The Ritual Effect

<p>We may think often about changing our habits. But habits automate us. Rituals -- ordinary practices that are imbued with symbolic meaning -- animate us. Once we know how we can identify existing rituals and make them more effective - as well as create new ones to help improve our lives.<br><br>Using cutting-edge research Harvard professor Michael Norton shows that our rituals - from blowing out birthday candles to the traditions that your family have kept up for decades - are transformative. They help us achieve our goals as individuals in relationships at work and in society.<br><br>The impact of rituals is clear from science. In one of Norton's own experiments those who performed an unwrapping chocolate ritual spent 50% more time savouring it and people singing karaoke performed better after enacting a ritual -- even when they didn't believe they would. Even one of the most cliché of all group rituals --- the trust fall - has been proven to have a positive effect on those involved.<br><br>The Ritual Effect is one of those rare books that completely changes the way you see your everyday life. Professor Norton shows memorably how rituals like a Swiss Army knife can produce whatever emotional effect we need and how shifting from a habitual to a ritual mindset can enhance our daily pleasures and deepen our relationships.</p> <b>Habits are powerful but as Michael Norton demonstrates in this fascinating book there are other patterns that are essential to the well-lived life: rituals. Featuring lively storytelling and cutting-edge science</b> <i>The Ritual Effect</i> sticks with you as it shows how to build the rituals needed to perform under pressure savor an experience or construct a memory that will last forever. <b>Michael Norton</b> is the Harold M. Brierley Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School where he serves as a Research Director and is a member of the Harvard Behavioral Insights Group. Dr Norton's research focuses on behavioural economics and wellbeing and as well as being widely published in academic journals has appeared in popular media outlets such as the <i>Wall Street Journal</i> CNN Forbes and <i>The New York Times</i>. Co-author of <i>Happy Money</i> <i>The Ritual Effect </i>is his first solo-written book.