Megazines And Book Education

Ronald Roberts is a former Army officer and MPA graduate. His interests include public administration and academia in general. His favorite quote: Never despise a humble beginning. His blog is http://www.americaneaglesilverdollar.info.

The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson is a must read for all who are looking for a competitive edge that will catapult their businesses to success in 2010 and beyond.

In my day I’ve read many inspirational and motivational books, but none that have directly impacted my business and my life as dramatically as this short, easy read.

As we enter into a new year and decade, what better time to take stock of the level of success that you’ve achieved? Are you ready to discover strategies that will help you create a proven competitive edge in all that you do?

As we leave 2009 in the dust and venture into a new decade, are you ready to seize each and every moment, find the true secrets to success, and create the changes in your life that will bring you the abundance and joy that you deserve?

I guarantee that The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson will put you on the right path.

The Slight Edge brought me many ah ha moments. A few of the concepts that most inspired me include,

• It’s easy to do the right thing every day. It’s also easy not to do it.
• The success or failure we ultimately achieve is a direct result of our daily actions that are compounded over time to put us on a path to either greatness or defeat.
• Those who choose to remain within their comfort zones can go along happily for many years, but eventually find themselves very uncomfortable, either emotionally, physically, or financially.
• Those who choose to venture out of their comfort zones will obviously experience some discomfort initially, but over time will achieve a much greater level of happiness, health, and prosperity as a result.
• Most people spend their entire lives worrying about what others may think about them, however very few of the people they spent their lives worrying about will truly mourn when they are gone.

The greatest golden nugget that I received from The Slight Edge revolves around the concept of compound interest. Most of us are aware of how quickly money can grow when compounded on a daily basis, and Jeff Olson points out that the same principles can be applied to our daily activities as well.When we consistently make choices that are good for our health, emotional well being, business, etc. we usually are not rewarded with amazing, life changing results in that day or in the next day, or maybe even in the next month. But, when we do so on a daily basis, the positive actions we take on a daily basis always compound to create desirable results in our lives.

Let me give you an example from my own life. More than once, I have begin a regiment of improving my eating habits and exercising every day. A week or two later, when my pants are still tight, I’ve given into the voices in my head that tell me how much I want to eat a brownie. It’s only one little brownie, and really, will it make any difference? And it looks so good and I’m so hungry.

You can probably guess the rest of the story. One brownie leads to ice cream, and off I go. A couple of days later I’m telling myself that I have no will power and will never be a size 7, so what’s the use. That painful and time consuming exercise routine soon goes out the window as well. Great example of the slight edge working against me.

If I had continued my healthy eating and exercise routine, it may have taken a month or two months or even longer, but eventually my actions would have resulted in better health and a more fit body. This illustrates a case of the slight edge working in my favor.

Simply put, every action we take will compound over time and create a result that will either work to benefit you or hurt you. Our daily choices are just that, choices, and when we truly understand the principles taught in The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson, it becomes easier to make the better choice.

After reading the book, I have a much better grasp of the concept and do believe it will give me the slight edge that will help me to reach my weight goals.

Check out a couple of my favorite quotes from the book:

“The right choices and the wrong choices you make at the moment will have little or no noticeable impact on how your day goes for you. Nor tomorrow, nor the next day. No applause, no cheers, no screams, no life of death results played out in Technicolor. But it is precisely those very same, undramatic, seemingly insignificant actions that, when compounded over time, will dramatically affect how your life turns out.”

“Gigantic funerals are held and great crowds, sometimes entire nations, mourn for those people who spent their lives not worrying about what others thought.”

The Slight Edge, by Jeff Olson

Wishing you a healthy, joyous, prosperous New Year!

If you’d like to learn more about The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson, click here to watch a video review of the book. And if you’re ready to get to work and create a competitive edge that will guarantee you success in 2010 I’m ready to share some of my secrets with you! Be sure to check out this page and take action right away!

My husband is not a pet person. In fact, over the years, I’ve been secretly waiting for THE ULTIMATIUM: “Either the dog (insert cat) goes, or I do”. Luckily for me, I’ve not been forced to make that choice. (Who knows how it would have come out if I had!)

However, it was my husband’s dislike of pets which actually introduced me to David Wroblewski’s The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. My hubby is a big New York Times bestseller list book reader. Although he bought the book with all good intentions of reading it, he found out it was about dogs and even the New York Times bestseller list couldn’t trump his dislike of pets. Big mistake on his part and great gift for me.

I found The Story of Edgar Sawtelle tossed into a corner. I, unlike my husband, am not a New York Times bestseller list reader. I tend to read fantasy or self-improvement books (how’s that for a dichotomy!) as my escape. However, the book had a nice feel with deckle edge paper and the simple cover had appeal. I was not reading anything at the time and had several hours that I wanted to sit and “veg”. So I started the book. Two days and 550 pages later I had finished The Story of Edgar Sawtelle having been swept up into a fascinating, suspenseful and beautifully written first novel by David Wroblewski.

My husband was right-the story is about dogs. But these “Sawtelle” dogs were the framework of the story, not the subject. The story, with shades of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, is more about the land of rural Wisconsin and a family, spanning several generations of Sawtelles and related human and canine characters. You find out about humans and dogs through letters and meticulous notes kept by the Sawtelles as they raise a new “reasoning” dog breed. But it seems for ever step forward for the dogs, is a step backwards for the human characters.

The story is engaging but it is the writing which captures your attention. Wroblewski is a brilliant story teller which holds your attention and flows from paragraph to paragraph as the story unfolds. (Everything that had happened to him since he’d left made him think of her. Others dreamed of finding a person in the world whose soul was made in their mirror image, but she and Edgar had been conceived nearly together, grown up together, and however strange it may be, she was his other.) It is this magic in his words that keeps you wanting more and being disappointed when the last page is turned. The story may be a tragedy, and one which you will dream about for the next few weeks, but the writing transcends the story.

So, I will try to convince my husband to take another look (or an initial look as the case may be) at The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. He, like me, loves great writing. He is an English teacher after all. Lets see if a wife’s recommendation and great writing trumps a dislike of pets.

Candace Davenport is a retired attorney and published author whose love of writing led to co-founding a small independent publishing company, Our Little Books. Our Little Books (http://www.ourlittlebooks.com) is dedicated to publishing inspirational, educational and fun little books for pocket or purse. Candace encourages all people to find their inner muse and become published authors with their own little book, either for pleasure or for their business.