"Do not judge your results.  Judge your activity."

How do you know if you're staying on the upward curve of the slight edge?  Well, ask yourself this question: What am I focusing on more - my results or my activity?

In some cases, I think we need to throw our compulsion to see results out the window.  Why?  Because our mental time frame for when we think we should start experiencing results is terribly skewed.

The Time it Takes

Once upon a time, most people were self-employed - they were farmers.  In the spring, they plowed and fertilized the land so that they could plant seeds.  Then they spend months weeding and watering those plants under the hot summer sun.  After time, sacrifice, patience, sweat and toil, they are finally able to reap a harvest.

Today, we go to the grocery store and check out. 

I'm not proposing we need to "go backwards" and all become farmers, but we do need to cultivate the mentality of a farmer when it comes to achieving success.  How ridiculous it would be for a farmer to plant apple seeds and wake up the next day expecting to eat apples?  But this is the attitude that most people take toward achieving results in their lives.  They want to see the payoff right away.  We're all a little tipsy on instant gratification.

Seasons of Life
 
Results are important, but don't go looking for them in the spring.  Wait for the fall.  And in the meantime keep doing the activity.  Keep watering, cultivating, weeding, fertilizing, pruning, and let the shining of the sun and the passing of time work its magic.  It's a healthier, more productive way to go because it is an approach that stays true to the nature of success and the seasons of life.

You Already Know What to Do

Success is simple.  As Jim Rohn said, it's simply a matter of mastering the fundamentals.  To grow a good crop, a farmer knows that he needs rich soil, seeds, water, and sun.  He can add fancier ways of doing things, but those fundamentals are the foundation of achieving a harvest.  No matter what you want to achieve, you can break it down into a set of actions that you can do every day to remain on the positive side of the slight edge.  Don't make it any more complicated.  Don't get hung up on results.  Just do the activity because achieving success really is as simple as that.