A domino is a flat thumbsized rectangular block with one face either blank or bearing from one to six pips or dots. Twenty-eight such pieces form a complete set. Dominoes are used in various games played by matching the ends of the pieces and laying them down in lines and angular patterns. There are also a number of solitaire and trick-taking games, which were once popular in some areas to circumvent religious proscriptions against playing cards.
Dominoes are sometimes used to teach children about physics and geometry. They can be stacked on end in long lines and, when spaced correctly, they can be tipped over to start a chain reaction. This is why they are often used as metaphors for the “domino effect,” a term to describe a sequence of events that starts with a small action and eventually has much larger, even catastrophic consequences.
The same principle holds true in business. Small actions, like picking up a phone or getting out of bed in the morning, can have a huge impact on our productivity and attitude. They can start a domino effect that moves us closer to our goal or pushes us farther away from it.
Hevesh says that domino actions are “high leverage” activities that have a dramatic impact. She explains that when we’re feeling down, the domino effect is a great way to get ourselves back up again. These are small victories that boost your energy and confidence so you can take the next step toward your goals.
If we don’t do these small actions, we are left unmotivated and sluggish, which can lead to procrastination. However, if we do, it gives us the momentum to push on with our goals and create the life we want. Hevesh’s biggest piece of advice for entrepreneurs is to find a coach who believes in their dreams and can help them stay on track.
She says this is vital for anyone who wants to make an impact on the world. This is someone who will encourage you to reach for your dreams, and hold you accountable when you’re not working towards them. She describes how having a coach is similar to the first domino that falls in a domino effect—it pushes everything else forward, and it’s hard to stop the cascade once it’s started.
As a novelist, I use the image of dominoes to help guide my writing. Scenes in a story are like dominoes, and the pace and rhythm of the book is determined by how well they fit together. If a scene is too slow or doesn’t have enough logical impact on the scene ahead of it, then something is wrong. For example, if you are a pantser, that is, you don’t write out detailed outlines before you start writing, you may end up with scenes that are off-angle or don’t have enough momentum to drive the plot forward. Using a tool such as Scrivener or a detailed scene card to help you plot ahead of time can help you avoid these problems.
