I don’t like routines. I don’t even like the word routine. No matter what task you’re describing, when you attach the word routine it suddenly starts to sound like a chore and a bother.

In some ways I’ve fought routines all my life but recently I’ve recognized and discovered the real power of a good routine. I want to share that with you but first we need to clear up our language.

Bad Routines and Good Rituals

The reality is that routines can be good for us or bad for us. Routines are just tools and a tool in the right hands produces amazing results. That same tool in the wrong hands can be a most destructive weapon.

A bad routine is really a rut and being in a rut is neither fun nor productive. Nobody wants to get stuck in a rut and if you see a routine as a rut you’ll avoid it at all costs. A productive and inspiring routine, however, is something completely different. These good routines are best described as rituals.

A ritual is a set of practices that help set you up for success and productivity. A regular ritual is absolutely life changing and one of the keys to a successful, productive, and on-target life is unleashing the power of ritual in your daily life. Unfortunately, most of us associate routine with ruts and miss out on the power of ritual.

What Good Is It?

What does a good ritual actually do for you? At it’s core, a ritual prepares you to do great things. It’s just the warm up for something you want to do and it might seem like an insignificant and trivial step but, as any athlete will tell you, warming up is critical and should never be skipped.

A great warm up will always enhance your performance, no matter what you’re doing.  Conversely, a lack of a proper warm up will hinder you and most likely end up doing real damage to you and your endeavors regardless of your skill or talent level.

Rituals send powerful triggers to your sub-conscious. In effect, you’re telling yourself – your brain and sub-conscious – let’s get busy.

A Good Warm Up

Every morning when I get up one the first things I do is have a quiet time with the Lord. The act of spending time with God and His Word prepares me for my day and I’m always glad I intentionally invest the time.  This does not mean, however, that I’m always motivated to start the process or that my moods and feelings are where they should be for something like that when I start.

Frankly, sometimes it’s just hard to get everything going and, honestly, that’s probably normal. When you’re going to go for a run, you don’t just start sprinting. You need a warm up routine. You need a good ritual.

A Personal Example

What I’ve found that works for me is to get all my materials in place in a methodical way. I lay out my bibles, my Rhodia notebook, my devotional guides, and other supplies. This process starts telling my brain that something is coming.

I’ve taken to writing with fountain pens and keep my pens in an old Hemingway cigar box. Pulling that cigar box out and unpacking my pens to prepare for my devotional time also seems to always trigger something in my brain. It feels familiar and inviting.

Scents have proven to be some of the strongest mental triggers for memory recall and other cognitive work and I’ve found that the faint but distinct smell of tobacco from my cigar box, as well as the smell of a match from lighting a candle, has been a surprisingly powerful addition to my morning rituals.

Okay, I hope I didn’t lose you on the candle thing. I’m not chanting or burning incense or anything strange like that. But, I have found lighting a simple, unscented beeswax candle to be yet another powerful trigger that signals to my mind that this time in now set apart for a special use and to get ready to work.

All of this is happening very smoothly and without much thought. My mental focus is on preparing my heart and mind to connect with the Lord but these other elements definitely help to get me there mentally and emotionally. They help prime the pump.

Other Rituals

This idea of ritual goes far beyond just my devotional times. I’ve been writing 500+ words a day too in an attempt to work on a book and to blog more frequently. I’ve found that using ritual in this context is also extremely powerful.

Before I write, I go through a bit of a pregame ritual that prepares my mind, and my work space, for the task at hand.

As I’ve thought about it more, I’ve realized that I’ve had other rituals in my life for years. I just never really thought of them that way before. For instance, I have a very distinct set of actions I go through before I do any public speaking.

Your Rituals

What about you? What sort of rituals do you have in your life? What rituals should you create or add to your schedule to help prepare yourself for the great things you want to accomplish?

I pray that you are released from all your ruts and transformed by the new rituals you establish in your life.