Have you ever felt that you are so busy trying to keep up with your life that you just can’t get anything done?
Do you find yourself constantly putting things off because you just don’t have enough time to do it all?
Have you experienced the lack of progress that comes from never getting to the things that would make a real difference in your life?
Let the 80-20 rule work for you
There is a general principle that many business people are aware of called the Pareto Principle or 80-20 Rule. The premise is that you get 80% of your results from 20% of your efforts. This principle seems to apply to just about every area of life.
In sales, it’s the top 20% of your customers that create 80% of your income. In relationships, it’s the first 20% of the time you spend with a person that reveals 80% of their personality.
In the case of personal development, you will get the biggest gains in the beginning – 80% of your results will come from the first 20% of your effort.
Put more focus where it will have the biggest impact
What is the real difference between those whose performance is average and those who excel? The ones who excel are those who focus more of their time and effort developing the abilities that have the greatest impact on their life.
That’s why we expect professionals to be more accomplished. And as it turns out, 80% of business is done by the best 20% in any given field.
The best 20% of all doctors will make 80% of all the money paid to doctors. The best 20% of all the books published account for 80% of all book sales. The most popular 20% of all musicians get 80% of the money spent on concert tickets and CD sales.
Make it work for you!
So here’s the application – If you want to get the best results from your efforts in life, you need to focus your time accordingly. Why not structure your life so you can take advantage of the 80-20 rule?
Why are some couples happier than others? Obviously, there are a variety of factors that come into play here, but the bottom line is this. The people involved in those relationships have put forth the effort to develop their communication skills and their efforts have paid off.
Those with the best relationship skills tend to have the best relationships. It is very likely that if you were to calculate the percentages, the 80-20 Rule would apply.
Develop the needed skills
For the most part, we all understand that the better we are at what we do, the greater the results we will get from our efforts. But, here’s another important point that people tend to overlook. When you’re really good at what you do, you can do much less and still get the same results!
Now I need to ask, why would you want to spend 40 hours a week earning a living if you could generate the same income in just 5 hours? Why spend months trying to work through a relationship problem if you can develop the skills to do it in a day?
Multiply you results and get more free time
Would you rather spend your life struggling for every inch of progress or put your time and energy where it can do the most good? We all have “other things” we would like to do if we just had the time and money.
Why not take the time to figure out which areas of your life really matter and which ones are just consuming your valuable time. Once you clearly understand the difference, learn the life skills that will allow you to leverage the 80-20 rule.
Life is full of unnecessary busy work and distractions. How much better would your life be if you could spend most of your time and energy doing the things that really matter to you?
What kind of busy work is consuming your time?
What skills would enable you to better leverage your efforts?
What skills would enable you to better leverage your efforts?
Think. Grow. Live!
Roland N. Gilbert
Roland works one-on-one – via phone, Skype and face-to-face – and with MasterMind Groups. Through Couples Coaching Roland helps clients communicate better, find the love they want, and create relationships of significance. Contact Roland ator rgilbert@perennialgrowth.com to determine if coaching is right for you.
