The Slight Edge: Turning Simple Disciplines into Massive Success and Happiness

“And that’s what so many people do, living their lives like this, oscillating between failure and survival, striving toward success and maybe even reaching the level of success, but then invariably turning back and heading downward again. […] The truth is, whatever other factors may or may not be there, the only reason we keep following this roller coaster of almost-success and nearly-failure, this sine wave of mediocrity, this curse of the average, is that we’re missing one simple point.”

Olson represents the idea of stagnation around survival through the metaphor to a sine wave, which makes it seem like a mathematical inevitability. At the same time, the comparison to a roller coaster accounts for the emotional highs and lows of this process. Often, people work the hardest when their survival is at risk, or when they’re at the bottom of the curve, as the roller coaster is ticking up the big hill. When people crest the hill, they often grow complacent, as they feel they can finally and let go of the habits that enabled them to succeed. However, just like a sine curve or a roller coaster track, a downhill slope inevitably follows a peak. This, Olson states, is why it’s important to remember that Transformation Is Habitual: letting go of good habits means slipping onto the downward trajectory.

“It’s like eating the best food in the world without the intestinal capacity to digest or absorb it. It may be fantastic, incredibly accurate information with amazing insight and a track record of proven success, but it just goes right through you, leaving you as weak and hungry as you were before you ate it.”

This simile compares reading self-help books to eating a good diet: If the framework isn’t there to extract what’s beneficial from the contents, then it’s not going to be helpful. That doesn’t make the information or food not valuable. It just means that it’s important to build the capacity and processing tools to maximize the benefits.

“Because a diet without the slight edge, a gym membership without the slight edge, a solid and intelligently designed business plan without the slight edge, is like a plant without water.”

Olson adds another layer to his earlier simile about food and self-improvement. This added depth doesn’t change the meaning but increases the severity of the implications: by comparing this inability to extract the benefits to a parched plant, he raises the stakes to almost life or death. In Olson’s words, effectively utilizing the slight edge is the difference between living and surviving.

“There’s a reason those lottery winners lose it all again, a reason those shining stars plummet to those dark places: they may have had the big breaks, but they didn’t grasp the slight edge. Their winnings changed their bank account balance—but it didn’t change their philosophy.”

This example of lottery winners underscores Olson’s belief that overnight successes and lightning strike victories aren’t enduring or meaningful. It also connects with the fable of the twins. The boy who went for instant gratification—the large sum of money—didn’t have a growth mindset built on habits and a positive philosophy, which is why he ended up back where he started. The same is true for many lottery winners, who are unprepared for their windfall and end up spending their money before it can grow into greater, long-term wealth.

“But see it or not, those results are coming, as surely as a million dollars in the bank—or a train coming down the tracks heading our way.”

This dramatic statement is both promising and foreboding. Olson uses extreme hyperbole to emphasize the power of the slight edge, because even though the language is extreme, so is the slight edge’s impact on a person’s overall happiness and success in life. That’s about as high stakes as it gets, and this language reflects that.

“Please understand, I’m not making a value judgment on modest incomes or simple occupations. I know people who work the humblest of jobs and whose lives are rich in relationships and joy—and I’ve known extremely wealthy people who were also extremely unhappy. And I’m not criticizing popular novels, either.”

This plea comes after Olson ponders whether the shoe shiner in the airport would be more successful if she traded her romance novels for business and self-help books. Olson anticipates that some readers may take offense, assuming he is implying that the shoe shiner was not trying hard enough, or that she should not have indulged in entertainment. He offers this casually toned qualifier to defuse that feeling. He acknowledges that Success Isn’t Uniform while also explaining his line of questioning. This allows him to continue to build a bond, or at least mutual understanding, with the reader, as he acknowledges that they may dislike this sentiment.

“The slight edge is what turned teenage Steve’s sincere but awkward efforts into a box office phenomenon. The slight edge is the force behind the amazing power of compound interest.”

The “Steve” Olson refers to here is Steven Martin, who started out with little talent doing stand-up for empty bars. Steve practiced acting every single day, no matter how painstaking or embarrassing. Olson relies on reader recognition of Steve Martin, a comedy icon, to portray the power of the slight edge. He does the same thing with a few other notable celebrities, like Babe Ruth and Stephen King.

“You know what you’re supposed to eat. We all do. Fresh fruits and vegetables, complex carbs, salads, whole grains, lean meats, more fish and poultry and less beef. […] You know it, I know it, we all know it. So why do so many of us still go out and chow down cheeseburgers and fries every day? I’ll tell you why: because it won’t kill us. Not today.”

Olson’s conversational tone levels with the reader as he calls attention to the ease with which people can make poor decisions despite knowing better. It’s easy to make decisions that are instantly gratifying, because the better ones—eating healthy, for instance—do not have immediately visible consequences. Most people know that eating unhealthy foods can lead to poor health in the future, but the impact only manifests in the long term. When Olson describes how Transformation Is Habitual, he often stresses how easy it is to build bad habits and ignore the looming consequences.

“In today’s world, everyone wants to go directly from plant to harvest. We plant the seed by joining the gym, and then get frustrated when a few days go by and there’s no fitness harvest.”

This comparison of seeking to get in shape to harvesting crops provides a clear look at the gap between where we are and where we want to be. This gap can’t be instantaneously bridged. It would be ridiculous to drop a seed in the earth and expect it to yield fruit the next day, and it is equally as ridiculous to take one initial action and expect immediate results. This analogy puts the unrealistic nature of those expectations into perspective and adds depth to the previous quote: people make poor decisions not only because it is easy to ignore the future consequences, but also because it is difficult to see the future benefits.

“When you enter a darkened room, why does your hand reach out for the light switch? Because you know that when you hit the switch, the light will go on. You don’t have to give yourself positive self-talk about how you really ought to hit that light switch, or set up a system of rewards and punishments for yourself and whether you follow through or not with hitting the light switch.”

Any necessary action with a known result is one that people can do on autopilot. Olson outlines this to show that doing positive habits toward a goal doesn’t require some incredible feat of motivation every day or constant positive emotions. It’s something that should become routine and normal because it leads to a better quality of life. By advising readers to make habits recurrent and automatic, Olson removes the stressful idea of having to put forth a large, conscious effort toward self-improvement every day. This makes his philosophy more attainable for a wider audience.

“There is no ‘some day.’ There’s only today. When tomorrow comes, it will be another today; so will the next day. They all will. There is never anything but today. And some more shocking news: your ship’s not coming—it’s already here. Docked and waiting.”

Olson’s matter-of-fact tone matches his message: There is no time to waste. There won’t be a perfect day to get started. The perfect day is always today because there is no such thing as an attainable tomorrow. He alludes to the common phrase “Someday my ship will come in” and turns it on its head, suggesting that the ship is already waiting for the reader to take control and steer toward the future.

“What’s the greatest gift you can give to an inner-city kid? An understanding of the slight edge. Because that’s not the answer he’s getting from the world around him. He believes that the only way out of his world of poverty, violence, oppression, and fear is to become a sports superstar—because that’s what we tell him. That’s the quantum leap answer.”

This quote treads into tender subject matter. Although Olson directly acknowledges that Success Isn’t Uniform, Olson predominantly uses white male perspectives to justify his own, and he doesn’t directly confront socioeconomic and political factors that pose enormous obstacles for some people. This is evidenced by the way Olson claims to know the best thing for an “inner-city kid”—often a term applied to people of color with low incomes—without acknowledging that such an experience differs radically from his own.

“Once you do what it takes to raise your everyday level of happiness, then you will become more successful, then you’ll become healthier, then you’ll find that relationship. The more you raise your own happiness level, the more likely you’ll start achieving all those things you want to achieve.”

Olson uses anaphora, a literary technique of repeated words or clauses, to model the way compounding interest functions in relation to the slight edge. The happier a person is in their day-to-day lives, the more successes they’ll have, the greater ability they’ll have to achieve more successes, and so forth. Olson reminds the audience that the power of happiness belongs to them and their daily decisions.

“Far more people have a strong desire to be happy than a strong desire to develop themselves to a fuller potential.”

Olson explains why he believes so few people are actually successful in life. Because happiness is easy to chase, people opt for immediate gratification and avoid doing things that are difficult in the moment. However, Olson points out that opting for the easiest path forward makes life more challenging down the road; a quick moment of joy or satisfaction does not necessarily equate to long-lasting happiness. To Olson, a true commitment to personal development enables enduring happiness, but it requires a clear vision, positive philosophy, and good habits.

“In the course of producing the teen book, our new company, and its ripple effect programs, we’re seeing more and more of this next generation contributing to society and becoming champions for change.”

Olson’s daughter, Amber, writes about her experience growing up with the slight edge and how she has used that to be successful in life. In turn, her successes have yielded more successes, enabling her positive slight edge to have a powerful impact on young people. Amber isn’t focused on what she has already accomplished: she is still working on helping young people improve day by day, leading to a brighter future for the whole world.

“You started as a penny.”

This statement conveys the simple truth that everything starts with something small. By comparing a human embryo to the penny that doubled in worth, Olson shows how even the tiniest seed can blossom into something rich and rewarding when cared for properly.

“Every day, in every moment, you get to exercise choices that will determine whether or not you will become a great person, living a great life. Greatness is not something predetermined, predestined, or carved into your fate by forces beyond your control. Greatness is always in the moment of the decision.”

Greatness is often a term society associates with destiny or fate, but Olson refutes that. Greatness isn’t a state to achieve, nor does it apply only to specific people. According to him, it’s a repeated action, the same way Transformation Is Habitual. Anyone can be great in any moment they choose. This language empowers readers to shape their own destinies by starting with small decisions.

“Most people hold time as their enemy. They seek to avoid the passage of time and strive to have results now. That’s a choice based on a philosophy. Successful people understand that time is their friend. In every choice I make, every course of action I take, I always have time in mind: time is my ally. That, too, is a choice based on a philosophy. Time will be your friend or your enemy; it will promote you or expose you.”

Personifying time as a friend or foe allows Olson to provide a dichotomy of people: those who succeed and those who fail. Those who fail have negative life philosophies and are afraid of time. Those who succeed have positive life philosophies and embrace the power of time. Time will always be a force or a framework for life, but how a person responds to that helps determine their path.

“People on the success curve don’t ignore the past, but they use it as a tool, one of many with which they build their futures. People who live on the failure curve use the past as a weapon with which they bludgeon themselves and the people around them.”

Once again, Olson uses a dichotomy to render the past into two forms: as a tool and a weapon. This emphasizes Olson’s philosophy that a person must be conscientious of how they reflect on the past. To find success, they must ensure they’re using it to build something better (as a tool) rather than as a way to get stuck or to self-deprecate (as a weapon). Because reflection is such an important part of self-awareness and growth, it can be easy to mistake looking backward for productivity. However, when done without a purpose in mind or with a negative frame of mind, the past can be a limiting factor in life.

“Constantly falling down was really uncomfortable (it hurt), and you looked pretty foolish lying there on the floor like a beetle on its back. But you kept at it anyway. Why? Because successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do.”

Olson dismisses the fear of failure; he argues that success is predicated on failure necessarily because trying (and failing) is the only way to achieve meaningful growth. He compares the journey to success through failure to the baby steps a person takes when learning how to walk. Babies persist in spite of falling down and getting hurt. That is also what successful adults need to do. It’s part of the process, and the only true way to fail is to stay down.

“Are these things easy to do? Sure. And those simple disciplines compounded over time, like a penny doubled every day for a month, will send you up to the top. Are they easy not to do? No question. And if you don’t do them today, right now, will your life be destroyed? Of course not. But that simple error in judgment compounded over time, will pull you down the curve of failure and take away everything you’ve hoped for and dreamed about.”

This line of questioning employs the conversational, matter-of-fact tone that Olson uses when confronting these harsh truths. It calls back to the questions raised about indulging in unhealthy foods or neglecting exercise. These little habits and disciplines are so easy to skip or put off, which makes them extremely dangerous because, over time, they can erode a person’s life. Olson does not insist that transformation is only positive, nor does he claim that one failure is catastrophic. He simply emphasizes that Transformation Is Habitual, and that it’s important to consider the long term.

“We are all either building our own dreams or building somebody else’s. To put a sharper point on it, we’re either building our own dreams—or building our nightmares.”

This claim lays bare a harsh truth: that most people work in service of someone else’s dreams, like “Gorgeous George” doing manual labor on the golf course for the wealthy. By refusing to make the choices that could amount to happiness, many people are unwittingly building their own unhappiness. Olson uses this “sharper point” to once again emphasize the urgency of seizing control. In other words, Olson claims that failing to begin building good habits means staying trapped in the service of others.

“Virtually all natural systems, from ecosystems to animals to organizations, have intrinsically optimal rates of growth. The optimal rate is far less than the fastest possible growth. When growth becomes excessive—as it does in cancer—the system itself will seek to compensate by slowing down; perhaps putting the organization’s survival at risk in the process.”

This quote from Peter Senge’s The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization underscores a significant point: Being successful isn’t about being fast. Transformation Is Habitual and the slight edge, by nature, is a steady, cumulative process. This comparison to cancer as an overgrowth provides a contrast to the way speed is usually positively viewed in society.