8/14/2019 Kaizen - The Art of Continuous (Self) Improvement

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JN MOffici al Publ ica tion ofThe Soc ie ty o fNuclear Medic ine

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3Aandoms

Kaizen:T he A rt of C ontinuous (Self) Im provem entM o stp eo ple liv e, w he th er ph ys ic ally , in te lle ctu ally o r m o ra lly , in a v er y

re str ic te d c irc le o fth eirp ote ntia l b ein g. T he y m ak e u se o fa v ery sm all p ortio no fth ei rp os sib le c on sc io us ne ss , a nd o fth eir s ou l@ r es ou rc es in g en er al, m u chlike a m an w ho, out ofhis w hole bodily organism , shouldge t into the habit ofu sin g a nd m ov in g o nly h is little fin ge r G re at e me rg en cie s a nd c rise s s ho w u s

h ow m uc h g re ate r o ur v ita l re so urc es a re th an w e h ad su pp ose d.Williamames

Onlongflights,theairlinessuggesthatpassengerserformaerobicexercises in thei r seatsplaceour t ray tables in the upr ightpos i tion and l if tyour knee to your ch in . In addi tion to decreasing the inc idenceof un towardevents f rom prolonged s it ting, this is an approachto self -improvementunderunusual ci rcumstances . In the race to get things done everyday,the need tos ti ck to the agenda ofthe here and now drives the need for sel f- improvementto th e d is tant edge o fconsc iousne ss . We lo se who we a re in what we do.Rush ing f rom even t to even tkeeps us on t ime , bu t r ar elya l lows the k ind ofunders tandingthat fosters personal growth and leads to fulf il lment .Wai ting i s r ar elyp lanned or p leasan t.W i th so many things to do , i t i s astressfulannoyance which prevents completion ofthe appointed task.However, it can a lso be v iewedas a t ime to reconnect and improveg if t.Th is t ime i spar ti cu la rlyvaluab le to s tep back and see i fwhat we are do ing i swhat we expectedto doapersonal chi square.The moments spent wai tingare very usef lulfor lett ing this happen. Serenityand locat ion may assist theprocess ,but in this wor ld of24-hour t raveland instantcomm unication, theopportun it ieswe need come in p ieces like it s o fa jigsaw not in large ,expansiveblocks.Some psychologis tsbelieve that the inner selfcommunicates with theconsciousmind a t a rat e of 800 wordsper minu te .Br iefmoments can bringsear ing insights.Peopleski lledin the ar t ofsel f-communication can think overthe meaning and va lue ofthe ir ac tionswhenever there i s a break in the ac tion .The busier we are , the more wait ingwe do , and the grea te r the opportun ityfor contemplation.In additionto the searing insights ,contemplationprovidesthe rudder needed to avoid the buffetingofouts ide opinions . I t i s helpful toknow what o thers think , bu t i t i s impor tan t to know whetheryou think they arer ight. Introspectionallowsa comparison ofviews and permits the mid-coursecorr ec tions to he lp us ge t f rom now to then .Now placeyour t ray in the up tigh t posi tion and l if t, two three ,l ift two three, l if t . .. .

H. Wil liam Straus sE dit op J ou rn al o fN uc le ar M e dic in e