Professor Pozzulo’s Pick (June, 2025)

 

Professor Pozzulo’s Pick (June, 2025)

The Ritual Effect: From Habit to Ritual, Harness the Surprising Power of Everyday Actions by Michael Norton (2024, published by Scribner)

My take:

You may have heard of athletes engaging in a series of actions before each game, or maybe you yourself have a “ritual” that you do before some event that is important to you. In The Ritual Effect: From Habit to Ritual, Harness the Surprising Power of Everyday Actions, Norton reviews the science of rituals and how they can improve our mood and well-being.

According to Norton, rituals have the ability to increase different emotions -– something he calls emodiversity – that in turn, can increase your well-being. Experiencing a greater range of emotions has been found to be related to increased mental (and physical) health.

Norton presents a vast array of rituals from personal to those developed and used around the world. Take for example, the ritual of having a cup of tea with your partner after dinner while discussing the day’s events. It isn’t so much what the “ritual” is but more so that both people see it as a meaningful experience (i.e., ritual) to their relationship, and this is associated with increased happiness. And if you are wondering what the difference is between routine and ritual, it comes down to the meaning ascribed to the action. Sometimes a cup of tea, isn’t just a cup of tea.

Rituals also have their place when it comes to negative experiences such as the passing of a loved one. Rituals help with the grieving process. Rituals may not change our external environment, but they impact our inner world.

If you think you don’t have any rituals, Norton suggests that you probably do and if not, you may want to develop some as they may boost your well-being! Try a cup of tea with a dear friend while sharing family updates.

Consider the rituals you engage in and when you use them. Have you developed any new rituals? Have rituals improved your well-being?

 

 


Comments

  1. AnonymousMay 28, 2025 at 7:14 AM

    Looks like an interesting read!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMay 28, 2025 at 7:15 AM

    Looking forward to reading this!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMay 28, 2025 at 7:15 AM

    Summer is a great time to start rituals.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousMay 28, 2025 at 12:21 PM

    looking forward to reading this.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousMay 28, 2025 at 5:01 PM

    excited to read about rituals

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousMay 30, 2025 at 3:28 AM

    I have started reading this book. It never occurred to me that I actually do have rituals.

    ReplyDelete

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