The Slight Edge: Turning Simple Disciplines into Massive Success and Happiness

The first section of the book invites readers into Olson’s life and works to establish his credibility as an author, while also building a relationship with readers that shows he has been where they are. It’s easy for a wealthy businessman like Olson to alienate readers, so he takes great pains to connect with the audience through humbling himself, acknowledging class issues, and directly addressing the reader.

As a millionaire with many successful businesses, Olson acknowledges the need to bridge the gap between himself and his readers, so he starts the book with his own experience as a self-described “beach bum.” This is not an example of youthful laziness; instead, he describes doing physically demanding jobs in the hot Florida sun to barely make ends meet while watching rich people ferry past him on golf carts all day. He had questions that many people have: Why do they get to have fun while he has to work? Are they better than me? Do I deserve it less? By sharing this scenario and his internal dialogue, Olson shows that he was once where others, especially his working-class readers, are, and that he had the same thoughts they have had. He uses these thoughts to set up the themes of the book, particularly around The Myth of Success in America. Rather than subscribing to the idea that those who work hard get what they deserve, which implies that the people on the golf carts worked harder than him, he acknowledges that success is about so much more than hard work. This is the main premise of his book, and Olson invites readers who have been treading water and paddling as hard as they can to join him on the life raft he builds.

Olson sets up his other themes in these chapters as well. He introduces the idea that Transformation Is Habitual in Chapter 2, when he urges readers not to expect a “quantum leap” when they look for signs of progress and success. The food analogy he uses in this chapter also brings forth the concept that Success Isn’t Uniform. What may work for one person—eating healthy foods—will not work for another, at least not without the right fundamentals to build upon. These themes can be seen in the ending anecdotes; the mother’s successful finances are not the same as the man who built a reading habit, but both people were able to apply Olson’s philosophies and strategies to their own lives in a way that, over time, made them successful.

In addition to anecdotes, Olson invites readers into his mindset through the tone of the book, which he establishes upfront as conversational. He uses “you” language to seem as though he were chatting with the reader in a friendly manner. By engaging the reader directly, rather than listing them off in a polished, academic tone, he makes his ideas seem accessible to the everyday person. He uses text-within-the-text fables to convey his ideas in simple, relatable metaphors. He also occasionally injects humor into his writing, like the line “Emotions change like the wind, and you can’t stop them. No one can. They keep moving: that’s why they’re emotions and not e-standingstills” (28). The wordplay lightens the mood and reinforces his point: that everyone experiences emotions, and that’s okay because emotions won’t govern the slight edge.

While forging this personal connection, Olson also establishes why readers should listen to his ideas by carefully building his credibility, relying heavily on ethos strategies found in traditional rhetoric. He leverages personal stories, which show how his ideas have impacted others positively, like testimonials at the end of each chapter. Despite his self-proclaimed hatred of sales, he weaves sales tactics into the book through statements like “The Slight Edge is the book you need to read, highlight, and reread along with your fitness class, your career planning, your continuing education, and pursuit of new skills” (32). He promises the readers that this book is worth it, and that if used properly, it will improve readers’ lives. This is strategically placed early on in the book, which is available as a free sample available online. This means that readers can easily scan and see many pitches for his idea of the slight edge and how it can benefit them, which serves as encouragement to buy the book and read further.

Through these rhetorical strategies, Olson positions himself to launch into his core ideas later in the book, many of which have their foundation in the touchstones outlined here.