The following idea is inspired by a post called The Concept of a Flywheel, by Ali Abdaal. Check out his amazing site here.

Imagine rolling a snowball up a very steep hill. It gets very tiring very quickly. Sometimes the snowball can even slip a little, costing precious steps. The process can feel like its taking forever. Until eventually — irrevocably — you reach the summit.

You and your sphere on top of the world.

You still for a moment for that epic view, glancing down at a path you’ve rather painstakingly paved.

Of course, many will emerge from their homes and will be in complete awe of the ball of big and cold. The impossibly tenacious fruits of your labour will be a true spectacle to behold. Through success, you are inspiring others to go on their own adventures. Make their own snowballs.

But first of all, why the hell would they — or even you — be compelled to act in such a way? Like, are you really that bored? What’s the point?

Here’s the point.

The hill represents a challenge. Any challenge. Something that seems almost insurmountable at first. Nevertheless, it could be a whole lot easier without having to bear a heavy load too. But that snowball is essential. It makes up you. Your skills, experiences and lessons learned, all bundled up and fitted tight in a frozen package. You’d expect it to be heavy. Anything otherwise would serve as an insult to your character.

Sure, you could climb without it. But how would you expect to leave your mark on the mountain? Footprints disappear over time. You need something grander –  a balled-up version of yourself to roll along the unforgiving ground. To go in without one would be to go in half-hearted. And you want to beat this thing with all your heart, don’t you?

In the end, it’s actually easier to throw everything you’ve got at your obstacles — up to and including a gigantic snowball. But if were all so easy, then it wouldn’t be called ‘challenge’. In the beginning, it’s hard to find the will to don jackets and scarves, let alone initiate the climb. Many give up before they even reach halfway up the hill. It’s laughably easy to become deterred as the ‘snowball’ slips a little on the journey upward. But the lesson that everyone learns- should they choose to keep going — is that there will come a time where reward becomes assured.

It is only a question of when.

Unfortunately, the timing is less easy to make out. Often, the summit can be lost in the clouds or veiled by adverse weather. As such, we can’t always have a grid reference for every destination, never mind an ETA. In essence, you’ll know when you’ve conquered the mountain when mastery of a habit or skill has been attained. When both confidence and competence reach the stars.

POV from the top:

The snowball has grown fat with everything you’ve learned and done on your trek.

Now how about putting that to good use?

You have a choice. Sit and admire the view forever, or make a difference with what you’ve gained. You’ve already done most of the grunt work getting the thing up the hill. All that’s needed is a tiny shove to turn your new skills from dormant to active. It’s a long way down.

Of course, the snowball might not make it all the way. It may hit a rock and be reduced to powder. You might hurl everything you’ve got, and realise that it’s still not enough. But to give up when you’re tantalisingly close should be unthinkable. The return outweighs the risk. If the snowball can be so much as even nudged in the right direction, your struggle could harbour immense results. But sitting on your frostbitten fingers won’t help. And — if you did choose to take it easy — all that effort would count for nothing. It would melt away without a trace. Also, if you think about it, the expedition never ends at the top. It ends where it began. Full circle. So time to act.

One last push.

Initially, the result is more than a little underwhelming. The sheer mass of the thing means it takes some time for the snowball to shift into high gear. This lag between when the snowball first starts moving and when it reaches terminal velocity equates to the time taken to overcome friction and the inertia of such a gargantuan object. Such a lag exists for us too. When trying to get good at something new, people feel like their proficiency should be proportional to the number of hours they put in. But this is not the case. 

In Atomic Habits, James Clear stresses how effort compounds over time. Just keep watching the snowball — keep sticking to the things that you want to improve upon — and you’ll see why he’s so, so right. Much like all of the upward journey for the snowball, the earliest part of the way down is equally agonising to witness. But not for long. Because — when enough momentum is generated — the shift in speed happens very fast (almost imperceptibly so). When enough hours are put into getting better at something, the shift in skill happens very fast.

Almost imperceptibly so.

After surpassing a certain threshold, the snowball starts to accumulate speed and mass. It grows bigger. It gets faster. All at a seemingly exponential rate. Before long, the snowball is hurtling full-pelt down the hill as the velocity, magnitude, and momentum all increase like crazy. It becomes an unstoppable force.

Unfortunately — as is the case with gravity — the snowball will undoubtedly come to a natural stop at the bottom. The fun and games on the hill are no more. You’ve acquired a new skill, and it’s just flattened the curve in impeccable style.

But there will be another to climb. Infinitely more to be learned -just don’t expect it’ll be any easier than the first time around. Nevertheless, you’ll pull through. You and your snowball shall conquer the hill. And another. And another. And another. In time, overcoming this vertical challenge becomes part of your lifestyle — part of your identity. The hugeness of the snowball will erode your mountains into hills. That hill will become a mound. That mound will turn into a pothole. That pothole will become just another bump in the road.

The challenges you once deemed unassailable, now a bump in the road.

One day, the snowball will have no obstacles. Nothing left to block out the sunshine. Pursuing novel heights in such a manner will perpetually redefine the parameters of what you believe to be possible.

Wait, it gets better.

People saw your first snowball, remember? They couldn’t look away. And soon everyone takes it upon themselves to follow suit, undertaking equally arduous, equally personal missions. And others follow. More and more copy them. Until finally, everyone has snowballs of their own, growing bigger and better by the second. Making progress and breaking boundaries as one.

But here’s the biggest thing.

There exists an impossible mountain. A peak made up of many smaller, yet extremely rugged ridges. Conquering this would be the achievement of a lifetime. but here’s the thing: it really is impossible for a person and their snowball to tackle. Many good, honest people have tried. All have failed. But what if it became a group effort?

What if everyone banded together after conquering their personal mountains? If all the snowballs combined to form one ultra snowball. It would be an absolute behemoth, capable of crushing any obstacle in its wake. Propelled by the push of billions of like-minded individuals that congregate to commemorate their shared dreams and values. Eradicating disease, feeding the hungry, housing the poor, climate change, ending discrimination. Those are but a few of the terrifying ridges lining the impossible mountain.

We fight. We struggle. Everyone sweats and synchronises their shoves.

The ultra snowball inches forward. Incremental steps. No matter how long it takes, these people have promised to stand by each other till the end. Everyone from plumbers to presidents pushing as a unit. The ball is rolling.

Reaching for the stars takes an age. But we get there. One by one we look into each other’s eyes. Every single step we have ever taken toward overcoming their demons has been leading to this moment.

And off she pops.

Breaking down the barriers. The people of the world watch in awe as the progeny of their plight restores salvation by conquering the mountain to end all mountains. Now all can know the road that has been carved in its wake.

“If you want to go fast, go alone. if you want to go far, go together.”

-African proverb

At first, we take on our own mountains. While peaks get bigger, the boulders of white play catch-up. As the problems grow in shape and size, so too must the numbers to challenge the number of people to push. It’s something that takes a lifetime to get going. But — once it does — builds on itself and becomes:

Unstoppable.

Invincible.

Inevitable.

Transcending new heights — from productivity to peace. The snowball effect.

A force for change.