The Slight Edge

By Jeff Olson

Do you learn more by listening or more by reading? You learn by writing and then through experience - these things you can only learn by creating them for yourself.

Do the thing, and you shall have the power. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

More quotes on taking action.

These are my HIs (Highlights & Insights) from The Slight Edge.

Takeaways

  1. The same activities that take us from failure to survival would also take us from survival to success - if we would just keep doing them.
  2. You already know how to do everything it takes to succeed. All you have to do is keep doing the things that have gotten you this far.
  3. You have complete control over the direction that the rest of your life takes.
  4. There is a beach bum and a millionaire inside each one of us. It's up to us from this moment on.
  5. No matter how good the knowledge you have is, it's essential that you have a catalyst to apply it effectively. This is the driving WHY behind everything you do (or don't do).
  6. Your philosophy (& attitude) is ultimately what drives every action. Actions drive results, so your philosophy is at the root of it all. I like to think of our philosophy as our very own unified field.

Personal reflections...

or 'How I've been violating the slight edge rule'

When I don't see immediate rewards & big results, I stop. I abandon things before they start working, or more specifically - just as they start working. Simply put - I stop doing the things that brought results in the first place.

I can relate to his rollercoaster line. When I think about the most significant accomplishments in my life - it's when I've stuck with something past the point when most people would quit.

For years, I've been planting seeds, but fail to tend my garden. I don't consistently nurture and cultivate my ideas. Instead, I'm like a frog jumping from one lily pad to the next.

I love the excitement of a new idea. I'm enthusiastic. But there's a dark side to this. Because I'm always craving excitement, as I turn my attention to the next new thing, I neglect the old thing - even when that old thing was working.

Even in my business, I too often orphan clients who could probably be far more profitable if I only stuck with 'em longer!

A constant reminder of this about myself is how impossible it is to not let my attention be pulled to a new person who walks into the room.

Knowing this about myself, I'm going to lean into a few projects to put the Slight Edge to the test:

Where has the slight edge already been working in my life?

Top takeaways:

9/25 [p. ] to [p. ]

p.49 - he reveals the day he started writing the book. It was after his encounter with the shoeshine lady @ the airport.

Jeff's definition of success:

Successful people are the ones who make you smile and feel at ease when you are in their presence. The ones who make us feel better about ourselves.

Tenacity is Talent

(persistence is a great substitute for talent.)

Examples of the slight edge

"Do the thing, gain the power."

on p.51 he offers a guarantee. He'll give you back the $ you paid for the book if the slight edge doesn't work.

Master the Mundane

The Roller Coaster

As soon as we get way from the failure line, we quit doing the things that got us there. The slight edge is about continuing to do the things that got us away from the failure line to get ourselves up to the success line.

We already know what we need to do. It's what got us away from the failure line. All we need to do is not let up once we are back to the survival line!

You can spend years analyzing why we continue to sink ourselves (self-sabotage, not feeling worthy enough, fear of success, etc...), but knowing why isn't alone going to solve the problem. Awareness doesn't care.

Simple Daily Disciplines

These are simple productive, forward-moving activities that we repeat day after day, year after year, ultimately compounding to produce success.

Simple is the operative word here. Simple does not mean easy! I also feel that having a cornerstone habit is key. A cornerstone habit is something you do that has a ripple effect on the rest of your life. For me, right now, it's no sugar.

Simple actions repeated over time:

Video Book Summary

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