| "The Slight Edge" by Jeff Olson belongs in | | | | winning his third consecutive Sprint Cup title. The |
| everyone's personal development library. It lays | | | | most notable thing about Johnson's championship |
| the foundation for every other book you own on | | | | team is that he and crew chief Chad Knaus |
| personal, professional, and financial development. | | | | never, ever stop adjusting a car during a race, |
| The basis of the Slight Edge is that simple, | | | | even when their position looks hopeless. Their |
| positive actions repeated over time will compound | | | | attitude towards winning determines their actions, |
| into success. | | | | which ultimately create their results. |
| Once you understand the Slight Edge principals, | | | | Jimmy Johnson and every championship team |
| you'll start seeing how successful people apply it. | | | | before him hold ironclad philosophies that control |
| The concert pianist who practices every day. The | | | | their attitudes, their actions, and their results, |
| marathoner whose every habit supports their | | | | which in the end determine their season. Every |
| fitness. They understand the principals of the | | | | week they talk about getting a little better. Every |
| Slight Edge. There's another industry that | | | | week they try to be a little faster, a little more |
| understands and applies the Slight Edge. It's | | | | clever on the track. |
| NASCAR. Stock car racing. Dale Earnhardt Jr and | | | | Crew chiefs are always making course |
| Jeff Gordon driving real fast around a big oval | | | | corrections. The car's too tight, now it's too loose, |
| track. | | | | but they keep adjusting and tuning until it works. |
| Successful drivers, pit crew members, and crew | | | | They take a wrecked car as a learning |
| chiefs understand that every day they make | | | | opportunity. Sometimes they don't even get |
| small choices that build on each other to create a | | | | upset when they wreck because "the car was |
| winning season. It might be a tiny change in the | | | | fast!" and that's all that mattered. |
| jack man's footing that takes a tenth of a second | | | | They talk obsessively about momentum. They |
| off each pit stop, which leads to two or three | | | | reflect on what they've accomplished. They |
| higher places each week, which adds up to the | | | | celebrate their victories, whether it's the win or if |
| most points at the end of the year. (That's how | | | | it's their 3rd best finish of the year. |
| they decide the championship.) If you listen to the | | | | All these actions are part of applying the Slight |
| drivers talk, especially during a big race weekend, | | | | Edge. Look for people, businesses, and industries |
| you hear them talk about these tiny, continuous | | | | where they understand this principal. See how you |
| adjustments. | | | | can apply their successes to your life. Develop |
| Jimmy Johnson appears to have become an | | | | your own personal philosophy to help you create |
| overnight success after joining the Hendrick racing | | | | your own Slight Edge. |
| team. But he spent 27 years in racing before | | | | |