Result Ritual: the Productive Tool of Giants

“Any serious attempt to try to do something worthwhile is ritualistic.”—Derek Walcott

Do you have a vision to accomplish something worthwhile? Is it big enough to scare and motivate you at the same time? Are you absolutely committed to making it happen? If you answer yes to these three questions, I think you need a result ritual.

So what is a result ritual? 

A result ritual is a set (pattern) of actions (or words) that is followed regularly and precisely to produce certain result in a particular aspect of our lives.

Result ritual is different from a senseless routine; it doesn’t just happen, it requires intelligent purpose. And the professor of literature, Joseph Campbell explains the concept as follows. He says: “The function of ritual, as I understand it, is to give form to human life, not in the way of a mere surface arrangement, but in depth.”

Result rituals serve a constructive function in our lives. They not only make our goals easier to achieve, they also make our journey a little more enjoyable. And as we fall in love with the process of achievement, we become more motivated to keep the ball rolling—even on a very bad day. 

From the foregoing, we can see that a ritual is one of the only things which can impact our results in a very powerful way. When we design and follow a ritual for a goal, we feel more disciplined, less distracted and more consistent on the course that we have set; a useful ritual helps us make the most of our time.

This is the secret of the cream of the crop in all walks of life. And it is a point the publisher of SUCCESS magazine, Darren Hardy highlights in his insight that: “A daily routine built on good habits and disciplines separates the most successful among us from everyone else. The routine is exceptionally powerful.”  

 

For illustration, let’s take a look at one of greats in the literary world of creation: the prolific American writer, Stephen King. In the following quote, he informs us of how he uses this tactic to prep his mind to move into high gear for an ingenious output, on a daily basis. He writes:

“There are certain things I do if I sit down to write:

I have a glass of water or a cup of tea. 

There’s a certain time I sit down, from 8:00 to 8:30, somewhere within that half hour every morning. 

I have my vitamin pill and my music, sit in the same seat, and the papers are all arranged in the same places. 

The cumulative purpose of doing these things the same way every day seems to be a way of saying to the mind, you’re going to be dreaming soon.”

Having heard from a giant, I think it is time to talk about your own result ritual.

Design Your Own Result Rituals

The thing about ritual is that it is not only a choice but it is pretty personal. If you choose, you can use it to season your energy and emotions for their optimal returns in your life. And it is necessary if you are after extra-ordinary result in your field. 

As Mason Currey writes in his book, ‘Daily Rituals: How Great Minds Make Time, Find Inspiration, and Get to Work’: “The surest way to discipline passion is to discipline time.” 

He explains how to do that in the next sentence. He says:

“Decide what you want or ought to do during the day, then always do it at exactly the same moment every day, and passion will give you no trouble.” 

Unlike amateurs who always wait for perfect moods to do what is important to them, this is how real men work. They design a result ritual to enable a good outcome they want to see in their lives. And then, they commit to doing it every single day—no matter how they feel. 

On why this tactic works so well, ‘Daily Rituals’ states: “The more of the details of our daily life we can hand over to the effortless custody of automatism, the more our higher powers of mind will be set free for their own proper work.” 

Lastly, to achieve like the expert, we must stop relying on willpower alone to do the things we truly want to accomplish. We need to know that the big things that we dream of, can be made a lot easier to achieve with better strategies of success; one of which is a well-designed ritual for the specific result that we really need in our lives.

   

               

Start Your Days on a High Tide

"Each morning brings a hidden blessing; a blessing which is unique to that day, and which cannot be kept or re-used. If we do not use this miracle today, it will be lost."—Paulo Coelho

Why do few humans accomplish big things while the vast majority of people struggle to set mere mediocre records? One answer is in how they spend their time, especially the first portion of their days: the early mornings. 

World-class talents do better than most of us because they truly understand the power of early morning. And they don’t spend it haphazardly. They spend the beginning of their days thinking, planning and working on the critical goals they need to accomplish to contribute better to the good of all. 

Unlike us, they delay low value activities till later, every single day. To them, the mantra always is, if a task is relevant to a big goal that they have, then it needs to be done first. And Laura Vanderkam writes about this in her book, ‘What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast: A Short Guide to Making Over Your Mornings--and Life.’ She states:

“Before the rest of the world is eating breakfast, the most successful people have already scored daily victories that are advancing them toward the lives they want.”

In other words, they do more meaningful work before 9:00 am than most people do all day. Before noon, they have already made a measurable progress toward the things that are really important.

Just like Luara Vanderkam and other high achievers who use the early morning hours to their advantage, we can make tremendous progress toward success, if we take full charge of our own morning too. The rest of this article is going to help us in doing just that.

Remember:  how we start our day can largely determine how we spend the rest of it. 

Get Organized From the Night Before

If you want to make the most of your next morning, don’t eat your dinner too late the night before and try to sleep as early as possible. This is to ensure that you are well rested and alert to tackle your biggest challenges as soon as you wake up.

And when you wake up, thank your Creator first. Say your prayers or meditation for spiritual grace and blessings. Never skip this part on any day. We live in an unpredictable world, so it takes God’s special mercy to secure safety from dangers in all aspect of our lives. Emergencies can destabilize even the strongest among men.

After prayer and gratitude, condition your body for peak performance by doing some physical exercises like pushups and jump ups and possibly, a little walk. Then take a cup of water to prevent dehydration during the course of your work. 

Now read on to learn a life-changing idea for your life and business.

Focus on the Hardest Thing First 

The president of a steel company consulted an efficiency expert called Ivy Lee on how to do a better job of managing his company. He wanted to learn the optimal way of getting things done for growth and profitability of his business.

The revolutionary idea given by Ivy Lee to this executive was as follows:

He said: “Write down the six most important things you have to do tomorrow.” The executive complied with Lee and wrote down the essential tasks of the next day.

Now Lee continued, “Number those items in their order of importance to you and to the company.” The executive also did as requested.

Then Lee said, “Begin tomorrow with the number one task on your list and stay with it until it is completed. Don’t move to number two unless the first one has been finished. And then do the same for the second task on your list, and so on.”

Lee cautioned the executive not to worry even if the number one task took him the whole day to complete. What mattered was that he took things one at a time in their proper order. He should focus on the hardest task first and ensure it was completed before moving on to the next priority.

“Do this every day and send me a cheque for whatever you think the idea is worth,” Lee concluded.

After just a few weeks, the executive sent Lee a cheque of $25,000 (N9,125,000) with a note stating that the idea was the most profitable business lesson he had ever learned  in his entire life. 

Yes, the idea was that valuable; it became largely responsible for turning a struggling company into one of the largest steel companies in the world at the time—in just 5 years.

Lee simple idea coincides with what Gary Keller writes in his book, ‘The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results.’ He counsels that: “You need to be doing fewer things for more effect instead of doing more things with side effects.”

And that means you need to figure out the few critical tasks that must happen to move you toward your big goals and then commit to doing them as early as possible in the day before any interruption can get a chance to derail you from your purpose.

If you can consistently force yourself to do meaningful work in the early part of your days, you will be astonished at the level of progress you can make within a relatively short period of time.

In summary, to put your life on high gear, start your days on high tide by always doing the hardest thing first.

The Law of the Farm & How It Applies to Other Aspects Life

 “Nature herself does not distinguish between what seed it receives. It grows whatever seed is planted; this is the way life works. Be mindful of the seeds you plant today, as they will become the crop you harvest.”—Mary Morrissey

To truly succeed in life, we have to live in line with the natural laws as instituted by our Creator. And, one of those laws is the law of the farm or the law of harvest. In simple language, it says the farmer must plant in the spring if he wants to reap in the fall. To get good, he has to respect the season of duty. 

In his book, ‘7 Strategies for Wealth and Happiness,’ the business philosopher, Jim Rohn describes the workings of the law in a blunt tone, as follows:

“Those who rest in the spring do not reap in the fall, regardless of the need, regardless of the desire.” 

From the foregoing, we can see that nature is a stern taskmaster but a generous paymaster. It rewards diligence in abundance but gives nothing to indolence.

As a result of this truth, a wise farmer proactively chooses to till his land, plant his seeds, nurture his plants, and eliminate useless weeds. He keeps a regular watch on his farm until the time of harvest. In short, the farmer has to put in the time to complete his part.

At the season of planting, being undisciplined is like playing with fire; it has real consequences for the farmer. He will pay for any lapses at the time of harvest. This is why the business consultant, Stephen Covey asks the following question in his book, ‘First Things First’:

“Can you imagine forgetting to plant in the spring, flaking out all summer, and hitting it hard in the fall — ripping the soil up, throwing in the seeds, watering, cultivating — and expecting to get a bountiful harvest?”

Clearly, such expectation is not only foolish but futile. Short cuts and false hopes don’t work in the farm. The system of the farm is a natural system that can’t be cheated without a price. You have to do your part, at each stage of its process. You have to respect the spring if you must reap come the fall.

However, it may appear possible in other areas of life for— a while— where people seem to succeed by using quick fix method to circumvent the process of creation but Covey refutes this false assumption in his conclusion that: “In the long run, the Law of the Farm governs in all arenas of life.” Short cut eventually backfires because what is not done right will never yield its maximum return.

The law— in three simple steps— says if you want good harvest, plant and cultivate well first. Now let’s examine the process in greater detail—as it applies to life in general.

Plant, Cultivate and then Harvest

The law of nature that determines success in the farms also determines success in other aspects of our lives. As success at the farm requires intelligence and diligence, so is success in school, in business and at home. 

For example: If you want the harvest of a good child in the distant future, you must do your part by choosing a good partner for a healthy seed of life, then cultivate the farm by raising your child the best way possible and with time, you will get the object of your desire.

The same goes for almost all aspect of our lives; what and how we sow invariably determines the quality of our harvest. This process is described by the founder of Nerium International, Jeff Olson as “You plant, then you cultivate, and finally you harvest.” He explains further that to skip the nurturing stage is to gamble with our harvest; we can’t jump from planting to harvesting. So as wise handlers of our affairs, we should always endeavour to do whatever we need to do, when we need to do it, whether we feel like it or not.

However, those who choose neglect and procrastination will be rewarded with failure. Those who want to harvest without planting are living a mirage. The moment we understand that the law of the farm is universal and immutable; we shall be content to receive nothing whenever we failed to sow and cultivate. In other words, if we want better harvest, then we need to do better at the gardens of our lives.

Garbage In Garbage Out

Since our future is carved out of our present moments, we must plough the land and sow properly today for a bountiful harvest tomorrow. Good harvest can only be expected when we have planted the right seed first. 

Afterward, we must continue to invest time, energy and attention to cultivate our farm. This is true whether the farm is a physical, mental, social one. In all aspects of life, input determines the output. And the author of ‘Iron Will’ Orison Swett Marden goads us further. He says:“We must give more in order to get more. It is the generous giving of ourselves that produces the generous harvest.” 

We need to understand that success comes not from finding an easy shortcut to where we want to go, but from doing whatever it takes to get us there. Even if your own ambition has little to do with tangible things of this world, know that the law of the farm also governs the spiritual aspect of your life. 

So, learn to plant something wholesome in the tender garden of your soul to reap a bountiful harvest of serenity for life. In this direction, Stephen Covey still reminds you that: “The only thing that endures over time is the 'Law of the Farm.' You must prepare the ground, plant the seed, cultivate, and water if you expect to reap the harvest.”

Finally, diligent patience to the process creation is the secret of successful farmers. As it turns out, diligent patience is the ultimate secret of all great men as well. The Edison’s and Michelangelo’s of this world use the law of the farm to their advantage; they paid their full due early in time to earn their well-deserved recognition in the world. 

Therefore if you dream of realizing your full potential one day, know that you have no choice than to put in the work in the springtime of your life.

How to Unleash Your Creative Force

“Creativity is dynamic, it asserts life, frees the human spirit, conquers mental lassitude and illness, and makes real the outrageous potential of the universal imagination.”— Robert Genn

Janet Echelman is an amazing sculptor and fiber artist. With her art, she is clearing the boundary between technology and nature as we know it.

She came to limelight after completing her first fishnet project in 1997. Since then, she has evolved the scale of her work, collaborating with urban centres throughout the world to create a new dimension of elegance and beautiful in the natural environment.

The surprising part of her story is that she never read architecture, engineering, or sculpture. In fact, she was rejected by all the seven schools of arts that she initially applied to study and explore different forms of arts. Yet she went on to make herself an amazing artist despite those setbacks.

She is now the proud recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, for her works which are said to be "changing the very essence of urban spaces." 

Guggenheim Fellowships are grants awarded to those “who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts.”

Some of her works have been displayed as public arts, and they include a great one in particular, tagged: “Her Secret Is Patience”: a billowing, voluptuous form which was premiered for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. The title of the work was inspired by the following Ralph Waldo Emerson’s words: "Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience." 

On further exploration, this is what she said at TED regarding her work:

“I’m interested in pursuing original research to focus on ways of making visual the natural forces and cycles that are going on around us all the time and that we are unable to see.

One way I’m doing this is exploring the possibilities of different materials. Right now I’m exploring new ways to sculpt with water. 

I’m testing different ways of manipulating tiny water particles to create moving curtains of “dry-mist,” and to make it thick enough so it responds and makes you want to play, yet manipulate the particles so you don’t get wet.”

She is far from resting on her laurels, and neither should we. By her example, I hope we are equally inspired to commit to the creative process all the days of our lives.

We Were Born Imaginative

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”—Pablo Picasso

Though, some humans may be more creative than others, yet, every one of us can think and imagine, therefore, all of us have the capacity to discover and reconnect by making sufficient use of our minds.

And for those with relatively lesser ability to create, we can learn how to improve. Creativity is a skill and all skills are learnable with time and adequate practice.

Now let’s take a look at few practical tips on how we can train ourselves to see and bring forth value in the midst of little, waste or even nothing, from this day onward.

Three Practical Tips to Unleash Your Inner Creative Power:

1} Pay Attention to the World around You

This is the secret behind the success of the great scientist, Isaac Newton. He was exceptionally curious. Many people must have seen an apple falling. But only Newton dared to ask why. “Why did the apple fall only downward and never sideways, nor upward?” 

He discovered the law of gravity because he paid attention; he had curiosity. 

And the founder of Leo Burnett Company, Inc. Leo Burnett put it this way: 

“Curiosity about life in all of its aspects, I think, is still the secret of great creative people.”

Likewise, Echelman was inspired to take a new approach to sculpture, while she was watching fishermen bundling their nets in India. She was curious about what she saw. And as a result, she created a series of netted sculptures is different series—with the help of those fishermen.

She made the discovery simply because she paid good attention to the world around her.

2} Embrace Your Limitations 

With good thinking and artistic sense, smart couple with a moderate budget can organize a better wedding party than prodigal prince with mere loads of money. 

Likewise, a serious entrepreneur can succeed at launching a successful company with very little money as opposed to just anyone who relies only on the power of cash. 

Steve Jobs started Apple Inc. in his father’s garage despite having no money. By embracing his limitation, constraints became his advantage not his hindrance.

If we embrace our limitations and thinking to make the most of them, the greater will be their potential for a breakthrough in our lives. 

3} Finish What You Start

 

We know of Janet Echelman today because of her persistence to make her dream a reality.  We know of Steve Jobs today because he stayed the course for many years.

A lot of people can raise a brilliant idea but only very few people have the commitment to follow through and finish what they started in any field.

So we should elect to be among the vital few by seeing things through to the end; this is the only way to see the fruits of our efforts.

Finally:

The art of creativity requires not only great thought but great work. It doesn’t just start and finish on the spot. It is hardly a one-time event. It generally takes time; it is a long-term process. 

It took Isaac Newton almost twenty years to gain his mastery. And it took Janet more than ten years to produce something remarkable. It will likely take us as much, to also make a lasting impact.

Therefore, we must remain curious, befriend our limitations, suppress our self-doubts and commit to doing the work until we have a firm grasp of our craft. To see this through, we should always remember the insight of the record producer, Charlie Peacock, who concluded thus: “It’s not just about creativity. It's about the person you're becoming while you're creating.”