The Power of Rituals & Habits For High Performance
Learn how to stair-step your way to personal and professional success with the power of consistency.
Rhythm is everywhere. Our lives are orchestrated or guided every day by the rising and setting of the sun and the moon, the changes in temperature from day to night and from season to season, the tidal ebb and flow, and our own internal rhythm.
We also find rhythm in our breath, in our heartbeats, and in the language we speak. These are constant reminders of life’s pulsing rhythm that moves within and around us.
As much as we wish for each day to be different, the cycle of repeating the same actions day after day is pretty common. That’s why habits and rituals are important parts of our lives.
While we often tend to use the words “habit” and “ritual” interchangeably, both are actually very different. The main distinction between habits and rituals is how aware and intentional we are.
What is a Habit?
A habit is an activity you have repeated often that it becomes automatic. A habit usually manifests itself as an urge to do something and is often triggered by a particular cue. There is very little energy or thought that goes into it because it’s mostly a means to achieve an outcome.
In contrast, a ritual is the opposite of a habit.
What is a Ritual?
Rituals are predefined sequences of actions characterised by rigidity and repetition. A ritual requires our full presence, attention, and deliberate practice. Rituals are viewed as more meaningful practices that have a real sense of purpose. With rituals, you are fully engaged with a focus on the experience of the task rather than its mere completion.
So, both habits and rituals are regular and repeated actions, but habits happen with little or no conscious thought, whereas rituals require a higher degree of intention and effort.
Habits And Rituals Have A Different Purpose
The purpose of habits is energy conservation and optimisation to free up space & time in our minds so we can use our energy to solve more interesting, stimulating, and valuable problems.
- A habit solves a recurring problem in our environment without using too much energy and attention.
The purpose of a ritual is to consciously mobilise and direct time and energy into the experience of a task or activity that is believed will create a desired future outcome.
- A ritual mobilises energy and attention to fully experience a task or activity.
Key Ingredients To Make Habits & Rituals Stick
There are a few reasons why you may be having trouble changing a habit or staying consistent with your chosen ritual.
- One may be that the habit or ritual you’re wanting to create is not aligned with your true highest values. This creates a lack of drive and meaning to start or maintain it.
- Next, you may have an inappropriate system, meaning an inadequate strategy and execution plan. It’s too complicated, too hard, or it will take too much time, effort and energy and disrupt your natural daily flow.
- Third, your environment may not be conducive to sustaining the habit or ritual. If you want to make a habit or ritual an important part of your life, make visual cues and reminders a big part of your environment to reinforce your behaviour.
Design Your Environment For Success
Let us consider two equations where f means “a function of.”
(1) Results = f (Behaviour)
(2) Behaviour = f (Person, Environment)
These equations mean that (1) the results we get in life come from our behaviour - the activities we do. (2) Our behaviour depends on who we are - Person - and the nature of our surroundings - Environment.
Our environment is the invisible hand that shapes our behaviour.
Every habit or ritual is context-specific and dependent. That means specific activities happen in a certain place at a certain time. The more we can create an environment where everything has a place and a purpose, the more stable the environment is, and the more habits and rituals can easily form.
To make your habits and rituals stick, give them a "time and space" to live in the world. Make the time and location obvious to create enough repetition.
Specify a TIME and LOCATION for your habits and rituals to get the urge to do the “right thing” at the “right place”.
For example, if you want to journal your thoughts, place a notebook and pen next to your bedside table, within easy reach.
Here is a question to help you set up your environment for success.
- What can I do to design, change, or modify in my current environment to better support my desired habits and rituals?
Before thinking about creating new habits or rituals, first, take inventory of what you are currently doing and evaluate whether it’s working for you or not.
- What habit(s) are currently working well for you?
- What ritual(s) do you currently have in place to become who you would love to be?
Take a moment to reflect and recognise first that you may already be doing something valuable that you take for granted.
Awareness is the first step to any transformation, change, and growth: Awareness of what you currently do, what you would do, and who you would love to become.
To become who you truly could be and have the life you know you are capable of, the next questions to ask yourself are:
- What habits and/or rituals could help me move closer to my desired goal?
- What habit(s) am I wanting to create to solve a recurring challenge?
- What ritual(s) am I wanting to put in place to become who I’d love to be?
The Power Of Stacking
A very effective strategy to create a new habit or ritual is to connect what you want to do (new habit or ritual) with something you already do. This is known as “Habit stacking” and the typical formula is:
After [Current habit], I will [NEW HABIT / RITUAL]
Some examples of this could be:
- When I buy a new item, I will give something away (embrace minimalism).
- After I wake up, I will take 5 minutes to write down my plan for the day (clarity leads to productivity).
- As I sit on the bed before going to sleep, I will think about one thing I’m grateful for today (reflect on your day, set yourself for a peaceful sleep).
The Hidden Benefits Of Rituals
Rituals have been part of human existence for thousands of years. They have been instrumental in building community, promoting cooperation, and marking transition points in a community member’s life. Rituals have evolved as distinct features of human culture.
Rituals go beyond helping us live out our values. They may also make us less anxious. Ritualistic practices can help bring a degree of predictability to an uncertain future by convincing our brains of constancy and predictability.
Scientific studies show that the anxiety-reducing effect of rituals can apply to almost any high-pressure endeavour. Research shows rituals improve performance and confidence and even benefit our physical well-being and immune system.
- What ritual(s) could you put in place to help you deal with anxiety, uncertainty, or high-pressure situations?
Finally, keep in mind that habits and rituals are meant to serve you for the long term, (not stress you out). Establishing them takes time because it is something that you do every single day: consistency is everything.
So, be creative, experiment, refine, and find the purpose and benefits to help you stick with the new habits and rituals you’d love to bring into your daily life. And most importantly, make it work for you!
In a Nutshell
Be clear on why creating new habits and rituals is important to you, then design your environment to nudge you and keep it simple. Be creative, experiment, refine, and be playful about the process. You've got to love the process to make it stick!
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