This book has to be one of the best books written on running. Jeff Olson is a highly successful businessman and what sets this book apart is that he talks about philosophy. Has he ever driven to the office and once he got there almost forgot he was driving? Basically, the driving habit is so ingrained that it does not require any thought. This is the whole concept of mild edge behavior.

Why is this important to me? Think about these 9 incredible statistics:

1. The average American consumes 158 pounds of sugar per year. Processed sugar creates mood swings and deep falls.

2. 33% of adults are obese

3. 33% of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.

4. 42% of college grads never read another book after college.

5. There were 1.5 million NEW bankruptcy filings in the last 12 months.

6. Big Pharma companies make billions of dollars every year from Ritalin, Prozac, Xanax and other mind-altering drugs.

7. 43% of American families spend more than they earn each year

8. The average household has credit card debt of $8,000.

9. The average person spends 26 hours per week watching television and surfing the web.

These are all examples of mild borderline misbehaviors. The great Jim Rohn said, “What is easy to do is also easy not to do.” This statement has real power and is the key to true success and happiness, however you define it.

The slight edge is always working. The human condition dictates that you are expanding or contracting. There is no steady state.

When a baby is born, it is one day closer to death. This is not something cruel, it is just our reality. It is this paradox that makes life so precious.

If you had the option of $1 million dollars today or your money doubled every day for 31 days starting with one penny, what would you do? Two people out of ten would choose the penny. The other 8 would take the million dollars. After 31 days of doubling, you would have $10 million. This is the concept of compound interest – the eighth wonder of the world. By the way, 8 people would simply hand over their financial future to a stockbroker or financial planner without taking responsibility for the results. I guess that’s why everyone’s retirement is in question. – WISDOM is expensive!

The slight border works the same way. If you eat a Big Mac and large fries today, you’re not unhealthy today, but eat it for three meals a day for 30 days and you’ll almost kill yourself. Watch the movie Super Size me for more details.

Simply put, the slight advantage consists of the daily habits you do that can magnify your results with very simple changes. Think about this for a minute. If you cut out 145 calories a day, that’s one can of soda, do you know that in three years you’ll lose 45 pounds? This is a very simple thing to do and a very simple thing NOT to do. For you numbers freaks, here’s the math: 145 calories x 1095 days / 3500 equals 45 lbs. The opposite is true if you add 145 calories per day. Result 45 pounds of additional pleasure!

Taking inventory can be one of the most important and mind-blowing things you’ll ever do. You’ll see things you had no idea you were doing or how much it really adds up to.

I challenge you to take inventory of how you spend your time. For a week, catalog what you do from the time you get up to the time you go to bed. If you drive to work, do you listen to morning radio or a learning CD? How long is the switch? When you get home, do you have a beer and turn on the TV for the next 4 hours until you go to bed?

Now catalog where you spend your money. For a week, write down every penny you spend and you’ll be surprised how much you spend. The point of doing this sheds light on what is really going on in your life.

Remember the slight advantage example of adding or subtracting just 145 calories per day? The result after three years is a differential of 90 pounds. Everything you do has a slight edge effect and it’s simply up to you whether that effect is positive or negative.

The Slight Edge is a great book and I could keep writing about the effects this book has had on me. About 18 months ago, I increased my reading requirements each week using the slight edge philosophy. Using this philosophy has made a huge difference in my effectiveness at work, as well as in creating this website.

My take on this is really simple. Your average book is around 200 pages long, and the authors typically have 20 years of solid experience in their field, if they’re any good at all. If you read just 12 books per year, you will acquire 240 man-years of knowledge. If you really think about this, then you can achieve anything. This is the essence of light edge behavior.

I hope you found this short summary useful. The key to any new idea is to work it into your daily routine until it becomes a habit. Habits are formed in as little as 21 days.

One thing you can take away from this book is to understand the slight advantage. This is more of a philosophy, but understand that every daily routine you do has a compounding effect over time in a positive or negative way. The slight edge is always working. Think of this like you would gravity. You may believe it doesn’t exist, but jump off a four-story building and you’ll know gravity exists. This is the same with a slight edge behavior.