“People who live on the success curve are pulled by the future,” says Jeff Olson, “while those who dwell on the failure curve are pulled by the past.” Olson, author of The Slight Edge, knows a thing or two about a thing or two. With seemingly little ego, he starts the book with the tales of what appear to be two very different men – one a goofball beach bum, the other a business titan. They’re actually both him at different points in life and he holds nothing back in sharing tales of wild failures and amazing successes. Representing the world as 20 people, one of whom will do what it takes to enjoy roaring success while the other 19 often must slog their way through largely unfulfilling existences, he admonishes the reader to understand and appreciate the slight edge, which he says has nary a thing to do with heredity, dumb luck, or even karma for that matter. This slight edge, you see, is a powerful philosophy and force built on the concept of compound interest earned by behaving well every day.
Accentuating the positive, we’ll focus on the five-percenter type who’s out in the world mastering the tiniest of behaviors that inevitably lead to optimal health and fulfillment. Believe it or not, it can start simply with the choice of words on Twitter. Olson cites a fascinating study through which we learn that there is a direct correlation between language and heart disease, derived from analyzing 80 million tweets worldwide. Common words used in communities with low incidences of heart attacks were fabulous, helpful, share, and forward; where there are high levels of health issues, you will likely see tweets with words like alone, mood, bored, and tired. Perhaps you’ve seen recent studies that suggest maintaining a positive outlook is as important to living a long life as diet and exercise. “You can’t afford to have people around you who are consistently acting as a drag on your positive outlook,” writes Olson. It may be time to change our language and for Pooh to finally fire Eeyore at Hundred Acre Wood, Inc.
Some further sobering news from a cited article: on average, only 10 people cry at a funeral. Worse yet? If the weather’s bad, only about half of the folks who showed up at said services will head over to the burial. Olson spins these depressing stats thusly – given that only a handful of people are currently scheduled to weep when we exit, and should it rain on that given day perhaps some of these same folks will then drive straight home, why get hung up on little failures in life? Morbid as it sounds, the author is suggesting we picture our end-of-life services – there you are, big shot, dead as a doornail – and get over ourselves and our silly peccadillos. Call that difficult client. Stand up to that obnoxious boss. Stare down that horrible fear. After our demise, the world is going to move on, perhaps rapidly. If you subscribe to the advice of the author, time is ticking away and we’d be better off if we took more positive, slight edge action. Starting… now.
Brilliant as usual. I’d say more but too busy implementing new actions. See you Wednesday.
Nice review Chris – sounds like an interesting book. It seems like the guidance the author is providing, although he is of an older generation, is currently practiced by a large majority of the millennial generation.
[…] test it, shall we? To hear her song, click here and to read my full review of his book, click here. Choose. Ain’t this […]
Simple to massive. I’ll take that any day!
Fun and content rich e-newsletter. You go, Chris!
Great review, Chris. I suppose you know which link I clicked, eh? As one who revels in making the little things happen and one who makes every effort to bring good things to others, I find the author’s premise to be quite uplifting. I’m going to take Jeff’s advice – I’m going to stay right at it.
Good post Chris. If you want to live a longer healthier life – you need to live with purpose. The value is not what is others think of you, but the intrinsic value of your life.
Chris as always a masterful job at summarizing the book . I will get a copy and read the book. Thanks again for your efforts.
Much appreciated, Bruce – and all. I’m encouraged by the comment rate for this type of book. No question it’s a topic that hits home for all of us. Thank you!
I’d be interested to see how many clicked on both (as I did), and if the music industry is prepared for the “Bond factor” in the success of new artists.
I try to hug that success curve and speed into the future!
Nice! Makes me want to check out this book.
Anthony de Mello, a great Jesuit spiritual teacher, said that his favorite way to pray was to meditate on the image of his cold white bones in his grave. Marvelous and liberating!
And cold white bones they will be! That is liberating. Thanks, Stephanie!
Another interesting newsletter, Chris. I clicked on both links and must admit that I liked the book review better!