Photo of Hannah Young

I have come to realize that the 80/20 rule does not only apply to businesses but to life in general. Most of the things we do are based on the 80/20 rule such as:

-       on a day-to-day basis 80% of what we do, do not necessarily guarantee happiness and purpose (i.e. doing various chores around the house, endless errands,  social networking, fixing broken stuffs, etc.). However, the other 20% does make us happier and purposeful including spending more time with our family, playing around with our children/pets, watching the sunrise,  etc.

-       look at your circle of friends. Notice that out of the 10 people you know only a fraction of them are people whom you could call “real friends”.

-       at work, 20% of your coworkers yield more results than the rest of the 80%. What happens with the other people who waste their time chatting, complaining – they are the 80%.

-       when blogging, 20% of what you do increases traffic (i.e. writing the best content only and spending). The rest of what you do may not always give you the best return for your time.

-       check your wardrobe. I bet you only wear 20% of what is in your closet; the rest I can guarantee you are not your favorite and that comprises 80% of your clothes.

-       look at your emails. 80% are junk or emails that you probably don’t read and only 20% are worth reading and replying to.

What I am realizing here is that, although the 80/20 (Pareto’s Law)  rule applies to all aspects of life, it is our duty to know how to maximize the 20% of our time to become more productive, happier and successful. If we know exactly what makes the 20% of our everyday life better, then we need to start eliminating some of the more meaningless activities and concentrate on yielding results. When we do this, we enjoy life better and find more joy inside of us.

Alpha Sanford is the creator and editor of Aspire.Motivate.Succeed! a personal development website which aims to inspire and motivate people from all walks of life through its bi-weekly articles. She interviews and features inspiring individuals whose extraordinary work impact the lives of many people in the community. You can contact her via facebook, twitter, and email.  You can also join her FREE monthly newsletter where you will get tips to a more successful life.