Find the 1% that Produces 51.2% of Your RESULTS!
There’s a magical 1% of what you do every day that produces 51.2% of your results on average. Would it be of benefit to you to understand how that’s possible AND how to determine what that 1% is?
If so, then you are reading the right article. First, I will explain how that works, and then second, I’ll explain how you can discover that magical 1% and put all your efforts into that 1%.
Do You Know Vilfredo Pareto?
He was an Italian economist and sociologist. He was born on July 15th, 1848, and I was fortunate enough to be born on his birthday. We are birthday brothers. He’s the father of the 80/20 rule also known as the Pareto Principle. He was one of the first to discover that 80% of your results come from just 20% of your efforts. He initially noted that 80% of the wealth of Italy was controlled by 20% of the people and that 80% of his garden’s peapod harvest came from just 20% of the peapods. We realize there are a vital few (20%) things that produce most of our results and the trivial many (80%) that produce little results. You can see in the image how powerful that 20% is.
FOCUS on the 20
It’s important to focus on the 20 – focus on those things that move the needle, that create the results.
But there is something even more powerful than just that 20%. You can focus on the 20% of the 20%. That would produce 80% of the 80% of results.
But Wait – 20% of the 20%
20% of 20% is 4% and 80% of 80% is 64%. That means 4% of your efforts, your actions, the things you do produces 64% of your results. You can see what that looks like.
It Gets Better Going To 20% of the 4%
Now if we take the 20% of the 4% to get the highest possible Pareto Principle we get down to just under 1% which would produce 80% of your 64% of the results which
is 51.2%. So 1% of your efforts are producing 51.2% of your results, outputs, business, etc. You can see what that looks like. A mere 1% of your efforts produce about half of all your results.
As the graph shows there’s tremendous power in the “Vital-Few“ over the “Trivial-Many”. The case is made that you need to focus on only a few right things that produce most of your results. How do we do that?
Finding the 1%
You need to be like the great Sherlock Holmes and become a sleuth of your results. You have to separate the trivial from the vital. It starts with awareness. Just knowing that some things are more important than others allows you to find them.
There are Natural Times To Look for the 1%
At the end of the day is perfect, what when right today? What were the key few items that worked well? What was a waste of time? The end of the week is another good time to ask the question – where did our results come from this week?
The 1% are typically things that are important but not necessarily urgent. They are of high value and high impact. Look to unpack your wins and your successes. When the results come in ask where did that come from? How did it happen? What made that run so smoothly? Unpack all your big wins.
What’s Not Part of the 1%?
It’s also important to watch what you are doing that is not moving the needle. Things in your day that are wasting time or not contributing enough to results. Be selective with your time and remember that if you have 10 things to do 2 of them will produce 80% of your results and if you can find the right one it will produce over 50% of your results. The power is in you taking the time to be aware and unpack success.
Top 1% Activities
Typically the activities that are the 1% that produce 51.2% of your results are working with: sales and selling, creating, delegating, training, partnering, high-value meetings, client connections, and innovating.
Be aware, they are there.
Now find the 1% task that produces 51.2% of your results to take control and make it a great day… Blaine
Blaine Oelkers is a lifetime entrepreneur, graduate of Purdue University and Stanford University’s Entrepreneurship program. He’s achieved over 100 Million dollars in sales and coached thousands of people. He’s America’s Chief Results Officer® and Day Ahead™ Specialist helping business owners go from being a day behind to being a day ahead in business and in life. He’s the world’s greatest creator of valuable doneness. He can be reached at blaine@selfluence.com.
To learn more visit www.BeingADayAhead.com