The 80/20 Rule
The Pareto Principle or the 80/20 rule simply states that we get 80% of our results from 20% of our efforts.
If you think about it this theory applies to just about everything we do!
In training we get most of our results from the small amount of time we spend working at or close to our maximum.
When we’re learning something it’s generally a small amount of what we learn that we go out and use most of the time.
In a business there are a small amount of things that we do that gain most of the results.
The list goes on and on and applies to almost anything you can think of!
What I want you to think about are the most important things to helping you live the life you want for yourself.
Often we tend to get ‘stuck in the thick of thin things’ or in other words we get busy being busy doing things that aren’t necessarily important to achieving our goals.
What are the 20% of things that when you DO them create the biggest results?
EG: if you need to improve your nutrition one of your things might be to prepare all of your lunches for the week on the weekend etc…
If you’re unsure write it down anyway and then cull your list and compare each activity against the next (the last thing you want is too big a list).
Now the next step of course is DOING these things….
You might need to free up some time to ensure you can get the important things done (remember – the main thing is that you keep the main thing the main thing!)
To make sure you achieve this you’re going to create a STOP DOING LIST. The things that you currently do that you could either stop doing or delegate. Eg: a CEO doesn’t vacuume the offices because that means they wouldn’t have time to hire new staff, deal with the biggest customers etc…
Maybe instead of dropping the kids to school or sport every time you could organise a car pool where you take turns with other parents, maybe instead of cooking every night you could cook 2-3 per week and make extra or pre-prepare a bunch of stuff at once and to save time. Maybe you spend 30 minutes day or more helping the kids with their homework and could get a professional to do it (check out our offer at the bottom of the article if that’s you).
The more time you can free up using this process the more time you’ll have to focus on your important 20% and therefore the better results you’ll get!
To sum it up – you can’t manage time, it will keep ticking along no matter what you do. You can however use it wisely and MANAGE YOURSELF better J
If your life was a business and you were the manager how would the CEO be rating your performance? Are you running a good show or are the important things getting left behind because you’re too busy being busy?
Dedicated to your fitness success,
Jake
PS: Some of you might spend a bunch of time trying your best to help the kids with their homework & assignments etc… Something that you’re likely not qualified or skilled to do plus it’s taking your time away from your 20% .
Our friends at Scooter Tutor have a great offer for you if you’re in the Brisbane area you will get your child’s first 2 tutoring sessions for just $89 plus you’ll have more time to do what’s important to YOU! They have 10 of these offers available – go to www.scootertutor.com.au or call 1800 488 867 and mention PEPT.
PPS: You might know someone who would love to take up this offer? If so be sure to send them the link to this article J