“You’re either on your way up or you’re on your way down”
That is one of my favorite life mottos and it’s a central theme of the book, “The Slight Edge”. According to author Jeff Olson, people are either on the way up on the success curve or they are on the way down to the failure curve. There is no treading water. You’re either going up to success or you’re going down toward failure.
What’s the difference?
The slight edge.
It’s those “Little Things” that you do every day that are either going to take you on your way up or on your way down.
“The little things that are easy to do are just as easy NOT to do”
Jeff Olson, The Slight Edge
The importance of Time
The reason most fitness programs, financial programs, and even relationships don’t last is because people do not want to take the time to do the “little” things that will lead to big results. People want Insta Success on everything and therefore try to cut corners by speeding ahead only to give up when results are too slow.
The secret of time is simply this: time is the force that magnifies those little, almost imperceptible, seemingly insignificant things you do every day into something Titanic and unstoppable.
This is why I am so big on these challenges that reinforce good habits a little at a time. Let’s say you do every challenge with us for a whole year and you are consistent. Every challenge you learn a little more, you do 0.01 more, and you just keep doing this consistently for one year. At the end of one year you have noticed a remarkable improvement only because you were doing those monthly Slight Edge habits. All of those were the slight edge up towards the success curve.
On the other hand let’s say every month for a year, you were losing your good habits. You started to eat more fast food, you started to watch more TV instead of exercising, you stayed up later, and started drinking more alcohol. One year later your life would look radically different as well. You were engaging in Slight Edge habits down towards the failure curve.
Transformation happens from the Inside out
I am breaking away from the Fitness Industry philosophy of: It’s about meal plans and workouts. REAL TRANSFORMATION HAPPENS FROM THE INSIDE OUT. Real Transformation also happens slowly over time. Jeff Olson addresses those Quick Fix Exercise Programs in the book because as he says, they don’t allow people to build up good habits or even the belief that they can really change over time. There’s no change in their life philosophy. As soon as those programs are over, people go right back to what they were doing.
My biggest gripe with those programs is that they give people an unrealistic view of how long it takes to get to lasting change.
Invest in yourself
If you are serious about Personal Development, then the Slight Edge is for you. It’s reassuring to read that real change and transformation happens slowly over time. So many times we are ready to give up because we aren’t getting results fast enough but the truth is we must put in that 0.01 every day (the slight edge) that will take us up the success curve.
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