Every day we wake up with the thought of making the day unique by doing something different from our daily work. However, when we revisit our day during the night each day seems to look exactly the same.
For me, this routine is wake up early morning, drinking 2 glasses of warm water, freshen up, exercise, read something, get ready for work, going to work, come back, watch Tv, have dinner and off to bed. Though I have tried really hard to inculcate some good habits and remove some bad ones, it hasn’t been very sustainable.
Rituals and routines are an essential part of our lives and understanding what each means is the right way to build good habits and routines.
Feynman’s technique to effective learning
Rituals vs Routines
The main difference between the two is your mindset, while one you do mindlessly because you have been trained to follow that routine, the other you do consciously because of some innate reason.
Trust your gut instinct if a ritual works right for you, and change things so that it feels good.
Well, a routine is a series of tasks that you do every day in the same order. eg. getting up, brushing your teeth, drinking water and more. It can sometimes become mundane and boring, but you still need to continue doing it. These are tasks that run through you on autopilot and though they can be efficient, they surely are not motivating or enjoyable.
At the same time, a ritual is also a series of tasks that you complete in a specific order, but there is an intention attached to it. They are meaningful and motivational. It is a particular way of doing some activity that has a purpose and positive reason to complete it.
It is extremely necessary to strike a balance between ritual and routine. While we all have routines that we complete, the struggle is to find a ritual in these routines, in order to make them more exciting and beneficial. The ritual takes the boredom away from a task and helps us in connecting with our purpose and in achieving our goals.
React and Response: The Difference Between the Two
Changing your Routines to rituals
There are many self-help groups that encourage individuals to adapt to the routines of highly successful business people or scholars. While this might motivate you, it surely will be difficult to make that part of your ritual. Each individual is different, and whatever routines you are following can easily be converted into rituals and become a pathway to success.
a. Positive Affirmations
Positivity always comes from within, and so it is extremely important that you recite affirmations from time to time. These affirmations are positive words that help you get rid of the negative thoughts and help you achieve a positive mindset.
b. Be at the present:
Also known and mindful, it is important that every routine you follow is done automatically, instead, you are mindful of each glass of water your drink, everything you write and each step you take. It helps in reducing stress, enhances performance and makes you more insightful and aware of your surroundings.
Through mindfulness, each routine can be converted into a ritual.
c. Have a larger purpose
While we all are going through daily lives, monotonously living each day as it comes. it is now time to take a step back and define your purpose for each action. This will add more meaning to your lives and convert each routine into a ritual.
Make your rituals a success
Every good thing takes time, and so will your ritual development. It is however necessary to remember these things.
a. Prepare your surroundings: Studies have shown that small environmental changes can help you become more efficient in your work.
b. Take small steps: Do not try to make all changes at once, make small improvements and before you know in the next 6 months to 1 year you will have more effective rituals. So think and act smartly.
c. Better done than perfect: Practise is the key. Do not aim for perfection, instead try to just comply with the changes you want to make.
It’s possible that a ritual won’t always have the desired effect on a participant, especially on the first few occasions. The repetitive nature of ritual action, according to Zen Buddhists, trains the body to produce the ideal mental state. For casual ritualists, Southworth offers a more flexible, approachable strategy. Consider it a way to let go of the mundane, she advised. “Rituals are similar to poems. There is no right or wrong way.
Some books that can help you effectively turn your routine into rituals are:
