Habits, Rituals, and Sprints

I've been reading a book at work, the newest flavor of the month in corporate training. Like all of these books, I see it as basically taking things I already know, but assembling the nuggets into a different order and stated as a philosophy that promises to completely change your life.  This one has a number of clear statements on what to do that really ring true for me right now, enough that I've been reading no more than 3-4 pages a day at lunch but persisting on through the book and thinking about it in between.

So here are some of the nuggets I've been thinking about:

Every endeavor - physical, mental, emotional, spiritual - benefits from periods of pushing yourself hard to your limits followed by rest and recuperation.  Interval training is clearly helping me advance in running, and the exhaustion followed by rest is basic to weight and strength training. But the authors argue this is true in other areas. "Think wind sprints, not marathons" they say. No-one can stay in a meeting for more than two hours without a mental break to recover, for example. Writers need to focus then take a break. Emotionally, sometimes you need to just watch American Idol with your girl rather than keep on trying to solve your problems.

Nothing really earth shattering there, is it? All makes sense. But then they go on to talk about what that actually looks like in your daily life - how to make the rest and recovery happen. They say you should construct rituals to ensure you get the recovery.  A ritual, they say, is action that is imbued with meaning. Do it often enough, a ritual becomes habit. But it remains a ritual unless it loses its meaning and becomes empty gestures. (This chapter comes after the "values" chapter where they say to make sure your actions reflect your values.) So you thoughtfully construct your rituals, and make sure you practice them. They say, unlike the "3 weeks to become a habit" people, it talks a good eight weeks for a ritual to become part of yourself. When it does, it takes very little energy to perform it, but a ritual constructed around the rest and recovery principals is likely to enhance your energy, concentration, and commitment when you go back to whatever it was you interrupted for your ritual.

I would say by their definition, my lunch time walk is a ritual. It reflects my values about being fit and about taking time for myself. Talking to my girl while making dinner is a ritual. The holiday season is filled with rituals. I want to find a few more rituals to break up and manage my days and my energy.  Something to ponder as I get ready for the week.