I walk into my sitting room and almost stumble straight into my girlfriend Lauren.
She’s next to the bookcase on her hands and knees.
And lodged in her mouth is…
A plastic tube?!?
“What’s going on?” I ask.
Before she can answer, she takes a big breath…
And she starts sucking.
In and out. In and out.
What on God’s merry earth is she up to?
I look up and see the other end of the tube is
bobbing in our fish tank.
And Tinky Winky, Dipsy, La La and Po are cowering in the corner of the tank, eyeing Lauren suspiciously.
I’m eyeing her suspiciously
too.
As I stand there, I see the water from the tank start to flow up the tube.
Lauren grabs the end in her mouth and places it into a tub on the floor. And as she does, water starts to fill the tub.
She looks up, like butter wouldn’t melt.
“Hey Tom. How was your day?”
“Are you on fish tank manoeuvres?” I reply.
“Sure am”.
“How does it work?” I ask.
“All it needs is a quick suck. When the water is flowing, it keeps flowing. Once enough water
has left the tank I can clean it and top it back up with fresh water”.
Very clever.
“But what if it keeps going?” I ask.
“What would happen to Tinky Winky, Dipsy, La La and Po?”
“I don’t think it would end well. They’d soon find themselves in a fishy heaven”.
“Or they could whizz down the tube into the tub like a slide at a water park?” I suggest.
“Now you’re just being silly”.
Anyway,
all Lauren has done is start things off. And gravity does the rest.
It’s the fish tank equivalent of the domino effect. Give one domino a nudge, and it causes a cascade.
Literally, in this case.
And this is my kind of action. I’m all for getting maximum bang for your buck.
So I try to use this idea whenever I can.
Including right now. As I type these words.
See, my domino is my daily email. It unlocks everything else.
Not just because I click a few buttons and one email gets pinged all over the world.
But because sending that email triggers a chain reaction of other events.
Like responses from readers. New subscribers. And
product sales.
All while writing about fun ideas, sharing useful info and building relationships.
And to my mind, this is pretty neat.
So it’s worth asking…
How can you apply this idea yourself?
What action could have the biggest follow-on impact? What next step could set off a chain of useful events?
If you can figure out your domino at the start of each day, it could make
that day a hell of a lot easier.
Catch you tomorrow.
- Tom
p.s. Whenever you're ready, here are the ways I can support you