The Slight Edge!

A dying, old, rich man called his two sons. He sat them down and explained that he was dying. He had 4 bags of money infront of him. Two of the bags contained 1 million dollars each. The other two bags contained a penny each. He then said, that he wished his sons to be successful in life. In order to provide them with a good start, he wanted to provide them money. He then put two bags in front of his older son; one with a million dollars in it and second with a penny. Then he explained that the son could either pick the million dollar bag and keep it or take the bag with a penny in it. If he choose the bag with the million dollars, he could take it and do whatever he wished. If he chose the bag with the penny, the rich man would keep the bag in the bank and have its contents double every day for the next 31 days.

The older son found the million dollar bag very tempting and took it hastily. The younger son was given the same choice. However, after some thought, he chose to pick the bag with a penny in it. (What would you choose? Why?). The older son laughed at it.

On the 1st day, the older son had 1 million dollars, the younger son had a penny. On the 2nd day, older son still had a million, younger son had 2 pennys. On the third day, the older son still had a million; younger son had 4 pennies. At the end of 31 days, the older son had a million dollars and the the younger son had a fortune worth $10,737,418.24.

Many times we decide to take on a certain activity and do it for a day or two or three, but don’t see any results. Then we decide, it is not working and we quit. But, if we continue it for a longer period of time, then we will see incredible results. Think about it. Have you been trying to lose weight or save money for some time? Did you try doing it but thought it doesn’t work and then quit it?

That’s the difference between the people who make it happen and those who don’t. The Slight Edge! The Slight Edge is doing simple things for a longer period of time and see the results compound. The Slight Edge creates phenomenal results. If you plan to exercise for 20 minutes a day, do it every day without fail. You might not see the results today, tomorrow, next week or next month. But, one year from now, you will be very fit. People will keep asking you for the secret of staying fit and all you have to tell them in reply is, “It is the Slight Edge! If I can do it, you can too.”

Hope this helped. Looking foward to reading your comments.

Respectfully,
Mayur Gudka

Benefits of Disciplining Ourselves!

Discipline is an ancient secret of success. Many people are smart, skiiled, and very good at what they do. However, very few people see success. Why? I believe most people are not disciplined enough to consistently do something for a certain period of time. But, good thing is we can change. We can discipline ourselves. There are many benefits of disciplining ourselves.

Success comes from cultivating good success-oriented habits. But for most people their habits are what stops them from being successful. A lot of time I am accused by my wife that I do something for two days and then stop. So, I started monitoring myself. And, you know what? She was right. I would take action towards developing a new habit and after two days I would be back where I was. Matter of fact, it was very frustrating repeating the same mistakes over and over again. So, one fine day, while taking shower, it hit me. I did not know how to discipline myself. And, my quest began. I have changed many of my habits since then and am working to change a lot more. As a result of me disciplining myself, our relationship improved, our finances improved, and now we are on our way to financial and personal success.

In his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey says that if you do something for 21 days continously, you cultivate a habit. It works! Matter of fact, I highly recommened you get a copy of this book and read it and re-read it multiple times to absorb everything.

Reward yourself everytime you cultivate a new habit. It helps you stay on track. Keep a jar and put a dollar everytime you catching yourself doing a habit you want to get rid of. Give your kids a quarter everytime they catch you returning to a old non-productive habit. This technique will change your habit even faster because the kids will be following you waiting to make a mistake.

In conclusion … discipline yourself to become a better you. It helps in the long run.

Hope this helped. Looking forward to reading your comments.

Respectfully,
Mayur Gudka