There are a handful of books that genuinely changed my life and the way I think about things. I’ll do a longer write-up on all of them at some point, but for now, I want to share one.

A friend once handed me a book and said, “This is the book that makes all other self-help books possible.”

That book was The Slight Edge.

As I mentioned in last week’s email, I tend to measure a book’s value by whether it leaves me with at least one takeaway I can carry forward. This one certainly did — and it’s this idea: we are never standing still.

Every choice we make moves us in a direction. That direction may keep us roughly the same, or it may move us closer to — or further away from — the life we want.

Everything we do is a choice, even when it doesn’t feel like one. We may not consciously deliberate over every decision, but somewhere beneath the surface, our habits and patterns are making choices on our behalf. Still, they are choices.

Choosing to skip a workout is a choice.

Choosing to scroll on TikTok is a choice.

Choosing to hit snooze is a choice.

In the moment, these choices can feel neutral. Harmless. Inconsequential. But over the course of days, months, and years, they quietly move us in a direction — toward a life we want, or toward one we don’t.

We often imagine change as a dramatic fork in the road — a big moment where everything shifts all at once. But real change is usually much quieter than that. It’s built from small, almost invisible choices, repeated consistently over time, that eventually lead to radically different destinations.

So as you move through the week ahead, I invite you to notice the choices you’re making throughout your day. Even something as small as ten minutes of scrolling on TikTok each day adds up to nearly 61 hours over the course of a year. Sixty-one hours.

What else could you do with that time? And more importantly — is that how you want to use it?

For me, the answer is usually no. There are so many things that feel better and move me closer to the life I want: reading, writing, meditating, going for a walk, eating without distraction, talking to a friend, organizing my apartment. Things that leave me feeling more balanced, less frenzied, and less exhausted.

And it all starts the same way.

Ten minutes at a time.

One small choice.

If you want to make better small choices each week, my productivity system can help. It’s the framework I use to stay focused without burning out.