subject: How The Slight Edge Changed My Life Overnight [print this page] Before I knew about the slight edge, everything I did was motivated by pain and pleasure. If a task meant more pain than pleasure, I would simply avoid doing it and move on to something else. This is how I lived for many years until I was introduced to the concept of the slight edge.
So what exactly is this slight edge and can it help you too?
You Reap What You Sow
Dont judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant. Robert Louis Stevenson
The slight edge is nothing more than a simple, yet powerful philosophy. Its a way to change the small and seemingly meaningless decisions you make every day in such a way that it affects your entire attitude towards life.
The philosophy behind the slight edge is to do all the tiny things that appear to be inconsequential, but have a tremendous impact when done consistently over time. These actions usually dont produce any immediate results (and thats why most people dont do them), but with time, they become the seeds of your future.
The harvest which is our life as we now live it, is the result of seeds planted at an earlier time. Some of the seeds we planted ourselves, through unbreakable habits. Jim Rohn
Attitude is everything, and the slight edge is a way of looking at and processing information in such a way that it changes your attitude completely.
Everything in life thats easy to do is easy not to do Jim Rohn
Its easy to be successful.
But if this was true, then how come there arent a lot more successful people in the world?
The answer is simple.
Its because its easy not to be successful.
Successful people do the things that unsuccessful people are unwilling to do. John C. Maxwell
What Successful People do Differently
Successful people make the simple decisions and follow the simple disciplines that when practiced consistently over time, propel them towards success. They do all the little things that seem to have no effect in the moment, but they do it because they understand that compounded over time, it leads to dramatic results.
Unsuccessful people make simple errors in judgement. They avoid doing the simple things that they know they can/should do. They avoid these easy to do things because they dont see the immediate benefit and conclude that its meaningless to do. However, the slight edge tells us that every decision we make matters and it matter a lot. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but every decision when compounded over time, either propels you up or down, closer or further from success.
Until I learned about the slight edge, I was avoiding all the small tasks which I thought were a waste of time. I had no idea that all these tiny decisions were actually putting me on the negative edge. I only realized that I wasnt where I wanted to be, but couldnt understand how I got there. I felt like a victim of circumstance.
2 Things You Need Before Your Actions Work For You
1. Good Philosophy Everything from the way you think to what you know can affect your attitude. It can affect how you think and what you do.
2. Good Attitude Good attitude comes from having a good philosophy. Attitude is the number one thing that directs your actions. Your actions direct your results, and your results direct your life. In other words, good philosophy leads to good/positive attitude and action, which ultimately leads to a positive lifestyle.
Your attitude affects your actions in such a slight way that you usually cant see it when its happening. But when carried out consistently over time, it can completely change the direction of your life.
If someone eats a burger today, does the person instantly become unhealthy?
How about if someone decides to work out today? Are they instantly healthy?
Probably not.
However, do this on a consistent basis and the compound effect will kick in. Then the results become obviously apparent.
How to Make Better Decisions and Take Better Action
The foundation for making better decisions/actions is having better knowledge.
Make the simple slight edge decision every day to read at least 1 page of a good book that can affect your philosophy in a positive way.
Doing this wont affect you today. It probably wont even affect you this week (aside from a little motivation). However, this simple action over time can change your entire attitude, which in turn affects the simple actions you take.
Even if you only read 1 page a day, thats 365 pages of life altering information. Now, imagine doing this for 10 or 20 years
This is something thats very easy to do, but dont fall into the trap of not doing it. Your life and your circumstance are defined by the actions you take every single day.
Every little decision you make is a slight edge decision. Most people dont bother with it because it doesnt seem to do anything for them in the moment. Theyre unaware of the compound effect and just how much our small insignificant actions can control our future.
The Small Actions Make All The Difference
Its the small actions and decisions that separate the successful from the unsuccessful.
Unsuccessful people usually only see the end result, and they often attribute it to some invisible force called luck. There is no such thing as a quantum leap when it comes to success (at least the ones who are self made and stay successful). Successful people simply make all the small decisions that dont seem to do anything in the moment, and have the slight edge working for them instead of against them.
The slight edge is always in effect, whether youre aware of it or not.
In other words, Ive been on the negative edge almost my entire life. The worst part was I didnt even know it was happening. When a friend of mine from my childhood introduced me to the book The Slight Edge by Jeff Olsen, that when it all began for me. You could even say it changed me from the inside out.
