Greetings! For those of you who have been subscribed to One Percent Better for a while, you’ll know that every so often, I do a (somewhat random) "recommendations post". This is one of those posts.

Here are some of the things I have been loving in the last month:

Rituals: The secret ingredient to elevate your (work) life

Good habits automate us and good rituals animate us, according to Harvard Professor Michael Norton. So how can we create better rituals that drive more joy, connection, and meaning to our lives? To get some answers, check out my interview with Michael on How I Work.

Here are some things that stayed with me:

• In our new hybrid work world, rituals are even more important for creating strong team bonds. Mike shared a story about one team who started their Zoom meetings by having everyone select an emoji reflecting their mood - a simple yet effective way to check-in. Another team used breakout rooms before meetings to simulate those casual office chats that we often miss.
• The same activity can be a meaningful ritual for one person and a mundane routine for another. For example, your partner might think that elaborately brewing the perfect cup of coffee each morning is a spiritual experience, while you see it as the world's slowest way to get caffeinated. The difference lies in the emotional significance we attach to it. In relationships, it's important to get on the same page about which activities hold special meaning (coffee can be a good place to start).
• As life evolves, some rituals might start to feel as outdated as the film clip for "Hey Mickey" by Toni Basil (although in my mind, that film clip will never go out of style). It's perfectly fine to let go or update rituals that no longer fit. The key is keeping your ritual repertoire in sync with your current needs and values.

37 life lessons from Ryan Holiday

I have been a Ryan Holiday fan for many, many years. He recently wrote this blog post: 37 (Or So) Lessons From A 37 Year Old. Gosh it's good. Here are three of my fave lessons:

• I’m not sure I’ve ever opened a social media app and then after logging off thought, “Wow, I’m so glad I did that.”
• Conversely, I have never taken a walk without thinking, after, “I am so glad I did that.” *
• Remember, you don’t die once at the end of your life. You are dying every second that passes. We are going in one direction. Don’t rush through it. Don’t miss it. Have something to show for it.

*I now think of this every time I force myself to take a break by going for a walk around the block.

Super fun STEM lessons for kids

My daughter is a STEAM kid. And my dad is a retired engineer. One of the activities that bonds the two of them (in the most heart-warming of ways) is Crunch Labs. Crunch Labs is the brain-child of uber nerd and ex-NASA engineer Mark Rober. His mission is to help more kids think like an engineer.

How it works: subscribe to Crunch Labs and receive a box in the mail every month that contains parts for a toy or robot (or something else engineering-y) to build. Mark then creates a super fun YouTube video to explain step-by-step how to build the creation.

Warning: the creations often involve parts that fly, spring and bounce, so you might want to remove pets from the building/playing area.

Socks that prevent blisters

Okay, so you probably didn't subscribe to this newsletter wanting sock recommendations. But hey - this is a bloody good one...

I sometimes feel that my feet were designed in a way that makes them highly likely to get blisters. Yep, it's weird. My podiatrist recommended Steigen socks. I can now say after wearing them almost exclusively for the last few weeks, they are amazing. I have had ZERO blisters despite doing lots of big walks. They are $$$ but so worth it.

Also: they only come in VERY bright colours. Not an issue for me, but might be an issue for some.

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