Consider these few factors.

Focus is now a superpower

By not being distracted, you stay competitive simply by virtue of not turning into TikTok-brain. This getting harder by the day; but if it's easy everyone would've done it.

Ancient rituals were often effective

By Darwinian nature, if an ancient practice wasn't even somewhat effective (even if it's ridiculous), we wouldn't even have known about it.

Appeals to the supernatural are psychological aids

Tribute to gods are placebos that make people feel better.

Sacrificial rituals were the ultimate signal of intent

People used to sacrifice all sorts of things they hold dear, call it a tribute to the gods in exchange for a hope for a better outcome.

The extreme ones sacrificed their children, that's how bad they wanted what they wanted, and they were willing to pay the price.

I suspect whether they wound up getting what they hope for is secondary to the display of signals of intent. If I see you cutting your finger because you are that serious about wanting the fried chicken skin on my plate, I would give it to you without question.

Side notes about rituals

Many inherited rituals today (burning incense, papers, prayers, etc.) are watered down versions of real hardcore ceremonies they used to do in the past.

Which speaks to why I disrespect most of them because they don't line up with the principle of be world-class or don't do it at all. Being half-ass about their ceremonies only betrays their lack of conviction and being an ignorant sheep.

Putting it all together

Now supposed you're serious about gaining back your focus, but you have a dozen pursuits standing in the way. YouTube watch list, lessons, parties, games, movies, books, etc.

What you need is a sacrificial ritual. It's an elaborate ceremony where you kill off these pursuits the way they used to sacrifice humans. You do it with the faith that them going away will supercharge your attention. Most of all you are telling your higher power about the one thing that really matters above all else.

How would you design such a ceremony? What can we model it after? There are a few criteria I can think of.

The pursuits that you are discarding has to be something you value. The sacrifice has to be painful for it to be meaningful. Say you have an Instagram with 100k followers and you decide to delete it.

It has to be public. Deleting the account calls for witnesses and speeches. Doing the sacrifice in private will never have the same impact of everybody witnessing an irreversible act. Ceremonies are by definition social.

It should involve some literal burning. Better yet, explosions. The Burning Man festival symbolizes destruction of the old you, therefore the rebirth of a new you. Similarly, a fiery burning of say, your phone, carries with it great symbolism.

The more performative the act of sacrifice the better. Think about why most people never quit smoking successfully. They never tried making a scene by burning their car.

Similarly, a company that needs to drop a dead-end project should have a funeral. It sends a strong message to everyone about what matters.

I'm still figuring out how to design my sacrificial ritual. It's not a strong suit for overly rational people like me. Maybe with a convincing ceremony design, I'll be more willing to drop the things that don't deserve my attention.