Energize For Success

Rituals are behaviors that we do over and over that become automatic over time. We all have behaviors that we do on autopilot such as brushing our teeth, driving the same route to work everyday or sitting down at a specific place to eat dinner. In The Power of Full Engagement (one of my favorite books), Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz discuss how important it is to create positive rituals if we want to live an energized life. And the key to creating positive rituals is to specify ahead of time where, when and how we will do the positive activity. Studies show that when people are asked to be specific about what they are going to do rather than just say they will do something, their chance of success increases dramatically. In my coaching, I ask my clients to paint a picture of what they will do so that both of us can close our eyes and imagine them doing the activity. For example if my client wants to start exercising, I have them describe what they will be doing and where they will do the activity (walking a one mile loop around their house, using the elliptical machine at the gym or going to the latin based dance class at the community center), when they will do it (on Monday, Wednesday and Friday after work, in the morning as soon as they drop the kids off at school) and how long they will do the activity. We may also discuss how to create additional positive rituals that will ensure that they can accomplish what they want. One client created a ritual around packing her gym bag the night before and putting it by the door to support her getting to the gym after work. Another client set an alarm on his computer to remind him that it was time to wrap up work for the day to get to the 7:00 PM exercise class he had committed to attending. By deciding in advance exactly what we will do and where, when and how we will do it, the likelihood that we will follow through increases dramatically.