Many people know that my favorite book in the whole world (other than The Bible) is The Slight Edge by Jeff Olsen. Every time I read it, which is well over 20 times, I can see the keys to my success written all over the pages. To me, it is like reading an auto-biography.
The whole plot of the book is that your success (or failure) is hidden in your daily routine. What you do today will have either negative or positive consequences to you in the long term, if you repeat those behaviors daily.
To succeed, you need to be able to master the mundane. What does that mean? It means you must do simple repetitive daily disciplines each and every day to form successful habits. They are very easy to do; the only problem is they are also easy not to do.
It is very easy to sit down and read 10 pages in a book that will change your mindset, but it is just as easy to flip on the TV.
It is easy to jump on that treadmill for 15 minutes every day, but there is always tomorrow.
It is easy to de-friend a negative friend on Facebook, but what will my friends think?
It is easy to sit and meditate for 5-10 minutes a day and relax, but it is easy to just flip on the TV and think you are relaxing.
It is easy to look in the mirror and tell yourself how wonderful you are, but since you really don’t believe that you tell yourself what you really think of yourself.
What is easy to do, is also easy not to do.
Successful people are not better, smarter, stronger, happier, or luckier than someone who is not successful. What they are is better at conquering the basics, and mastering the mundane.
One of the things that I have done religiously for years, day in and day out is read. If you just read 10 pages in a PMA (Positive Mental Attitude) book, that is 3,650 pages a year or 12-15 average size books. Do that day in and day out for years and it will have an amazing difference on your attitude and your actions that you take. The average CEO in America reads 60 books a year!
It takes 21 days to form a habit. You need to do the behavior you wish to start doing, even when you do not want to, for 21 consecutive days in order to condition your brain for that behavior. Yes, you need to brainwash your way to success.
If I would give you a million dollars if you read 10 pages a day for a year would you do it? Well I can promise if you read 10 PMA pages a day, and apply what you learn in your daily life, it will be worth well over a million dollars to you! All self-made millionaires have learned to master the mundane.
What about exercise? Ask anyone with heart disease due to poor eating habits and they will tell you they wished they ate healthier when they were younger. 2/3 of Americans are overweight, why? Because if you eat a bacon cheeseburger today you probably won’t see a difference in your weight tomorrow. Miss a workout today, and tomorrow you will probably weight about the same. But eat a bacon cheeseburger each day for a few years and it will kill you!
In closing I would highly recommend reading the book The Slight Edge by Jeff Olsen and start applying the principles to your life. Start Mastering the Mundane! If you read just 10 pages a day, you will read the book in 27 days. Reading just 10 pages a day for 27 days could change your life forever, and possibly save your life!
