The Slight Edge

I remember reading the book by this title by Jeff Olson a few years ago. The book was damn useful, but I hadn’t consciously thought about it in a while. Then, while I was driving the other day listening to another motivational book, the speaker mentioned always wanting to get the slight edge. It is the common trait among all successful people.

I started to think about my training, bodybuilding, and workouts over the years. I collected quite the library of strength science material, and I'll even order more material long before I'm able to study and finish what I already have. Why? It's all to gain a slight edge over my opponents and myself in the weight room. Too many globo gyms are filled with people who don’t practice the slight edge. These are the same people who have exactly the same strength numbers and same physiques year after year.

Reason

The slight edge is the reason you get up at 4 a.m. to make sure you get your workout in no matter what. It's the reason you spend a few hours every Sunday preparing your food. It's the reason you can and should hire an expert coach, even if you consider yourself an expert. Although I'm past my prime athletic years, I still play in a number of men’s basketball leagues, and the only thing I can think about while I'm performing my conditioning before the sun comes up is that it will give me an edge over my opponent. I want them to be grabbing their shorts and huffing and puffing while I'm unaffected by the demands of the game. The slight edge is why I travel all over the country to go to seminars hosted by the guys I want to learn from.

Advantage

The slight edge may not be much at the time, but over time, it compounds and gives you a huge advantage in life and in the gym. The slight edge has allowed me to build the business I want on my own terms. And what taught me the slight edge? It was the gym and the desire to be bigger and stronger. The gym gives us much more than just a place to go to train. It's your life experience lab. Use it like Arnold did to gain a slight edge in all that you do and to make sure you always have the mental fortitude to push through to your dreams.