The Positive Snowball Effect, Little Changes For Big Success.
The majority of individuals will agree that the most difficult part of making a change is taking the initial step. This is true whether your objective is to quit smoking, increase your physical activity, or establish a regular study routine. Many of our online students have been out of school for years, if not decades, and it can be tough to re-establish the habit and mindset of learning, if they have ever succeeded at all.
It’s easy to get caught up in the allure of establishing lofty objectives. This is something that many self-help books and publications will tell you. Consider the following scenario:
Set aside half an hour every evening for studying.
At least four times a week, go for a one-hour stroll.
Go cold turkey on cigarettes and booze.
These are most likely the best options. They’re also quite unlikely to work unless you have exceptional personal discipline. That’s because they place enormous expectations on you, which you’ll find difficult to meet, especially if you’re beginning from nothing.
Introducing the Snowball Effect
The Snowball Effect is a psychological phrase that describes how modest activities at first may lead to larger and larger actions, eventually leading to a significant change. It’s similar to the thought that a little snowball or stone sliding down a mountain may end up triggering an avalanche.
Like an avalanche, this is usually seen negatively. Consider the following scenario:
Your train is running late, which means you’ll be late for work.
Your supervisor is enraged because you are late for work and yells at you furiously.
After getting yelled at, you’re in a terrible mood and wind up losing a sale because you’re preoccupied and not thinking clearly.
You’re feeling even worse since you didn’t make the sale, and now your boss finds out and yells at you again.
You decide to go buy a drink because you’re at your lowest point, only to discover that there aren’t any available. Beyond irritation, you do something you later come to regret in a fit of rage and rage…
The Positive Snowball
Fortunately, the snowball effect may also operate in reverse. One tiny good thing can lead to another nice thing, just as one small bad thing might lead to a greater and worse one. It’s far simpler to make a minor adjustment than it is to make a big one, for example, in terms of self-improvement.
Instead of committing to an hour of walking every day, try starting with a five-minute walk. Similarly, if you’re trying to quit smoking, you might want to consider utilizing nicotine patches or gum to help you overcome your cravings.
It’s the same with establishing a drive to learn. If you’re new, don’t force yourself to read a complete chapter of your textbook or compose an entire essay in one sitting. Begin by committing to three or four pages every day, or possibly two hundred words per day. Meeting these goals will help you gain confidence in yourself as well as the self-belief you need to try harder. As you gain confidence in your ability to accomplish these little goals, you will be able to take on larger difficulties. You may gradually raise your study time from 10 minutes to 15, 20, or 30 minutes per night until you can easily achieve your target of 30 minutes every night.
So don’t expect to run the marathon right away. You’ll get there if you start with the first hundred meters, or the equivalent of whatever objective you want to reach.
