What do we mean by “snowball?” This is a term for a self-growing system that enables you to accumulate the resources needed to realize your ambitions and goals, whether they are financial, professional, creative, or personal.

Picture a snowball rolling down a hill. As the snowball continues its journey, it gradually grows in size, weight, and momentum. This represents the growing of your resources. Although the expansion of a snowball may begin at slow pace, the more weight it accumulates over time, the faster it will move. The faster it moves, the more rapidly it grows. Apply this concept to your wealth, business clientele, or any other valuable resource in your life, and that’s what having a snowball can do for you.

Having a snowball, or several snowballs, means guaranteed growth and expansion over time—regardless of the field in which you work or where you’re focusing your efforts. It means having peace of mind, knowing you have a back-up resource on which to rely, one that is continually growing behind the scenes of your operations. Ultimately, it means lasting success and prosperity built gradually and methodically.

Not long ago, we watched an extremely successful real estate investor give a lecture. There was a particularly riveting moment when he pulled a handful of checks out of his pocket. “These are rent checks,” he announced. “I can never stop them from coming to me. I’ve accumulated these rental properties over time, and am now seeing a massive return on my investment. Given more time, even more money will come to me. The best part is that I don’t have to do anything extra in order for these new profits to head my way.” His statements were impressive. He was a living example of what creating a robust snowball can do for your work, finances, and life.

Real estate investment in general is a great snowball in which to invest because it’s a self-growing system that is always working on your behalf. If the real estate investor from the story above suddenly decided to spend the rest of his days playing chess or lying in a hammock, the checks would still arrive in his mailbox like clockwork. There is nothing he can do to stop them.

There’s tremendous power in a strategic snowball. It can be a game-changer for your business and your life.

This article is an excerpt from the book “The Whiteboard: Go from Blank Canvas to a Productive, Leveraged, & Highly-Profitable Business” by Chris Haddon and Jason Balin. Please click here to see more.