Why you need to get better at dominoes

Yes I'm talking about that dominoes game you probably played as a child. The rectangles with dots on that you have to match up.

Last week on holiday I read The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan - they've taken talk of dominoes to a whole new level (and in a way that's relevant to your leadership and career, trust me).

Check out the image I've included from the book.

Keller is explaining what we know logically to be true. That you can apply a small amount of force on the small domino, and with the cumulative energy and impact, use that first strike to topple a much larger domino.

Chain reactions are powerful.

If you put thought, time and energy into toppling that first domino, you can create extraordinary results.

You can see the application of this in your day to day role and career journey, right?

If you can identify the lead domino in any given context, you'll get your outcomes faster and more easily. Keller suggests to do that we ask ourselves this question: What's the one thing I can do, such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?

For you to do this well you need to know what's important to you, schedule time in your diary to focus on it, work on it when you're at your energetic best and avoid distractions. Simples ;)

The framework applies everywhere - what's the one thing to progress your career, to improve your relationship, to get fitter, to get a promotion, to be more confident etc.

Whilst I've heard people say 'prioritise' before, this dominoes analogy really works for me. I can see how getting the first domino right can create a big impact so it's worth the time investment to identify and execute it.

Interested to hear what you think of the analogy and what your one most important thing is today - hit comment and let me know!

P.S. If you want any book recommendations for upcoming holidays let me know! I've worked my way through 2 non-fiction and 5 fiction books in the last week while we've been away #geek