Ritual anchors

𝘛𝘓;𝘋𝘙: 𝘙𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴; 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥, 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘴 𝘐’𝘮 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 (𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱) 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳.

When was the last time you stepped out of the noise? This week, I went into the woods with two friends (and fellow working moms) for a midweek pause before Q4 chaos kicks in. No agenda, no slides, no “shoulds.” Just space to breathe, walk, and talk honestly about how we’re doing and what we need.

One conversation that stuck with me was about rituals. How do we start our mornings? How do we enter into work and wind it down? What's working? What’s not serving us anymore?

Simple questions for sure, but they take real honesty - and a willingness to do things differently. I realized that while I have plenty of daily habits and routines, not all of them are as purposeful as I want them to be. Routines get things done; rituals help me feel present while doing them.

So I’m trying a few small tweaks:

• Starting with agency. After years of being unpredictably woken by my 5-year-old, I’m setting an alarm to claim 30 minutes of quiet for stretching, reading, or just being still. I want to greet the day instead of being yanked into it.

• Morning prioritization. One of the gifts of working for myself is control over my calendar...and yet I sometimes forget that. I’m carving out 10–15 minutes between school drop-off and my first meeting to clarify my top priorities.

• End-of-day transition. No calls on the drive home, no replaying unfinished tasks in my mind. Instead, I’m closing the day with a song or podcast that marks the shift into family time.

They’re small things, but when I do them, the impact feels big - more intention, more calm, more clarity. Better Claire.

As leaders, rituals are powerful anchors. They help us show up with steadiness and presence, and give our teams permission to do the same. You don’t need a full day in the woods to begin. Just one intentional moment to mark a beginning, a transition, or an ending.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 — 𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘺?