A Book You Want to Read: The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson

The Slight Edge offers many tools to help you become more productive. The author Jeff Olson walks through many examples, including his own life, examples to improve your life.

Spoiler Alert: its easier to Self Improve

I am going to tell you the main Idea of the book however I still recommend reading the book because Jeff Olsen Really drives home his ideas eloquently. Therefore the time spent reading this book will be well worth it. I would say this book is the best $15.00 Ive spent in a long time.

During the pandemic we all have more time on our hands, how we utilize this time very simply determines our trajectory after the pandemic. The book really drives home a simple mantra. Im paraphrasing in my own words, but it boils down to- its easier to do than not to do.

Much like the book does, let’s take an example, you are now working from home during the pandemic. Although the world is out of control people have more control of their time than previously in their lives.

Therefore the “edge” is the small decisions we make on a daily basis, these small choices can either improve or hurt our chances for improvement. These small choices, if positive, over days, weeks, months, and years push us in the right direction.

A personal Case Study

I was able to utilize this strategy to lose some weight, improve my job, and save some money. The slight edge catalyzed a simple strategy, I made some spreadsheets. Excel has been around since 1985, fun fact. I made decided to make two spreadsheets, one based on health and wellness and another based on finances.

Email quietlydedicated@gmail.com for these spreadsheets

This small change, only takes me a maximum 15 minutes a day, made substantial changes in my life. This book gives many examples about how these mundane small decisions can make huge changes in the long run.

If I slack on my spreadsheets for a few days I usually notice a dip in both my bank account and my health. This choice to “check myself” everyday makes the difference over long stretches of time.

My Self-Improvement Mantra: Change happens slow, then it happens fast.

I actually got a job during the COVID-19 pandemic. The job nearly doubled my pay, gave me exponentially more responsibility, and will help me reach my own goal of medical school. One simple strategy really helped me

The strategy from this book that really helped me land this job, write down your goals. I actually read this book right before the pandemic started. Talk about great timing to start such a powerful practice.

I started applying for the Job I wanted in January 2019, however like many people COVID-19 had other plans. I worked hard to be prepared to land the best job and thats why I repeated the mantra and wrote down daily what job I wanted.

In September 2020 I attended that interview for the job and 9 months of work turned into one month of onboarding and quick adaptation.

On the surface it may appear there was a huge change in my life, but the small changes I had made for months put me in the position to obtain my goal. I know it hurts but keep making those small changes, writing down a few goals every morning is SO easy to do at the time. This simple task over many months/years/decades can have substantial effects on your life.