“Things which matter most must never be
at the mercy of things which matter least”
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto observed in 1906 that 80 percent of the land in Italy was owned by 20 percent of the population.
Later, he observed this remarkable ratio seemed to apply to other parts of life, such as gardening: 80 percent of his peas were produced by 20 percent of the peapods. Over time, this concept has come to be known as the "Pareto Principle," "The 80/20 Rule," and even "The Vital Few and Trivial Many Rule.” As the principle gain popularity, people are able to realize that it’s not only applicable in mathematics and economics but also in all aspects of life. Given a chance, it can make a difference in yours.
Later, he observed this remarkable ratio seemed to apply to other parts of life, such as gardening: 80 percent of his peas were produced by 20 percent of the peapods. Over time, this concept has come to be known as the "Pareto Principle," "The 80/20 Rule," and even "The Vital Few and Trivial Many Rule.” As the principle gain popularity, people are able to realize that it’s not only applicable in mathematics and economics but also in all aspects of life. Given a chance, it can make a difference in yours.
The principle simply says that for many events, 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. Given this, it asserts that there is an inbuilt imbalance between inputs and outputs, causes and consequences, and effort and result. The 80/20 mindset, applied to your daily life, can help you to concentrate on the most important 20% of your life. Action resulting from the 80/20 mindset should lead you to achieve much more with much less. To engage in the 80/20 mindset, you must constantly ask yourself: what is the 20% that is leading to 80%?
The following are examples of the 80/20 Rule in action:
20% of the workers produce 80% of the result
20% of the customers create 80% of the revenue
80% of the things you do only give you 20% of the results you want
20% of people eat 80% of the food!
As such, it’s important to invest your resources in the top 20% causes. To use the 80/20 principle to boost your life, there are essentially two things you should do:
1. Identify the causes which are in the top 20%.
2. Move resources away from the causes in the bottom 80% to the ones in the top 20%.
A lot of us are so caught with doing a lot of things even if these things are not that important at all in the long run. As the saying goes, “All of us can do anything but not everything.” Knowing this, we should focus our time, energies, attention and resources on the truly important things. We should focus 80% of our time developing 20% of our most important core gifts, responsibilities and relationships. For the life we live in is a finite one and should be invested very wisely to create the greatest impact we can make in living life.
God created each and one of us with a purpose. Instead of focusing ourselves on the unimportant 80% in our lives, we ought to focus on the important 20% because this will give us 80% of the results we want to fulfill that purpose that God has given us. By doing so, we’ll be in our deathbeds not regretting the way we live our lives and be fulfilled because we have focused our life on the truly important things.
Focus on importance not urgency.
Focus on quality not quantity.
Focus on the 20% and not the 80%.
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