快猫短视频

I AM no coffee snob, but I have started treating the preparation of my morning espresso like a religious ritual. It begins with the counting of the beans 鈥� which must number 60, no more, no less. Each subsequent step 鈥� from the amount of time they grind (20 seconds) to the long inhale I take before my first sip 鈥� is executed as carefully and mindfully as if I were offering a libation to a minor deity.

I fully admit that there is no logical reason to count out exactly 60 beans, one by one, rather than chucking in a spoonful 鈥� but the precision is exactly the point. Recent psychological studies show that the creation of daily rituals can bring some surprising benefits to our minds, and the creation of my favourite brew provides the perfect time for me to put that research into practice.

The power of ritual won鈥檛 be a surprise to tennis stars. Rafael Nadal, for example, chooses to in a precise order during each match, while Serena Williams has to .

You might assume that the appeal is purely superstitious. If certain behaviours come to be associated with good performance, we irrationally assume that they are necessary for further success. Much like the placebo effect in medicine, perhaps the belief in enhanced performance creates a self-fulfilling prophecy.

There may be some truth in this. In 2010, German researchers asked participants to try their hand at a bit of golf 鈥� specifically putting. When given the golf ball, half the participants were told that it had 鈥渢urned out to be lucky鈥� for other players.

For a separate experiment, the researchers asked some participants to bring in their own lucky charms, before taking a memory test. Once again, these people performed better than others who did the test without their favourite trinket. The boost seemed to be linked to feelings of 鈥渟elf-efficacy鈥�. The participants with their lucky charms felt more capable of dealing with the challenge, which then improved their concentration and recall.

Fortunately for the rationalists among us, the latest research suggests that we can all benefit from rituals without any appeal to Lady Luck. Instead, it seems that the simple repetition of precise behaviours creates a sense of control in the face of uncertainty. This reduces our anxiety and improves our mental focus when we face a challenge.

鈥淚t seems that the simple repetition of precise behaviours creates a sense of control in the face of uncertainty鈥�

Consider one of my , by Alison Wood Brooks at Harvard University. She invited participants into the lab for a spot of karaoke 鈥� the song of choice was Don鈥檛 Stop Believin鈥� by US rock band Journey. Some were first assigned the following arbitrary ritual: 鈥淒raw a picture of how you are feeling right now. Sprinkle salt on your drawing. Count to five out loud. Crinkle up your paper. Throw your paper in the trash.鈥� The rest were told to sit and gather their thoughts for a minute.

It seems unlikely that any of the participants seriously believed that the ritual held magical powers. Nonetheless, it increased the accuracy of their singing by a whopping 13 percentage points, as measured by the karaoke machine鈥檚 pitch-matching software.

Besides establishing a sense of control in stressful moments, rituals can help boost our feelings of self-discipline 鈥� which helps us stick to long-term goals. In one , for example, participants were asked to sit upright, close their eyes, bow their head and count to 10.

They were subsequently more likely to choose a low-calorie snack rather than a Snickers bar, compared with people in a control group who had performed a set of random movements in any sequence they liked. They were also more likely to endorse statements such as 鈥淚 felt sharp and focused when making this decision鈥�, suggesting that it had worked by changing their perceptions of their willpower.

Across all of these studies, the most successful rituals are precise, repetitive and follow a rigid order. Beyond those requirements, however, you are free to get creative 鈥� simply craft any routine that feels personally meaningful. It could be as simple as performing a fixed set of stretches and listening to the same playlist before public speaking 鈥� a strategy that .

My coffee ritual was inspired by Beethoven. The composer beans for his brew before starting work each morning. I may not have transformed into a musical genius, or even a karaoke king, but the sense of focus and heightened self-discipline remains long after my cup is dry.