Have you ever heard of the 80/20 rule? Chances are that this rule is impacting you right now even if you aren't aware of it or how it works. The good news is that by becoming aware of the rule and how it applies to you right now will allow you to manipulate it and use it to help you get some awesome results! And we all want awesome results don't we?
The 80/20 rule tells us that 80% of what we achieve in life is a direct result of only 20% of all the actions we take. Now the ratio may not be exactly 80/20 - it may even be 99/1 - but the rule makes it clear that a small number of our actions are actually having a big impact.
It's not hard to understand how this rule applies to your life but let's look at a basic example which will apply to you to help you understand it. Let's think about your social life (hopefully you have one!) The reality is that you almost certainly spend 80% or more of your social time with 20% or less of the people you know. Think about it. Do you spend most of your time with a few close friends? Or you may spend 80% or more of your time sending texts, calling and chatting online with 20% or less of your contacts.
Given that 80% of what we achieve is a direct result of 20% of the actions we take, the first point to take away today is that in order to have the most impact you must focus on the 20% that is impacting your 80% - and then disregard the rest. That's right, find your 20% and then forget everything else.
Clearly, there is no reason to spend your time doing things that account for only 20% of what you achieve, especially if that 20% takes up 80% of your time! Instead, you should focus on the 20% that is impacting 80% of your results. Focus on drastically improving your results by changing those areas that are having the most impact. For example, if you find that your biggest challenge is being disorganized then if that area was transformed you would find it would have a massive result wouldn't it? So you change one thing but it impacts lots of things.
Regrettably, this is not always easy to answer as many things can have a big impact on your results and everyone is different. However, there are always common denominators that seem to impact everyone in one way or another and we can safely assume they are impacting you as well. So what are they?
Your habits are a key 20% area. Your habits dictate your thoughts and your actions. Bad habits lead to bad results. Good habits lead to good results. It really is that simple! If you have gotten yourself into poor habits then unfortunately you will get poor results. The good news is that by identifying the bad habits and then changing them you can completely transform your outcomes. Small area, massive impact!
The next 20% area is motivation - an often misunderstood action driver. If you don't "feel" motivated then there is a very good chance that you will take very little action (or take no action at all!) But how do you "get motivated"? The key here is that you must have something that calls you into action. You must have something that you want to work towards (notice that it's about what you want - not anyone else). If you have no motivation you will do nothing. If you do nothing you will get some pretty poor outcomes. Again, this is just one small area that has a huge impact.
Finally, the third most important 20% area is your memory recall ability. We all know about the importance of tests and exams and how many marks they account for and how much information students need to be able to recall. If you have great memory recall ability you will breeze through tests and exams, and if you don't you will really struggle. Your recall ability can literally make or break you. So again, we can see that a small thing (your 20%) is impacting a large portion of your schooling (your 80%).
There is no doubt that there are many areas that impact your results. But you will definitely have a few items (say 2-3) that are causing the most impact. Have you been able to identify your 20% areas? Identify those things that are having the biggest impact on you and get to work on them. If you work hard on those things that have maximum result and your grades will absolutely skyrocket. Good luck!
The 80/20 rule tells us that 80% of what we achieve in life is a direct result of only 20% of all the actions we take. Now the ratio may not be exactly 80/20 - it may even be 99/1 - but the rule makes it clear that a small number of our actions are actually having a big impact.
It's not hard to understand how this rule applies to your life but let's look at a basic example which will apply to you to help you understand it. Let's think about your social life (hopefully you have one!) The reality is that you almost certainly spend 80% or more of your social time with 20% or less of the people you know. Think about it. Do you spend most of your time with a few close friends? Or you may spend 80% or more of your time sending texts, calling and chatting online with 20% or less of your contacts.
Given that 80% of what we achieve is a direct result of 20% of the actions we take, the first point to take away today is that in order to have the most impact you must focus on the 20% that is impacting your 80% - and then disregard the rest. That's right, find your 20% and then forget everything else.
Clearly, there is no reason to spend your time doing things that account for only 20% of what you achieve, especially if that 20% takes up 80% of your time! Instead, you should focus on the 20% that is impacting 80% of your results. Focus on drastically improving your results by changing those areas that are having the most impact. For example, if you find that your biggest challenge is being disorganized then if that area was transformed you would find it would have a massive result wouldn't it? So you change one thing but it impacts lots of things.
Regrettably, this is not always easy to answer as many things can have a big impact on your results and everyone is different. However, there are always common denominators that seem to impact everyone in one way or another and we can safely assume they are impacting you as well. So what are they?
Your habits are a key 20% area. Your habits dictate your thoughts and your actions. Bad habits lead to bad results. Good habits lead to good results. It really is that simple! If you have gotten yourself into poor habits then unfortunately you will get poor results. The good news is that by identifying the bad habits and then changing them you can completely transform your outcomes. Small area, massive impact!
The next 20% area is motivation - an often misunderstood action driver. If you don't "feel" motivated then there is a very good chance that you will take very little action (or take no action at all!) But how do you "get motivated"? The key here is that you must have something that calls you into action. You must have something that you want to work towards (notice that it's about what you want - not anyone else). If you have no motivation you will do nothing. If you do nothing you will get some pretty poor outcomes. Again, this is just one small area that has a huge impact.
Finally, the third most important 20% area is your memory recall ability. We all know about the importance of tests and exams and how many marks they account for and how much information students need to be able to recall. If you have great memory recall ability you will breeze through tests and exams, and if you don't you will really struggle. Your recall ability can literally make or break you. So again, we can see that a small thing (your 20%) is impacting a large portion of your schooling (your 80%).
There is no doubt that there are many areas that impact your results. But you will definitely have a few items (say 2-3) that are causing the most impact. Have you been able to identify your 20% areas? Identify those things that are having the biggest impact on you and get to work on them. If you work hard on those things that have maximum result and your grades will absolutely skyrocket. Good luck!
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