The Domino Effect

A favorite quote of mine that has been used in other devotions:  “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” (Will Durant).  Positive results are sometimes result of luck; but most of the time, it’s because of consistent preparation.

Listen to any great coach, athlete, business person, teacher, etc and they will tell you that building habits and routines into their daily life most often lead to success.  You can phrase it another way---they ”line up dominoes” each day, knock them down by taking those actions one at a time which then knocks down all of the dominoes—the domino effect.

Of course, there is also the negative side which tells us there is a domino effect when things go bad.  But, we are thinking of positive momentum--when one domino is knocked down, it sets off a small and consistent set of actions that are connected.  Here is an example from a man who was training for a Sparta race:

Domino #1 – Start the day with a protein shake

Domino #2 – Do 20 pushups, jumping jacks or burpees every 60 minutes

Domino #3 – Train in the gym for 60 minutes

Domino #4 – Stop all meals by 7pm

Each day, he would set his domino’s into action knocking down #1 then onto the other ones.  This resulted in a consistent, continuous, and positive movement forward in his training.

Luke 9: 23:  Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”

How often did Jesus say to following Him—"DAILY”.  The Christian walk is not a sometimes thing, it’s a “daily” walk.  It’s consistently seeking what and who God wants you to be.

In officiating, as mundane and boring as preparation seems, we must line up our dominoes each week in preparation for the next assignment/game.   Every game is different.  Therefore, if we consistently prepare each week, we are better prepared to handle each game that presents it’s own challenges.

Consistency leads to continuous forward progress which creates and sustains positive momentum toward our goals. How do we do it?  -- show up and do the little things that lead to growth. When we knock down our dominoes, we want positive momentum not negative.

LUCK always favors the prepared.

Credit given to FCA Devotions-- http://fcaresources.com/devotional