The 80/20 Rules Of Life

The Pareto Principle, or The Pareto Ratio, aka The 80/20 Rule, is a principle named after economist Vilfredo Pareto that specifies an unequal relationship between inputs and outputs.

The principle states that 20% of the invested input is responsible for 80% of the results obtained, or 80% of the results can be attributed to 20% of the causes.

In business, it's widely acknowledged that 20% of clients generate 80% of revenues. But what about in life? What are some of the areas in which the 80/20 Rules are prominent and should be observed? Some of them are below:

• 80% of the real enjoyment that you experience in your life will take place during 20% of the time in which you are living. It may be a concentrated period of time, or there may be sporadic moments of bliss, but collectively, if you were to add it all up at the end, you would see that 80% of the time you experience joy would be derived from 20% of the time you were living.

> Time is not money; it's far more valuable - spend it wisely.

• 80% of the value you bring to your job will only be captured in 20% of your work activities. The rest of the time you spend working is just "busy" work and not tied to your productivity. If you don't spend 80% of your time doing what you do best (which is not always what you enjoy most) then your time is not being used optimally, and neither are your skills.

>  Make sure you utilize 80% of your superpowers in your work.

• 80% of the time that you expend on friendships can be better spent nurturing just 20% of your friends. There is only so much time in the day, which means there are only so many people you can spend your time with, and only so many that you can have strong ties to. Once you subtract time spent with family and significant others, you are already operating at a deficit with friendship time, which means you have to be realistic about who is a true friend and who is a true priority with regard to your time.

> Selectively choose friends and prioritize them accordingly.

• 50% of marriages end in divorce because half of the people in them choose the wrong person to marry. Out of the remaining 25%, only 5% are genuinely happy. The other 20% get 80% of their pleasure out of not being alone, versus being together. These couples feign commitment to each other, but are really committed to maintaining their status quo. 

> Make sure significant others can add significance to your life.