THE 80/20 RULE:

ACHIEVE MORE
WITH LESS IN LIFE
by Celestine Chua
www.personalexcellence.co
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
1. The 80/20 Rule: How To
Achieve More With Less In
Life

2. 6 Common Misconceptions of
The 80/20 Rule

3. Apply 80/20 to Your Life Now

in 3 Simple Steps

4. About
The 80/20 Rule:
How To Achieve More
With Less In Life

This is part 1 of a 3-part series on the 80/20 rule and how you can
achieve more with less in life with it.

• Part 1: The 80/20 Rule: How To Achieve More With Less In Life
• Part 2: Why You Should Not Resist The 80/20 Rule
• Part 3: Apply 80/20 to Your Life Now in 3 Simple Steps

(Image: Personal Excellence)

 "Conventional wisdom is not to put all of your eggs in one
basket. 80/20 wisdom is to choose a basket carefully, load all
your eggs into it, and then watch it like a hawk." — Richard
Koch, The 80/20 Principle

Today I am going to share the power of using the 80/20 rule in your
life. While I initially used it at work, I later realized that it applies to all
aspects of our life — from relationships to our habits to our health —
and there are great rewards from applying it.

What is the 80/20 Rule?

Imagine you are the CEO of a company and you have a salesforce.
In a world where everything is equal, you will assume that everyone
contributes to your sales proportionately i.e., 20% of the staff bring in
20% of the sales, 50% of the staff bring in 50% of the sales, and 80%
bring in 80% of the sales.

But what if instead of a 1-1 relationship, you realize that 80% of your
sales actually come from 20% of your salesforce?
 The 80/20 Rule

(Image: Personal Excellence)

This is the 80/20 rule — where 80% of results (or output) in a

situation come from 20% of causes (or input). This phenomenon
was first discovered by Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian Economist who
found that approximately 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20%
of the population. He first observed this principle while gardening and
noticed that 20% of the peapods yielded 80% of harvested peas.

This 80/20 effect is also known as the Pareto principle, the 80/20
principle, and the law of the vital few, where "vital few" refers to the
vital few factors that contribute to much of the outcome.
Examples of 80/20 in Action
Here are some of many situations where the 80/20 rule can be
observed:

• Population: 80% of the population in England (25.8 million out

of 32.3 million) come from 20% of its cities (53 out of 263 cities).
• Resource Consumption: 70% of the world's energy, 75% of its
metals, and 85% of its timber are consumed by 20% of the
world's countries (these countries have less than 20% of the
world's population).
• Natural Resources: 80% of Earth's mineral wealth is produced
by far less than 20% of the Earth’s surface.
• Wealth: 85% of total global assets are owned by 10% of
adults.[1]
• Crimes: A large percentage of crimes tends to be committed by
repeat offenders, which make up a small proportion of the
overall population. In Sweden, 1% of the population is
responsible for 63% of violent crime.[2]
• Books: 80% of the value in a book can be gained from 20% of
its content.
• Clothes: Most of the time you wear the same few clothes in
your wardrobe.
• Divorces: A small proportion of married individuals are
responsible for a higher than proportionate share of divorces,
which is also why many more second and third marriages fail
compared to first marriages.[3]
• Consumption: In every industry, a small selection of brands
dominates the world's consumption, e.g., Coca-Cola and Pepsi
 for sodas, Microsoft Windows and Macintosh for operating
systems, and Samsung and iPhone for mobile phones.[4]
• Daily Life: When you eat out, you usually dine at the same few
restaurants.
• Smoking: 100% of cigarette consumption is by nearly 20% of
the world's population.[5]
• Business: 80% of sales tend to come from 20% of customers
(your loyal customers who love your work). 80% of complaints
tend to come from 20% of customers.
• Relationships: 80% of the happiness and value you get from
relationships is from 20% of the people you know (your close
friends, family, partner).
• Goal achievement: 80% of the results in your goal are from
20% of your actions (meaning a few vital tasks contribute to the
biggest results in your goal).

.... and so on.

Applying the 80/20 Rule to Our Life

The 80/20 rule tells us that a large proportion of results is due to a
small portion of causes.

• 20% of input leads to 80% of output. I call these the 20% high-
impact tasks. High-value because they create high-impact
results.
• On the other hand, 80% of input leads to only 20% of output. I
call these the 80% low-impact tasks. Low-impact because
even when you do them and do them very well, they do not
contribute significantly to the outcome.
 (Image: Personal Excellence)

It doesn't have to be exactly 80-20 — for example, 70% of output can

be caused by 30% of input, or 60% of output can be caused by 40%
of input. The percentages of input and output don't have to add up to
100 percent either — 70% of output can be caused by 20% (vs. 30%)
of input. It just happened that Pareto's observation was 80-20 (rather
than 70-20 or 60-10).

The point is to know that (a) the relationship between input and
output is often not 1:1, and (b) some inputs are far more
impactful than others.

The 80/20 rule has two implications for you and me.
Fact #1: Understanding that Less is More

Firstly, not everything is equal. No matter what you do, there are
always a few vital tasks that matter more. You want to focus on the
vital few, the 20% high-impact tasks, rather than spread yourself thin.

This is also known as "Less is More" where doing less will net you
more results. This is the same as being effective rather than efficient,
something that I talk about in my time management posts.

Applying "Less is More" means asking yourself:

• How can I remove the tasks that do not create as much value?
• How can I focus my energy on activities that make me happier
and more fulfilled?

Fact #2: Achieving More with Less

Our society today has a "More with More" mindset. We are told that
we need to do more to be more. If we're not doing more, we are
losers. So we straddle multiple responsibilities, have our hands
constantly full, and have to-do lists so long that they extend to the
next 3 months.

But the more we do, the more exhausted we are. As we try to keep
up with never-ending needs and responsibilities, our health wanes,
our social life suffers, and all the extra money we earn goes into
paying for more expenses and loans. For all the time we spend doing
more and more, we sure do not seem to be getting more in return.

What if we don't achieve "More with More"? What if we really

achieve "More with Less" — where we make more progress by
focusing on the vital few? By channeling all our energy to the
things that matter and not by trying to chase every shiny thing?

The 80/20 rule is about how to get more out of your life. When
you scale back on the things that aren't important, you get more time
for the things that are. When you cut away tasks that drain you, you
have more time and energy for the things that matter.

In the end, the goal of the 80/20 is to achieve more with less, so
that we can make the most out of our time on Earth. To focus on
what gives us the most meaning, so that we can be fulfilled and
happy.

In the next part, I share the 6 common misconceptions people have

about the 80/20 rule. Read Part 2 here: 6 Common Misconceptions of
The 80/20 Rule

This article was first published at:

personalexcellence.co/blog/80-20/

This is part 1 of a 3-part series on the 80/20 rule and how you can
achieve more with less in life with it.
6 Common
Misconceptions of The
80/20 Rule

This is part 2 of a 3-part series on the 80/20 rule and how you can
achieve more with less in life with it.

(Image: Personal Excellence)

When teaching the 80/20 rule in my classes, I notice some common

misconceptions about it. Here I want to clarify them:
1. Misconception #1: 80/20 means eliminating all unimportant
tasks. Not true. Some tasks are low-value but need to be done.
For example, washing laundry and paying the bills. Not doing
them will create significant negative downsides. The 80/20 rule
is about spending more time on the important, spending less
time on the unimportant (by automating, batching, delegating,
etc.), and eliminating the tasks with almost no value (not doing
them will not make a difference).
2. Misconception #2: It must be precisely 80/20. Not
necessarily. As I mentioned in Part 1, It just happened that
Pareto’s observation was 80-20 (rather than 70-20). So say you
have 10 tasks on your to-do list. It doesn't mean that there must
be precisely 2 tasks (20% of the 10 tasks) of high value. Maybe
you have 3 tasks that contribute to 80% of the results. Maybe 4
of the tasks contribute to 90% of the results. The point is that a
small percentage of inputs leads to a large percentage of
results.
3. Misconception #3: The numbers should add up to 100. 80%
represents the effects while 20% represents the causes. When
Pareto made the connection, it was regarding the distribution of
wealth in Italy, where 20% of people owned 80% of the land.
The reality is that it can be 70/20, 90/30, etc. The percentage of
causes and the percentage of effects do not have to add up to
100.
4. Misconception #4: 80/20 is about being lazy. No — 80/20 is
about being effective. When you use the 80/20, you think about
the areas where you can make the most impact so that you can
focus on them. It's about using your limited energy to create the
maximum impact, rather than being haphazard and unstrategic
in the way you do things.
 5. Misconception #5: It only applies to business. While 80/20
gained popularity in the business world, it can be found in
almost everything in life. It can be found in sports,
science, software, medicine, and more. It can be found in our
relationships, beliefs, goals, habits (20% of habits will make the
biggest difference), and health (20% of actions will make the
biggest difference to our health). It's really a way of life.
6. Misconception #6: 80/20 is about being mercenary. Some
people resist the 80/20 because they don't want to choose. They
are uncomfortable saying no. They want to do everything. But
when you don't apply the 80/20, you are already choosing —
you are choosing against the high-impact tasks that could
benefit enormously from your attention and focus. 80/20 is
about choosing to make the most impact with your limited
time on Earth.

My initial resistance toward 80/20

I used to write off the 80/20 rule because I felt it was at odds with my
perfectionist self. My belief was that we should give our 100% in
everything, rather than pick things to focus on. I also felt that the end
result of any activity came from the sum of its inputs. If we were to cut
away the parts that “do not matter as much,” the net result would
suffer in ways we could not anticipate.

But these feelings came from linear thinking and not looking at the
big picture. I later realized that I was looking at things in the wrong
way, without regard for resource constraints. Sure, in a perfect world
where I had unlimited time, energy, and resources (money, etc.) at
my disposal, then the 80/20 wouldn't matter. If I could split myself into
100 bodies and be in 100 places at once, plus not sleep without
detriment to my body, then I could focus on 100% of inputs with
100% dedication.

But because human energy is finite, and we have a non-

renewable resource that is our time on Earth, we need to be
conscious of how we spend our time and energy. That's where
the 80/20 rule comes in. Over the years, by applying the 80/20, I've
learned to

• Focus on the goals that make the most difference, rather than
overwhelming myself with 20 little goals.
• Identify the few key tasks that grow my blog the fastest, and
hence grew my blog quickly to be one of the top self-help blogs
today.
• Focus on positive relationships that uplift me, rather than drain
myself with negative people and people who simply don't
appreciate my help.
• Not strive to serve every customer (or reader), but to serve
customers who appreciate what I do, who value my time, and
who don't take me for granted. Knowing that I can remove the
0.01% toxic web visitors has freed up much of my mental energy
to serve the 99.99%.

For the idealist and perfectionist, the 80/20 rule is even more
important because it helps us achieve more and be more despite
our limited time and energy. By prioritizing correctly and putting
our energy in the right places, we get much more out of life.

The Role of Judgment in 80/20

Like any law or principle, the application by people means that
perception and judgment will come into play.

This means that we may make mistakes. We may think that certain
tasks are 20% high-value when they aren't. We may cut off certain
low-impact tasks that turn out to be crucial later.

The best way to tackle this is to improve our judgment. This can be
done by learning. By making mistakes. By measuring our results and
quantifying the link between input and output. By studying what the
best people are doing, we can learn from them.

Remember that when you do not make a choice on what to do, you
make a choice against other things that can grow
significantly under your care. Rather than avoid making choices
because you are afraid to cut out something important, strive to refine
your judgment to make better decisions. Since there will always be a
certain degree of error in our judgment, we can only strive for the
most accurate application of the 80/20 rather than perfection. We
may never be 100% correct, but the more we learn, the more data
points we have to improve our judgment and make a more
accurate assessment.

As we see more positive results, it means we are moving in the right

direction. With practice, we can only get better. :)

In the last part, I share a 3-step method to apply 80/20 to all areas of
your life. Read Part 3: Apply 80/20 to Your Life in 3 Simple Steps

This article was first published at:

personalexcellence.co/blog/80-20-part-2/

This is part 2 of a 3-part series on the 80/20 rule and how you can
achieve more with less in life with it.
Apply 80/20 to Your Life
Now in 3 Simple Steps

This is the last part of a 3-part series on the 80/20 rule and how you
can achieve more with less in life with it.

(Image: Personal Excellence)

There are three simple steps to apply the 80/20 to your life, as
outlined in Living the 80/20 Way.

Step 1: Identify your 80/20 goals

Start off by identifying your 80/20 goals. They are your 20% goals
that will give you 80% of total happiness when achieved, where 100%
is the collective happiness from achieving all your goals. (Koch
referred to them as the 80/20 destination, but I call them the 80/20
goals.)

What are the 20% goals you truly, truly want? What are the 20%
goals that really matter to you? These are the goals you should
focus disproportionately on. Keep to 2-3 goals. They should be in line
with your life purpose.

The idea is not to overwhelm yourself with 50 goals, because every

goal needs time and effort to achieve it. While you can still have a big
list of goals (such as for your bucket list), being clear about your
80/20 goals helps you focus on your big rocks in life.

Step 2: Identify your 80/20 path

Every goal typically has four possible paths we can take to achieve it:

1. Low Effort, Low Reward

2. High Effort, Low Reward
3. High Effort, High Reward
4. Low Effort, High Reward

Now if you are to choose, which path should you take?

If you answered #4: Low Effort, High Reward, you are right! This is
the 80/20 path, the simplest path to achieve maximum
results. (Koch referred to this as the 80/20 route.)
More with Less Chart (From: Living the 80/20 Way)

Say you are a student and you want to do well in school. Looking at
the four possible paths, they are

1. Low Effort, Low Reward: Study at the last minute

2. High Effort, Low Reward: Attend all lectures but don't pay
attention. Go to classes unprepared. Plan a full timetable to
study but don't focus when studying.
3. High Effort, High Reward: Attend all lectures and pay attention.
Study every day. Do every assessment book on Earth.
Memorize the solutions and answers.
4. Low Effort, High Reward: Attend key lectures. Understand the
key principles of the topics. Identify likely questions that will be
tested by examining trends in past papers and talking to
professors. Study using mind maps and study techniques for
 maximum retention. (Read: How To Get On the Dean’s List
(series))

Out of the four paths, the fourth one will give you the best ROI.

Similarly for every goal, there are always four possible paths
you can take, one of which is the 80/20 path.

Refer to your 80/20 goal. Ask yourself,

1. What are all the paths I can take to achieve this?

2. Out of these, what is the 80/20 path that will take me there?

Research and understand what others have done to achieve similar

goals. Learn from their experience and factor this as you plan your
path. Talk to those with more knowledge. Then, map out your 80/20
path.

Step 3: Identify your 80/20 actions

Your 80/20 actions are your key pillars of success.

Instead of jumping straight into the thick of things, take a step back.
Study all the actions you can take in your path. Again, study what
those who succeeded in this goal did. What are the key actions that
will make a huge difference in the big scheme of things? What
are the "need-to-do" vs. the "nice-to-do"? What are the few actions
that really matter, and when acted upon, will guarantee success?
These are your 80/20 actions.

When I started Personal Excellence, I read a lot of materials written

by successful bloggers discussing the methods they used to drive
traffic to their sites. Each had different winning formulas, including
word of mouth, guest posting, blog commenting, posting in forums,
posting at social bookmarking sites, writing quality content,
networking with bloggers, partnership, writing e-books, search engine
optimization for Google, getting listed in article directories — all in all,
a monstrous list of action steps.

After some trial and error, and observing the general landscape at
that time, I concluded that a few actions were significantly more
effective than others to drive traffic (they were namely writing quality
content, guest posting, and being listed on social bookmarking sites).
I then invested all my effort into them vs. using a blanket approach.
These were my 80/20 actions.

The results paid off — within my first month of launch, I received

30,000 visitors. In less than three years, I reached over a million
pageviews per month.

Similarly, you want to identify your 80/20 actions. You need to

research, experiment, get your feet wet, and try different tactics. The
key here is not to shy away from doing but to (a) try different things,
(b) open your mind and learn from others, and then (c) come up with
your list of 80/20 actions to act on.

Examining your life areas with 80/20

The three-step approach applies to all areas of your life. Here are
some examples:

1. Habits. What is your routine today? Any low-value habits you

should remove? What are the 20% key power habits you can
pick up to create 80% of value in your life, such as meditation
and waking up early?
2. Thoughts. Observe the thoughts that run through your mind.
Which thoughts make you feel good? Which thoughts make you
feel negative? What are the 20% high-value thoughts you can
focus on to make your day better? What 80% low-
value thoughts can you eliminate?
3. Health. What is your current diet? What are the few key things
you can do to improve your health? Drinking eight glasses of
water? Eating more fruits and vegetables? Eating foods with a
high nutritional value?
4. Relationships. What are all your current relationships? List
them down — your family, friends, co-workers, acquaintances,
and relatives. Which 20% of your relationships give you 80% of
your happiness? How can you increase your time spent on
these 20% relationships to get more out of them?
5. Career. Are you in a career that you enjoy? If not, what is your
80/20 path to transition to your ideal career? If you love your
current job, what are the 20% tasks that you enjoy the most —
and how can you do them more often to increase your love for
your work?
6. Wealth. What are the 20% activities that generate most of your
wealth now? How can you focus on them to increase your
profit? If you are an employee, what are the key variables that
your pay is linked with? How can you focus on these variables to
maximize your performance?
7. Productivity. What are your daily to-dos? Which 20% of your
daily tasks create the most value and happiness? How can you
spend more time on these 20% tasks? How can you cut away,
reduce, or delegate the 80% tasks that do not give you much in
return?
Practicing 80/20 In My Life
I've been applying the 80/20 rule in my life for over 10 years. Each
time I do so, its value is affirmed to me:

• Relationships. Over the years, I realized that while I have many

people in my social networks, 80% of my enjoyment comes from
a few key individuals. My husband, family members, a few best
friends, and the readers who appreciate what I do. Thus, I focus
more on developing these relationships, while reducing time in
relationships that drain me.
• Habits. I cultivate the few key habits that make the most
difference in my life: (a) eating healthy, (b) meditating, and (c)
waking up early. Though these habits look very simple, they
bring along a huge host of benefits. After cultivating them, I'm
much more productive, focused, and happy. I also know that by
practicing them, I'm improving my health and potential life span.
• Business. A simple analysis of my audience shows me that
20% of my audience give me the greatest support for my work
— they purchase my products, send appreciative notes, and
spread my work to others. These are my most loyal readers who
trust my work and know that I always put out the best stuff. On
the flip side, a very small % of my total audience, maybe 0.01%,
contribute to much of the negativity and toxicity that I get from
running a public site. Following the 80/20 rule, I know to cut out
the latter while focusing on the people who value my work,
rather than thinking that I need to serve everyone and wear
myself out doing so.
• Daily Life. After reflecting on my daily activities, I found that I'm
most inspired when I'm connected with like-minded individuals
 and in nature. Thus, I find ways to do these more often,
connecting with people who share the same interests and going
to parks with my husband. At the same time, I'm constantly
removing tasks that drain me. By doing this, I get more value out
of my daily life. Life becomes much more fulfilling and
rewarding.

Moving Forward
Think about how you can apply the 80/20 to your life and individual
life areas. Start with a small area of your life first, such as
relationships or health, then move on from there. You will start to truly
experience the meaning of "Less is More" and "More with Less."
Good luck! :)

This article was first published at:

personalexcellence.co/blog/80-20-part-3/

This is the last part of a 3-part series on the 80/20 rule and how you
can achieve more with less in life with it.

• Part 1: The 80/20 Rule: How To Achieve More With Less In Life
• Part 2: Why You Should Not Resist The 80/20 Rule
• Part 3: Apply 80/20 to Your Life Now in 3 Simple Steps
ABOUT

Hi, I'm Celes and I’m the founder of

PersonalExcellence.co, one of the top
personal development blogs in the world
with readers from over 200 countries.

The central goal of my work is to help

you achieve your highest potential and
live your best life. If you like this ebook,
then check out my other free material at
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