You may have seen a domino show on TV, where a vast and complex arrangement of dominoes has been laboriously set up, normally in a shopping centre, in anticipation of the great moment when someone pushes the first domino, setting off a massive chain reaction of falling dominos.

This chapter is devoted to determining your first domino — that first action that will create momentum in your life. I really appreciate your reading this book, but the real value of the ideas, concepts and philosophies it contains can only be truly realised if you do something with these insights.

It can be so easy to believe our own story — I am too busy now; I’ll just wait until things settle down before I start; I need more information; I need to gain the support of a few friends before I launch; I need to get a nest egg together before I can really get into it.

Everything we do or don’t do has a cost. I like Seth Godin’s take on this, though …

‘The cost of being wrong is less than the cost of doing nothing.’

How often do we not do something because of the fear of being wrong? At what stage in our life did we come to accept the idea that we need to be perfect at everything we do? That we need to achieve our goals without failure, without facing challenges and with everything going to plan?

In the real world, sometimes we need to be wrong — not deterred, just wrong. We need to take risks, put ourselves out there, live on the edge and try things that we will not master at our first attempt. We need to push our comfort zone to get ahead. You will be amazed at what you are capable of if you take a few chances!

Look at it this way, what if everything that has challenged you, all the problems you have faced, the disappointments you have experienced and the setbacks you have endured, what if they were supposed to happen to you? What if these challenges were just tests, a way of preparing you for something greater, a quest that you are not yet even aware of?

This is my way of putting things into real perspective when things in my life are not going the way I planned. I just say
to myself …

‘Everything is perfect!’

It is my way of shifting my mindset and emotional state from victim (Why is this happening to me?) to catalyst (What new opportunities and possibilities does this
situation offer?).

If everything is perfect in your life right now, then what are you going to do next?

The Japanese have an expression, Wabi-sabi, which refers to the acceptance of imperfection and the idea of beauty as imperfect, impermanent and incomplete. As much as we might try, you and I are not and can never be perfect.

However, that is just perfect. Once we accept that things, circumstances and situations may not turn out as we planned or expected, we can turn our attention to our intention rather than burning up useless energy on trying to be right, perfect and complete.

Trying to work out why it did not work or why ‘it always happens to me’ is a waste of energy and effort. You need to look for what you can learn from these circumstances. That process becomes the catalyst for each of us to change.

Ask yourself these three questions:

• What is not perfect in my life?
• What is the message for me?
• What am I going to do about it?

In answering these questions, you acquire a unique mindset, which will enable you to create momentum in your life.

I read a great quote recently …

‘The sign of your real character is who turns up when the sun is not shining.’

We can all be great, positive and upbeat when things are perfect, but the best predictor of success is turning up, fronting up and being upbeat when times are tough. That’s the test of true character. Who do you want to turn up and represent you when the going gets tough?

Without action, nothing changes, nothing is achieved. What is the first domino for you?

What is one action you are going to take in the next 24 hours?

What is one goal you are going to achieve in the next seven days?

What are you going to achieve in the next 14 days?

What are you going to have achieved within the next 30 days?