simply opening a window by just a crack. That’s all it takes to allow the calming sounds of nature in.

     How will you bring listening into your life this week? Will you listen to others, yourself, and nature with your heart and Soul? Will you listen with the intent to actually hear what is available to you?

     Try it! See what happens … it truly is a gift to the Soul of another, and to yourself.

Higher Ground Leadership Principles® and The Spirit@Work Cards® are registered trademarks of the Secretan Center.

A new year, and a new way of playing with the Spirit@Work Cards®.

I was pleasantly surprised to draw Listening as the first card of the year as that is exactly what I’m doing as I start this journey.

My intent is to draw one card a week, on Mondays, and to blog about my experience with the card on Sundays. I am not going to return the drawn cards to the deck. I want to spend each week of the year with a new card to consider and implement into my life. Although the cards are designed to be considered in a work environment, I’m going to use them to play with self-discovery and growth for the year.

The sentences that resonated with me the most from the book were:

• We are experiencing a growing social ailment – a sense that we are not being heard.
• We cannot meet the needs of others – delivery – if we do not pause to hear what those needs are. We serve best by listening with sacred attentiveness and then acting constructively on what we have heard.
• Sacred listening is open listening; it is effective listening that seeks to understand without being defensive or manipulative.

My favourite sections of the poem were:

Guide me to be present and attuned.

and,

Let me listen with love.

I have a bad habit of listening to what everyone else thinks I should be doing. I really need to start to listen to my heart to hear what I need for my Soul development. I not only need to listen … I also need to act on what I hear. There’s so much I want to do, but I’m not doing it. I’m not … listening.

If I were to really listen to what my heart wanted me to know I would probably be surprised to hear what it said to me.

The very first thing that comes to the surface is that my heart wants to cry. It’s lonely and is hurting from not feeling like I’m worthy of being treated well … not even by myself.

There are so many things I want to do with my life and I don’t listen to those desires. I hear them. I make lists of things to do. I don’t follow through on them. I’m not listening at a sacred level. If I were, I would follow through on my list.

I not only don’t listen to my heart on a relationship level. I completely block it out. It hurts too much if I really listen to what it wants in order to feel alive. I need to spend some time listening to my heart and figuring out what I need to do with my relationships in order to be happy.

My heart also tells me that it’s scared. It’s scared that I will give up on my goals for this year and that I won’t act on what my year of self-discovery brings to the surface.

If I listen to my body a completely different type of message is heard. My body wants to be nurtured and cared for. It wants to live in a healthy way with nourishing food and energizing exercise. It wants to feel better. My body wants to feel loved, not used. It wants to be pampered with hugs, massages, warm bubble baths, and facials. It wants to wear nice clothes and have it’s hair to be taken care of properly. It wants energy to be able to accomplish everything my heart, body, and mind needs to feel whole, happy, and content.

If I were to listen to my mind it would tell me that it loves to learn, to figure things out, to be creative, and to be intelligent. It wants to be allowed to be everything it already is. It wants to thrive and to lead me to great places.

Listening is a perfect thing to continue throughout the year. I know what’s best for me. All I need to do is listen … and follow through.

I have a whole year to practice and perfect listening to myself. I’m surprised at how much I learned this week by simply taking the time to listen to myself!

The Spirit@Work Cards® is a registered trademark of the Secretan Center.