​Chapter 4 of The Slight Edge is entitled “You Have to Start with a Penny?”  Earlier in the book, Olson tells the story of a wealthy man with two sons.  He offers both $1,000,000 in thirty days or one penny on the first day which will double each of the next thirty days.  Long story short, the son who chose the penny was ten times richer than his brother a month later.

​Olson’s point here is you must start.  You can’t start with nothing. You have to start with something.  It can be very little but there must be something.  Wishing isn’t action.  If you are just starting to exercise then an ambling, untimed one mile walk is something.  So is a gentle 15-minute walk on a treadmill.  You get the idea.  Something, anything more than nothing, is a start.

​The thrust of the book to this point has been the compound effect of consistent action toward your goal.  In this chapter, Olson rachets down the effect to prove his point.  He asks the reader to assume consistent action won’t get you a compound effect.  There is no investment that will reliably double your money every day. There is no exercise program that makes you twice as fit each time you do it.  Instead, assume you improve three tenths of one percent (0.003) each time you do something (e.g., read ten pages of a book, exercise, take control of your finances).  Your daily results will be imperceptible.  In a year, you will have doubled your fitness, knowledge, finances, etc.  That point hit me between the eyes.

​In that vein, this was my second full week back at the gym post-mask mandate.  Shedding those things has enormously improved my life.  Though it was a bit difficult, I got in all my workouts and all my conditioning.  I was a bit sore from last week and acutely aware of the gains I’ve lost.  Still, I just got in and got it done.  It felt great.  Whatever the physical effects, my headspace is much better for going.

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This week is when we announce the results of our fitness goals for the last 12 weeks.  I’ll start, I gained two pounds.  Ugh.  I have had some personal stuff going on in addition to the coronavirus nonsense that put me in a mental spin.  The good news is during these twelve weeks I saw the weight going up, took control of it, and got it going back down.  It’s not a victory but it’s also not the loss this first appears to be.  I hope you had a better 12 weeks.

The coronavirus edition is over but I’m still going to share some local news because it’s good.  The Los Angeles courts announced a full reopen starting Monday.  If Newsom, Garcetti, and every other government monster can’t keep the LA courthouse shuttered then the jig is up.  Kiss my ass delta variant!

​I already told you I love Glenn Loury.  Here is his interview with James Lindsay about whom I have mixed feelings.

Weekly cuteness has nothing to do with a Chinese wet market.

This week’s music.  

You know what, I heard about Vince Neil’s first post-pandemic show so here is one for Mojeaux.