Starting My Days with a Domino Habit
“From small beginnings come great things.”
In yesterday’s post ("A Mnemonic Poem for Waking"), I shared this poem I wrote:
When you wake, look at the time
Action take, your day to prime
Before four, go back to sleep
After four, your routine keep
Since then, I’ve added the following couplet:
Stepping stones of your design
Run your phone’s app Rise and Shine
Forming the habit of reciting this poem upon waking every morning is my top self-improvement objective right now. That is because it is what has been called a “domino habit”: a habit that, if performed, kicks off a series of habits, thus having a decisive impact on your day as a whole.
As Rian Doris, Co-Founder & CEO of Flow Research Collective, said:
A domino habit can be anything. Maybe it's watching the sunrise every morning. Maybe it's taking a cold shower. Maybe it's going to bed at a certain time or waking up at a certain time. It's doing something that, if done, results in the rest of your day being maximally efficient, productive, and aligned.
If I recite my waking poem, the reminders it contains will help me avoid spinning my cognitive wheels over whether to go back to sleep or get up. That will maximize sleep, economize mental energy, and start my day with a sense of control and direction.
The last verse reminds me to launch a custom automation on my iPhone named “Rise and Shine” (which I created using Apple’s Shorcuts app) that, among other actions, opens a checklist titled “Morning Motions” (housed in the Apple Reminders app).
That checklist leads me through such morning subroutines as making coffee, taking my anti-cancer medicine, setting my devices to charge, and starting my computer. I’ve sequenced those moves for maximal smoothness and minimal fumbling.
The last reminder in my iPhone checklist prompts me to launch another set of reminders on my computer. Those guide me through my early morning work routines, which include writing, processing my inbox, and starting in on my next actions lists. I’ve prescribed those activities to trigger flow and initialize optimal engagement.
Reciting my waking poem is a small act, but it will hopefully catalyze a behavioral chain reaction with huge consequences. My recitation domino knocks over my “morning motions” domino (the iPhone checklist), which knocks over my morning work domino (the computer reminders). And ideally that morning routine as a whole primes me physically, mentally, and spiritually for a great day. And if I do all that habitually, I can have many great days, hopefully adding up to a great life.
And it all largely hinges on setting up that first daily domino well.
As an old Latin dictum says, Sic parvis magna: “From small beginnings come great things.”
P.S. For more on domino habits, see this excellent video by Rian Doris: