How to Build Effective Rituals and Drive Your Success

Hello everyone, it’s Mazen. Welcome to the Maximal Life.

Ever noticed how many things we seem to do on autopilot? Consider this scenario: When you return from work and you complete a precise series of actions you park in an exact spot that you have determined is convenient for you. You then undo your seatbelt, collect your stuff, get out of your car, lock it and let yourself into your house.

Chances are, you can recall none of those individual actions but you did them precisely and perfectly. You perform this ritual every day. You have perfected a series of steps that have streamlined some of your most commonly performed actions; helping you perform that task efficiently, completely and effortlessly each time.

Today I want to speak to you about the power of RITUALS. When I say rituals, I’m not speaking about religious rituals. I think the word ritual is unfairly and disproportionately paired with religion. And, I am not even talking about the drudgery of routines when I say rituals. I speak of rituals that are a sequence. A sequence of steps that help create the right mind space for action, and empower you to complete tasks effectively.

For instance, your morning ritual could be an early morning jog for some quiet time by yourself, followed by a shower and then a healthy breakfast to prime you for the day ahead. Similarly, your evening ritual may consist of dinner with the family, followed by the ritual of getting kids to bed and then some quiet time with your partner to unwind, to ready your mind and body for restful, rejuvenating sleep.

Rituals, make us value things, improve attention span and enhance emotional stability.

If you are thinking, really? We get all that from rituals? Surprisingly, yes! And, there are studies that prove it! Let me demonstrate using sports: a HIGHLY competitive field where razor-thin margins separate the winners… from the rest. In my research across multiple sporting disciplines, I found that each showcases the positive impacts of rituals. Researchers examined the effect of removing superstitious behavior and introducing instead pre-performance rituals in basketball. Researchers also reexamined the effects of mental training on confidence anxiety, and performance among tennis players and also studied the impact of developing pre-performance routines on golfing performance.

Now, I found the basketball related study particularly interesting because it replaced the anxiety of superstitious behaviors – which are widely seen among elite players (and marketed by the media). With effective pre-performance rituals that actually helped improve physical or mental readiness.

Now, in the tennis study, the impact of rituals such as self-talk, imagery, arousal regulation techniques, concentration, and special routine before performance were examined. What they discovered was that structured mental training program rituals were seen to enhance self-confidence and eliminate specific performance problems among the tennis players.

This is all great news for athletes. And you know by now in the high game we are playing at as Maximal Achievers, we too, run our days like elite athletes. Now, this is where it gets REALLY good. The Harvard Business School examined how anxiety harms performance and how rituals can help counter this. Rituals – a series of predefined actions, characterized by repetition and a certain formality – were seen to actually REDUCE anxiety, and ENHANCE public and private performance. Not only do rituals reduce anxiety, they also reinforce desired behaviors by delivering positive results each time.

Carrying forward this fascinating impact of rituals, researchers also found workplace applications for them. They found consistent evidence that rituals have a calming impact; that they could enhance performance at, say, an interview or a public speaking engagement. They also suggest how team leaders can institute rituals to improve performance.

Surprisingly, rituals also make us value things and experiences more! Ritualized behavior may heighten enjoyment and stimulate goal-directed action.

Isn’t easy to see how this self-rewarding behavior has application in the workplace?

Here’s how some Maximal Achievers, have incorporated rituals into their lives:

I read somewhere that Steve Jobs would ask himself every morning: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” This was part of his morning ritual; one that helped him focus on what was important to do each day. It possibly helped motivate him and maintain perspective as well.

Leonard Cohen an artist that I admired had a pre-performance ritual: it consisted of him and his backup singers singing a Latin song on their way to the stage. I imagine it not only exercised their vocal cords it also acted as a ritual to remove stage fright by calming their nerves.

I know a lot of successful people who begin each day with certain rituals: Waking up early at a fixed time each day, taking time for some quiet contemplation – you could call it meditation – some yoga, or any kind of exercise to energize and prepare for a demanding day ahead.

Another ritual that I have found successful people engaging in is the pursuit of hobbies. These are activities that a person enjoys; activities that makes people feel rewarded, relaxed and happier. Similarly, there are evening rituals that help get us in the right frame of mind. Rituals for getting to sleep more easily and to stay asleep, without interruptions for a restful and truly rejuvenating sleep.

It’s time to discover the many benefits of positively effective rituals.

In fact, have you ever heard about ‘muscle memory’? It’s the reason why we never forget how to ride a bike. Practicing and repeating tasks creates and consolidates nerve pathways. A substance called myelin coats our neural pathways and facilitates quicker thinking, faster reactions, accurate assessments, and better decision making. The more you practice something, the thicker the myelin layer gets, and the faster and more precise our impulses are! And that is why repeated or ritualistic actions make for enhanced productivity, performance, skill and expertise over time. The “Myelin effect” effectively puts us in the driver seat.

And this is how rituals enable mastery; helping us achieve targeted goals: by creating effective rituals, eliminating extraneous steps and tweaking or streamlining effective steps, you are setting yourself up for the win. When you drop into that familiar groove, you’re on effective autopilot. This leaves your senses and your physical self free to concentrate on the many other variables that you will encounter and have to deal with.

So, what rituals should you implement in your life as a Maximal Achiever?

Let me share an important one with you, with over 60% of body weight, 90% of the brain and about 80% of the blood by volume made up of water. Hydration is a hugely important part of my morning ritual. It helps replenish the moisture lost during the night. Did you know; the body could end up losing about 250 ml of water simply because of respiration and sweating while asleep? Even a 1% loss of body fluids or mild dehydration, which can happen overnight can negatively impact mood, thinking, concentration and performance. So during my morning ritual, I reach for the 16 oz bottle that I place conveniently within reach and I drink it all up. This is followed by a nutritious breakfast that adds to an effective morning ritual to set up a productive, successful day. Develop your own morning ritual by doing what is useful and discarding what is useless. Make small incremental changes to the steps of the rituals to make the entire process fast, efficient, effective and resource-conserving in terms of your time and effort. Go ahead and fine tune or streamline a ritual to bring it more in line with your goals.

My evening ritual is about connecting with the family, giving thanks and winding down with activities that signal to my brain – this day is over; I am grateful for what I received and look towards a rewarding new day tomorrow. Physically, this is what I’m doing: I clear up the clutter around the house, dim the lights, switch off electronic devices and noisemakers around the home. I ritualistically divest myself of stimulating activities and tasks of all sorts to get into the ideal, restful state of mind.

Here is a cool insight that you will find surprising: It has been reported that Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, two of the richest men on the planet, take care of cleaning their family’s dirty plates and cups, every night to relax. What a fascinating evening ritual!

So, examine the sequence of steps in your ritual. Reordering those steps may help. Cutting out some steps or adding new ones could make the ritual more fulfilling and effective and less resource intensive. Here is another one: Consider changing the time of your rituals. Could waking up half an hour earlier help? Could your mornings benefit by going to bed in the evening half an hour earlier?

You want to choose the rituals that most effectively serve as a springboard for your success; that supercharge your day with positivity.

I always supercharge my day by Giving thanks. Gratitude is my favorite ritual so let me practice it right here right now. Thank you for joining me on the journey to the Maximal You. Incorporate simple, practical and sustainable rituals to give you the incremental edge every step of the path to living the Maximal Life.

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