The Slight Edge: Using Incremental Change to Create Your Ideal Life

Many people think success comes from the grand things, the big moments.

While I’m not discounting those (they can be pretty awesome), the real life changing stuff happen in the little ones. I’m talking about the seemingly small actions that make up our days, weeks, months, and years.

This is the same philosophy behind what is known as “the slight edge” (AKA incremental change, incremental improvement, marginal gains, kaizen, etc.) and can easily change your life IF you know how to implement it.

In this article, you’re going to learn what it is exactly and how to use it starting today.

What is the Slight Edge?

“Any time you see what looks like a breakthrough, it is always the end result of a long series of little things, done consistently over time.” – Jeff Olson, The Slight Edge

The slight edge is the belief that small actions done consistently over a period of time lead to a massive differentiation in results. The key words in this are “consistently” and “time”.

This is the philosophy behind the best selling book of the same name and the building blocks of any lasting, fortified success. This “edge” is the differentiating factor between “success” and “failure”.

You see, success and failure isn’t about how hard you can “grind”. It’s about how well you can use your mind on a daily basis.

Using your mind correctly day in and day out when it comes to simple, seemingly inconsequential decisions is how you make incremental change and the slight edge work for you.

Here’s a deeper, more philosophical look:

Understanding Cause and Effect Relationships

There are certain operations that keep our world going without a hitch. If gravity, electricity, or some other natural phenomena we take for granted decided to “sometimes” work, we’d be in big trouble.

These laws only work because of cause and effect relationships. The Slight Edge is one of those laws. To be honest, it’s one of the most fundamental laws in existence – the law of sowing and reaping.

If I do something now, I will get a result later. “Later” might be in a second, in a minute, tomorrow, or several months or years from now. But whatever it is, I will get some type of result and some type of feedback.

This is very basic. In fact, we usually learn about this type of stuff when we were kids. But as we get older, we start to take shortcuts and avoid try to avoid or exploit this “compound interest”.

Good and evil increase at compound interest. That’s why the little decisions we make every day are of infinite importance. – C.S. Lewis

Have you ever wondered why people with money just seem to get richer? People with friends get more friends? Guys who are athletic keep getting fitter?

It’s all compound interest.

The decision to save $10. The decision to increase your social intelligence. The decision to keep going to the gym and improve your conditioning. The decision to push out of your comfort zone on a daily basis.

These are all slight edge decisions and it all adds up.

Even one of the most cherished collection of sayings in existence says this:

“Take heed therefore how ye hear; for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.” – Luke 8:18

The Slight Edge and Incremental Change Deviation Curve

Slight Edge Life Paths

So now we know success and failure are separated by a very small line.

What I failed to mention is that it’s only that way for a little while.

Once momentum starts to pick up and incremental change starts to kick in, the success and failure curve shoot off into different directions.

This aggregation of marginal gains will lead to two completely different outcomes. Here’s an example:

Take two men. They’re strapping 21-year-old identical twins who had the same variables in their life.

Same mother, same father, same environment. Went to the same college, had the same group of friends, etc.

They decide to get a job in the same position at the same company.

One twin spends his free time always attempting to better himself.

The other twin fell off somewhere and has a habit of living a hedonistic lifestyle.

Yeah, they’re young… The difference doesn’t matter then.

But…if both of them continue their current behavior for 10 years, where will they be?

That’s where the curve starts to come into play.

And by the time the curve starts to come into play, it’s very difficult to resist momentum.

My Massive Realization

When I first saw this graph several years ago, it scared the living shit out of me. I realized that if I wanted to sow a good crop, I had to plant good seeds…and at that time, I was not planting good seeds at all.

I decided to do a complete overhaul and inventory of my habits.

I also started to look around and ask myself how many people were living a slight edge life.

The answer didn’t shock me at all: most people aren’t.

Why?

Because they can’t… at least not on the surface. Here’s the deal:

The form you have selected does not exist.

The Two Biggest Obstacles to Living a Slight Edge Life

The Two Biggest Obstacles to Living a Slight Edge Life

Not to be discouraging, but the odds for incremental change simply are not in your favor. There’s two reasons for this and they can be overcome but not without some degree of discernment and conscientiousness.

1. Homeostasis

Homeostasis is a “set point” for any sort of organizational system. Think of it like the thermostat in your home. It keeps everything at a nice, even temperature.

As a human being, you are made of various organizational systems that work in concert to keep you going. These systems don’t work to to make you happy, or to make you fulfilled, but to keep you going. BIG difference.

Anyway, these systems come in four flavors in the human body:

  • Physical
  • Mental
  • Emotional
  • Spiritual

You have a paradigm or set of paradigms for all of these.

A paradigm is a model for you how you see the world and yourself in relation to it. Paradigms contain everything from habits to inclinations to your self-image.

You have a paradigm for all of these systems that I just mentioned. As you get older, your brain starts to believe:

“I know all there is to know about the world.”

You really don’t, but subconsciously, you believe you have made enough sense of the world to justify your default ways of acting in life.

Your Two Selves

These paradigms reinforce homeostasis. Unconsciously you say:

This is the way I’ve always done things.

Unfortunately, most of us find that many paradigms we’ve established and reinforced through years of repetition are the product of belief systems originated through comfort or learned through incomplete information.

We only try and change these paradigms once they start bashing up against reality and realize they are causing disproportionate amounts of discomfort and/or suffering.

The brain and body don’t want to change and they will do everything they can to resist change even though it might be beneficial. This is why people will block out contrary information to their paradigms, also known as confirmation bias.

On a neurobiological level, belief systems are formed by neural pathways that are used over and over again. It takes energy to construct new neural pathways that lead to different beliefs that lead to different actions. This is known as “neuroplasticity“.

This is part of the reason why despite so many people knowing that alcohol and cigarettes are bad for you – they remain addicted.

And if they try to quit? Oh man… Withdrawal steps in, which is the body saying

Fuck you, buddy, you aren’t going to force me to change just so you can quit!

So what happens? The person gives into the withdrawals. The behavior continues and the paradigm gets reinforced and even stronger.

Faulty paradigms can last for months, years, and a person’s entire life – simply because they weren’t addressed.

2. You Aren’t Programmed to Make Long-Term Decisions

Biologically, you aren’t programmed to make good decisions.

That’s because your ancestors (and mine) had a short lifespan with all sorts of immediate dangers that could make that lifespan even shorter. This required them to think about “now” and only about “now”.

Obviously, this type of thinking doesn’t do well in the modern world. Banks, credit card companies, marketers, and all sorts of third parties profit off of you giving into instant gratification and succumbing to lower-level biological programming.

You make others rich because of your lack of self-discipline.

All of your bad decisions accumulate via increments and become a massive problem that is hard to take care of.

You Either Get Better or Worse

Since life is fluid and always changing, nothing stays the same.

The fact of the matter is – if you’re not growing, you are dying.

If you aren’t constantly acting in lines of self-improvement, becoming a better person, making more money, etc… You are being slowly eroded by the nature of our changing world.

In fact, all things are in a perpetual state of decay unless they are acted on by an outside force. Some people know this as “inertia”, I like to call it entropy.

You probably know that saying:

Things get worse until they get better.

Well, in this case, things most likely won’t get better…Unless you do something about it.

The Benefits of Incremental Change: 3 Ways to Utilize the Slight Edge

These slight edge principles may seem nebulous at first… but here are some ways you can put it into action.

1. Commit to the Long Game

 

In an interview with Charlie Rose, the Will Smith talked about how success is like building a wall.

You shouldn’t set out to build the “biggest, baddest, greatest wall” that has ever been built.

Instead, you should set out to lay each brick as perfectly as you can. Soon, you have a wall.

Solid, incremental change is a long-term process. Success is not overnight.

Think about this: it takes on average 5 years for a new business to break even. Why not you?

2. Start With Small Amounts

The slight edge philosophy starts small. It’s so easy to look at someone who’s really successful and think you can never be like them.

Here’s the truth though: most of these people started out no better than you.

In fact, many of these people started out with less than you. Many business owners, athletes, speakers, etc…didn’t even have a pot to piss in before things started going their way (check out Pushing to the Front).

A good corollary here is investing. When you invest money, you don’t have a lot to start out with. But if you keep contributing day after day after day, you will soon have a substantial amount.

3. Persist Through the Pain (Keep Your Eyes on the 8-Ball)

Getting going sucks. It’s only after you gain enough momentum does anything seem easy.

You need to persist through the initial start-up phase of starting the motor. Once it’s revving, cruising is easy.

Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever. – Lance Armstrong

Think about why you start and keep that in mind at all times. Are you starting for you? A family member? Never let go of that thought.

Conclusion + Wrapping Up

The slight edge, incremental change, kaizen, etc, are easy to talk about, a bit harder to put into practice.

But once you have it locked down, what does it mean?

It means that anything you set your mind to, you will eventually succeed.

It means if you go to start a good habit or a business – you’ll actually be successful.

In this fast-paced world, we live in, we all have a pressing sense of urgency – I get that. We feel as if time is slipping away from us (which it definitely is, make no mistake). But… the person who has the positive variation of the slight edge principles their side, time works FOR them.

So don’t get discouraged. Remember…

An oak tree was once an acorn too.

“Time will either promote you or expose you.” – Jeff Olson, The Slight Edge

How are you going to implement the slight edge and incremental improvement in your life today? Let me know in the comments.

11 Responses to “The Slight Edge: Using Incremental Change to Create Your Ideal Life

  • camiseta del liverpool
    7 years ago

    Very great post. thank you!

  • Lovely post you have here, Sim! I am really impressed. I look forward to reading more of your articles. Stay blessed.

  • Ram mohan
    6 years ago

    Great post sim.. thank you very much.

  • Tadiwanashe Jnr Maringire
    6 years ago

    Profound article sir. I have bookmarked your blog. Its going to take me far…

  • Great Article …The message is crisp clear

  • Thanks for your answers on this website and on Quora.
    Can you please share your insight on one confusion in my head. The Kazen prinicple makes so much sense especially having seen it in my JiuJitsu Journey. My question however is “What if you are not sure what you want to do in a certain area of your life. I mean what if you don’t have a vision to apply the Kaizen principle to and you end up rotting instead over the years?”
    I have been a victim to the negative side of Kaizen the past 2 years trying to figure out what I want with my career in life. Would you recommend just start with a skill even though you are not sure that you really like it ? How did you go about it ?

    • Hey there,

      I would recommend you get going on a productive course of action. You won’t find solutions standing still, you’ll only find them moving forward. I sort of “fell into” a career in marketing out of college. It was only through experimentation that I was able to find a lane that aligned with some of my strengths while compensating for my weaknesses. I gradually built up my skill set and here I am today. It only happens with action, though. You start on something, see when it’s not working, then pivot into something similar. You keep doing that until you find the lane you’re looking for.

  • Thanks for the insight. Really appreciate it.

  • This post has had a big impact on me, thank you so much. By the way, the video of Will Smith was the perfect way to “concrete” your message (seriously, though) – he’s an amazing example.

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