WEEK 82: PARETO PRINCIPLE

Do the hard jobs first, and the easy ones will take care of themselves. Dale Carnegie

REFLECTIONS (learnings and actions): This week I wanted to highlight a strategy I have been using in recent weeks called the Pareto principle. I actually wrote about it in W21, here is the original post. 

I have actually been using this strategy for the last couple of weeks without knowing it, but was able to make a connection after my reading of Jack Canfield's book "Success Principles." The Pareto Principle is named for the nineteenth century economist that came up with it and it states that 80% of the revenue is generated from 20% of it customers.  

This principle can also be translated to our lives, as 20% of actions that you complete on a daily basis produce 80% of the results. We often times get caught up in thinking we have to do everything ourselves, which in turn leaves no time to invest in the actions that produce 80% of our success. Recently, we have hired a babysitter to stay with us one night a week, so that Megan and I can have a date night. This choice to pay someone to stay with us has opened up time for me to write my weekly posts before spending quality time with my wife. I have reaped huge dividends both in my personal and professional life.  

Thus, Analyze the actions that you complete on a daily basis and identify which ones produce 80% of the results. Then, see if you can hire or find someone else to complete the other tasks that take you away from these.

Pretty crazy to read where I was in W21, but the Pareto principle is just as important now in W82, as it was in W21. I knew back then completing my weekly posts was one of my 20% activities which produced 80% of my results.

Today my reality is much more complicated as we are in the midst of firming up everything in Brazil, and preparing for our move to China in August. Additionally, I am devoting time for the LYP and also starting my software companies in the midst of working 8-5 everyday, being a husband, father, and the numerous other errands which need to be completed on a daily basis. 

I wrote in the past two weeks about how you can accelerate your progress by measuring and reporting your performance, and I mentioned to use the Pareto principle. Today I want to dive deeper into how you can use it. 

Not sure who said "Work smarter not harder!" but this is totally necessary to avoid burnout on the path to achieving your dreams. 

For me, I felt the burnout as I was trying to do EVERYTHING and expecting everything to come out a certain way. Thus, when they did not, I became super frustrated. I have learned last week, we can not see the whole path to achieving our dreams, we can only see 200 yds in front of us. Thus trying to control every aspect, will only lead to burnout. 

So how can you find clarity? Use the Pareto principle continuously.

First, I know that publishing the LYP book and starting my software companies are the results I have been working for. Although I was taking consistent actions in achieving both goals, I was not making the gains I was hoping for. 

Thus, I drilled down even more and applied the Pareto principle again. Take a look.

Write weekly LYP blog post.

Write weekly article in Medium.

Work on free course for book.

Work on creating perfect reading avatar.

Complete keyword searches on Amazon.

Watch videos in The Foundation.

Talk to people about our products.

Write cold emails.

Create wireframes.

Complete work in Traffic and Funnels to learn how to acquire customers.

Now this list is not the whole list, but gives you a pretty good idea of what is happening outside of my regular duties as a husband, father, and my 8-5. 

Now going back to what my ultimate outcome of publishing a book and creating software companies I looked at the list again and drilled down into how each was helping me achieve these results. I analyzed time and level of progress.

Write weekly LYP blog post...1 Hour a week. Instrumental in organizing and collecting thoughts about LYP.

Write weekly article in Medium...1 Hour a week, but only have a few followers currently.

Work on free course for book...1 Hour a day and still 8 months out from publishing date.

Work on creating perfect reading avatar...30 min per day and still 8 months out from publishing date.

Complete keyword searches on Amazon...30 min per day and still 8 months out from publishing date.

Watch videos in The Foundation...1 Hour a week and in a stage where I currently am not. 

Talk to people about our products....30 minutes a day, but dried up all contacts. 

Write cold emails...findings leads, and then crafting email sequences. 20 min per day and ran out of leads right now. 

Create wireframes....30 min a day, but is necessary to continue our talks to Mundo Verde (health food chain in Brazil).

Complete work in Traffic and Funnels to learn how to acquire customers...1 Hour a day and is instrumental in learning how to talk to market in most efficient ways, takes an hour a day. 

This really helped me identify my 20% activities, which are write the LYP blog post, create wireframes, and continue working in Traffic and Funnels. These three activities consists roughly 30% of my overall activities, but I know these are the activities which will accelerate me achieving my ultimate outcomes faster. 

I actually feel a huge weight has been removed from my shoulders, as I know what activities to focus on. Although completing all of the other activities would help me make small levels of progress, I know focusing on the 20% activities will accelerate my process even more. 

Do you know what you want to achieve, but feel like a hamster in a wheel making incremental progress? Use the Pareto principal to help you find CLARITY in the 20% activities which will help you achieve your ultimate outcomes!

What Went Well?

Weekly task completed and CLARITY on what activities to focus on to accelerate progress towards publishing the book and launching my software companies. 

What is something we can improve? What actions can we take next week?

Worrying about what everyone thinks. I have learned you can not please everyone and you can only control your actions. Thus, focus on the people you love and make it a point to make them happy and joyful!

What is something to avoid next week?

Trying to please everyone. 

THE PROCESS STRATEGY LIST: 

PLANNING (Implementation Intention):  You will follow through 2X to 3X more likely to complete your weekly task than you normally would just by filling in the following statement.

I plan to complete the weekly task [day] at [time] in [location]. 

A reminder you might have to use multiple Implementation Intentions in order to follow through.

EXECUTION (strategies used):  From week to week, I use a combination of many strategies. There are always some which are used more than others depending on what comes up, but I wanted to offer a link to all them at once. 

My advice is to identify the I CAN'T statement you tell yourself during the most. Then find a strategy below the statement which resonates with you, and then start using it. 

Enjoy!