Treasure Your Dreams

One of my favorite books of all time is The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson. I was first introduced to this book by Michael Clouse at our Vegas convention in March of 09… and in the past year I have read it so many times the pages are already falling apart!

Love, love love that book!

The main concept in it is that your whole life is based on the little things you do (or don’t do) every day — it’s the little things that make all the difference. You are always moving either up the Slight Edge curve, or down it. You are never static.

For example, working out. Wow, do I hate to do it. I’ve ridden horses several days a week my whole life, up until a few years ago. Until I quit riding I never had a reason to do any other type of workout, but now… well, anyway.

I finally found a program that seems to be working for me… and by working I mean I actually will do it (most) days. I tried creating my own schedule, tried attending classes at a gym, tried sticking an elliptical in front of my TV… but so far P90X seems to be the only thing I’ve stuck with for any period of time.

Yesterday, I goofed. I did not do my P90X workout. Why not? Well, I wasn’t sick… I wasn’t injured… I wasn’t being held prisoner anywhere… I was just being lazy. I put it off all day, went to a church thing last night and got home late. Could of done it then, but I opted for bed instead.

So, yesterday, I travelled down the Slight Edge curve just a bit.

Can I tell any difference today? No. Can I suddenly not touch my toes because I failed one time to do the Yoga workout? No. But what if I skip today? Will I tell a difference tomorrow? Probably not.

If I skip the rest of this week though… then I might notice a small difference next week. If I skip the rest of the month… that difference will be a little bigger. If I skip the rest of this year… then I might as well have not ever started at all.

And what if I never workout again for the next 30 years?
And what if I do the opposite… what if I workout 6 days a week for the next 30 years.

A small daily decision doesn’t seem to make much difference. So what if you opt for the pizza instead of the salad? Who cares if don’t put a percentage of this week’s paycheck into your savings account? Does it really matter that much?

It might not matter much today… but those small decisions (or indecisions), compounded over time, make all the difference in your life.

If you think about it, the Slight Edge can be put to work in any area of your life — your finances, your career, your health, your family, your relationship with God, etc, etc, etc.

So my challenge to myself… and you too if you’re up for it… is to make it habit to have the Slight Edge work FOR you rather than against you. Start with one area, then add another, then another.

Before you know it you’ll be moving up, up, up! You might not notice it today… or tomorrow… or even next week. But I guarantee you that 30 years from now, you’ll be sitting up high on that mountain very happy that you’ve been climbing instead of digging!

The quote I leave you with is this, from the Slight Edge written by Jeff Olson (of course)…

“Time will either promote you or expose you”

You know, that light at the end of the tunnel. The one everyone says is there… but for some reason, you’re just not seeing it! With every turn you make you expect it to be there, and you’re imagining it so vividly that sometimes you actually convince yourself that you DO see it… only to have it disappear again.

So, where’s the light? Does it even exist? Believe me… it’s there.

It’s easy to become discouraged when you work towards something for a long time and don’t seem to be reaping the benefits. It’s easy to say to yourself “This isn’t working.” or, “Maybe it’s time to try something else.” But please, don’t give up!

There is one source I always turn to when I begin to wonder if that light is ever going to appear at the end of the tunnel. It reminds me that the light IS there… it always has been — but the only way I am ever going to reach it is by continuing to do the little things, every day, that take me closer to that light. If you’ve read very many of my blogs you probably already know where I’m heading with this… come on, you know what I’m talking about… “The little things that are easy to do, and also easy not to do”

The source I’m talking about, of course, is “The Slight Edge” by Jeff Olson. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — what a FANTASTIC book!! So encouraging, so uplifting and yes… so realistic. Sometimes, this concept truly brings me back to reality.

You see, what this book teaches is that life’s journey takes place on a slope — and you are always either moving UP the slope, or going back down it. If you aren’t going up, you are going down… you are NEVER staying in the same place! Now of course it can sometimes appear that you are in the same place… for example if you spend 3 days going UP and the next 3 going down… well, at the end of 6 days you are pretty much where you started. My question to you is, do you want to be constantly climbing or constantly sliding? I can probably guess your answer.

Of course we all want to be constantly climbing up life’s slope of success. We want to be healty, successful, financially secure. We want to have great relationships, friendships, careers. We want to live in a clean house, drive a clean car and stay caught up on our laundry. We want to be physically fit, eat healthy meals and take our vitamins.

But do we? Ha… I can probably guess your answer to that one too

Reality is, you are always going up or sliding down. It’s the little things you do (or don’t do) every day that determine whether you are moving towards that light at the end of the tunnel, or walking away from it. Consistency is the key here! You can go along at a steady pace for a few days, then with just a few days of mess ups you find yourself winding your way back through the tunnel towards the direction you came from.

In his book, Jeff Olson gives several examples of how The Slight Edge is constantly at work in our lives…

If you decide not to go to the gym, you aren’t going to get flabby…. today.
If you decide to eat a couple of donuts, you aren’t going to gain 30 pounds… today.
If you decide to go on a shopping spree, you aren’t going to spiral into debt… today.
If you choose not to complete your “To Do” List, your business isn’t going to fail… today.

Get the point? The little things we decide to do (or not do) aren’t going to have that much affect of our lives… today. BUT, compounded over time, it is these little decisions that will determine whether or not you end up on the UPWARD climb or the downward spiral of life’s slope.

What if you decided not to go to the gym, one day at a time, for 20 years? What if you decided to eat a couple of donuts for breakfast, one morning at a time, for 20 years? What if you decided to go on a major shopping spree, every week, for 5 years? By now, I’m sure you get the point.

All that life is, is a compilation of little decisions compounded over time. Good decisions or bad ones, it doesn’t matter — the Slight Edge works both ways! And the biggest secret is that The Slight Edge does not care about tomorrow, or yesterday. It only cares about today, in this moment. Wherever you are on life’s slope, you can make the decision beginning today that you are going to be climbing UP, not sliding down. You are going to be moving towards that light at the end of the tunnel… not walking away from it.

So, if you have been wondering “Where’s the light” in your life lately… take a look at your Slight Edge decisions. Make the decision to do (or not do) the little things every day that will be moving you forward and not pushing you back!

The Slight Edge is my reality check. It makes me accountable to myself, and to my own progress. When I’m not where I want to be, when my goals are being reached as quickly as I would like them to be, I force myself to become completely honest with myself about my Slight Edge decisions… and in those decisions (always) is the answer!

The quote I leave you with is this, one of my favorites, by Jeff Olson:
“Time will either promote you, or expose you.”