
The Ritual Effect
From Habit to Ritual, Harness the Surprising Power of Everyday Actions
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Narrated by:
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Dr. Michael Norton
About this listen
In the bestselling tradition of Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit and Angela Duckworth’s Grit, a renowned social psychologist demonstrates how a subtle turning of habits into rituals can “clear a little space for everyday magic” (The Guardian) in our lives.
Our lives are filled with repetitive tasks meant to keep us on track—what we come to know as habits. Over time, these routines (like brushing your teeth or putting on your right sock first) tend to be performed automatically. But when we’re more mindful about these actions—when we focus on the precise way they are performed—they can instead become rituals. Shifting from a “habitual” mindset to a “ritual” mindset can convert ordinary acts from black and white to technicolor.
Think about the way you savor a certain beverage, the care you take with a particular outfit that gets worn only on special occasions, the unique way that your family gathers around the table during holidays, or the secret language you enjoy with your significant other. To some, these behaviors may seem quirky, but because rituals matter so deeply to us on a personal level, they give our lives purpose and meaning. Drawing on a decade of original research, Norton shows that rituals play a role in healing communities experiencing a great loss, marking life’s major transitions, driving a stadium of sports fans to ecstasy, and helping us rise to challenges and realize opportunities.
Compelling, insightful, and practical, The Ritual Effect reminds us of the intention-filled acts that drive human behavior and create surprising satisfaction and enjoyment.
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- By CloudShepherd on 10-21-24
By: Corey Keyes
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Uncertain
- The Wisdom and Wonder of Being Unsure
- By: Maggie Jackson
- Narrated by: Maggie Jackson
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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In an era of terrifying unpredictability, we race to address complex crises with quick, sure algorithms, bullet points, and tweets. How could we find the clarity and vision so urgently needed today by being unsure? Uncertain is about the triumph of doing just that. A scientific adventure set on the front lines of a volatile era, this epiphany of a book by award-winning author Maggie Jackson shows us how to skillfully confront the unexpected and the unknown, and how to harness not-knowing in the service of wisdom, invention, mutual understanding, and resilience.
By: Maggie Jackson
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May Contain Lies
- How Stories, Statistics, and Studies Exploit Our Biases and What We Can Do About It
- By: Alex Edmans
- Narrated by: Alex Edmands
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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In this eye-opening book, renowned economist Alex Edmans teaches us how to separate fact from fiction. Using colorful examples—from a wellness guru's tragic but fabricated backstory to the blunders that led to the Deepwater Horizon disaster to the diet that ensnared millions yet hastened its founder's death—Edmans highlights the biases that cause us to mistake statements for facts, facts for data, data for evidence, and evidence for proof.
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His own bias against women
- By Jane Derebery on 07-21-24
By: Alex Edmans
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Anatomy of a Breakthrough
- How to Get Unstuck When It Matters Most
- By: Adam Alter
- Narrated by: Adam Alter
- Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Almost everyone feels stuck in some way. Whether you’re muddling through a midlife crisis, wrestling with writer’s block, trapped in a thankless job, or trying to remedy a fraying friendship, the resulting emotion is usually a mix of anxiety, uncertainty, fear, anger, and numbness. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Anatomy of a Breakthrough is the “deeply researched and compelling” (Cal Newport, New York Times bestselling author of Digital Minimalism) roadmap we all need to escape our inertia and flourish in the face of friction.
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really helpful
- By Kindle Customer on 08-27-23
By: Adam Alter
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How to Winter
- Harness Your Mindset to Thrive on Cold, Dark, or Difficult Days
- By: Kari Leibowitz PhD
- Narrated by: Kari Leibowitz PhD
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Psychologist and winter expert Kari Leibowitz’s galvanizing HOW TO WINTER uses mindset science to help listeners embrace winter as a season to be enjoyed, not endured—and in turn, learn powerful lessons that can impact our mental wellbeing throughout the year. Kari Leibowitz moved above the Arctic Circle—where the sun doesn’t rise for two months each winter—expecting to research the season’s negative effects on mental health, only to find that inhabitants actually looked forward to it with delight and enthusiasm.
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Transformational
- By Christina on 03-26-25
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The Great Wave
- The Era of Radical Disruption and the Rise of the Outsider
- By: Michiko Kakutani
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 6 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Since the global financial crisis of 2008, people have increasingly lost trust in institutions and elites, while seizing upon new digital tools to sidestep traditional gatekeepers. As a result, powerful new voices—once regarded as radical, unorthodox, or marginal—are disrupting the status quo in politics, business, and culture. Meanwhile, social and economic inequalities are stoking populist rage across the world, toxic partisanship is undermining democratic ideals, and the internet and AI have become high-speed vectors for the spread of misinformation.
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The absolute one sided liberal progressive perspective
- By Mark A Collins on 07-24-24
By: Michiko Kakutani
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Slow Productivity
- The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout
- By: Cal Newport
- Narrated by: Cal Newport
- Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Our current definition of “productivity” is broken. It pushes us to treat busyness as a proxy for useful effort, leading to impossibly lengthy task lists and ceaseless meetings. We’re overwhelmed by all we have to do and on the edge of burnout, left to decide between giving into soul-sapping hustle culture or rejecting ambition altogether. But are these really our only choices?
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Cal Needs Narration Training
- By T. S. Tatum on 04-25-24
By: Cal Newport
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Magic Words
- By: Jonah Berger
- Narrated by: Keith Nobbs
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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New York Times bestselling author Jonah Berger’s cutting-edge research reveals how six types of words can increase your impact in every area of life: from persuading others and building stronger relationships, to boosting creativity and motivating teams.
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good book minus the progressive flare-up
- By H.B. on 06-06-23
By: Jonah Berger
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The Age of Magical Overthinking
- Notes on Modern Irrationality
- By: Amanda Montell
- Narrated by: Amanda Montell
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Utilizing the linguistic insights of her “witty and brilliant” (Blyth Roberson, author of America the Beautiful?) first book Wordslut and the sociological explorations of her breakout hit Cultish, Amanda Montell now turns her erudite eye to the inner workings of the human mind and its biases in her most personal and electrifying work yet.
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This was a memoir pretending to be something more scientific
- By Kay on 05-19-24
By: Amanda Montell
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Uptime
- A Practical Guide to Personal Productivity and Wellbeing
- By: Laura Mae Martin
- Narrated by: Eleanor Caudill
- Length: 5 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Every day, tens of thousands of Google employees, from executives to interns, rely on Laura Mae Martin’s tips and best practices for how to make the most of their time. Now, with Uptime, Laura brings her unique approach to productivity and well-being to anyone who wants to be more effective and experience “calm accomplishment,” whether at work, at school, or in their own personal lives.
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Nothing stood out here
- By M. Gee on 08-25-24
By: Laura Mae Martin
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Hope for Cynics
- The Surprising Science of Human Goodness
- By: Jamil Zaki
- Narrated by: Jamil Zaki
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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For thousands of years, people have argued about whether humanity is selfish or generous, cruel or kind. But recently, our answers have changed. In 1972, half of Americans agreed that most people can be trusted; by 2018, only a third did. Different generations, genders, religions, and political parties can’t seem to agree on anything, except that they all think human virtue is evaporating.
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Bait and switch
- By Daniel on 01-31-25
By: Jamil Zaki
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The Laws of Connection
- The Scientific Secrets of Building a Strong Social Network
- By: David Robson
- Narrated by: Jonathan Cowley
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Social connection is as essential for our health and happiness as a balanced diet and regular exercise. It reduces our risk of stroke, heart disease, and Alzheimer's. It enhances our creativity and adds years to our life span. Yet many of us struggle to form strong and meaningful bonds—and the problem lies not with our personalities but with a series of cognitive biases that stop us from fulfilling our social potential. In The Laws of Connection, David Robson describes the psychological barriers that lead us to keep others at a distance and offers evidence-based strategies to overcome them.
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Terrible narration.
- By Diane on 06-06-24
By: David Robson
What listeners say about The Ritual Effect
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- C. J. Carrillo
- 05-07-24
Interesting topic
It is an interesting topic to and I thank him for trying to encompass it objectively. The objectivity becomes a little strange when he explained the disconnect between meaning and method. It’s a slippery slope to assign significant value to any rituals. I don’t think this was an intention but an unfortunate outcome of the logic he expresses. Overall interesting research and approach and appreciate the dedication it took to produce this book. I think it’s worthy of a sequel that might dive into meaning and significance those experiences produce.
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