Book Review: 'The Slight Edge' by Jeff Olson

We all have heard about self-made and overnight successful men and women; how they their hard work, and how passion and persistence led them to their dreams. Their inspiring stories make us wait for that perfect moment when our dreams comes true. But what most people fail to mention is that it does not take a major step but small compounded efforts to achieve the goals that we have set for ourselves.

The Slight Edge talks about achieving your goals and dreams through simple daily disciplines. It is no secret or a magical formula to success, but rather everything starts with a penny. The latter being anything that you have that can be used to build your future and one that will help you stick to a consistent progress.

For example, if you want to be fit you will not start by working out for 2 hours, 5 kilometres in 15 minutes because that will only wear you out and make your body sore; which will make you come back to the gym two weeks later to start from scratch. You would rather dedicate a 20-minute daily daily, 5 days a week, which will give you time to adjust your body and enable you to actually enjoy the work-out. If you do this consistently, create a habit and you will not have to think twice about working out.

Scientists say it takes 21 to 30 days to create a habit and if you plan your goals in a way that allows you to regularly work on them, you will achieve them without so much sweat and pressure than you would have if you worked at the last minute to have a breakthrough.

The Slight Edge has taught me one valuable lesson: We do not have to wait for the right moment or money to start what we have always wanted; we do not have to start big, and we can use what we have, with enough discipline, get to where we want to be.

In the words of Martin Luther King Jr, “if you cannot fly then run, if you cannot run then walk, if you cannot walk then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.”