By Atreyi Roy

All of us must have heard about the phrase “domino effect” at least once in our lives, right? The domino theory started as a geopolitical theory prominent in the United States from the 1950s to the 1980s which was used to incite fear that if one country in a region came under the influence of communism, then the surrounding countries would follow in a domino effect. It was first used by US president Dwight D. Eisenhower. This term has since been used to describe a change in a particular action or event can activate a chain reaction which causes a shift in related actions or behaviours as well. 

In my opinion, most of us don’t do enough to make our day positive. Personally I usually leave my room untidy, with my bed not made and pieces of paper all around my room. However, along with the April holidays came some time to kill. I spent my time making an effort to clean my room, and before long, it became a good habit of mine! Ever since this became a habit of mine, not only have I kept my room clean, I help keep my household tidy as well. Many of our habits and routines that make up our daily lives are related to each other.

 Given the very busy lives most of us have, there isn’t a greater need for increasing productivity, however having busy lives doesn’t necessarily mean that our lifestyle is healthy or positive. Positivity enters our lives when we make a change, and that can be proven through the domino effect. The domino effect itself is causal. One event leading to the next thus effectively causing a change in habits and lifestyle. Using this to our benefit we could certainly apply it positively in our lives. 

There are studies which prove that the domino effect can be applied in a positive way.  A study conducted in 2012 by Northwestern University found that when people reduce the amount of time they spend doing nothing every day, or idle time, as well as eat healthier, their health improves. Dr Bonnie Spring and her colleagues randomly assigned 204 adult participants from ages 21-60, who all engaged in habits such as eating unhealthily, spending too much leisure time and not getting enough physical activity, into one of four treatments. Those treatments were: increase vegetable consumption and physical activity, decrease unhealthy food intake and idle time, decrease unhealthy foods and increase physical activity, and increase vegetable intake and decrease idle time. During these 3 weeks of treatment, participants logged their data and sent it to  Northwestern University. After the three week phase was done, the participants no longer had to maintain the lifestyle changes. They were simply asked to send in data for 3 days a month for a span of 6 months. The results showed that the average servings of vegetables went up from 1.2 to 5.5 ; average minutes spent idly changed from 219.2 to 89.3 and daily calories of saturated fats from 12% to 9.4%. About 86% of the participants said that once they had made the change, they made it imperative to maintain it.  The effect seen here is that when you make a change one day, you become motivated to make it the next day.

The domino effect holds for negative habits as well. The habit of checking your phone leads to clicking social media notifications which could result in mindlessly browsing social media which leads to procrastination. A way of stopping the domino effect of bad habits could be to be honest with yourself, work out who you really are as a person as well as your lifestyle. Don’t let being overwhelmed derail your efforts and focus your mind on one aspect of your life and begin to improve that. Don’t make excuses for not doing the new habits you have set for yourself. If you start small, it’s surely attainable, and focus on building on it. As time goes on and you get more adjusted to the new good habit, begin building on that foundation. 

Small changes really do lead to bigger ones, and after all, that is what the domino effect is all about. As Robert Collier rightfully said- “Success is the sum of small efforts repeated, day in and day out.” The domino effect truly does help one with improving their way of living, and you could try it too!