I say this about life in general, about many things, to include blogging:
Don’t chase the small stuff (20%) at the expense of the big stuff (80% yes this is also the 80-20 rule for enduring bloggers).
This is the essence of the 80-20 rule and living life the 80-20 way.
You cannot major in the minors while the major things in life stay unfinished or are not focused upon and fixed. Put first things first.
80-20 Can Help Us De-clutter
Here’s how…
I dare say 20% of the stuff we buy we don’t need or ever use, or at least not often enough for us to justify their existence. So here’s what I say…get rid of the junk or don’t buy it in the first place!
80% of what you buy gets obsolete in a year by non-use
Ever but kitchen appliances or a workout bike or machine or tool you never use? We all do. So don’t buy ANYTHING if you won’t use it at least 20% of the time.
That is the biggest trick to de-cluttering. Buy NOT.
For the things you did buy, be willing to give 20% of the stuff up. These 2 things will help you de-clutter greatly. Then you just have to be willing to keep following this advice.
Are there 80-20 rule applications for investing? Sure there are…
- For short-term investors, 80% of what people invest in doesn’t do so well
- For long-term investors, 80% of what people invest in will do well
- 80% of penny stocks will go belly up
- 80$ of the S & P 500 stocks will make long-term gains
What does the 80-20 rule of investing tell us?
80% of your investment success will be to invest for the long run not for get rick quick scheme trading. Buy and hold is where it’s at. Always has been. always will be. Always what provides stability amidst the chaos as 80% of the people scramble to sell and lose money.
Hey, somebody has got to be the 20% who actually make money, right? Otherwise there would be none to be made if the statistic would go higher than that. In fact, the higher the stistic goes for how many people make money, the less each person will actually make.
And there you have it, the 80-20 rule of investing!
Communicating is both an art and a science.
There are several ways to look at communicating from an 80-20 perspective such as:
- 80% of the people out there don’t communicate well
- 80% of the things people communicate go misunderstood
- 80% of the people lose their interest fast, probably i 30 seconds or less
So what does this all tell us?
- We should try to do a better job communicating
- We should be concise, brief, to the point
- We should seek first to understand and then to be understood
Yes I said it and I mean it - 80% of the People Just Don’t Care Anymore
Why do I say this? Because most people just don’t these days. Our society has just become:
- Too selfish and narcissistic
- Too impatient and self-absorbed to take time for others
- Too non-empathetic to others suffering and needs
- Too distracted and apathetic to care
This is a shame, but only 20% of the people can actually…
- Empathize
- Care
- Show true compassion or concern
- Take action to help
Indeed the story of the good Samaritan is still true today, most will just pass by and let things go rather than help. In fact, that’s the 80%, and there you have yet another 80-20 Lifehack, albeit an unfortunate one…most are…so…what are you going to do about it? What 80% of them do, or what 20% of them do? By the way, talk is cheap…so show me…don’t just say it…prove it.
80% of the people don’t have listening skills nor patience these days.
They have egos and only want to hear themselves talk. Their ears itch only to hear what they want to hear. The truth is far from them. Honesty is a sugar coated lie at best. This is a bred culture and it’s hard to break through.
That’s why they don’t listen. They want a manufactured response to give them what they want to hear not what they don’t want to hear but probably should hear. Countries have gone so far as to violate their most basic foundational principles and gave gone to war for the wrong reasons this way, have they not?
Those who do listen, often still don’t…
Listening is indeed a lost art. It means shutting up both the mouth and the mind and actually paying attention. It means giving the person who is speaking the respect and benefit of the doubt that they may indeed say something we don’t know, and can truly learn from. It also means following good advice.
The Story of Troy
I was actually watching the last half of the movie Troy today where the King of Troy was just given the Trojan Horse and the king’s son advised seriously and clearly that the king should burn it. The King did not listen, and he lost his kingdom and his life.
It only reinforces something that I’ve always believed in…that sometimes great advice comes from the mouths of babes…and yes you can find that in the quote from the Bible in Psalms 8:2 and Matthew 21:1 which mentions “out of the mouth of babes” basically can come wisdom from time to time, and it should not be discounted!
Learn to Listen!
Only 20% of the people out there actually do listen, take things to heart and follow directions. That is why failure is more common than success. To be successful you have to listen, and get it right not by what you think is right but what someone tells you, contrary to what you might want to believe!
80% of Bloggers trying to make money online won’t make much money online.
Why not?
Because I think they make these mistakes
1. They get in their own way. A lot.
2. They over-do it. They work on too much at the same time instead of just one thing.
3. They emphasize the wrong things. It’s their 80% emphasis mistake. They put 20% of their time into what deserves 80% of their time and vice-versa.
4. They don’t go the extra mile.
5. They are “get rich quick” and “live for the moment” types who don’t understand the meaning of patience, no shortcuts, hard work and diligent persistence.
Where do you fall?
And there you have the 80-20 rule on New Year’s resolutions!
80% of you won’t follow them for the long haul, only 20% or less will…
Sad but true. What to do?
Do something about it! Don’t be the 80%!
Happy New Year!
I’ll say it again…80% of the advice is no good…
Why not? It sounds good. It works for many people. Why can’t it work for me?
Because people forget that what works for them doesn’t always work for others because:
- They may be comparing apples with oranges...your niche concept versus theirs and the many things they’re not even considering that makes one succeed and the other fail due to vast differences in many details
- They may have overlooked market timing...maybe the market is very opportune for their product or service or info…but not for yours
- They may have had sheer luck of being in the right place at the right time…and later act as if it was all them and they had it all figured out and under control…knowing full well that today’s competition is fierce versus when they started…and knowledge they had is now well known and they may not have been able to do what they did were they to start today…
- They are basing what they tell on some false assumptions…like that their business model can fit yours…assuming they’ve boiled it down to the lowest common denominators when they didn’t…they don’t have time to do your homework…market research…you can’t just slap their model on your business and call it good…
- They perpetuate stuff they hope will work when in actuality they’re unproven ideas which they only THINK or ASSUME will work…just because everyone else is buzzing about it…this is one of the downfalls of the viral ways of the online community…sometimes the wrong advice travels fast and messes up many
- Most importantly, they use a flawed underlying philosophy known as “get-rich-quick” where they often lose what they make so quickly, instead of making money the old fashioned way…by earning it and then keeping it.
This is an entire difference in philosophy people…
Most of what you find out there…80% is get rich quick, and it’s flawed. If you want something real, tested, tried and true for the long haul to actually make some money online, then read more about it here. Otherwise, go back to chasing after the wind!