Selected Podcast
The Slight Edge
Rebecca Kristene discusses Jeff Olsen's novel "The Slight Edge", a powerful book explaining how to turn simple disciplines into massive success and happiness.
Transcription:
Rebecca Kristene: Hi there. I'm Rebecca Kristene, founder and CEO of Rebecca Kristene Agency. And today, I'm going to be talking about a book that has made such a huge impact on my life. This book is called The Slight Edge by Jeff Olsen. The theme of this book is how to turn simple disciplines into massive success and happiness.
First, I'd love to share just a little bit about the author, Jeff Olsen. He has built several multi-billion dollar sales and marketing organizations, extremely successful. He's helped hundreds of thousands of people achieve higher levels of financial freedom and personal excellence. But my favorite thing about Jeff is the fact that he cares just as much about health and happiness as he does about financial success.
So, this isn't just a book about how to get what you want. It's a book about growing in all areas of your life. That means not only growing in your career or your financial status, but also growing in your health, your relationships with your spouse, your kids, your parents, and even in your faith. I love that because you can read books on financial success or self-growth all day, but if you don't have the foundational principles down, you're just wasting your time, and that's the truth.
So, let's get to this book review. There are three key ideas in The Slight Edge that I'd love to skim over and share my thoughts with you on. The first idea is you have complete control over the direction that the rest of your life takes.
At the very beginning of this book, Jeff shares the story of a beach bum and a millionaire. Basically, the short version of this story is there two friends that Jeff knew from his childhood that grew up together. They went to high school together, graduated high school together, and even roomed at college together. They were great guys. They had identical childhoods and, even in their skills, they were pretty evenly matched. They were identical in almost every way except one thing, the different paths they took and where they ended up. See, the first friend dropped out of college, moved to Daytona Beach, Florida, which we all know is the Spring Break capital of the world, and literally became a beach bum, a big weightlifter chasing girls, long blonde hair, the whole thing. He ended up cutting grass just to make ends meet at like golf clubs. He became super unhappy and he decided to move back home. He then went into business for himself, and then that business failed and he lost everything. It completely flopped.
So, let's jump to the other guy. He stayed in college. He graduated at the top of his class, and he was then recruited by some gigantic tech firm. He built an incredible resume. He went on to create success after success in his entrepreneurial ventures. And today, his life is rich in every single way imaginable. He owns several successful companies. He's happily married, has a beautiful daughter, and he is surrounded by good friends.
Jeff goes on to reveal that both of these men are actually one man. They're him, Jeff. He was a college dropout. He became frustrated and took a shot at building a business and bottomed out. And he was also a straight A college graduate who went on to become a millionaire with a richly happy and fulfilled life.
He shares how this happened. It was simple. He had to change the trajectory of his life. He had to do something. So, the beach bum gave the business world a shot. He failed, and then he went back to school. He worked harder than he ever had. He kept going one step at a time. It's definitely easier said than done to just keep going.
There's this point in the book where he talks about the difference between success and failure in any area of your life, and I loved it. So basically, think of three lines. The top line is success. The middle line is survival, and the bottom line is failure. When we start to fail, we figure things out. We bump back up to survival, and we fix those things, right? Because nobody wants to sit in failure. But when we start going above the line of survival and start heading to success, we tend to get comfortable and we slowly curve back down to survival. Basically, what this means is once you get to that line of success, a lot of times you quit doing the things that got you there. But here's the kicker. It means you already know how to do everything it takes to make you an outrageous success. You just have to keep doing them.
So, what are those actions that move us upward on the curve and the actions that drive us down? Simple. The things that take you out of failure and up towards survival are simple. So simple, it's easy to overlook them. Here's the difference. Successful people, they do these simple things consistently and unsuccessful people only look at them and then they never take action. Or they do them, but then they eventually stop. Like taking a few dollars out of a paycheck and putting it into savings or working out for 10 minutes a day every day without skipping. Maybe reading one chapter of an inspiring book every single day, or just taking a moment out of each day to tell someone in your life that you love them consistently day in and day out for months, even years. Little things that seem so insignificant that you could just easily skip over them, but you don't. Little things that when compounded over time, yield big results. Jeff Olsen calls them simple daily disciplines, and this is the slight edge.
I like that in one part of the book, he emphasizes that when he uses the term millionaire, he doesn't always mean money. He means someone with a million-dollar smile, someone with a million friends with a million dollars worth of joy, love, contentment, fulfillment, great relationships, passion and excitement for life. When I read this in the book, I loved it because, to me, success isn't always about finances or your career. Success is being happy, healthy, and having meaning. To truly have success in life, you have to look at your entire life.
So, the second key idea I would love to talk to you about is the power of compound interests. I would just love to dig into that a little more. Because in The Slight Edge, Olsen gives a tangible example of compound interest that really stuck out to me. So say, you and your best friend both graduated from college at the ripe age of 23. You both read this book and you decided you're going to start putting away enough savings so you can retire at age 65 with a million dollars in the bank. Your friend starts doing it right now, setting up an automatic deduction of 250, let's say, from her paycheck to go straight into an IRA.
But you figure, hey, there's plenty of time, you can put it off for a bit. You don't get around to it this year or the next or the next. And in fact, you keep procrastinating and realize, at age 39, you never did it. With 40 staring you in the face, you decide, "Okay. Now's the time I got to get started." And at that point, you find out that your friend is done investing. After she invested that 250 a month for 18 years at an 8% compound interest, she's all set. She actually can stop investing and just let that account sit and accumulate interest on its own. And by the time she turned 65, that little financial snowball will have grown to over 1 million, even if she never invests another penny into it. So, you tell yourself, "That's it. I got to start now." So, you start putting 250 away a month and you wonder, "How long is it going to take for me to catch up to my friend?" The unfortunate answer is you won't. Because starting early, your friend was able to invest and then turn off the spigot and let the momentum build. You might be thinking, "Well, crap, like I'm 43" or "I'm 60 and I missed that boat." And I love what the author says about that. You're never too old and it's never too late to start applying the slight edge tactics in your life, whether it's toward finances, your dreams, or your goals. It's never too late to start. It's always too late to wait. And that just that stuck out to me in a very big way.
The third and final key idea I would like to touch on is the fact that failure does happen. When you're applying these slight edge tactics and something goes wrong or you fail at something, what should you do? You probably know the answer. We hear it everywhere. You just keep swimming. You keep going. But really think about that. That means when you fail, you have to fight those voices in your head that say, "See, you're not good at this," or "You picked the wrong career field," or even those voices that say, "You'll never make a difference in the world. No matter how hard you try." You have to fight it. You have to figure out why you failed, dissect it, learn from it, and grow from it. Then, pick yourself up and keep going. One more small step at a time. Everyone fails. It's up to you what comes next.
As I wrap this up, I'd like to give you a challenge. I'd like you to think about taking 10 minutes somewhere in your day today and write out your goals and dreams. Focus on these areas, your health, your happiness, your career, and your finances. Try and write down one dream or goal for each of these. Then, do one simple discipline daily in each of these areas and see how your life will change in time.
It comes down to when you feel like skipping, will you do it anyway? If you don't see results right away, will you keep doing it? This is what makes someone successful. They understand the power of simple things, the power of daily disciplines, and how to keep paddling when others give up and sink.
I wanted to share really quick why this book made such an impact on my life. About four years ago, I found my life flipped upside down. I have two beautiful children. I was a military wife and married for 15 years when my husband left us. I was left with nothing. I had no degree or job experience because I was essentially raising these two kids on my own since my ex was deployed and out on trainings all the time. We decided together when we were married that I'd pursue my career once he was retired and the kids were older. That didn't happen. Actually, none of our plans happened. He left me high and dry. You might be thinking there's no way he can legally do that. The military and the state would make sure you're supported during this time, but no. Court was so backed up and there was nothing anyone could do. I had to decide right then, was I going to move back home, lean on my family and pray this all worked out? Or was I going to pick myself back up, figure this out and give my kids the life they deserve?
I started reading this book as I was frantically trying to figure out my next move. And it's because of this book, I boldly took a risk and started my copywriting business. It's because of this book that I took consistent steps every single day, even when I was completely overwhelmed and exhausted. One step at a time in my relationship with God, in my healing, in motherhood and in my business, one tiny step forward was still a step. Four years later, I have an incredibly successful business. God brought a wonderful man into our lives that is the husband of my dreams and the father my kids deserve, and I'm surrounded by friends and family that truly love me.
If you could really hear one thing I have to say today, it's to have faith. Move forward. I know you can do this. Thank you so much for listening today. I hope this book review inspired you and encouraged you to take the next step in your life.
Rebecca Kristene: Hi there. I'm Rebecca Kristene, founder and CEO of Rebecca Kristene Agency. And today, I'm going to be talking about a book that has made such a huge impact on my life. This book is called The Slight Edge by Jeff Olsen. The theme of this book is how to turn simple disciplines into massive success and happiness.
First, I'd love to share just a little bit about the author, Jeff Olsen. He has built several multi-billion dollar sales and marketing organizations, extremely successful. He's helped hundreds of thousands of people achieve higher levels of financial freedom and personal excellence. But my favorite thing about Jeff is the fact that he cares just as much about health and happiness as he does about financial success.
So, this isn't just a book about how to get what you want. It's a book about growing in all areas of your life. That means not only growing in your career or your financial status, but also growing in your health, your relationships with your spouse, your kids, your parents, and even in your faith. I love that because you can read books on financial success or self-growth all day, but if you don't have the foundational principles down, you're just wasting your time, and that's the truth.
So, let's get to this book review. There are three key ideas in The Slight Edge that I'd love to skim over and share my thoughts with you on. The first idea is you have complete control over the direction that the rest of your life takes.
At the very beginning of this book, Jeff shares the story of a beach bum and a millionaire. Basically, the short version of this story is there two friends that Jeff knew from his childhood that grew up together. They went to high school together, graduated high school together, and even roomed at college together. They were great guys. They had identical childhoods and, even in their skills, they were pretty evenly matched. They were identical in almost every way except one thing, the different paths they took and where they ended up. See, the first friend dropped out of college, moved to Daytona Beach, Florida, which we all know is the Spring Break capital of the world, and literally became a beach bum, a big weightlifter chasing girls, long blonde hair, the whole thing. He ended up cutting grass just to make ends meet at like golf clubs. He became super unhappy and he decided to move back home. He then went into business for himself, and then that business failed and he lost everything. It completely flopped.
So, let's jump to the other guy. He stayed in college. He graduated at the top of his class, and he was then recruited by some gigantic tech firm. He built an incredible resume. He went on to create success after success in his entrepreneurial ventures. And today, his life is rich in every single way imaginable. He owns several successful companies. He's happily married, has a beautiful daughter, and he is surrounded by good friends.
Jeff goes on to reveal that both of these men are actually one man. They're him, Jeff. He was a college dropout. He became frustrated and took a shot at building a business and bottomed out. And he was also a straight A college graduate who went on to become a millionaire with a richly happy and fulfilled life.
He shares how this happened. It was simple. He had to change the trajectory of his life. He had to do something. So, the beach bum gave the business world a shot. He failed, and then he went back to school. He worked harder than he ever had. He kept going one step at a time. It's definitely easier said than done to just keep going.
There's this point in the book where he talks about the difference between success and failure in any area of your life, and I loved it. So basically, think of three lines. The top line is success. The middle line is survival, and the bottom line is failure. When we start to fail, we figure things out. We bump back up to survival, and we fix those things, right? Because nobody wants to sit in failure. But when we start going above the line of survival and start heading to success, we tend to get comfortable and we slowly curve back down to survival. Basically, what this means is once you get to that line of success, a lot of times you quit doing the things that got you there. But here's the kicker. It means you already know how to do everything it takes to make you an outrageous success. You just have to keep doing them.
So, what are those actions that move us upward on the curve and the actions that drive us down? Simple. The things that take you out of failure and up towards survival are simple. So simple, it's easy to overlook them. Here's the difference. Successful people, they do these simple things consistently and unsuccessful people only look at them and then they never take action. Or they do them, but then they eventually stop. Like taking a few dollars out of a paycheck and putting it into savings or working out for 10 minutes a day every day without skipping. Maybe reading one chapter of an inspiring book every single day, or just taking a moment out of each day to tell someone in your life that you love them consistently day in and day out for months, even years. Little things that seem so insignificant that you could just easily skip over them, but you don't. Little things that when compounded over time, yield big results. Jeff Olsen calls them simple daily disciplines, and this is the slight edge.
I like that in one part of the book, he emphasizes that when he uses the term millionaire, he doesn't always mean money. He means someone with a million-dollar smile, someone with a million friends with a million dollars worth of joy, love, contentment, fulfillment, great relationships, passion and excitement for life. When I read this in the book, I loved it because, to me, success isn't always about finances or your career. Success is being happy, healthy, and having meaning. To truly have success in life, you have to look at your entire life.
So, the second key idea I would love to talk to you about is the power of compound interests. I would just love to dig into that a little more. Because in The Slight Edge, Olsen gives a tangible example of compound interest that really stuck out to me. So say, you and your best friend both graduated from college at the ripe age of 23. You both read this book and you decided you're going to start putting away enough savings so you can retire at age 65 with a million dollars in the bank. Your friend starts doing it right now, setting up an automatic deduction of 250, let's say, from her paycheck to go straight into an IRA.
But you figure, hey, there's plenty of time, you can put it off for a bit. You don't get around to it this year or the next or the next. And in fact, you keep procrastinating and realize, at age 39, you never did it. With 40 staring you in the face, you decide, "Okay. Now's the time I got to get started." And at that point, you find out that your friend is done investing. After she invested that 250 a month for 18 years at an 8% compound interest, she's all set. She actually can stop investing and just let that account sit and accumulate interest on its own. And by the time she turned 65, that little financial snowball will have grown to over 1 million, even if she never invests another penny into it. So, you tell yourself, "That's it. I got to start now." So, you start putting 250 away a month and you wonder, "How long is it going to take for me to catch up to my friend?" The unfortunate answer is you won't. Because starting early, your friend was able to invest and then turn off the spigot and let the momentum build. You might be thinking, "Well, crap, like I'm 43" or "I'm 60 and I missed that boat." And I love what the author says about that. You're never too old and it's never too late to start applying the slight edge tactics in your life, whether it's toward finances, your dreams, or your goals. It's never too late to start. It's always too late to wait. And that just that stuck out to me in a very big way.
The third and final key idea I would like to touch on is the fact that failure does happen. When you're applying these slight edge tactics and something goes wrong or you fail at something, what should you do? You probably know the answer. We hear it everywhere. You just keep swimming. You keep going. But really think about that. That means when you fail, you have to fight those voices in your head that say, "See, you're not good at this," or "You picked the wrong career field," or even those voices that say, "You'll never make a difference in the world. No matter how hard you try." You have to fight it. You have to figure out why you failed, dissect it, learn from it, and grow from it. Then, pick yourself up and keep going. One more small step at a time. Everyone fails. It's up to you what comes next.
As I wrap this up, I'd like to give you a challenge. I'd like you to think about taking 10 minutes somewhere in your day today and write out your goals and dreams. Focus on these areas, your health, your happiness, your career, and your finances. Try and write down one dream or goal for each of these. Then, do one simple discipline daily in each of these areas and see how your life will change in time.
It comes down to when you feel like skipping, will you do it anyway? If you don't see results right away, will you keep doing it? This is what makes someone successful. They understand the power of simple things, the power of daily disciplines, and how to keep paddling when others give up and sink.
I wanted to share really quick why this book made such an impact on my life. About four years ago, I found my life flipped upside down. I have two beautiful children. I was a military wife and married for 15 years when my husband left us. I was left with nothing. I had no degree or job experience because I was essentially raising these two kids on my own since my ex was deployed and out on trainings all the time. We decided together when we were married that I'd pursue my career once he was retired and the kids were older. That didn't happen. Actually, none of our plans happened. He left me high and dry. You might be thinking there's no way he can legally do that. The military and the state would make sure you're supported during this time, but no. Court was so backed up and there was nothing anyone could do. I had to decide right then, was I going to move back home, lean on my family and pray this all worked out? Or was I going to pick myself back up, figure this out and give my kids the life they deserve?
I started reading this book as I was frantically trying to figure out my next move. And it's because of this book, I boldly took a risk and started my copywriting business. It's because of this book that I took consistent steps every single day, even when I was completely overwhelmed and exhausted. One step at a time in my relationship with God, in my healing, in motherhood and in my business, one tiny step forward was still a step. Four years later, I have an incredibly successful business. God brought a wonderful man into our lives that is the husband of my dreams and the father my kids deserve, and I'm surrounded by friends and family that truly love me.
If you could really hear one thing I have to say today, it's to have faith. Move forward. I know you can do this. Thank you so much for listening today. I hope this book review inspired you and encouraged you to take the next step in your life.