How Catalyst Habits Create a Cascading Effect: Transform Your Life with Small Changes

Creating or breaking transformative habits isn’t easy. If it were, we’d all be fulfilled, fit, and free of any angst.

As the old saying goes, “If it were easy, everyone would do it.”

And few people do, so there you go.

But you can make big changes without big struggles. You can fill a room full of a thousand standing dominos and push each over one at a time. Or, you can line them up and tip the first one.

It's the same work to set it all up, the same outcome, but a markedly different process. You don’t always need to play the game in hard mode.

That’s where Catalyst Habits come into play.

These are habits that start with a single new behavior, which then creates a ripple effect in other parts of your life.

For example, let’s say I pick up a journaling habit before going to bed at night.

Maybe that time was spent on my phone, so now I’ve replaced a pen and paper with a screen before bed. That, combined with getting my circling thoughts into a notebook, gets me a better night's sleep.

And now I wake up earlier, so I get to the gym. After my workout and some good sleep, I have a productive day.

And on it goes.

A framework I like to use for Catalyst Habits is called STAR.

Starting Small


Like a snowball rolling down a hill, Catalyst Habits have the potential to have huge impacts to your life as they pick up momentum and mass. But also, like a snowball, they often start off very small. In the example of journaling, you might just start by writing a single sentence about something that went right that day. Remember, the consistency is always more important than the volume. You can always scale up later.



Triggering


Like the room of dominos, one small habit can start the chain reaction for many other positive behaviors. This is often unintended, and the additional upside might be a complete surprise. But you can also be intentional about how this might map out in your life.

Aligned


Just as when considering what other behaviors this new habit might trigger, it is also important to ensure that it is aligned with your larger goals. Your likelihood of sticking with it depends on this. Instead of simply asking, “What do I have to do to make this happen?” try asking, “Who is the person I need to become to make this happen?”

Ripple-effect


The power of Catalyst Habits lies in their ripple effect. Even though they might be tiny initial changes, Catalyst Habits create a wave of positive impacts that spread into other areas of your life, amplifying your results over time. Take note of the secondary, tertiary, and further effects of that trigger. The more you notice them, the more you can integrate them fully into your life.

Like all habits, Catalyst Habits will mean different things to different people and have just as many ripple effects. The possibilities are truly limitless.