Another month, another book! For the month of June, the Think & Grow Chick bookclub will be reading The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson.Now a word about this book -- yes, I know the cover looks kind of cheesy. Yes, I know "Successful" is spelled with a dollar sign. But don't judge a book by its cover...literally! This book is awesome I tell you. Awesome.I read this book about three years ago and quickly placed it on the same level as classics like Think & Grow Rich, The Richest Man in Babylon, and The Millionaire Next Door. If you heed to principles in this book -- I mean, really let them sink in -- then you will absolutely see your life change.

The "Slight Edge" Explained

What's so great about this book? Through simple but powerful examples, the author demonstrates how our choices, even ones that are seemingly insignificant, actually don't add up but compound over time, either for our benefit or our destruction, depending on the regular choices we make.The book goes on to explain that the reason most people fail is because we look for the immediate feedback from positive choice -- say you choose a salad over a burger one day, or you opt to read for 30 minutes instead of watching TV -- and when we don't get it, we stop. However, our age of instant gratification and constant "pings" and notifications from our technology has disconnected us from the truth of how the world works:You plant, you water, and then you harvest.Every choice you make, every day you make it, is somewhere on this plant-water-harvest continuum. What you are doing right now, at this very moment, is another seemingly insignificant choice that, when compounded with all the other choices you have made up until this point, will one day produce a very visible harvest in your life. But you won't see it right away -- what you do today won't produce a harvest until much later.But that's what's scary about this principle too -- by the time you reap your harvest, good or bad, the choices have already been made. It's too late -- at least for that particular harvest. The only way to change the fruit that is currently being produced in your life is to change your choices. And by performing small, seemingly insignificant choices over time -- choices that no one will see and no one will congratulate you for -- over time, you will develop a larger and larger "edge" (advantage) over others who refuse to make those insignificant but positive changes. Developing that "slight edge" is what this book teaches us how to do.

Why I Love This Book

I fell in love with this book the second I began reading it and I have tried to reread it on a regular basis ever since. I know the principles that the author explains are true because I've experienced both the advantages and the perils of the "slight edge" in my life.As I've talked about numerous times on this blog, repeated poor choices I made at the beginning of my college career almost cost me my education and my financial standing. What was crazy was I was making those poor choices for well over 2 years before it finally caught up with me. The first time I skipped class or the first time I bought something I couldn't afford on credit, no one noticed. No sirens went off. Nothing bad happened to me. So I continued to plant these bad seeds until almost 3 years later -- boom! My harvest of failing grades and credit card debt was ready and I had no idea where it came from. The "Slight Edge" was at work in my life and I didn't even realize it!At that moment in my life, I had to reap what I had sown and start all over again.And start all over again I did, but this time I was determine to use the "Slight Edge" to my advantage. As I said before, I wasn't aware of what I was doing at the time but I knew I needed to "undo" all of my poor choices and start making some better ones. So that's what I did.I went to class. I got up at 3 and 4am to study. I worked 2-3 jobs to pay down my credit card debt. I sold things on eBay and Etsy. I bought my winter coat at the thrift store.And you know what? No one noticed. No sirens went off. Nothing particularly amazing happened to me. But I continued to plant those good seeds and lo and behold, TWO AND A HALF YEARS LATER, a beautiful harvest was ready in my life!

Read This Book With Me!

So have I convinced you? Do you want to read this book with me? Great! Visit my bookclub page to learn all about joining my bookclub. Or, you can simply buy the book, read it, and follow along on the blog.Also, I'm really excited to announce that entrepreneur extraordinaire, Lisa Nicole Bell, will be joining me in reading this book!

We'll be sharing the new insights we gain from the book on our blogs mid-month, as well as hosting a chat about the book at the end of the month! I'm really excited about this, so be sure to check in often for more details on all that!

***

Talk to Me:

Have you heard of or read this book before? What do you think about the principle of "plant, water, harvest" when it comes to our choice? How have your life choices thus far affected you? Share your story in the comments!