Have you ever had a goal — like, a big goal — that had so many moving pieces and so many steps you had to accomplish along the way that it was overwhelming and daunting?

I’ll answer for you: Yes.

Because that’s basically how attempting to achieve any goal is.  

I’ll give you an example. 

Right now, I’m trying to grow my business in a way that allows me to be more selective of my serviced-based projects (i.e. only do the work that I’m passionate about). And in order to do so, I’m creating a more product-based business model — full of digital and physical products like books, online courses, merchandise, and more. 

For it to be aligned with my brand, of course, all of these things must still solve the same kinds of problems that my services do — to help people make a deeper impact on their customers and communities through storytelling. 

But tactically what it means is that I have to build websites, write constantly, use new digital tools, learn about ecommerce, learn how to create effective ads, learn how to create sales funnels, learn how to create online courses…. and the list goes on. You get the picture.

And if you’re trying to do something big, you probably have a list just as long.

But the question is: which task should you focus on first? 

To that, I say focus on the Big Domino.

I first heard of the Big Domino in Russel Brunson’s book, “Expert Secrets.” 

The “Big Domino” concept means to figure out what the one thing is you need to do first that will make all of the other tasks in your long list easier to accomplish, or open up other opportunities (i.e. what’s the one Big Domino that will make all the other dominoes fall?). 

This takes some time to figure out because when you have so many things on your list, it’s very easy to get caught up in one that isn’t necessary, or one that is not what you need to be focusing on right now, or (like me) one that you can just check off for the sake of checking it off your list. 

The point is to unlock one door to lead to the next, like a line of dominoes.

And there is a logical sequence, but that’s what you have to take time to find.

When I was doing my beginning-of-the-year assessment and I knew I had all these big goals, I didn’t know where to start. I had to step back and look at what I was trying to do (all of the things) and see if accomplishing any of them would help accomplish another.

What I noticed was that I had a major gap. 

I was trying to grow my personal brand, be more particular about what films I worked on, and market new products to people who needed help with their marketing.

Each of these seemed so segmented and far apart from each other.

But a lightbulb went off when I realized that I had lost a significant part of my business due to the pandemic: public speaking. 

Speaking wasn’t a huge chunk of my revenue yet (and fortunately, I replaced it with one-on-one coaching), so it wasn’t about the money it brought it. It was that it brought in all the other things.

The more I spoke, the more my community (social media followers, email subscribers, etc.) grew. The more I spoke, the more companies I had reaching out to me to create videos for them. And the more I spoke, the more I sold my products and the more signups I got for my offerings. 

Speaking is my one Big Domino!

And I’m thrilled to be doing it again — starting with last week for the British Columbia chapter of American Marketing Association and today with the US Navy! 

(I’m still kinda blown away by that one). 

So if you’re in a similar situation and trying to take a big leap in creating something new, this is what I want you to do. 

Step back and look at all your tasks. See what ways some of them might make the others easier to accomplish. Think about the sequence they need to fall in for you to be successful.

Find your Big Domino.

 


Rain Bennett is a two-time Emmy-nominated filmmaker, writer, and competitive storyteller with over a decade of experience producing documentary films that focus on health and wellness. His mission is simple: to make the world happier and healthier by sharing stories of change.

You can read the rest of “Right as Rain” here, and check back every Wednesday on Chapelboro for a new column! 


Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees. You can support local journalism and our mission to serve the community. Contribute today – every single dollar matters.