The Slight Edge of Life

 One of my favorite books for helping me keep my life on track is by Jeff Olsen, called The Slight Edge. It promotes a philosophy that has great power to improve or change our lives a little bit at a time. What he teaches in his book is that it is not the big monumental things we do that change our lives or make us successful; it is the little things we do every day over a long period of time that compounded, have the power to change our lives and make us successful.  Jeff preaches that “doing the right things every day matters”. This philosophy has been so helpful to me as I have the opportunity to make a good choices or poor choices every day. You see, the problem with the slight edge is that these little choices we make every day are easy to do and they are also easy not to do. So, it is critical that we remember and actually believe that they DO matter.

Do I drink this soda or not? Does it really matter? It doesn’t seem to matter. If I drink this soda or eat this candy bar, or stay in bed instead of getting up to exercise…none of these decisions will make much of a difference today, or tomorrow, or even 3 weeks from now; but they will make all the difference in whether I am happy, thin, successful etc. in the end.

It is the compounded effect of all of these small decisions over time that makes all the difference in the outcomes of my life.  This is both the power and the challenge of the slight edge philosophy. It is so easy to rationalize not doing one small thing that does not seem to make a big difference. So, I drink a coke, “big deal”, I miss a day of exercise, “big deal”, I watch tv instead of reading a good book, “big deal”.

You see, I consider myself a pretty good person. I try to do what is right, to be honest, to work hard, to make good choices. So, it would be just about impossible for me to do something big that was wrong. I could not rob a bank, or steal from someone or start using an illegal drug for instance. Those would be glaring exceptions to the life I am trying to lead and could not get past the gate of my conscience. But, the little things, the small, seemingly insignificant choices actually have more power to cause my downfall because they enter unrecognized. They make it through my x-ray machine unnoticed like the random toiletry bottle doesn’t show up in the airport security scanner.

My conscience allows me small indiscretions, which compounded over time can get in the way of me accomplishing my goals.

Jeff tells the story of two young men who get an offer from their grandfather. He offers them a choice of either a million dollars now or a penny today that will double in value every day for a period of time (can’t remember how long) but the point is that it is the penny, the small thing, compounded over time that brings true wealth. We see this illustrated in the lives of people who win the lottery, spend the money frivolously and then go back to living in poverty. They never learn to do the little things right every day and so the big things cannot make a difference either.

Another reason I am drawn to this philosophy is that sometimes I get discouraged thinking change is hard and I can’t be successful in some aspect of my life. And then, I remember that all I need to do is make the first small right choice today and then tomorrow and the next day and soon I will be on the track to success. I don’t have to accomplish a huge, daunting thing to be successful.

So, for me, the little things are: skipping that coke for water, exercising for an hour each day, eating a piece of fruit rather than the chocolate I crave, avoiding gluten, going to bed on time, getting up early each day, kneeling down to say my prayers, taking time to breathe deeply and contemplate all the glorious blessings in my life.

What are the slight edge things in your life? Can you begin today to do the right things for you? It really does matter you know.

Love and Light,

Beth