Recruiting Bootcamp Tip #6 - BUILD A DAILY RITUAL FOR SUCCESS

Author Dan McGinn of The Harvard Business Review recently wrote a great piece about mental preparation and motivation of professional athletes, entertainers, and successful business leaders. I’ve always wanted to be one of those someday, so I read closely. Here’s what I learned… maybe it will help you too in 2021.

McGinn found that performing rituals before a big game, big sales call, big presentation, etc., can help with mental focus. Specifically, these rituals help us remember how much practice and work we’ve put in towards the big moment. That, in turn, builds confidence.

These rituals can also help our minds shift from preparation-mode to performance-mode. I like to think of the classic character Izzy Mandelbaum on Seinfeld… “It’s go time!”

Similarly, while I’m not a Lebron James fan, I do love his pre-game ritual of throwing chalk on his hands and high up in the air. It’s fun to watch. Turns out, scientifically speaking, this small ritual may play a part into his on the court success.

Finally, pre-game/pre-activity rituals help shift focus away from the anxiety of the moment. Rituals have a distracting element to them and, in turn, make you better on task because you’re not focused on your anxiety. Those stomach-churning butterflies may never go away completely, but science says small rituals reduce your anxiety.

McGinn said that he even performs small rituals. He occasionally puts on noise cancelling headphones before he jumps into his daily routine. Why? It helps him quiet distractions and signals his brain that once those headphones come off, it’s go time! It’s almost a Pavlovian response.

Transference of a particular item used by a more successful person or mimicking a routine of a more successful person is similar to performing a pre-activity routine. For example, McGinn found professional golfers who used clubs once hit by Tiger Woods scored lower rounds than those who used their own clubs. The fact that Tiger had used them had absolutely nothing to do with how they struck the ball, of course. It was all about the subconscious reminder that, if so-and-so did it, so can I.

A successful brain surgeon told McGinn he keeps an old set of surgical tools next to him during surgery. He never even touches them, but they belonged to the mentor who trained him. These tools calm him by reminding him that he’s been trained by one of the best. Author Dan McGinn believed so much in the results of his studies that he called best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell to ask for one of his keyboards to use when writing his latest book.

McGinn said these rituals and transference of expertise through items others have used isn’t about trying to generate a placebo effect… it’s about controlling your thought patterns. Like the feather Dumbo held to help him fly actually had no bearing on his ability to fly, it helped Dumbo visualize and remember that he could do it.

These aren’t tricks to get more energized or boost your adrenaline. It’s about what you’re feeling… boosting your confidence, reducing your anxiety, and to help you manage your energy level appropriate to what you’re trying to do.

Do you have a pre-game ritual that you go through when you start your day? If not, maybe it’s time to get one. It can’t hurt!