Rituals: A Key Ingredient of Success

Having raced long distance triathlon for over a decade, I often joke that the endurance sports community is rife with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). OCD is defined as an anxiety disorder characterized by recurrent intrusive thoughts and repetitive behaviors and rituals aimed at reducing anxiety.

Nowhere is this more manifest than in athletes' pre-race rituals and superstitions. As an important race looms, triathletes find themselves needing to eat specific foods, wear lucky clothes, groom in particular ways (shave, paint nails, braid hair), listen to certain music, and do ritualized pre-race workouts and warm-ups. Some athletes need to carry a lucky charm on race day.

In professional sports, superstitious behaviors are pervasive, and recognized as a routine part of play. There is the famous Sports Illustrated jinx -- the notion that appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated represents the kiss of death. Teammates won’t speak to the pitcher during a no-hitter game. Michael Jordan was known to wear his blue North Carolina shorts under his Bulls uniform.

Rituals also abound. Baseball players spit in their hands. Tennis players and basketball players bounce the ball a certain number of times before serving or taking a foul shot. Getting to the top of a sport clearly takes an obsessive focus, and a willingness to practice and repeat routines in a somewhat compulsive way.

Distinguishing Superstitions and Rituals

Superstitions are typically developed in hindsight. The athlete notices that he or she did something that coincided with a good result, and attributes the success in performance to the circumstances. Those circumstances then become a necessary precursor to competition. Triathlete Chris McCormack admits that his mother used to make him lasagna before soccer games, and now he must eat it before every race.

Sports with high accident and injury rates seem to elicit superstitious behaviors. The behavior alleviates the athlete’s performance anxiety or fear of injury. Several professional cyclists have refused to race with the number 13.

Rituals, such as pre-race visualization or movements are encouraged by sports psychologists, as they help athletes get in the right mindset, and activate the neuromuscular system to prime the brain for competition. Used properly, they will make the athlete feel engaged, with an optimal level of arousal.

A ritualized pre-race routine lays the groundwork for a focused performance state. This is why so many elite athletes have developed a highly choreographed set of rituals.

How Rituals Work

If an athlete believes that a ritual will improve his or her performance, and that belief is reinforced over time by a series of successful experiences, the ritual then delivers a powerful boost in confidence.

Rituals function as a useful coping mechanism to deal with pre-race anxiety and the pressure to succeed. As well as preparing the athlete mentally, rituals help the athlete relax, shake feelings of self-doubt and feel confident. Confidence promotes performance.

There is even evidence to suggest that the brain shows reduced activation in response to failure after performing rituals.  Given that failure is part and parcel of every activity we undertake, having measures in place that protect from the experience of failure help us respond in a more balanced and measured way.

So, in short, our personal rituals help us turn down levels of anxiety and increase performance and confidence.

So, are there any lessons that we can borrow from athletes to help us in our day to day lives?  

Creating Your Own Ritual

Rituals are not just for athletes.  Our daily lives abound with performance challenges, whether it’s meetings, presentations, managing others, or making deadlines.  If you are trying to maximize your mental performance or handle work stresses more effectively, creating your own rituals can help.

Try introducing rituals in your life.  Here are some examples of how to do this:

1. Start the day with a ritual.  This might be a morning meditation session, a stretching routine or a short workout to clear your head and prepare you for the day.

2. Have some ritual around meals.  Looking forward to the food, and sitting down to eat can help us properly relish the meal, and pay more attention to our appetite.

3. Workspace rituals:  Having a designated workspace and routine can help focus and concentration.  Block of calendar time for working meetings with yourself to accomplish key tasks, and turn off notifications to avoid distractions. 

4. A bedtime ritual:  The end of the day is a good time for reflection.  Reinforcing positive thoughts, goals or expressions of gratitude are helpful, as well as lining up one’s things or workout clothes for the next day.  

The most important thing is find a ritual that is yours.  Embrace it, no matter how quirky and make it part of your identity.

Thomas Jefferson was quoted as saying, “I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.”

Or, as tennis champion Jack Kramer was known to say, “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.”

Prepare for your challenges, find a focused routine... and if wearing those lucky socks makes you feel on top of your game then by all means do it.