Rituals

The latest book I am reading is called "Happier" by Tal Ben-Shahar. Based on the first 50 pages I can definitely recommend the book. Most books I can speed-read because they are full of fluff - not so with Happier. I find myself drawn into every paragraph. Almost every page conveys some wisdom that deserves more consideration. This is a rare book.

The reason that I wanted to mention this here is because one particular page the book mentions rituals:

"...instead of cultivating self-dicipline as a means toward change, we need to introduce rituals. ...

Initiating a ritual is often difficult, but maintaining it is relatively easy. Top athletes have rituals: they know that at specific hours during each day they are on the field, after which they are in the gym, and then they stretch. For most of us, brushing our teeth at least twice a day is a ritual and therefore does not require special powers of dicipline. We need to take the same approach toward any change we want to introduce.

...

What rituals would make you happier? What would you like to introduce to your life? It could be working out three times a week, meditating for fifteen minutes every morning, watching two movies a month, or going on a date with your spose. Introduce no more then one or two rituals at a time, and make sure they become habits. before you introduce new ones. As Tony Schwartz says, ' Incremental change is better than ambitious failure....Success feeds on itself'"

Tal credits this idea to the book "The power of full engagement" by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz.