Let’s face it: These last few years have been tough on us all. From the devastation of a global pandemic to the tragedy of civil unrest to the fears of an impending global recession, we’re coping with a lot of unresolved trauma and unremitting stress.
That can take a significant toll on both our personal and our professional lives, leaving us physically and mentally overwhelmed and underperforming. The good news, though, is that it is possible to get your mojo back.
The answer to boosting your personal success in difficult times such as these may come as something of a surprise, however. If you’re looking to thrive, whether in your career or your personal life, then harnessing the power of ritual in your daily life may well be the key you’ve been searching for.
The Power of Ritual
You might think that ritual has no role to play in our contemporary lives. You might dismiss ritualistic behavior as the relic of by-gone eras, of superstitious ages for which we moderns are far too sophisticated.
The reality, though, is that rituals aren’t about some specious, unscientific mythos at all. Research has shown that ritualistic behaviors serve a very real and very tangible purpose. Specifically, the evidence demonstrating both the physiological and psychosocial benefits of ritual is vast and growing.
For example, the evidence suggests that rituals help individuals cope with anxiety and uncertainty. Those who engage in ritualistic behaviors exhibit a lower physiological stress response when under pressure, including a lower average heart rate, than do those who are placed in the same high-pressure situation without the benefit of a pre-event ritual to help calm them.
The result, the evidence suggests, is an improved ability to focus and a higher level of performance in general. However, you don’t have to be under stress to experience the healing and helping powers of ritual.
You can readily integrate rituals into your ordinary daily life and reap rewards that only augment the physiological and psychological benefits explored above.
The Ritual of Daily Exercise
If you’re looking to leverage the power of ritual to increase your overall well being, then you can’t do much better than cultivating a daily exercise ritual.
For example, you may be one of the millions of Americans who find themselves spending the majority of their workday sitting at a desk and staring at a computer screen. In that case, making a walk around the neighborhood a part of your nightly after-dinner rituals can help you avoid some of the most common health risks associated with a sedentary lifestyle.
A consistent exercise ritual, for instance, can help prevent or resolve painful conditions such as varicose veins. At the same time, if you’re keeping physically active, you’re also going to feel mentally better as well.
Routinely moving your body oxygenates your cells, keeps your bones and muscles strong, promotes immune health, and supports cognitive performance. In other words, an exercise ritual will have you feeling, and performing, better in body, mind, and spirit alike.
A Learning Ritual
Routine exercise isn’t the only ritual that can improve your cognitive performance and general mental health. Cultivating a daily learning ritual is also an ideal way to keep your mind sharp and your sense of curiosity, interest, and engagement with the world intact.
That means you should commit to never stop learning, even if your formal education has long since ended. Thus, you might define a knowledge-building ritual that requires you to watch one online educational video per day or to read one new book per week.
You can also cultivate your learning ritual by pursuing a creative hobby you’ve always been interested in but perhaps have never made time for. You might, for instance, learn to play the piano or violin.
Not only will you be indulging long-neglected interests, but you’ll also be acquiring new skills that may well be extrapolated to other areas of your personal and professional life. For instance, mastering a musical instrument, learning to paint, or even studying a second language can teach you to marshal your powers of memory and focus, calling on you to reignite cognitive resources that might have gone largely untapped since high school or college.
The Stress-Relief Ritual
We can all benefit from an effective way to prepare ourselves in the morning to meet the pressures of the day and to unwind and prepare for sleep at the end of it. That’s why a nightly ritual to help you decompress can be enormously beneficial.
For example, a ritualistic morning and nightly routine to bookend the day will provide the cues your mind and body need to orient themselves to the tasks at hand. Starting the day slowly and ritualistically, for instance, by preparing a cup of your favorite coffee and enjoying it from your favorite spot on the deck or back porch can be the perfect way to find your center and your focus before you launch into the chaos of the day.
Similarly, ending the night with a soothing cup of homemade chamomile tea can help you release the stresses that have accumulated during the day. Your mind and body will be better prepared for sleep through this slow, soothing, and predictable pre-bedtime ritual.
Perhaps best of all, by turning your morning coffee and nightly tea into at-home rituals as opposed to purchasing these items at a store or restaurant, you’re also going to end up saving yourself quite a bit of money. That means you’re not only going to benefit from the calming power of the ritual itself but also from the peace of mind that comes with knowing your favorite ritual is healing your bank account as well as your mind and spirit!
The Takeaway
Rituals aren’t just the stuff of yesteryear. Even in these modern times, we can all benefit from the power of ritual. Indeed, ritualistic behaviors surrounding exercise, learning, and stress management can be immensely effective in promoting mental, emotional, and physical wellness. This, in turn, can be a key driver of your professional and personal success.
