The Slight Edge

At the beginning of every year, we always make resolutions about what we want to achieve in order to better our lives. In many end-of-year parties, it’s common to hear people pronounce things like; ‘I am going to quit smoking this year’ or ‘By the end of the year, I am going to be a fully qualified CPA.’ However, as the year ends, we suddenly realize what a failure we have become. Many of our goals are ambiguous and lofty. They are not specific and lack application mechanisms. We do not apply the slight edge philosophy, resulting in massive failure most of the time or mediocre achievements at best.

Jeff Olson, the author of ‘The Slight Edge’ audio book indicates that by making small consistent adjustments in our lives, we can accomplish even much more than we expected. We can improve the quality of our lives and those of our families, achieve greater production at work, increased efficiency and significant cost savings resulting in big profits in business. We can have more time for our families and have better relationships with others.

The adjustments you need to make are not much. They are so small that they seem insignificant to the achievement of your goals. They may not produce an immediate result the day you start making the change. However, the compound effect of those minute changes can bring phenomenal results within a short duration of time.

Discipline is of utmost importance if the slight edge philosophy is to work in your life. The small adjustment must be effected daily to yield the expected result in future. The philosophy may also work negatively. For example eating a meal full of saturated fats everyday may not produce negative repercussions on that day. However, the cumulative effect will be evident in a year or two when your cholesterol levels peak and you begin to get obese.

The beauty of the slight edge philosophy as stated earlier is that the change you need to make is not exerting. It does not require a sudden drastic change in the way you live your life. On the contrary, it may only mean making a small addition to what you are already doing.

It may mean a simple thing like planning the activities you will undertake on a daily basis instead of just going out to do whatever comes your way first. For a student, it may mean waking up one hour earlier to study. Or one hour in the gym for those who may want to shed some weight.

These small actions when done consistently produce amazing results. They make the difference between success and failure at school, prosperity and bankruptcy in business, a successful marriage and a failed one.

These ‘small baby steps’ are also easy to track and monitor. At the end of the day you are able to identify your ‘successes’ and your ‘failures’. The evaluation process you undertake will help you identify what you need to do differently the following day to achieve your objectives.

The slight edge philosophy advocates for a gradual change that will help you meet your goals in a timely fashion. Since the adjustment is not a one-time event but a process, one is able to progress steadily towards the desired goal.

Author Bio: Please visit http://www.thepersonaldevelopmentcompany.com/ Personal Development Company if you would like to learn more about The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson

Category: Marketing
Keywords: go for no, richard fenton, andrea waltz