Rituals and Fatigue are More Alike tha You Think

What can fatigue teach us about success? To answer that questio
I have to tell you about one of my favorite subjects from engineering school, Fracture Mechanics.

Fracture Mechanics is simply the science of how things break. What will cause a metal or metallic object to break or suffer fatigue faster – a huge one-time stressor or a lower level of ambient stress that cycles on and off over a certain period of time? Very often, a lower level of long-time oscillating stress will cause a bar of metal to fatigue or break much quicker.

Why discuss metal fatigue within a blog focused on business success? The same principles apply to you and your business as it does with metal objects.

While I can turn this blog into the need for rest and rejuvenation for you and your business to avoid fatigue and breaking, I would prefer to turn the focus on how creating sustained, repeatable actions over a long period of time can turn into success towards achieving your goals.

Consistently performed rituals can actually create or destroy success. Seemingly simple actions performed on a regular basis build on themselves, one day after another. Just like the low level stress applied over a long period of time can cause fatigue in metal, certain rituals over time can create success. Instead of a break, we usually call it a breakthrough.

You see, what most people don’t realize is that one ritual consistently performed in their lives may lead to success, but another may lead them away from it. People are constantly performing rituals that are either leading them towards their goals, are neutral, or leading them away from their goals. With a little bit of awareness and reflection, you will see which rituals in your life and business lead you towards, and away, from your goals. Then you can decide what you wish to continue to cultivate and what you wish to change.