Slight Edge

Jeff Olson

Who is the Author?

He is the beach bum. (Pg. 3-4)

The Penny

• A penny doubled every day for a 31 day month will grow to over 10 million dollars even without interest.

• -Discover through the power of compound interest.

The Secret Ingredient

It isn’t that actions are wrong, it’s that people don’t keep doing them

The secret ingredient is a person’s philosophy

Your philosophy creates your attitude, actions, and results which creates your life

Two types of attitudes

Entitled: What have you done for me lately

Value-Driven: What can I do to help you

Formula for Success

• Double your rate of failure

3 main points of success

Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal

Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do

There is a natural progression to everything in life: plant, cultivate, harvest

The Slight Edge

• The slight edge is always:

• Easy to do and Easy not to do

Starting and Waiting

• It’s never too late to start

• It’s always too late to wait

Time

• Time is the most powerful force there is in the world for change.

• Position your actions so that time is working for you, not against you

• Plant, cultivate, then harvest. Don’t skip cultivate.

Habits

• Successful people form habits that feed their success instead of habits that feed their failure.

• Stay in the process long enough to give it a chance to win.

Past, Present & Future

• The slight edge is found in the present, not in the past and not in the future.

• People are generally fooled by the words, “right now” because they want results now (skipping the cultivate). Living in the present does not mean getting what you want now.

Twice

• You will be twice what you are today in one year if you:

• -apply only three-tenths percent effort per day more than the present.

• (Compound Interest Again)

Some Day

• Some day doesn’t exist, never has, and never will. There is no “some day.” There’s only today.

• No success is immediate nor is failure instantaneous. They are both products of the slight edge.

• Believing in the big break is worse than futile. It can be dangerous because it can keep you from taking the actions you need to take to create the results you want.

The 7 principles

1. Show up2. Be Consistent3. Have a good attitude4. Be committed for a long period of time5. Have faith and a burning desire6. Be willing to pay the price7. Practice integrity

The Path

• The slight edge path is a curve upward or downward all the time.

• If you are doing the few simple errors in judgment, time will expose you no matter how well you appear to be doing right now. Time is the great equalizer.

Blame and Responsibility

• “A man can fail many times but he isn’t a failure until he blames someone else.”

• Difficult not to blame:• -8 no’s to every yes growing up• -11 negatives to every positive growing up

Mastery

• Mastery is not an exalted path that lies at the end of the path; it is a state of mind that lies at the beginning of the path.

• The impact of a person’s life can be measured by the size of the problems he or she solves.

Truth

• All truth passes through three stages:1. First it is ridiculed2. Second it is violently opposed3. Third it is accepted as being self-evident

Funerals

• The number one factor as to whether people go from a funeral to a burial is:

The weather

The Faces

• The faces of the slight edge are:

• Momentum• Completion• Habit• Reflection• Celebration

The Race

• Steady wins the race.

• Results come last, but steady will usually win.

Kaizen

• Kaizen means continuous improvement.

• The key to Kaizen is to Plan, Do, Review

• Spend time with the masters

• Law of Association: you are the combined average of the five people you associate most with

Dreams-Reality

• The first step to turning dreams into reality is to write it down. Write down the goal, the dream, whatever it is.

• Goals are dreams with deadlines.

• Whatever the dream or goal, there is a price to pay. This means there will be something that will need to be given up or sacrificed.

• Finally, look at it daily.

Health

• “Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are.”

• Exercise 20-30 minutes per day, 4-5 times per week and you will be in the top 10% fitness in the nation.

• One hour per day, 5 times per week will put you in the top 2% in the nation.

• Smoking will automatically cut your lifespan expectancy by 7 years. The health risks on top of the shortened life span speak for themselves.

Two Paths

• One path leads to fulfillment.

• One path leads to regret.

Final Health Check

• Obesity has doubled in the past 20 years• Adolescent obesity has tripled.• Obesity is responsible for 300,000 deaths per

year.• Obesity costs society 100 billion dollars per

year

Final Financial Check

• Average household credit card debt is $16,000• There were 1.4 million bankruptcy filings in

2009• 43% of Americans have less than $10,000 in

savings• Only 16% of Americans feel like they can save

for retirement.

Slight Edge Final Thoughts

• Each decision you make compounds itself on the next one.

• Small negative actions won’t kill you but added up over time, they can make or break your life.

• Small positive actions over time won’t save you and maybe might not even be noticed, but over time they can bring you a satisfied, healthy life.

Slight Edge Essay• Write a 5 paragraph essay fully discussing The Slight Edge in detail.• The first paragraph should be an overall summary of the slight edge, a basic

description and explanation of what it means.• The second paragraph should include three general concepts that the slight edge

gives that are useful for the entire public. Be sure to explain what these concepts mean.

• Paragraph three should give one example for each of the above concepts to make it more specific.

• The fourth paragraph should give one real life positive slight edge action for someone you know and one real life negative slight edge action for someone else you know. Be sure NOT to use these people’s names.

• The fifth and final paragraph should wrap up your essay with concluding thoughts and re-summarize the slight edge in short order.

• Your essay should be between 2-3 pages. Do not write on the back of the paper.