The Slight Edge

Small, repeated daily choices are at the center of what Jeff Olson calls the slight edge, a way of thinking and processing information. He argues that success and happiness come from simple daily activities, using tools people already have, rather than from yet another set of methods to learn. He sets out to explain why some people keep realizing their dreams while others only dream and end up building dreams for someone else. The 8th anniversary edition keeps the original concepts and adds two ideas Olson arrived at later, which he calls the Ripple Effect and the Secret to Happiness. He presents the approach as the key that makes other self-help advice work.

Benjamin Spall, co-author of My Morning Routine, rates it, from a business point of view, among the best explorations he has read of how everyday habits work for and against people. Nick Loper of Side Hustle Nation sums up its lesson as consistent progress compounding over time.