Use Rituals to Achieve Your Goals

Think about your last job interview for a job, or maybe it was the last time you needed to speak in front of an audience. To quiet your nerves, you prepared – read some documents and practised your smile. Rituals.

Back when I was a swimmer, it was the act of rubbing my hands on the top of the dive block. In my mind, this intentional practice gave me the belief that I would have a better hold on the water and perform better. While this was one small ritual, it was one of the many I had. I believed the cumulation of these small rituals would help me achieve my bigger goal.

Rituals have so much power.

We engage in rituals to reduce anxiety or boost confidence to achieve our desired outcomes, such as our goals. They give our world meaning, and improve our societal bonds as well as our performance.

“Great performers, whether they are athletes or fighter pilots, surgeons or Special Forces soldiers, FBI agents or CEOs, all rely on positive rituals to manage their energy and achieve their goals”

-?Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz

For the record, rituals are different from habits. For example, my hand rubbing was intentional, a meaningful practice for a purpose, whereas habits are unconscious behaviour.

Another purposeful practice: Imagine making your 13-year-old son wear gloves full of angry bull ants for 10 minutes?– you would get arrested for child abuse. But for?one?tribe in the Amazon,?it?marks?a meaningful coming-of-age.?A ritual that tells the child it is time to step up and become a warrior.

Around Christmas time, the family rituals, especially those handed down by your grandparents or other relatives, build our sense of belonging. It's like an anchor, an invisible umbilical cord that connects you to the people that mean so much to you. Something everyone is craving right now.

Then there are the performance rituals, such as Rafa Nadal's pre-serve ritual. He places his hair behind his ear, pulls his nose, and adjusts his shorts while bouncing the ball. Many have accused Nadal of using his rituals to break the momentum and rhythm of others. Yet, Nadal will tell you it is all for his psychological benefit.

And lastly, rituals help manage our uncertainty by helping to restore our sense of control.

GOOD RITUALS BRING YOU CLOSER TO YOUR GOALS.

They are the steps that help you get there. First, you need to develop the right rituals to reach your goals. Then, strike gold, and it will increase the overall quality of your life and provide lifelong benefits.

Here are some examples:

Health: Add a workout routine during your day, include a healthy meal, or take a walk during the day. Send a positive message to a different friend each day.

The late, great Steve Jobs would lock eyes with himself in the mirror and ask, "If today was the last day of my life, would I be happy with what I'm about to do today?" If the answer was "no" too many days in a row, he knew something needed to change.

Productivity: Start the day with a cold shower (proven to sharpen the brain). Or start the day with an hour spent on a long-term project important to you. Then, check all incoming messages at a specific time.

Oprah Winfrey hits the treadmill to get her heart rate pumping for at least fifteen minutes of exercise. She says it boosts her productivity and energy levels.

Renewal: Switch off at lunch or take a break at 3 PM each day – go for a walk or write in your journal. Start the drumming/painting lessons you have always meant to sign up for. Meditate or stretch.

Author Stephen King works until he has written two thousand words. Then, once done, with a free heart and not worried that he is wasting time, he watches Red Sox games or goes for walks. It is now his time.

Rituals are the way to make the incremental changes you want to make. The more positive and deliberate rituals you implement, the more of your energy will be freed up.

And your rituals also have a significant mental payoff – added happiness and meaning to your life.?