Wikipedia defines the snowball effect as following :” A Process that starts from an initial state of small significance and builds upon itself, becoming larger (graver, more serious), and also perhaps potentially dangerous or disastrous (a vicious circle), though it might be beneficial instead (a virtuous circle)”
You can easily identify the snowball effect with respect to your thought process…..Say something is disturbing your mind…like the pending debt. The mind depending on who you are, would start this ball rolling by adding consequences to the scenario of not paying up the debt resulting in a disturbed feeling of helplessness. The next time something or someone is bothering you, stop at once to think if you are gathering the mental snowball. At that point you got to stop your thoughts on the issue and instead focus on the action…for example to identify the ways to clear up your debt. And this is not easy…but at the least the self-awareness is the starting point.
Snowball effect is not always bad, especially when we talk about Action. Let us take the example of forming a new habit…Physical exercise. You set the “snow” rolling by starting small on physical exercise for just 10 minutes per day. You then need to attain the sustainment of exercise as an habit, no matter if it is Hot summer,Rain or Snow. This is the state where the exercise habit has enough mass and momentum in it that even if you had to break the habit you would feel bad through out the day. And then the benefits follow-up naturally. In the above example, You need not chase health nor curse that you do not have the time to do the physical exercise.
Snowball effect for action can be easily applied in the financial world as well. The compound interest on Money is a classic example of snowball effect of how your money grows (of course…if you stay focused on putting in the money year after year). “The Snowball:Warren Buffett and the business of Life” by Alice Schroeder is a nice book that would explain the snowball concept much better than I did.
So, be aware of the Snowball effect…It can be vicious when it comes to negative thoughts…be self-aware and stop the mental snowball of negative thoughts; It can be virtuous when it comes to affirmative actions such as Exercise or Financial Investing
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