The Slight Edge summary

When things happen to us, luck, circumstances or fate often get the praise, or the blame. In reality, it’s down to the choices we make – especially the little ones. Every choice we make leads to one of two destinations: success or failure.

The slight edge is not just a lifestyle that we may or may not choose to adopt. It’s always there, working in the background. If we don’t use it to our advantage, then it will work against us. We may not see the effects immediately, but the passage of time will eventually expose it. So how can we make the slight edge work in our favor?

Only five percent of people achieve a significant number of their goals in life. So if being successful is just about doing simple things consistently, what stops the other 95 percent of people from following through? 

Simply put, the five percent understand the power of the slight edge and put it to work in their lives. The other 95 percent do not.

Making good choices will set you on the path to success, but it may not keep you there. It takes continuous, lifelong learning by any and every available means for the slight edge to keep working in your favor.

Reading ten pages of an inspirational and educational book every day can greatly enrich your life. Doing so would mean that you could finish a 300-page book every month. You could also listen to 15 minutes of life-transforming audio every day or take a course or a seminar every few months. 

Momentum is the irresistible force that can push us toward a goal. It takes energy and initiative to start a new activity. But once we get going, momentum takes over and keeps propelling us forward. Once we’re in motion, it becomes easier to make the positive changes needed to reach our goals.

To understand how momentum works, we can think about steering a car. While it’s stationary, it can be hard work getting the wheel to move. But once the car is in motion, steering the wheel is easy – no matter how slowly you’re moving. 

We all struggle to break bad habits, despite our best efforts. So here’s a tip: The easiest way to get rid of a bad habit is to replace it with a good one. 

Good habits are a vital ingredient in reaching our goals. But establishing good habits requires action.

We all have dreams. Sadly, few come true, because we don’t know how to pursue them. But there is a tried-and-tested formula that works. And it’s quite easy. The first step in the formula is making our dreams real.

To do that effectively, we need to use our senses. That means putting our dreams down in words, or creating a dream board by using pictures. Even better, we could talk to someone else about them.