Chapter 61: The Snowball Effect

On a random Wednesday in 2021, I made a decision that fundamentally altered my life.

At the time, it seemed so insignificant, so mundane, that I could never have anticipated the impact it would have.

But that single decision taught me a valuable lesson about how to accomplish basically anything I want.

It's a lesson explained by a concept called The Snowball Effect.

The Snowball Effect

You ever watch a snowball roll down a mountain?

It starts small. A tiny ball of snow, barely bigger than your fist.

But as it rolls, it picks up more snow, gains mass, and builds momentum.

The more snow it collects, the faster it moves. By the time it reaches the bottom, what you could hold in one hand is now an unstoppable force.

That's the snowball effect in theory.

Small actions, repeated consistently, compound over time. 

They build on themselves until the results become exponentially larger than the initial effort.

To show you what this looks like in reality, let’s return to that day in 2021…

Storytime

I've been an athlete my whole life. Soccer, baseball, basketball, lacrosse. If there was competition, I was in.

But in 2021, I was 3 years removed from my last college lacrosse game.

My "athletic endeavors" at this point included morning bodyweight workouts, surfing, and the occasional pickup basketball game

But I knew something was missing.

So that Wednesday, I decided to go for my first run in 3+ years.

Frankly, it was awful.

I laced up my "running" shoes from 2019 (they weren't actually running shoes.)

But I laced them up anyway and sprinted out from my house, down the street, and onto the boardwalk that circles Mission Bay in San Diego.

Five minutes in, I felt like I was being strangled.

I could barely breathe, felt a blister forming on my right heel, and was slapped with the harsh realization that my cardio was nonexistent.

But I finished the 3 miles anyway and came home to inspect my new fresh blister…

Not the most inspiring debut…

But 3 days later, I went for another run.

And a week later, another one.

And each time, I noticed the point where it felt like I was being strangled happened a bit deeper into the run.

That little snowball was starting to pick up speed.

And if you fast forward…

18 months later, I ran my first marathon

25 months later, I completed my first 70.3 Ironman

30 months, I completed a full Ironman

Not bad for a 3-year transformation, right?

That decision to go for a run was me kicking a tiny snowball down the hill.

From struggling to breathe 3 minutes into a run, to finishing an Ironman in under 3 years.

That's the snowball effect in action.

Why This Works

There's a physics concept called activation energy.

Also known as, “the minimum energy required to start a chemical reaction.”

But once you apply that initial energy, the reaction sustains itself.

Behavior change works the same way.

Starting is brutal.

My first run sucked. 

I had the wrong shoes, couldn't breathe, and acquired a blister a mile in.

But once I started, momentum carried me.

This applies everywhere:

30 minutes of writing daily turns into a book in a year.

50 pushups daily for a year turns into your friends telling you you look great

A single conversation with a stranger can turn into a lifelong friend.

Every “big” achievement starts as a tiny snowball that just needs one push to get rolling.

Wrapping Up

The first step is always the hardest.

But think of yourself as a snowball at the top of the hill.

Your sole job is to trigger enough activation energy to start rolling, and once you do, the snowball begins to grow and momentum compounds.

Until one day you look up and realize…
what felt impossible three years ago is now your regular Tuesday.

— Dodds