I started this book and found that it was not for me. I didn't want to rate a book that I wasn't able to finish.

Guide to making and keeping better habits!
Thanks to NetGalley And The Experiment for the opportunity to read and review Kaizen- The Japanese Secret to Lasting Change by Sarah Harvey!
The book’s contents include how to start Kaizen, health, work, money, home, relationships, habits and challenges, stumbling blocks, and change for good. “Kaizen isn’t about change for change’s sake, but about identifying particular goals-both short-term and long-term-and then making small, manageable steps to achieve those goals.” Taking small steps in making changes is the absolute key. Kaizen is meant to be tweaked to your individual needs and goals. Continuous improvement is the philosophy of Kaizen. This informative book is filled with helpful tips for every aspect of our lives that break everything into manageable pieces to make improvements easier! Educational, instructional, enlightening and inspiring! 5 stars!

Kaizen is filled with excellent principles for making any type of life transition. It would be a great book for those who are wanting to make changes but are overwhelmed with the where and how to start. If you have already made life transitions and changes but are feeling discouraged on your progress, Kaizen would be beneficial as well as you would be able to make a note as to where you are succeeding and where you do still need some encouragement.

A big thank-you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for giving me a copy of this book for an unbiased review.

2/5 - It was okay.

I was interested in this book because my company employs Kaizen as an organizational structure. Although we've been talking about Kaizen for two years now, I still don't exactly understand what it is and was hoping that this book would help me.

Unfortunately, this book did not help me much in this regard. Essentially, the book states that Kaizen is continuous improvement which is made through incremental steps and focusing on specific areas of your life. Basically, it's a practice of mindfully taking stock, assessing your current situation, and making small changes to eventually get a big impact. It then dissects different aspects of a person's life to illustrate how small changes can lead to an impact.

While some of these changes were helpful, many were tips I'd gotten before. For example, sleep more, drink more water, spend more time in nature, nurture a hobby. Okay, I know these things are good for me, and I appreciate the tips on how to be healthier and happier. But what's new? What's so great about Kaizen, specifically?

Overall, I do think this book plays a gentle and useful reminder on how to improve basic aspects of one's life. However, my expectations for it were different - I wanted to really dive deep into this philosophy, understand the structure behind Kaizen, and see some novel applications to my life. I'd recommend it as a general self-help book to those who are searching for a writer with gentle tone and soothing reminders. Personally, I did not get much new content out of it.

I need help in the art of getting it done. I have big plans, start off strong then drift away before hitting that finish line. I've read many books, tried many methods some worked none kept me motivated very long.
This book is different from the others. It is the Japanese Method of getting it done. Taking small steps, easily achievable ones, 1% changes, set goals, short term to long term, move towards them. You just keep adjusting the little steps towards your goals. Keep a journal, write it down, see your steps moving you forward. This sounds like many other motivational books but the way it feels is much different. These miniscule steps don't cause stress or excessive commitment, just a minimum of effort There is empathy in this guide, a kindness and gentleness not found in many motivational programs. I felt like I can do this, it is attainable.
The book goes into the history of this technique and some Japanese culture history. It got well known from Toyota using it with success , it can also be used average people in all areas of our lives, relationships, business, school, diet, exercise, etc.. I started making little bitty changes in a few areas of my life and didn’t even set out too. It sticks in a good way. Excellent clearly written, fun little self help read.

This was a useful and fun book! Perfect for people who (like me) struggle with goal-making and want to try a new technique.

Sarah Harvey has written a quick and easy book on Kaizen. This is great for beginners on this subject and it is such a interesting subject.

This was an interesting introduction to Kaizen, which I was not familiar with before. If you already know a lot about it, it may be too introductory. It was a different take on positive habit-forming, which seems to be everywhere in self-help lately. This book has a nice design and is not too long.

I appreciated the exploration of manageable goals, the history, and beautiful pictures. Small changes seem like a logical and simple way to achieve change. The simplicity of kaizen is inspiring!

**I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

I chose to pick up this book because I basically love everything about Japan - the good, the bad and the ugly. So why not this book too as well?

I haven't heard anything about Kaizen before I came across this book. And I am so glad I did pick up this book because of this unusual word as its title!

This book is regarding how the Kaizen way of life has changed the author's life in general and how it is applicable to our lives as well.

I just want to quote, 'Kaizen is a noun in Japanese and is used to mean improvement, whether that is big or small, one-time or continuous.'

In this book, it is well explained about how Kaizen came along (the history) and I loved reading about it. It's a story of its own and I thoroughly enjoyed reading that part.

Then there comes the sections of Kaizen for personal development, sport, the differences in the culture of Japan and the West.
I loved how the author explained the purpose of Kaizen and how it's useful now in knowing and understanding our habits.
The book showcases practical tips on how to start and adopt the system; regarding heath and how to improve it using such a system regarding exercises, sleep, diet, morning routine and some other basic things that are incorporated in our daily lives.
I basically enjoyed reading the social media and self-esteem part in this book. It gave me wonderful insights on such topics in a brief manner.
I got starry eyed as I continued reading about how to apply Kaizen to work. It's so detailed yet practical and so calming to read. The amazing pictures do help a lot in reading such a book. As it's a nonfiction, self-help kind of read, the pace of the book is maintained so well with the right division of pictures and actual practical tips.
Another favourite part is the one where the book talks about freelancers. We all need to follow these simple tips. (And I for one have already started practising!) Because this is not just mere reading and nodding my head. Once I opened up this book, it was difficult for me to put it down as I need every page of this book to improve my life (yes, in damn simple, practical ways!). Because who am I kidding anyway?!
Then towards the later half of the book comes the part of Kaizen in studying, managing money, home, relationships, and the best part as applying Kaizen in habits and challenges.

I really love this book and I am going to keep it at my bedside table so that I can pick it up anytime soon.
Amazing book indeed.

Thank you #NetGalley for providing me with a copy of #Kaizen

Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader Copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I’ve heard the term “kaizen” before in the corporate world but didn’t know what it was. It’s the Japanese art of making incremental, continuous changes. This book first defines the concept and then has chapters devoted to the major areas of our life: work, home, relationships, health, etc. The author outlines various tasks and then offers the smallest step to take towards the goal.

Concept is interesting but book was pretty basic. No big takeaways for me.

*Identical review posted on GoodReads.

This is an interesting book about the Japanese art of Kaizen, which I am already familiar with. The information at the beginning about the history of Kaizen, and background information about it was very interesting and included some information that I did not know.

I would have liked photos that gave examples of the author’s bullet journal, though. I’m not familiar with the style of journal keeping and I was finding it hard to imagine what she was suggesting.

Also, many of the suggestions for kaizen steps seemed a little too big to me… For example in one place she suggested running 3 miles instead of 2 miles, when in my understanding of Kaizen philosophy it would be instead of running 2 miles, run 2.1 mile… And so on. Very tiny baby steps.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Disappointing, and not what I thought it would be. I was hoping for a book on Kaizen and applying the methodology, not a high level preachy book on diet, social media, sleep, exercise, tidying etc. etc. It is also just the authors point of view of how to improve in these areas. Is the author qualified to give relationship and other sensitive advice ? What I thought I was going to read was more than just step 1 based on a select set of circumstances and the authors perceived way of improving in a certain area. I was hoping it would be about the Kaizen methodology with enough detail and instruction that you could break down any goal, plan and build up on the steps needed for incremental change and to form a habit. It would probably be a good book for some people but the blurb and title are misleading. The pictures don't really add much to the book, nice as they are, and also restrict its digital versatility. Not for me but might be good as a gift book or for someone young just starting out