The Slight Edge

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I have applied the Slight Edge principles in so many areas of life. Chunking every project into annual goals, monthly outcomes, weekly agendas and daily disciplines has helped me accomplish massive improvements in every area of life from health to relationships, to communication skills, to finances. By identifying the daily disciplines in every area of life, I was able to move from cancer to outstanding health; from non-communication with siblings to best friends; from struggling as a single mom to creating a net worth of over 1 million dollars! The Slight Edge principles, compounded over time, will make a massive shift in any area we choose. 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. 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%. The superior man blames himself. The inferior man blames others." - Don ShulaNo matter where you come from, no matter what situation you are in, no matter how bad of a hand you feel that life has dealt you, it’s your fault. The first time I heard a friend say that, the quote above popped in my head. He’s was right. IT IS YOUR FAULT. The good news? Well, YOU can do something about it. That’s right… YOU can and only you can. It’s a decision. That’s what it boils down to; a simple decision. You either are or you’re not going to take responsibility for your circumstances.

Path of mastery: power of momentum (going steady), power of completion (clear out undones and incompletes), power of reflection (face the man in the mirror), power of celebration (catch yourself doing something right) And if you want to understand the philosophy of success it covers that as well "People hate people who succeed because it reinforces that they are not where they want to be". We are all capable of being winners in life. And yes that includes you. Because the slight edge is always working. Working for you or against you. It is working now and always will be. Origin of The Slight Edge Over the years many people have asked me how The Slight Edge was conceived. It began when the book was only a concept. To flesh it out I went to the Mountain Shadow Resort in Phoenix to get away by myself and spent a weekend listening to Jim Rohn and other legendary personal-development icons. Soon I started to see an overall philosophy develop from all that I read and heard that weekend. I didn’t have a name for it, and I couldn’t write down in words what it meant at the time. The best way to convey it was to simply draw it out.Mastery begins the moment you step onto the path. Failure begins the moment you step off the path." There are two prevalent types of attitudes: entitled and value-driven. A value-driven attitude says, “What can I do to help Success is achieved through inches of progress, not miles. Jeff Olson outlines the philosophies that will give you The Slight Edge in life.” —Darren Hardy, publisher of SUCCESS magazine and best-selling author of The Compound Effect and Living Your Best Year Ever

Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal. Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do. There is a natural progression to everything in life: plant, cultivate, harvest.

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Focusing on Philosophy, not Results. Why we should not focus on results (which = focusing on the past). One wonders if the author was actually confident writing it since for the 10-year edition (the one I read), he added some personal stories of people that read the first edition and “hAd tHeIr LivEs cHaNgEd”. 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: My thanks go to my mother, who has always believed in me; to Renée, my wife of eighteen years and now friend for life, who has always stood by me; and to our precious daughter Amber, who is our proudest accomplishment. They have all been my own personal Slight Edge. A special thanks to Jim Rohn, whose teachings have had a profound impact on me. It’s often his wisdom you hear in these words. To John David Mann, my co-author, who brought his craft, passion, literary magic and good cheer to the project and made our book shine. To John Milton Fogg for his insights and his support, and for helping to get the ball rolling. To Todd Eliason and Reed Bilbray who brought their brilliance to this revised edition. To my close friend Stuart Johnson for helping this book, a dream of mine for many years, to finally come to pass. To Amber Olson who has been the driving force in bringing to light this revised edition. It would not have happened without her passion and Slight Edge persistence. She continues to make me proud by living the Slight Edge in every area of her life. And to all who know they have greatness deep inside them—and that it’s just a Slight Edge away. A special thanks to those already living the Slight Edge philosophy, many of whose stories you will read in this book. They are the inspiration for this revised edition and are living proof of the power of the Slight Edge.

Closing the Gap: What it means to leverage the natural tension between Point A (where we are) and Point B (where we could be). 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! The Slight Edge is a philosophy, a new way of thinking. It helps us to make simple daily choices and take small actions, creating the compound effect to deliver the lives we desire. In this summary, we’ll outline how you can use just one simple, daily discipline and consistently apply the 7 Slight Edge principles to turn around any aspect of your life in just a few years. The most powerful part of The Slight Edge is the simplicity and practicality of the philosophy. Olsen summarizes many big ideas we may already know, and shows how to apply them in simple, daily steps. The book is sobering yet uplifting at the same time, because it presents so clearly how we can shape our lives, there’s no longer any excuse not to.you want to learn more about what it takes to be successful and what the difference is between successful and unsuccessful people Oh come on” you protest… Give us a break here! It’s one Saturday morning – a few minutes out of one Saturday morning! That hardly has life consequences” The main (and only) concept in this book is the compound effect of your habits and choices, something the author, Jeff Olson, calls the Slight Edge. Everything you do, every decision you make, every action (and inaction!) has a slight positive or negative impact on the final outcome (according to the author, there is no neutral here, and I tend to agree). 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.

Two Life Paths.........................................................................................95 The right choices and wrong choices you make at the moment will have little or no noticeable impact on how your day goes for you. Nor tomorrow, nor the next day. No applause, no cheers, no screams, no life-or-death results played out in Technicolor. But it is precisely those very same, undramatic. seemingly insignificant actions that, when compounded over time. will dramatically affect how your life turns out. So, where's the drama? It comes at the end of the story, when the credits start to roll—which comes not in two hours but in two years. Or, depending on what Slight Edge and what particular story we're talking about, perhaps twelve years, or twenty-two." There is so much positive candy in this book that one cannot feel like they aren't empowered to achieve anything after reading it. What I love is that the basic principle of this book is not just applicable to business but to anything in your life. If you want a better body, better marriage, better business, better friendships then you can apply the Slight Edge principle to all of that.Have you ever met a really successful person? You know whom I mean: that woman with the easy, engaging smile, the one who makes you feel instantly at ease, even as you stand in awe of her accomplishments. The guy who’s always dressed for success, who looks great even when he isn’t trying, and somehow makes you feel better about yourself just being in his presence. People who not only are successful, but also seem to breathe success and fill the space around them with it. They live in beautiful homes, travel to exciting places, fly first class. Are surrounded by people who love them and admire them. Are appreciated, respected and recognized. Happy, healthy, creative and fulfilled. Winners in the game of life. Why do some families have such great relationships, such warmth and fun and caring closeness, while others are perennially angry with each other, so distrustful and distant they might as well live on different planets? Why are some people positive and upbeat while others are miserably negative, constantly complaining and criticizing?