The Slight Edge By Jeff Olson

The Slight Edge principle is all about turning simple daily disciplines into massive success.

Jeff Olson believes that success, or failure, doesn’t just happen all of a sudden.  They happen as a result of a series of decisions that are seemingly inconsequential in the moment.

He claims that everything that is easy to do is also easy not to do.  Take your health for example, it’s easy to drop down and do 10 push ups and 10 sit-ups every night before you go to bed.  But it’s also easy to neglect doing these push ups – and that’s the reason we have so many overweight people in the world today.  They choose neglect over discipline.

In essence, The Slight Edge tells us that failure happens when simple errors in judgment are repeated over time; and success happens when simple disciplines are practiced consistently over time.  If you want to change your results for the better, then you have to change the way you’ve been thinking.  When you change your thoughts, you will also change your actions.  And when you change the things you do, and the way you do things, you will inevitably change your results. 

To put it in Jeff Olson’s words, “A positive philosophy turns into a positive attitude, which turns to positive actions, which turn into positive results, which turn into a positive lifestyle.”

It’s important to focus on the little things you do every day because you can control them, and mould them to support your ambitions.

The core argument of The Slight Edge is this:

Why is that so?

Because the consequences of each action, or inaction, are not immediately visible.  Since success is the progressive realisation of a worthy goal, it means that success is a process.  It doesn’t happen overnight.  Much like failure, success is something that happens gradually over time. Financial pundits refer to this as compounding. 

If you remain consistent, the benefits of your daily disciplines will accumulate over time and result in your overwhelming success.  

The opposite is also true.  The costs of your neglect accumulate over time and result in crippling failure.

Jeff Olson argues that The Slight Edge is not about making tough choices.  It is about making easy choices consistently, over time.

He says that successful people do whatever it takes to get the job done, whether they feel like it or not.   They form habits that feed their success, instead of habits that feed their failure.  “Be not afraid of going slowly,” he says, “be afraid of standing still.”

Success is a choice.  It is based on decisions you make in the moment.  You can choose actions that serve you or actions that hold you back.  Either way, your results will tell you which choices you’ve been making.  Results don’t lie.

The Slight Edge is an attitude.  It is a way to view the world.  The author believes you can gauge the limitations of your life by the size of the problems or challenges that get you down.  “The size of your income,” writes Jeff Olson, “will be determined by the size of the problems or challenges you solve.” In fact, he claims, “What most people call a problem is simply a gap between where people are right now, and where they want to go.  If you think creatively, you can bridge the gap and profit from it.”

Goal setting and personal development are also crucial elements of The Slight Edge philosophy.  Jeff Olson gives you a series of actions you can take to develop yourself, personally and professionally.  He also gives detailed steps on how to achieve your goals.

Overall, I believe The Slight Edge is an incredible book with important principles that, if practiced, will lead to incredible success.  He concludes the book by quoting Vince Lombardi who said…

This is the basis of The Slight Edge principle:

Choosing a series of disciplines

and habits that will lead you to success.

You must also be aware of the opposing danger,

simple errors in judgment that lead to failure.

Remember, everything that is easy to do is also easy not to do. 

Most things that are comfortable early become uncomfortable later.  And the things that are uncomfortable early, become comfortable later.  If you do the disciplines, you will have the power. 

If you neglect to do the disciplines, you will struggle.