RITUALS- “A set of behaviors regularly followed and grouped (chunked) into time segments.”
Leaders can “Chunk their habits” into Five RITUALS (time segments)
Daily
- Morning
- Work/School Kick off
- Pre-leave
- Nightly
And
- Weekly
We are all 100% disciplined to our habits.
Rituals are intentionally building a framework of habits to support consistent behaviors. Your morning ritual may include the habits of brushing your teeth, washing your face, and taking a shower. For others, their habits may be different.
We all have habits we do regularly in each of these Five RITUAL time periods.
Habits are the building blocks of our daily rituals. When these habits are modified by events that are out of our immediate control, change creates uncertainty (aka stress). Events trigger responses and these responses differ from person to person. Parents and employers, remembering this stress, help others deal with this stress adjustment. Recognizing the why and how the audience is responding and how the leader is responding is valuable for leaders to understand.
Modifying our rituals as we phase into what our new normal looks like may be challenging. At the same time, it is valuable in regaining our balance and our confidence in a time of change. This is true whether our future reality is working remotely, taking virtual classes or heading back into the office.
Example – Adapting to Change in personal life
- People thrive on structure, rituals, and habits. Children rely on their parents to keep them in their RITUALS – to wake them up, to get them on the bus to get them to school. Their teacher utilizes RITUALS and other frameworks to plan their day.
Without school, their rituals and habits are thrown off, they are forced to adapt and make changes. They may struggle, they may thrive, however they react, the parent is best served and so are the kids when the parent maintains empathy and understands each day may bring a different reaction.
In any of these changes, all parties are adapting to change. As any parents can tell us, maintaining RITUALS can help kids better adapt to change. And we are all grown up kids! Smile please.
Example – Adapting to Change in work-life
- Many employers are adopting a phased technique in bringing back employees to the office. They will be faced with determining who is best to bring back in each of these phases. In any of these plans, all participants are adapting to change. Maintaining a person’s RITUALS can help them better adapt to change.
In these interesting times for living, recognizing the value of RITUALS, how can you make a difference as a leader or as a parent?