Monday, July 15, 2013

Study Smart By Understanding The 80/20 Rule

By Lachlan Haynes


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 states that 80% of what we achieve is a direct result of 20% of the actions we take (it also applies to many other areas but they are not the focus of this article). In plain English, this means that only a very small amount of the actions we take each day create most of what we achieve (or don't achieve). The ratio does not have to be 80/20 - it may even be as high as 99/1 - but the point is simply that your major results (your 80%) are actually being dictated by a minority of your actions (your 20%).

Examples of how this applies in your life are everywhere but let's look at a simple example to demonstrate how this works. If you think about everybody you know (friends, family, acquaintances etc) the 80/20 rule tells us that you will spend 80% or more of your time with 20% or less of all of the people you know. Now does that sound about right to you? I bet it does.

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.

Why? Well there is obviously no point focusing on the 80% of activities that is impacting only 20% of your results. That wouldn't make sense would it? That's totally backwards! Instead, you must address all the small areas that have the biggest impact and will maximize your performance. Do what counts. Don't worry about everything, just focus on those things that create the biggest results for you. So, what are the things that create the biggest results I hear you ask?

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?

The biggest 20% area that undoubtedly creates and influences your outcomes are your habits. With poor habits come poor results. There is no doubt about it. You may not even realize it but your habits are impacting you right now. Change your habits and you will change your outcomes.

Motivation levels are almost always a challenge. If you don't feel motivated you don't do anything. If you don't do anything there is no way you can be successful! It's not possible is it? If you feel super motivated each day (a small 20% area) then it will no doubt creates big results for you (the 80% area). Find a way to get motivated each day and you will create a massive transformation in your results.

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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