The Power of Daily Rituals

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." - Aristotle

Habits are part of us because they help humans survive. Our species may no longer live in the wild, but our modern world is physically and emotionally perilous nonetheless, and taking command of your habits is the secret superpower that leads to progression, achievement and contentment. In the face of the daunting nature of change and discipline, understanding the nature and “mechanics” of habits can help you peer beyond the apparent hurdles and see that if you take things step by step the changes you want can soon be, literally, second nature. Daily rituals are something Yaacov Afik, Afik Group’s CEO, believes is key to the well-being of both mind and body, never hesitating to share his knowledge and experience with those in search of success and/or a better life.

Join us as we delve into the power of habits, what goes on in the brain when forming them, and how to take real steps toward the routines you’ve always wanted by starting small with habits for long-term wellness.

Habit Formation – Where Do You Start?

"Small disciplines repeated with consistency every day lead to great achievements gained slowly over time." - John C. Maxwell

Here’s the truth. You’ve already started. When it comes to building habits, whether they are good or bad, their formation is automatic. As long as an action or process is repeated and ends with “reward,” a habit will form.

These automatic habits can be hard to recognize because a lot of the time we will not see or feel the reward part. But think of an action that you can perform without focus or even with your eyes closed – tying shoelaces is a prime example. You rarely tell yourself you did a good job after tying your shoes. Chances are you never have. To your brain, however, the completion of a task, big or small, is seen as a satisfactory action and the mind then goes to work all on its own to make this action easier. We will talk more about this in the next section.

The bad news is this means the impact of habits can be negative in a way that feels beyond our control. Strong daily habits that are bad in the long term, such as unhealthy diets or overuse of smartphones, take hold right beneath our noses.

Here’s the good news. Harnessing the fact that habit formation is straightforward lets you simplify the approach you take to creating rituals that will improve wellness.

Things that can help you:

• Start small and prioritize consistency | It’s all in the little things. For example, if you’re looking for a general more positive outlook, you could start each day by thinking “This is going to be a good day. And if it isn’t, that’s okay.” In James Clear’s book, Atomic Habits, there is a technique called “The Two-Minute Rule” that involves starting with small versions of a desired habit that takes no more than two minutes to complete. What this is all about is showing up, or making sure the ritual or thought simply happens. There will be tough days and there will be good days. Just remember to take the step and let your brain do the rest.

• Repeat after us and say, “Things don’t have to be perfect” | It’s easy to fall into the mindset that life is an all-or-nothing battle and perfectionism is a must. Life is not like that, for you or for anyone. You may miss a day, not perform as well as you think you should, or simply not feel great sometimes – everything is fine. Do your best, focus on the system and repetition and the positive habits will come despite the stumbling blocks. Trust the process!

• Celebrate Every Win | Even during the initial “small habits” phase, make sure to give yourself a pat on the back for every achievement and successfully completed task. This bolsters your emotional wellness, reinforces positivity in daily life and fosters a growth mindset.

What you will soon realize is that the benefits of keeping habits small to begin with apply to all routines whether at the beginning or down the line when you’re a habits expert. You could say every habit starts small.

The Biology and Science of Habits Tiny & Huge

"Ninety-five percent of everything you feel, think, do, and achieve is a direct result of your habits." - Jack Canfield

It could be telling yourself something positive when you look in the mirror while brushing your teeth.

It could be the realization that you are heading out for yet another hours-long hike without even thinking about it.

The power of habits lies in how your brain restructures itself to accommodate repeated behavior and/or actions. Basically, when that 1.4kg organ in your skull notices you are doing something routinely, it begins to build up the pathways in your brain associated with that action – like turning a dirt path into a smooth and wide highway.

In more scientific terms, this is what happens when you repeat a process:

1. The basal ganglia region of the brain begins to take over management of the action from the prefrontal cortex. This changes the activity from conscious step-by-step decisions to more automated sequences that are learnt procedurally.

2. From here, the synapses between neurons in the brain become stronger – that “dirt path” mentioned above is being used a lot, becoming easier to navigate. This is called long-term potentiation (LPT). Your brain is actively adapting and beginning to combine action sequences into single units you can perform automatically. This is called “chunking” – again, a fitting example is how we tie our shoes without thinking about it.

3. With more repetition, the brain will decide it wants to “pave over the dirt” with a process called myelination. A fatty substance called myelin encases the neurons, which speeds up the transmission of impulses along the pathways. The habit can now be performed with more efficiency and speed.

4. Finally, there is a shift in dopamine response – dopamine being a neurotransmitter released in the brain. At first it is released after the brain recognizes the satisfactory completion of an action or actions, producing sensations of happiness, pleasure, motivation and contentment. As a habit forms, the brain begins releasing dopamine earlier in anticipation, and the whole process becomes self-reinforcing. Welcome to the habit zone!

Our Understanding of Habits – A Brief History

It may come as a surprise that one of the most significant advancements in our understanding of habits came as recently as 1999. This milestone is called the “Discovery of the Habit Loop” and resulted from a series of studies conducted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) during that period.

The research conducted by Ann M. Graybiel and her colleagues was particularly pivotal in uncovering the neurological basis of habit formation and popularizing the “habit loop” concept.

Of course, this does not mean our pre-1999 understanding of habits was nonexistent, this article does begin with a quote by Aristotle, a Greek philosopher who lived from 384 to 322 BC, after all. Millennia ago, he impressively deduced that repeated actions played a central role in developing virtue and strength of character.

It was at the dawn of the 20th century that research into habits really took off under behaviorists including Ivan Pavlov and B.F. Skinner, with further developments in understanding the mental framework from a cognitive perspective and later the role habitual tendencies play in social psychology as the 1900s progressed.

The reason for 1999, or there abouts, being a year to remember is that the work done at MIT deepened our comprehension of the brain structures and processes involved in how habits are formed and how they turn conscious actions into automatic ones.

Small Daily Rituals = Long-term Change

"Drop by drop, a river is formed. Stone by stone, a castle is built. Little by little, accumulated habits become our character." - Swami Sivananda

The takeaway here is that you can let your wondrous brain do all the heavy lifting. Fret no more about whether this will work or worrying that you must be constantly giving 100% to succeed.

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1. List your goals in the simplest and most bare-bones forms. For example: lose 5 kilograms.

2. Consider how you can break down the actions into the “small versions” mentioned above. For weight loss it may be “arrive at the starting point of my walk” – take these achievements seriously even though it seems small, acknowledge them every time and your mind will see it as something it needs to apply its habit magic to. In the long run, this helps build your identity.

3. Make the habits attractive by linking them to something positive. Link arriving at the start of your walk with the endorphin boost that comes later or, even simpler, the pride you will feel when you look back on your day.

With these steps and the knowledge in this article, you can build habits that will form the basis to enhance wellness, whether it’s of the mind or body. After Yaacov Afik found that meditation, breathing exercises, and ice baths were a great fit for him, and their benefits helped him down the path toward mental and physical preparedness, he ensured to fit them into his daily schedule. They are now such ingrained habits that he feels something is missing on the odd day he is unable to maintain his routine.

The power of habits can reframe your image of yourself, be the guiding light toward a fitter future, or foster discipline where there once was none. Knowing how the internal systems work lets you set the stage and your routines become the vehicle that takes you to the goal line.