Over the holiday season, I spent time at a cottage in the Klein Karoo, where the midsummer heat dictates daily rhythms. It meant rising before sunrise, throwing open windows and doors to welcome the morning breeze, and heading out early enough to watch the sun rise from the koppie behind the farm.
The middle of the day was best spent indoors, reading on my Kindle and taking a nap. Evenings invited me outside again, to sit in the cool breeze, a glass of wine in hand. This rhythm quickly became one of my favourite things about the holiday.
When I returned home, I decided to keep some of these habits going. As an empty nester, it felt like the right moment to think more deliberately about how I want to structure my days for the life I’m living now.
Any transition asks us to review aspects of our lives, and our routines can help anchor the changes we need to make.
That said, I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with routine. I’m not naturally disciplined, yet I’ve often been at my best when I’ve followed one. Routines carried me through my studies and helped me write my first book while working and raising children.
Still, routines can feel monotonous, even bleak. Rituals are different. Ritual transforms routine from robotic to mindful and soulful.
While routine creates structure, ritual seduces. By introducing sensual elements, something beautiful, something pleasurable, we begin to form positive associations with structure.
In my new morning ritual, it’s the crisp air on my sleepy face and the sight of the mountain taking on colour in the pre-dawn light that gets me out of bed before sunrise. The aroma of my first cup of coffee after the walk, slowly savoured while I write three pages of unfiltered thoughts in my leather-bound journal, is what keeps me going.
A few years ago, after reading The Artist’s Way, I introduced morning pages into my life. This is a daily practice of writing three pages of stream-of-consciousness, longhand. They serve as a mental dumping ground, helping to reach clarity and unlock creativity.
Some mornings, I shift the rhythm to include an online strength-training session. On Saturdays, I walk along the promenade to get my weekly fill of sea air, followed by coffee and cannelloni at an old Italian deli.
I also have annual rituals that I treasure: preparing an Easter Sunday feast while listening to my favourite classical music programme, or my mood-board exercise. Hours spent pouring over magazines, gathering words and images that carry my intentions for the year ahead.
These rituals may sound esoteric, but they’re not. They are containers for wellbeing and creativity - both essential ingredients for success, and even for financial freedom.
Carl Gostner writes in his weekly email for leaders:
“What’s tragically forgotten is that micro-level action can be equally transformative. Consistent, intentional day-to-day action in our realm of influence shapes what becomes possible to dream. Through action, we shape purpose.
This matters even more now, when the world’s chaos makes macro-level change feel impossible. Change your world. Change the world.”
With money, as with business, it’s often the small moments that move us closer to the futures we want. Like the monthly budget conversation between partners, the daily check-in with team members.
Ritual is a way of creating sanity through sanctuary in a chaotic world. These small, consistent ways of showing up for yourself are what ultimately set you up for success.
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Kind regards,
Sunél