Your First Domino

Your First Domino

It’s easy to get wrapped up in big ideas.

We are exposed to it all the time. Shinier/faster car, hotter body, bigger house. Forget for a moment that we intuitively know those things don’t create happiness. What’s fundamentally wrong with big ideas is the pervasive lack of awareness that it’s the little things, done well AND consistently over time that leads to the big result.

I know you don’t want to hear it. We are an instant gratification society. But the sooner you acknowledge, accept and appreciate the truth, the sooner life might start to make sense. The sooner you might feel like you are actually in control of your outcomes. It will no longer be a question of “why do I continue to experience “these” things in my life?” That will be replaced by a better question of “what fundamental activity is most important to achieve what I want next?”

I’m a big idea guy. I can day dream with the best of them and I even find myself challenged with expecting the results now. Maturing has lead me to understand, it is daily discipline – the right daily discipline – that leads to not only tremendous, but sustainable results.

That’s why your first domino is so important. Your first domino represents the first choice and the first action toward a particular destination. A domino has the power to knock over another domino 1.5 times its size. If you line up only 57 dominos, each 1.5 times greater than the one before, starting with a normal sized domino of two inches tall, the 57^th domino will stretch from the earth to the moon, 2 inches to 250,000 miles in 57 dominos. That’s a LOT of power, size and impact, starting small.

The point is, dream big, think big! But, act by starting with the most important, consistently applied action and do it every day. The compounding effect, the geometric progression of small things done daily starts out with almost unnoticeable impact, but soon becomes such a powerful force in your life such as to profoundly transform it in any way you choose.

This can be:

• • saving a few bucks from every paycheck into a savings account and not touching it

• • working out 15 minutes, every day or meditating every morning

• • writing one note and mailing it

• • one comment of gratitude and appreciation that overtime profoundly impacts people

Look for next week’s post on “The Power of Thinking Small” to get a glimpse into the reason why big ideas don’t move us to action. Two books I recommend The One Thing by Gary Keller and The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson.

What’s your first domino?

Trust your intuition and decide this time you are sticking with it. Don’t quit on the activity.

You already know what that one, little, most important thing is you aren’t doing.

Start right now.

By Matt Hudson

Matt Hudson is a performance and business coach, founder and CEO of Colorado Home Realty and a passionate champion for excellence in the real estate industry.

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