Do you want to live a healthier, happier, more productive life?  I believe everyone truly does.  Unfortunately more and more Americans are living an unhealthy lifestyle despite the fact we are the wealthiest nation in the world and information is at our finger tips with the internet.  Think about it.  We all know people (I was one of them) who start a diet and exercise routine, begin to see progress, and then over time they backslide.  Why is that?  The answer is quite simple.  We do not have a health crisis on our hands because of a lack of information.  We have a health crisis on our hands because we have bought into the wrong philosophy over time.  In order to steer this ship back on the right course we simply need to apply The Slight Edge Philosophy.

What is The Slight Edge Philosophy? First off be sure to buy the book The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson.  It is a life changing philosophy that is so simple and powerful.  It can literally change your life once you understand it and apply it.  Our society (especially schools) wants to tell us what to do and what to think.  Unfortunately if you judge that tree by the fruit it bears it is evident that plan simply does not work.  Instead of just telling people what to think we need to learn how to think and WHY we think what we do.  That is exactly what the Slight Edge is about.

The Slight Edge forces us to have a long view of time and helps us understand the results of discipline versus neglect.  We are constantly being misled in society the thought “It doesn’t really matter”.  Here are a few examples.

“It doesn’t really matter if you have that cheeseburger today.  You will not see a difference from having one cheeseburger.”

“It doesn’t matter if you skip the gym today.  You will not get weaker from missing one workout.”

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t take your supplements today.  You will not have a heart attack.”

“It doesn’t really matter if you stay our drinking tonight.  You will not get liver disease from one night of drinking.”

All of those statements are absolutely TRUE.  That is exactly what the problem is.  When we make one poor judgment in any of those areas it most likely will not ruin our health.  Unfortunately when we lack discipline and make one poor decision like that it often times leads to another poor decision.  We think, “I skipped that one workout and I was still able to train fine the next day.”  That is what is so challenging about the Slight Edge.  If you just miss one workout your health will not fall apart, but that mindset leads to a negative Slight Edge and all of a sudden we are only going to the gym once per week and we are wondering why we are not where we want to be.  There is a lag time to the consequences of our decisions we make either negatively or positively.

The Slight Edge is ALWAYS in effect in EVERY area of our lives.  There is no standing still.  Every single decision either moves us closer to or further from our goals.  If we simply continue to make consecutive positive decisions like eating well, exercising regularly, and getting enough sleep then we will see long term results of improved health and performance.  On the other hand, if we make consecutive poor decisions then we will see long term decline in our health and performance.

Applying a positive Slight Edge in our lives first requires us to determine exactly what we want.  What is your ideal body weight, fitness level, physical results, etc?  Then we must determine what we need to do or not do in order to attain those results.  Lastly we must COMMIT to those daily disciplines with the understanding that EVERY day and EVERY action counts.  If we do this without looking at the short term daily results we will be amazed at where we are one or two years down the road.  If we fail to do this time will pass and we will continue to drift further from where we want to be in life.

Most people do not realize and understand that delayed gratification and consistent hard work are actually the biblical principles of sowing and reaping.  God set the world in motion and all of these principles have been impacting our lives whether or not we ever understood them.  Now that we understand them we can harness them for our benefit.

Question: What is one discipline you will commit to in order to achieve your health and fitness goals?  Comment below