The latest book I read was The Slight Edge from Jeff Olson. I had been hearing awesome things about it and the Amazon reviews are off the charts! Every podcast I listen to that has a book recommendation part would frequently mention this book…that seems to be how I’m buying my books lately. I thought this book was new, but it’s actually not. It was first published around 2007, but was recently updated (I read the updated version).
Big Idea
The big idea behind this book is a simple concept, but has completely changed my mindset. Small, positive habits you form add up to big results in the long run. These small actions you take are easy to do, but also easy not to do.
For example:
- 10 minutes of exercise every morning for better health.
- Eggs and fruit for breakfast instead of carb-filled, sugary cereal for better nutrition
- A small dose of daily prospecting for clients to build your business
- Reading 10 pages every day of a business or self-improvement book to build your knowledge
The reason the concept of the Slight Edge has changed my mindset is because I try to be very strategic with making small changes in my life/business instead of big changes that are hard to keep up with. But I usually struggle to really believe I’m making true progress.
But this book argues that if you create a habit out of the small changes…and you stick with it for the long run…big results can happen. For example, reading 10 pages of a business or self-improvement book every day (this is one of Jeff’s biggest recommendations FYI)…after the first 10 pages, are you any different? No. But what if you kept up with it for 12 months? That’s 3,600 words and likely about 12 books. Would you notice a difference then? Most certainly. But the path to get there was the same — 10 pages daily — you just have to allow time to work in your favor.
So what this book has done for me is changed my mindset in that I now believe the small changes I’m making to better my life and business really do matter…regardless if I can see an immediate change…I just have to give the positive habits I’m forming time to make a difference.
My Slight Edge
Here are some of the small changes I’ve been making in my life and business to give you an idea of how I’m applying this all. Hopefully this sparks some ideas for your own Slight Edge.
Health
In terms of nutrition, I’m making small tweaks to how and what I eat. I still eat ice cream, but less ice cream. When I’m getting a burger, I don’t eat the fries. When I’m at a restaurant, I don’t eat the bread before my meal comes. I have a protein shake first thing in the morning. These are all small little tweaks that haven’t been hard to keep up with yet I know they will make a difference down the road.
I’m also committing to at least 10 minutes of exercise every day. Usually it’s more like 30 minutes now that my company has a gym on the first floor and so it’s super easy to get a workout in at lunch. But before I had that luxury, I was doing 10 minutes of push ups every morning.
Family
My small change here is that when I get home from work, and before I start working on my side business, I spend at least an hour of focused time with my kids and wife. No checking my phone. No laptop on. We usually eat dinner, talk and watch TV. Before, even when I was around, I wasn’t really present. I’ve found that this small tweak has helped a lot. An hour is not a lot of time, but it adds up to 5 hours during the week and then of course I’m around a lot more on the weekends.
Career
One of the biggest things Jeff pushed in his book was reading a book every day. I’ve been doing that for a couple of months now and I’ve gone through a handful of books already and I love it. I’m reading books on personal development, marketing and business so this new habit will help my career and my side business…and I guess my life overall.
I’m also now very conscious of the build up effect of daily work in terms of prospecting for new business. So at my full-time job now, I make it a habit of focusing on new business activities for at least an hour per day, but more if I can. I know over time, this will add up to great opportunities for my company.
Side Business
My Slight Edge for my side business is pretty much the same as my career: reading daily and prospecting for new clients daily. These two tasks are not hard to do, but if you think about the compound effect over a period of 12+ months…it’s really awesome as to what the potential is!
I’m also writing daily for Sidepreneurial. I’ve managed to stick with this since I started the blog in April and I now have a bunch of content on the site that I think and hope is helping people. I’m also networking with other sidepreneurs via my interviews. I look at the blog and I’m really proud of it…how did it happen? From just committing to write at least 250 words per day!
It’s your turn now. What small habits can you create for yourself that will improve your life, health and/or business? Don’t discount the small actions. Consider what it can add up to over the long run. You’ll create new habits for yourself…good habits…and you’ll start to reap the benefits as the months and years go by.
