The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson

This is one of the very first books I read when I decided to enter the world of business building.

Chapter 1 the beach bum and the millionaire

• “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
• 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.
• You already know how to do everything it would take to make you an outrageous success. All you have to do is keep doing the things that have gotten you this far.
• You have complete control over the direction that the rest of your life takes.
• There is a beach bum and a millionaire inside each one of us. What makes the difference in how things turn out? You do.

chapter 2 the first ingredient

• “Do the thing, and you shall have the power.”
• No matter how good the information is, it won’t do you any good unless you have the right catalyst that will let you apply it effectively.
• Your philosophy creates your attitudes, which create your actions, which create your results, which create your life.
• Successful people fail their way to the top.

chapter 3 the choice

• “I guess it comes down a simple choice, really. You get busy living or get busy dying.” Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption
• Simple daily disciplines-little productive actions, repeated consistently over time-add up to the difference between failure and success.
• The slight edge is relentless and cuts both ways, simple daily disciplines or simple daily errors in judgement, repeated consistently over time, make you or break you.
• Without the slight edge, you can start with a million and lose it all. With the slight edge, you can start with a penny and accomplish anything you want.

chapter 4 master the mundane

• “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Benjamin Franklin
• Only 5%, 1 in 20 achieve the level of success and fulfillment they hope for. The other 95% fall short. The only difference is the slight edge.
• The secret to the 5% success is always in mundane, easy things that anyone could do.
• People don’t consistently do those simple things for 3 reasons: 1) while they’re easy to do, they are also easy not to do 2) you don’t see any results at first 3) they seem insignificant, like they don’t matter. But they do.

chapter 5 slow down or go fast

• “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” ancient French proverb
• Time is the force that magnifies those simple daily disciplines into massive success.
• There is a natural progression to success: plant, cultivate, harvest, and the central step, cultivate, can only happen over the course of time.
• No genuine success in life is instant. Life is not a clickable link.
• To grasp how the slight edge works, you have to view your actions through the eyes of time.
• Difficult takes a little time: impossible takes just a little longer

chapter 6 don’t fall for the quantum leap

• “I am a great believer in luck. The harder I work, the more of it I seem to have. ” Coleman Cox
• Quantum leaps do happen, but only as the end result of a lengthy, gradual, buildup of consistently applied effort.
• No success is immediate, no collapse is sudden. They are both the result of the slight edge accruing momentum over time.
• Hoping for “the big break” the breakthrough, the magic bullet is not only futile, it’s dangerous, because it keeps you from taking the actions you need to create the results you want.

chapter 7 the secret of happiness

• “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success.” Albert Schweitzer
• Happiness is created by doing some simple, easy thing, and doing them ever day.
• Success does not lead to happiness, it’s the other way around; more happiness creates more success.
• Elevated levels of happiness create elevated levels of health, performance, social involvement, marital fulfillment, financial and career success and longevity.
• Greater happiness is key to making the slight edge work in your life.
• Shawn Achor’s five happy habits 1) Every morning write down three new things you are grateful for. 2) Journal for two minutes a day about a positive experience from the past 24 hours. 3) Meditate daily for a few minutes. 4) At the start of every day, write an email to someone praising or thanking them. 5) Get 15 minutes of simple cardio exercise a day.

chapter 8 the ripple effect

• “Strange, isn’t it? Each man’s life touches so many other lives.” Clarence the Angel, It’s a Wonderful Life
• Everyone wants to know that they make a difference in the world that their lives matter.
• Greater success also creates a greater responsibility to share that success with others.
• A single thoughtful, committed person can change the world.
• We are all having a ripple effect on others, the question is, what kind of ripple effect, negative or positive, do we want to have?

chapter 9 but you have to start with a penny

• “The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.” Chinese Proverb
• Great success often starts from a tiny beginning but there has to be a beginning. You have to start somewhere. You have to do something.
• If you add just 1% of anything, skill, knowledge, effort per day, in a year it will have more that tripled. But you have to start with the 1%.
• Greatness is not something predetermined, predestined or carved into your fate by forces beyond your control. Greatness is always in the moment of the decision.

chapter 10 two life paths

• “I took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference.” Robert Frost
• Everything is always in motion. Every day, every moment, your life path is either curving upward or curving downward.
• Growing up we heard five times as many nos as yeses. Life has a downward pull.
• People on the success curve live in responsibility. People on the failure curve live in blame.
• People on the success curve are pulled by the future. People on the failure curve are pulled by the past.
• No matter where you are, at any moment you can choose to step onto the success curve

chapter 11 mastering the slight edge

• “There is one quality which one must possess to win and that is the definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants and a burning desire to possess it.” Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich
• Mastery begins the moment you step onto the path. Failure begins the moment you step off the path.
• Wanting is uncomfortable, yet wanting is essential to winning.
• There are 2 ways to close the gap between where you are and where you want to be 1) you can let go of where you are and be drawn to your goal 2) you can let go of your goal, hit the snooze button and stay where you are.
• Chances are good that when you step out onto the path of mastery, you will step out alone.

chapter 12 invest in yourself

• “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four hours sharpening the axe.” Abraham Lincoln
• The wisest investment you can make is to invest in your own continuous learning and development.
• Learning by studying and learning by doing (book smarts and street smarts) are the two essential pistons of the engine of learning.
• On the path to a goal you will be off-course most of the time. Which means the only way to reach a goal is through constant and continuous course correction.
• Most of your life, 99.99% is made up of things you do on automatic pilot. Which means it’s essential that you take charge of your automatic pilot’s training.

chapter 13 learn from mentors

• “You must hold your head high and keep those fists down. No matter what anyone else says to you, don’t let ’em get your goat. Try fightin’ with your head for a change.” Atticus Finch, To Kill a Mockingbird
• If you want to learn how to do something well, find someone who has mastered that skill and apprentice yourself.
• Choose your heroes carefully: are they genuine role models you want to emulate?
• Sometimes you need to let go and disassociate.
• Form and use a mastermind: two minds are better than one and five are even better.

chapter 14 Use Your slight edge allies

• “Be not afraid of going slowly, be afraid only of standing still.” Chinese Proverb
• The power of momentum: steady wins the race
• The power of completion: clear out your undone and incompletes.
• The power of reflection: facing the man or woman in the mirror.
• The power of celebration: catch yourself doing something right.

chapter 15 cultivate slight edge habits

• “Sow an act, reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap a character. Sow a character, reap a destiny.” Charles Reade
• There are 2 kinds of habits: those that serve you, those that don’t
• You have choice over your habits through your choice of everyday actions.
• The way to erase a bad habit is to replace it with a positive habit.
• Here are 7 powerful, positive slight edge habits: 1) Show up: be the frog who jumps off the lily pad 2) Show up consistently: keep showing up when others fade out 3) Cultivate a positive outlook: see the glass as overflowing 4) Be committed for the long haul: remember the 10,000 rule 5) Cultivate a burning desire backed by faith: not hoping or wishing but knowing 6) Be willing to pay the price: sometimes you have to quit the softball team 7) Practice slight edge integrity: do the things you’ve committed to doing, even when no one else is watching

chapter 16 three steps to your dreams

• “First comes the thought; then the organization of that thought into ideas and a plan; then transformation of those plans into reality. The beginning, as you will observe, is in your imagination.” Napoleon Hill, The Law of Success
• Write it down: give it a what (clear description) and a when (timeline).
• Look at it everyday: keep it in your face; soak your subconscious in it.
• Start with a plan: make the plan simple. The point of the plan is not that it will get you there, but that it will get you started

chapter 17 living the slight edge

• “Gentlemen, this is a football.” Vince Lombardi
• Write down your goals and dreams, a simple starting plan and a single daily discipline for each of the following: your health, happiness, relationships, personal development, finances, career and impact on the world

In closing

• Successful people……
• do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do
• don’t look for shortcuts, nor do they hope for the big break
• never blame circumstances or other people
• know the path that leads to success or failure are separated by simple insignificant actions that are just as easy not to do as they are to do
• know how to use the natural tension to close the gap from point A, where they are, to point B, where they want to be
• practice the daily disciplines that are assured to take them to their final destination
• focus on having a positive outlook
• use inertia to build momentum, making an upward journey of success easier and easier
• acquire the three kinds of knowledge they need to succeed
• form powerful relationships with positive people
• read at least 10 pages of a powerful, life-transforming book every day
• go to work on their philosophy first
• understand that they can increase their success by doubling their rate of failure
• understand activity and because they do the thing, they have the power
• understand the power of simple things
• understand the power of daily disciplines
• understand the power of the water hyacinth and they know how to use it
• know how to keep paddling when others give up and sink
• know when they are being offered the choice of wisdom
• understand the slight edge and they put it to work for them