The Slight Edge

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Simple daily disciplines (little productive actions, repeated consistently over time) add up to the difference between failure and success

A Penny for Your Thoughts ... Now imagine that instead of a penny doubling every day, it’s your health that you’re increasing by one penny’s worth ... and then by two pennies, and then four. If you could come up with something that would make you feel one penny’s worth better, could you do that every day? Of course. A little moderate exercise, a brisk one-mile walk, a quarter of an hour on a treadmill, not going that fast. Get your heart rate up slightly, no big deal. And your reward? When you get up the next morning, do you feel better? We already have all the information about success that we need. The book is about applying that information in our daily lives, to consistently make the right daily choices – all of which add up to create massive outcomes in our lives. The Slight Edge The Slight Edge is a way of thinking, a way of processing information that enables you to make the daily choices that will lead you to the success you desire. Let’s Get Real “Okay, doubling a penny in a story is all very well. But I don’t see anyone offering to double my money every day for a month, not i Is Time on Your Side?..............................................................................45

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Life Wisdom What do I mean by philosophy? Not something lofty or abstract; not something you need to go to graduate school or learn Greek to understand. I mean something so simple, so basic, a six-year-old child can understand it. Here is an example. Our philosophies shape our attitudes, actions and results, which in turn shape our lives. The Slight Edge is a philosophy; it represents a way of thinking: what we know, how we hold that knowledge, and what we do. I am excited and honored to announce the brand new Slight Edge online community, an additional resource that gives readers of The Slight Edge a voice to share their experiences with other like-minded individuals, as well as share resources and Slight Edge tips, encourage and support one another, and experience additional life-enriching information. Please come experience the slight edge community at www.SlightEdge.org. I look forward to seeing you there!

Apply the Slight Edge Principles and Stir! I have used the principles of the Slight Edge to improve my physical fitness, starting with one push-up and one sit-up a day, adding another each day and building to over 100 per day. I have used it to help pay off debt, build my savings and investments, and improve my relationships with my children. All we needed was to repeat the actions that got us out of the failure zone, until we reached the desired success. Olsen also takes us through 5 key areas of our lives, including health, personal development, relationships, finances, and life in general. For each of these areas, list down the following: PHILOSOPHY  ATTITUDE – ACTIONS – RESULTS – LIFESTYLE W h at ’ s c o m f o r t a b l e e ar l y b e Harnessing the 5 Sources of Power: How to harness the 5 natural sources of power, including Momentum, Completion, Habit, Reflection and Celebration.come dangerously close to losing touch with reality and believing we have access to instant life. Where’s the Drama? When you said that, did you even mean Saturdays? Today is Saturday? You yawn. Or you could slip down under the sheets and catch some more Z’s. No, that’s lazy. Compromise, flip on the news. Catch up on that unfolding juicy political scandal, see what’s happening with the manhunt for the murderer of the week. You reach for the remote. Introduction 3 unhappy. And I’m not criticizing popular novels. But it was clear that this woman was struggling, and as we sat there talking, I’d have bet anything that she wanted more out of life. It was clear that she wanted to give her daughter the uniform and the Dallas trip, things she couldn’t afford in the life she was living. And it was clear that it was so much on her mind, she’d confided her worries to a complete stranger within five minutes of meeting him. She wanted more, it was plain to see. Why didn’t she have it? She’s industrious, motivated and smart. She reads. She listens. She’s sharp. Where would she be today if she’d set foot on a different path a year ago? Five years ago? You can bet she wouldn’t be shining my shoes. Managing a chain of shoeshine stands is more like it. Would she be having any trouble sending her daughter to Dallas? I bet she’d be sponsoring the entire team—and going with them, too! While this woman with the wonderful personality continued shining my shoes, I was watching her in my mind’s eye, seeing her on a plane to Texas surrounded by giggling, excited, happy teenagers, seeing her being successful in so many different ways, in so many areas, making such a difference in her own life and the lives of so many others, if only ... what? What was missing? Feelings welled up in me, a mix of frustration and sadness. I felt for a moment as if I were going to cry, and I wondered, Why are you so moved by all of this? You’ve seen this before a hundred times—why are you so affected by this one instance? One reason, I knew, was that it reminded me of another character I’d observed before—nice, like the shoeshine woman, a good person ... just not succeeding in life. The book was so full of self-evident platitudes that I'm flabbergasted it is as well-rated as it is. Take some of these nuggets of wisdom for example. Not for everyone of course. There are those for whom life somehow just seems to work. But they sure aren’t in the majority: probably about 1/20, or 5%.

Be willing to pay the price: when you spend time improving, you are not spending time drinking with friends. Key Points of Chapter 2 If you learn to understand and apply the Slight Edge, your life will become filled with hundreds of thousands of small, seemingly insignificant actions—all of them easy to do, none of them mysterious, complex or difficult. These are the actions that will create your success. That’s what successful people do: simple things that are easy to do. Here’s the problem: every action that is easy to do, is also easy not to do. If you don’t do them, you won’t suffer, or fail or blow it—today. But that simple error in judgment, compounded over time will ruin your chances for success. Our favorite endorsements are from our readers! “I have read personal development books for over 20 years, and I can say this is the one that tied them all together. The book is so easy to read and understand and so powerful in its simplicity.” —Mike Bishop, Wilsonville, ORMaybe it’s no wonder why he kept on talking about himself ad nauseam (until the moment he invited the whole family, but no spoilers!!). If you can learn to understand and apply the slight edge, your life will be filled with thousands of small seemingly insignificant actions, all of them simple, none of them mysterious or complex. In other words, you have to master the mundane. The alarm goes off at 6am. Now you face a choice. And that is the good news, because every moment you have in life you face a choice. Where you are right now is poised in the present, with the past stretching far behind and future ahead. I don't want to give away too much of this book, just trust it's a must read. It's a really phenomenally written book with so many great things about it. I'll also truly endorse that if you follow the slight edge in whatever area of your life you may need it, it will work. It's not a complex principle or something unique you've never heard, it's simply a book that is written to really put it into your mind where you need to start and how easy it really is if you keep doing it! Through my father and others, I have seen the impact of a lifetime full of right and wrong decisions and where they lead you. I am forever grateful to have had the Slight Edge philosophy instilled in me at a young age by my parents, because I was able to end up on the positive side of the Slight Edge curve by being aware that the choices I make on a daily basis matter. —Amber Olson