The-Slight-Edge

28 The Slight Edge
your
PHILOSOPHY
creates
your ATTITuDE
your ACTIONS
your RESuLTS
creates
your
LIFE
A positive philosophy turns into a positive attitude, which turns into
positive actions, which turn into positive results, which turn into a positive
lifestyle.
A negative philosophy turns into a negative attitude, which turns
into negative actions, which turn into negative results, which turn into a
negative lifestyle.
Life Wisdom
What do I mean by philosophy? Not something lofty or abstract; not
something you need to go to graduate school or learn Greek to understand. I
mean something so simple, so basic, a six-year-old child can understand it.
Here is an example.
Do the thing, and you shall have the power.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson, Compensation
Profoundly simple and just as powerful. The sort of wisdom you can actually
apply in everyday life. Nike simplified it for the MTV generation (“Just do it”),
but I like the Emerson version better, and we’ll be using it a good deal later on
when we talk about applying the Slight Edge to your life.
There are two prevalent types of attitudes: entitled
and value-driven. A value-driven attitude says, “What can I do to help
you?” An entitled attitude says, “What have you done for me lately?” An entitled
attitude says, “Pay me more, and then maybe I’ll work harder.” A value-driven
attitude says, “I’ll work harder, and then I expect you’ll pay me more.”
Which of these attitudes is driven by Emerson’s philosophy, “Do the thing
and you’ll have the power”?
Your philosophy is what you know, how you hold what you know, and how
it affects what you do. You can look at anyone’s actions and trace back, through
the attitudes behind those actions, to their source: the philosophy behind the
attitudes. Show me what a man does, and I’ll show you what his philosophy is.