I rediscovered the snowball analogy in a Dave Ramsey class. He uses the analogy to explain how to pay off debts. Simply stated, he encourages you to pay off your smallest debt first. Once you pay off that debt in full, you add the amount you were paying on that small debt to the min. payment of the next largest debt. The idea is you create a snowball effect which allows you to eventually pay off all your debts.
Where else in life can you apply the snowball effect?