The Domino Factor
Reilly just about made it to the pub on Friday evening before Statty’s performance.
Which is just as well because Statty’s presentation on The Domino Factor is the surprisingly simple truth behind extraordinary results.
Statty had commandeered the back of the pub and had assembled what looked like a series of eight oblong pieces of wood.
Magann, who rather fancies himself as a bit of an MC called for order.
‘A bit of hush for our resident Pub Professor, Statty, who this evening will elucidate for you on The Domino Factor.
‘On November 13th 2009, I was privileged to attend ‘World Domino Day’ in Leeuwarden in the Netherlands,’ Statty began timidly. ‘It profoundly changed my life.’
‘On that auspicious day, Robin Weijers, founder of Weijers Domino Productions, coordinated the world record domino fall by lining up more than 4,491,863 dominoes in a swaggering display.
‘Imagine that for sheer focused power, that a single domino could set in motion a domino fall that cumulatively unleashed more than 94,000 joules of energy!
‘Would that be much energy,’ asked a clearly engaged Magann.
‘That is the equivalent of the energy it would take a man of your weight Magann, to do 545 push ups.’
‘Each standing domino represents a small amount of potential energy; the more you line up, the more potential energy you’ve accumulated. Line up enough and, with a simple flick, you can start a chain reaction with amazing power.
‘What’s the ‘quod erat demonstrandum’ Statty? says Reilly knowing full well that Statty wouldn’t be one iota fazed by his Latin broadside.
‘The Q.E.D. Reilly, or ‘what was to be demonstrated,’ by Weijers et al proves conclusively and incontrovertibly that …
‘WHEN ONE THING, THE RIGHT THING, IS SET IN MOTION, IT CAN TOPPLE MANY THINGS.’
‘You’re a long way short of 4,491,863 dominoes there Statty if you’re thinking of making a world record tonight,’ says Flaherty who always resented Stattys intellect.
‘I’m glad you posed that question Flaherty because the eight dominoes here in the pub represent another Q.E.D. that Lorne Whitehead wrote about in the American Journal of Physics in 1983.
‘Whitehead discovered that …
‘DOMINO FALLS NOT ONLY TOPPLE MANY THINGS, THEY ALSO TOPPLE BIGGER THINGS.’
‘What are you talking about Statty? says a visibly confused Flaherty who you could tell wasn’t following the programme.
‘Come up here on stage Flaherty and partake in some applied research.’
He escorted Flaherty to the first domino which was no more than two inches tall and which was adjacent to a series of other dominoes that were each 50% larger than the preceding ones.
‘Gently tap that small domino Flaherty and we’ll corroborate the Q.E.D.
Whilst Flaherty’s specialist subject was not exactly in the area of applied research he was a dinger when it came to his hands.
He gently manoeuvred the first small domino so that it in turn toppled the next domino with barely a sound. And inexorably each domino in turn toppled the next one until there was a loud slam as the last 3 foot sized one crashed to ground just under the darts board at the far wall.
Statty waited for the applause to subside before concluding.
‘What Whiteheads experiment clearly demonstrates is the surprisingly simple truth behind extraordinary results.
‘Imagine what would happen if this experiment went beyond the walls of the pub!
‘The 10th domino would be as tall as Paulie O’Connell.
‘By the 18th you’re looking at a domino the size of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
‘The 23rd domino would dwarf the Eiffel Tower and the 31st domino would loom over Mount Everest by 3000 ft.
‘By the time we get to domino 57 we would have bridged the distance between here and the moon.
Over a pint afterwards Statty was still buzzing from the adulation he received from the crowd and continued to expound to Reilly.
LEARNINGS.
• ‘Reilly, the real secret to extraordinary success is that it’s sequential, not simultaneous. What starts out linear (knocking one domino) becomes geometric (knocking dominoes that are progressively bigger).
• YOU DO THE RIGHT THING. AND THEN YOU DO THE NEXT RIGHT THING.
• ‘Success in life could be equated to toppling dominoes. You line them up. You tip over the first one, and hey-ho, ‘Bob’s your uncle.’
• ‘The challenge is that life doesn’t line everything up for us and say, ‘Here’s where you should start.’ Highly successful people know this.
• EVERYDAY THEY LINE UP THEIR PRIORITIES ANEW, FIND THE LEAD DOMINO, AND WHACK AWAY AT IT UNTIL IT FALLS.
QUOTES.
‘Be like a postage stamp – stick to one thing until you get there.’ —Josh Billings
‘The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret to getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks and then starting on the first one.’ —Mark Twain
‘Every great change starts like falling dominoes.’ —BJ Thornton
QUESTIONS.
1. What one thing will you do this year to bring you closer to your burning desire?
2. What one thing will you do this month to bring you closer to your burning desire?
3. What one thing will you do today to bring you closer to your burning desire?
FREE GIFT.
This blog post was inspired and informed by a great book called ‘The One Thing’ by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan.
If you enjoyed this blog post Reilly will be making a 15 minute video summary of that book. In it, you’ll learn to
• Cut through the clutter
• Achieve better results in less time
• Build momentum towards your goal
• Dial down the stress
• Overcome that overwhelmed feeling
• Revive your energy
• Stay on track
• Master what matters to you.
• Or, as he concludes in his video. ‘If today your business doesn’t know what it’s ONE THING is, then your businesses ONE THING is to find out.’ No one better than Reilly to help you do that.
In order to receive the video recording please email Reilly at p@omaille.ie to claim your gift.
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