We were hell on footballs when I was a kid.  We’d play with them for hours and did our best to keep the dog from puncturing them. Eventually she would get a hold of the ball or we’d do something to put a hole in one of them and we were forced to beg my folks for the money to buy a new one. My dad would concede, since having a football would keep us outside and that is where kids belonged during most of the hours of the day. 

When we got a new football, it was a tradition to play with it with the cardboard box still on.  We would do this till the box fell off and then we continued to play with the ball like it was intended to be played with. Let me tell you how hard it was to throw a spiral at age 9, let alone with a cardboard exterior.  Yet, we did it because we made this a tradition. 

When you got a new baseball glove, you oiled it really well, stuck a ball in the pocket and slept with them under your pillow or mattress till it took on the proper glove shape. This was the only way to properly break in a new glove and all other methods were inferior.  My dad did this when he was a kid, so it was our tradition 

In college, when we bought a new baseball cap, you had to wear it forward for the first two weeks before you could put it on backwards. Not that big of a deal, but when I went to college, you wore your ball caps backwards most of the time. We wore it forward for those 2 weeks so that when security or someone of authority needed you to spin your cap around and wear it the correct way (forward), your hat wouldn’t be too misshapen. Also, there was some sort of good luck/bad luck element if your hat had the logo of a sports team. My group of friends made this a tradition. 

When oiling up my daughters softball glove, I was very tempted to make her sleep on it for the sake of tradition.  My dad did it this way and I did it this way, so it’s almost imperative that I pass this along to her. Well, I didn’t make her do it. She is a bit of a princess and I had a strange suspicion that making her do this would result in her sneaking into my bed and wiggling in between my wife and I at 3am; causing everyone to not get any sleep. Perhaps this tradition will be just for Murphy males and I’ll make my son do it instead?  

I’m sure you had your share of odd traditions growing up and with many of those traditions you’re still not sure why you did them. At the time of the birth of that tradition, there was a perfectly rational reason for it. Traditions are usually spawned with good intentions and every bit of rhyme and reason backing them up. Tradition brings on memories and more often than not, they come with comfort and positive feelings. Nostalgia keeps traditions alive. 

How many things do you do in a day for the sake of tradition?  How often do you make a certain decision because that’s the way it’s always been done?  Someone started these traditions for one reason or another and at the time they made a lot of sense.  Yet, as time went on, people realized that the meaning or origin of these traditions possibly no longer apply today. 

People go about their day doing it the way it’s always been done because they fear bucking tradition. They might even see a more efficient or smarter way of doing things, but side with tradition for the sake of keeping that tradition going. I’m not suggesting you kill traditions. I love a good tradition, especially if it’s filled with history and positive nostalgia.  If it’s awesome, I’ll even take on someone else’s tradition!  My wife grew up eating pizza on Christmas Eve.  So, for the past 15 years, we’ve eaten pizza on Christmas Eve. This one works for me, since pizza goes great with beer and beer goes great with putting together Christmas presents for the kids. If “some assembly required” doesn’t drive you to drinking, then the amount of noise coming from those same damn gifts on Christmas Day certainly will. 

Apply the logic of filtering traditions to the way things are done in your life and career. Conventional ways are supposed to be questioned and challenged. Sometimes traditions are ruts and excuses. Know the difference and examine them to insure that they are not holding up progress or momentum. Start a new tradition of improving upon old traditions.  Share your results with others and lead with your new healthy tradition. 

Please keep the fun and nostalgic ones alive for the next generation. Those are meant to be timeless and they help to tell the story of your life.