Whether we like it or not, we humans are creatures of habit. According to a study conducted by Mr Alex Pentland at the Media Lab of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 90 per cent of what we do in any given day follows routines so complete that our behaviour can be predicted with a few deft mathematical equations. So much for being independent thinkers or masters of our own destinies.

If you’re one of those people who boast an enviable smorgasbord of healthy habits – rising at 5.00am to meditate, eating clean, exercising regularly, doing things that involve IRL social interaction, minimising screen time, getting at least eight hours’ sleep a night – then, well, good for you. As you were. For the rest of us, there are certain habits that we’d like to kick – for good. That’s a lot easier said than done, however. Remember back in January when you said you were going to ease off the alcohol, start going to the gym and avoid scrolling through Instagram in bed?

The good news is that Ms Sarah Harvey, author of Kaizen, may have the key to unlocking those stubborn behaviours, permanently. While living in Tokyo and working as a book scout and publishing consultant, she discovered the 70-year-old Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement through incremental change and began to implement it in her own life. Her book, which is based on this experience, suggests ways in which you can transform unwanted habits one small step at a time.

“Toyota famously used kaizen on its production line in Japan and it was credited with being the reason why Japanese businesses massively succeeded in the mid-20th century,” she says. “But the concept can be expanded to your personal development as well, helping you to analyse your attitudes to work, or health, or whatever, and to think of very small ways you can improve.”

So, how do you go about living life the kaizen way? We get the lowdown from Ms Harvey.

Have you ever dived into a new resolution with all the fervour of a madman, only to realise weeks later that you have no idea if you’re actually being effective? Whether it’s logging how much time you spend eyeballing your phone or how many zzzs you’re catching each night, you’ll never know the progress you’re making unless you write it down. “With kaizen, the first step is to literally have a picture of how you’re doing and where you need to improve, so journalling is useful,” says Ms Harvey. “You can do it in any way you want – there are lots of apps or spreadsheets – but keep track of whatever aspect of your life you want to change.”

When we’re focused on a particular goal, it can be easy to obsess over the end result. But that can make your goal – and achieving it – an even more insurmountable challenge. Instead, Ms Harvey suggests setting yourself highly achievable mini-goals that collectively build up to the final result you’re looking for. Think Mr Alex Honnold breaking his epic free solo climb of El Capitan, a 3,000ft vertical rock face in Yosemite National Park, into 15 or so sections. “It’s good to think about things in a short-term, medium-term and long-term way,” she says. “For your initial step, think of the smallest possible thing you can do. If you want to run 10k, start with just 500m and add 500m incrementally from there, building it up in that way.”

Creating new habits is hard. Really hard. “The received wisdom is it takes 90 days to form a new habit, but actually it can be anything like 300 days,” says Ms Harvey. So how can we make sure we’re doing the right thing over time, in a consistent way, in order for it to become a natural part of our lives? “I’m one of those people who never drink enough water,” says Ms Harvey. “So I just fill up a glass with water every time I go to the toilet (not from the toilet, from the water cooler at work). To automate a new habit, it’s best to try and link it to another one. I associate going to the toilet with, oh, I need to drink a glass of water.”

“One of the things kaizen emphasises is taking a step back if you feel like you can’t achieve the goal that you set and not beating yourself up about it,” says Ms Harvey. “There are life things that get in the way, like if you have children or it’s a busy time at work.” To that end, Ms Harvey suggests setting realistic goals. “Don’t set out to run a marathon in January when it’s really cold and you won’t want to get up in the morning to train,” she says. “Think about when you might want to achieve these goals and what is achievable for you. The good thing about it being incremental is that if you do feel like you’ve stepped it up too much, you can just go back a few stages and not feel like you have to do it all in one go.”

With your newfound determination, grit and focus, you might be tempted to change several habits at once. There’s no time like the present, right? For Ms Harvey, this is counterproductive and more often than not results in a spectacular slump. “Try to localise it so it’s only one thing you’re trying to do at a time,” she says. “If you’re trying to lose weight and change your diet and stop spending so much, it’s overwhelming. Drill down to the one thing you want to concentrate on. And think about what your triggers are. If you’re tired, do you want to eat unhealthily? If you’re stressed, do you want to go out shopping and spend money that you don’t have? Think about these triggers and come up with one very small thing you can do that would be a positive step in the right direction.”

Kaizen: The Japanese Method For Transforming Habits, One Small Step At A Time (Bluebird) by Ms Sarah Harvey is out now