The-Slight-Edge

Faces of the Slight Edge 135
Everybody’s busy. Everyone does the actions.
But were they the right actions? Were those actions
productive? Did you take a step forward?
These are questions that most people never take the time to think about.
Did you eat well, or did you eat badly? Who did you associate with today?
Did they empower you? How? In what way? Did you listen to good information
today, or just zone out to the music? Did you engage in positive conversation, or
did you gossip or complain? What did you read that contributed to your success
today? Did you do any of the things unsuccessful people aren’t willing to do?
Whose dream did you build today—yours or somebody else’s?
In the 12-Step System, this is called “taking a searching and fearless personal
inventory.” I honestly encourage you to get a little searching and fearless with
yourself. Keep your progress—or the lack of it—in your face!
Here’s a powerful exercise: Instead of writing down what you’re going to do
(chances are you’ve been doing that your entire life anyway, and it doesn’t make
you any better at doing them!), write down at the end of the day what you did do
that day. What actions did you take today that made you successful?
Did you read ten pages of a good book? Did you eat healthy food and get some
good exercise? Did you engage in positive associations? Did you do the things you
need to do to be successful in your business? Did you tell somebody, “I love you”?
At the end of a week, look back over your lists and take inventory. Not only
will it tell you a lot about the truth of your everyday life, chances are good that
the mere act of recording this daily reflection will have already started changing
what you do!
Here’s what this exercise did for me the first time I did it: After the first few
days, I found that by 10:00 in the morning, I was changing my normal course
for the day and engaging in more positive Slight Edge actions—because I didn’t
want to face that man in the mirror empty-handed again that night!
There are lots of different ways to practice consistent self-reflection, and
I don’t necessarily recommend one over another, simply because everyone’s
different and what works best for me may not work best for you.
Some people accomplish this by keeping a journal. If you choose this
approach, here’s the key to making it work: don’t just write down a record of what
happened today, along with your thoughts and feelings about what happened.
Ask yourself the specific Slight Edge questions. In each area of my life, what are
the critical, simple little things that are easy to do, and easy not to do? Did I do
them? Did I move forward? Did I ride on the success curve?