IWC JOURNAL: Rituals for a More Balanced Life

Life is a series of routines. They bring wellness, harmony, and structure into our everyday life. Routines help us to be in control of our time. The co-founders of the lifestyle brand Intelligent Change, Alex and Mimi Ikonn, built their business around simple daily routines––and now they share how you can create the rituals of intelligent lifestyle.

In times of uncertainty, grounding rituals provide an anchor of extra control, comfort, and predictability. When working on our goals, daily routines become pillars for optimizing our time and boosting creativity. Look at Michelle Obama, Tim Ferriss, James Clear, and Arianna Huffington––consistent mindful practices are their key to success. When you find what works for you, what sets the tone for your day, what helps you enter the flow state, you turn it into a routine that requires no extra motivation, setting off into higher states of consciousness and making time for what matters to you.

Here are ideas on how to create your own set of revitalizing rituals from the co-founders of Intelligent Change, the lifestyle brand that crafts simple, rewarding, and life-changing routines rooted in time-tested methodologies.

— The ritual of gratitude journaling (Ref. IW503605).

The ritual of gratitude

Intelligent Change started the gratitude journaling movement in 2013 with the launch of the Five Minute Journal, which has sold more than one million copies around the world. The reason for its success––or any other gratitude practice for that matter (be it digital journaling, gratitude meditation, or writing a Thank You card)––is that gratitude reminds you to take full responsibility of your life and to recognize the good in every day.

When faced with the question “What are you grateful for?”, we often search our memory alleys for extraordinary experiences, life-altering milestones, and valuable gifts. And while these moments are important to remember, notice and acknowledge the ordinary things you tend to take for granted. These are the small moments that make all the difference in the majority of our days and that we have most control over.

The ritual of gratitude can be expressed through different mediums of reflection. Select what works best for you or is easiest to implement regularly: writing what you are grateful for in a journal, taking a photo of a specific moment in time, or saying aloud how grateful you are in the here and now. Look at the gratitude ritual as a self-development tool that helps you unlock the fullness of life. “When you express gratitude for what you have, when you share your joy and appreciation with others, you attract even more abundance into your life”, says Mimi Ikonn.

Write down everything you have on your mind. Journal through challenging situations. Make notes of meaningful discoveries or conversations.

The ritual of journaling

Journaling offers a plethora of science - backed benefits: from making us more resilient to stress––and, thus, physically and mentally healthier––to expanding our mindset. It’s a way of self-discovery and also a useful tool for gaining clarity and improving our emotional and social intelligence.

“The simplest way to incorporate this ritual into your day-to-day life is to start with short journaling sessions and make them part of your morning or evening routine”, advise the co-founders of Intelligent Change. Select the journal that works best for you and create a welcoming atmosphere for your writing session: find a comfortable spot, light a candle, play some soothing tones in the background, and have your favorite drink ready.

Mimi and Alex are rigorous adapters of intelligent lifestyle routines and continue to bring products to life that they themselves find need for in their everyday lives. Reflect on lessons and highlights of the day in the Five Minute Journal. Set intentions and relevant goals with the Best Year Journal. Write down everything you have on your mind. Journal through challenging situations. Make notes of meaningful discoveries or conversations. Jot down ideas and use blank pages of Night Notes for creative musings. Prepare to-do lists and plan your months in Quarterly Planner. Or simply check in and be with yourself in Notes to Self.

Mimi during her ritual of journaling (Ref. IW356504)

Create a welcoming atmosphere for your journal writing sessions (Ref. IW356504)

It starts with having good quality sleep and prioritizing time spent outside. Building and nurturing relationships that matter. […] Being constant learners and broadening [your] mindset with books, podcasts, documentaries, meaningful conversations and new experiences.

Alex wears the Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar IW503605 while journaling

Mimi suggests to surround yourself with creative design and art pieces

“Be a constant learner and broaden your mindset with books”

The rituals of mindful lifestyle

For anyone looking to live a mindful and intelligent lifestyle, empowering routines and healthy habits are fundamental parts of the success recipe. For Alex and Mimi Ikonn, it’s living intentionally and investing their time into daily rituals that help them achieve balance in their lives, be in a good mood, as well as maintain mental well-being and physical health.

For Mimi and Alex, it starts with having good quality sleep and prioritizing time spent outside. Building and nurturing relationships that matter by spending quality time together as a family, group of friends, or a team. Eating whole foods and consuming drinks that nourish their bodies. Being constant learners and broadening their mindset with books, podcasts, documentaries, meaningful conversations and new experiences. And also surrounding themselves with design and art pieces that allow their imagination to bloom.

Movement becomes the core component of our life and mindset: it shapes us, it changes us, it aligns us.

The ritual of movement

Everything that exists around us––light, sounds, nature, food, posture patterns, culture, habits, even the way we look at things––moves us. That’s why movement becomes the core component of our life and mindset: it shapes us, it changes us, it aligns us.

“Physical activity makes us more productive and mentally sharp, as well as more enthusiastic, confident, and engaged in our own lives”, Alex Ikonn believes. When you move your body, you align it with your mind. Start small: do ten-minute morning stretches, take a short break in the fresh air, walk or cycle instead of using a car, listen to audiobooks or answer business calls while taking a stroll, exercise for more energy and good mood.

Habits and rituals build purpose. When you cultivate a positive and mindful daily routine it helps you pave the way to become who you truly want to be. Small tweaks in your routine can lead to major transformations and trigger various revolutions. After all, our daily actions shape the quality of our lives.