Jun 08 2008
The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson - Book Review
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In the excellent book The Slight Edge, Jeff Olson tells the story of 2 sons who get this choice: 1 $million right away or a penny that is doubled every day for 30 days. The older son chooses the fast Million, the younger the penny. Which one makes the smarter choice?
I just did the math in Excel and this is the result: By day 10 the penny has become $2.56, by day 20, $2,621, by day 30 $2,684,354, more than twice the million that the not so wise brother got (and he blew most of his in legal fees and bad investments.)
Jeff’s book really helped me to see that it’s not the huge break that most folks dream about that gets me down the road. It’s the little steps, sometimes baby steps, taken consistently, one after the other, towards my goal.
And the little tiny steps, seemingly inconsequential in the moment, are taking me on a long range trajectory, that is either upwards or downwards. A sailor knows that a 1/2 degree change is course may not seem like much, but 10 days later, you will be in an entirely different place.
I also learned from Jeff’s book that it’s fine to start right where you are, even if it’s with a penny (not far from the truth in my case). A steady focus and disciplined practice of increasing and doubling that penny is all you need, not a big break or windfall or winning the lottery. If the occasional breakthrough comes into the next realm, great, but it’s the baby steps that get you to the place where you are ready for that big leap forward.
And not just in money matters. A consistent habit of healthy eating and daily exercise, may not produce dramatic immediate results but years later WILL have added vibrant health to your life, one day and one little step at a time.
The Slight Edge also inspired me to try to read just 10 minutes per day of something uplifting and inspirational, which I have been doing. And to get a least 30 minutes a day of some form of exercise, walking, biking, jumping on the trampoline, whatever. These two small acts have already made a tremendous difference over the last 3 months. Oh, and a big glass of water as soon as I rise each day.
Follow this simple daily practice for a small steady improvement you may not notice right away, but like that 1/2 degree course correction, months later you will be in a different, healthier, more positive, more energized place.
The Japanese business community started a worldwide movement with a concept called Kaizen which means change for the better, or continuous improvement. They learned that even a tiny improvement each month in car manufacturing or whatever enterprise, leads to dramatic improvements over time.
The Slight Edge is a Kaizen principle of small, incremental changes in any area of life you wish to transform. I highly recommend this book to really get this concept and implement in your own life.
For some reason, the book is out of print, but you can track it down via the Amazon link here .
Setting A Believable Goal
I showed this site to my life coach Marilyn O’Mally and she told me I need to set a lower, more believable goal because a million is just too much for my poverty consciousness to fathom and believe. I agree. However, I CAN believe this:
Double my income to $10k/month by Sept 30th or sooner (or better)
After that, I will set my sights on doubling that number again to $20k per month and so on. My goal will be to keep doubling until I reach my Million. As the wiser son did with his penny.
BTW, I was inspired by this concept and a Google Adwords Guru Perry Marshall to name my web marketing company Kaizen Internet Marketing . When working with adwords ads or web page conversion rates, the same principle holds true: tiny improvements in click through rates can double or quadruple your results over time. I have achieved this for my clients using simple split testing strategies. Click the link above for more info.
In business, you do not have to be lightyears ahead of your competition, you just need to be slightly better to win and there again is the Slight Edge philosophy.
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