We hope that by juxtaposing the common features of catalytic systems, autonomous molecular motors and self-assembled systems that achieve a non-equilibrium steady state we will inspire further progress in these related exciting areas. In particular, by consistently focusing on the coupled reaction and how it interacts with the reaction network, we hope to shift the attention onto this key feature of all these systems, as well as the requirements that must be met (spontaneous process, kinetic asymmetry, reaction coupled to the process of interest) to achieve a non-equilibrium steady state. These requirements are already well established through the work of Astumian; 13 one of our goals is that the analysis he advocates be applied accurately in these related areas. We have also noted that unambiguously demonstrating that a system achieves a non-equilibrium steady state is much easier in catalytic systems (simple observable) than in molecular motors (typically proven indirectly) and su-pramolecular materials (requires the network to be characterized in detail). Hopefully this will spur more detailed investigations.