Brush Your Teeth

On a fairly recent school night, my (eight-year-old) son got home late. He’d been at an Iowa Hawkeyes basketball game with his Grandpa, and by the time he got home it was well past his regular bedtime.

I told him he had to brush his teeth before getting into bed. He pushed back and asked to skip it, just tonight. I insisted; brush your teeth.

That’s the Slight Edge.

Not brushing his teeth that night, in isolation, isn’t a big deal. He would have brushed them in the morning, brushed them again the next night, and so on. However, it would have created a precedent. A precedent that would have made not brushing your teeth a little bit easier the next time there was a reason not to brush them.

But this post isn’t about brushing your teeth. It’s about the Slight Edge. The Slight Edge is a book that I recently read by Jeff Olson. I was turned-on to the book after learning how the University of Iowa football team used(uses) it to shape the culture of their program (article, linked). The book is good; it’s full of good ideas and principles that lead to self improvement.



The Slight Edge is does not involve any one monumental thing. Instead, the Slight Edge is doing the little things with such consistency that over time they become monumental. Notice that I said over time; the Slight Edge is about the process. It is about the long game, and not giving-up.

Through self discipline, the Slight Edge becomes possible. And having the Slight Edge results in success. It results in a success that is sustainable and endurable. It’s what our kids need (it's what we all need).