Preparation rituals, part 3

We've talked about rituals that help us focus and rituals that distract us from our activity. We've talked about mental and physical preparation.

Today let's focus on making our rituals as effective as they can be.

Once you know whether you like to associate with or dissociate from your activity, you know what kind of basic ritual works best for you. You know that both physical and mental preparation are necessary for peak performance and you incorporate both.

What next: a relaxing ritual or an energizing ritual -- or a little bit of each?

Relaxing rituals are great for helping us calm down our breathing, getting the adrenaline rush under control, and clearing the mind. Relaxation exercises are frequently recommended for speakers who don't want to take the stage in an agitated or hyper state.

But sometimes an energizing ritual is more appropriate to the activity at hand. Perhaps you'd like to take advantage of that adrenaline and, rather than getting relaxed, you'd like to get more pumped up. See the list here for preparation rituals that promote energy or relaxation.

Perhaps you'd like your mind to be calm, but your body to be energized, or your mind to be energized and your body to be still! You can customize your own preparation activities so they match your particular needs before your particular event. I have a handout for this purpose that I will link to once my computer is back from the shop. :-(

Here's the most important thing about preparation rituals: they must be simple, portable, and completely under your control.

You want to be in control of your ritual, not the other way around. Some athletes and performers will fall apart if unable to complete their ritual, in which case the ritual is no longer helping the person, but actually hindering their performance.

Fran Harris told me, "Honestly, a ritual can cripple you as much as it can aid you in succeeding."

The more elaborate the pieces of your ritual, the less likely you will be able to complete it every time. Can it travel on a plane? Does it fit in your suitcase? Is it something that you need complete privacy for or can you do it in the corner of a crowded and noisy room?

Whether you're a dancer, writer, actor, speaker, athlete, singer or comedian -- or anyone else who needs to focus on an important task -- preparation and performance rituals can add the benefit of a consistent routine to what you're currently doing to ready yourself for your event.

Create your own customized ritual, use it regularly, and see if you don't feel more mentally prepared, more physically prepared, and more capable of reaching the peak performance you seek!

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Preparation rituals, part 2

Following up on part 1 of my preparation rituals series, today let's talk about another two kinds of rituals.

There are rituals for mental preparation and there are rituals for physical preparation. Why do we need both kinds, especially if we're not athletes and we're not about to run a marathon?

The mental preparation ritual includes both focus and distraction. Think about the mental preparation you like to do before your activity, competition or performance. You might not even realize you're doing it! Some examples of mental preparation include:

* Visualization
* Affirmations
* Meditation
* Prayer
* Reviewing past performances
* Writing
* Watching TV
* Listening to music
* Reading
* Strategizing and planning

Mental preparation rituals help us to focus, organize, block out distractions, visualize success, and handle pressure. They help us get into a natural flow where our performance feels effortless and automatic.

The key to mental preparation is in believing it. If you don't think visualization and affirmations are going to work for you, then they aren't going to work for you. However, if you open yourself up to the power of the mind, you will see that these tools are truly powerful and can propel you to success in ways you can't yet imagine.

If you prefer distracting rituals before your event, visualization and affirmations can still be practiced, but you will want to practice them in the days leading up to the event, not on the day.

Now how does physical preparation fit into this scenario?

Physical rituals prepare us in a different way than mental rituals, although some overlap, like visualization, which can benefit both the mind and body.

Physical rituals include:

* Stretching
* Breathing
* Relaxation exercises
* Slow warm ups like walking
* Fast warm ups like running or jumping jacks
* Rehearsing
* Napping
* Eating or drinking certain foods and beverages
* NOT eating or drinking certain foods and beverages
* Wearing particular clothing, shoes, jewelry, hats, etc.
* Superstitious behaviors like not shaving or carrying a good luck charm

The benefits of active physical preparation rituals are in promoting blood and oxygen flow, releasing muscle tension, and encouraging muscle memory. Coordination, balance, and reflexes are all triggered with active preparation.

The other, more superstitious practices of physical preparation have an emotional effect as well by promoting comfort, calmness, a feeling of repetition and consistency.

Mental and physical rituals work together to create a complete package, which you customize for your own personal needs and to achieve your own particular goals.

Part 3 will be about how to make sure your rituals are as effective as they can be.

What are your favorite mental and physical preparation rituals?

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On The Everything Page you'll find everything you need to build visibility, credibility and influence through engaging presentations that move your participants into action: freebies, low-cost products and courses, and 1:1 coaching!

Preparation rituals, part 1

Funny, I've never really written about this here, even though I'm attempting to write a book about it and have developed a workshop on the subject. So I'm going to post a three-part series about preparation rituals over the next week and let's see if we can add some layers to your level of preparation.

When we think of preparation for a presentation, we think of the usual stuff: have an objective, organize your thoughts, practice it, time it, check out the venue, check your equipment, anticipate Q&A, etc.

Some of us might use some visualization or affirmations to get that positive self-talk going, but for the most part, mental and physical preparation fall short. Which is why many of us, even though we've done everything we think we need to do to prepare, still feel unsure of ourselves and not quite ready when we give a presentation.

A preparation ritual is just a routine that helps us prepare for an upcoming task. It could be a performance, a competition or just an activity that needs some focus.

Preparation rituals (aka performance rituals) help us get organized and focused, help us block out negative thoughts and distractions, and help us feel calm, energized, confident, excited and ready to perform.

The most visible example of preparation rituals is in athletics. Just watch a basketball player at the free throw line and you'll see what I mean! But for the rest of us, rituals are usually performed in private, by ourselves.

Today I'm going to introduce two kinds of rituals: the focusing ritual and the distraction ritual.

I like the distraction ritual myself. Before I give a presentation, I like to sing at the top of my lungs in my car, to warm up my voice and to get pumped up. I gather up all my gear and obsess over things like having enough batteries in my bag in case my remote or timer stop working. I don't think about my presentation at all. In fact, I'm done practicing two days before the event. The day before and the day of are all about clearing my conscious mind of the material.

On the other hand, some people like to focus on the presentation by visualizing the venue, seeing the audience, and successfully completing the whole presentation in their heads before the gig. Some people like to keep practicing and reading over their presentation up till the last minute.

There is no right or wrong way to prepare as long as you find what works for you. If you prefer to focus on your event, do it. If you prefer distraction, that's okay, too. And of course, your focus should be on the positives, never the negatives.

In part 2, I'll talk about relaxing vs. energizing rituals.

Do you prefer focus or distraction?

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On The Everything Page you'll find everything you need to build visibility, credibility and influence through engaging presentations that move your participants into action: freebies, low-cost products and courses, and 1:1 coaching!