Have you heard of the 80/20 rule?  Likely you have.  Also known as the Pareto Principle, it is the concept that 80% of the effect comes from 20% of the causes. This can then be applied into many areas of life.  The phenomenon was originally observed in Italy, where 20% of the people had 80% of the wealth.  Since then it has become a rule of thumb for business.  The numbers are not exact, it is not a scientific proof, but the trend is general and consistent; consistent enough that people are able to use it to guide them into making their business more effective.

Examples of where it might be used include:

• 80% of an organization’s sales will come from 20% of their salespeople
• 80% of your business will come from 20% of your customers
• 80% of your investment income will come from 20% of your investment

You can also look at things from the opposite perspective:

• 20% of your customers will cause 80% of your headaches
• you wear 20% of your clothing, 80% of the time
• 20% of patients use 80% of healthcare resources
• the final 20% of your workout will provide 80% of the results

And of course the list goes on and on.  There are lots of ways that the Pareto Principle can be used to help you be more successful.  This article will focus on one of those.

20% of your activities will produce 80% of your results!

Think about that for a moment.  Out of all of the things you do, 1/5 th of your activity is what creates 4/5 ths of your value.  That is pretty significant.  Again, you can reverse the concept.  Only 80% of your activity accomplishes only 20% of your results.  This leads to an obvious question:

How can you do more of the activities that are really producing results?

If you can take those high-result activities that you currently spend 20% of your time on, and increase the amount of time you spend on them, you can make yourself more effective and accomplish even more. Imagine if, instead of taking 20% of your time on these high results activities, you were able to increase that to 30% or even 40%.  Your results would skyrocket.  You would be getting a lot more important things accomplished.

What are your 20% activities?

The first step in doing this is to identify what your 20% activities are.  What are the activities that produce the most results in your life and business?  What are the activities that help you move more quickly towards your goals?  The list of activities will differ significantly between different goals and businesses.

For someone in sales the 20% activities might be:

• phoning new prospects
• following up with current prospects
• making sales presentations

Things that are not in the top 20% are likely:

• updating your contact list
• cleaning your office
• analyzing your competitors products

If you are a blogger the 20% activities might be:

• writing new articles
• writing guest posts
• commenting on other blogs

Things that are not in the top 20% are likely:

• making continual search engine optimization changes
• focusing on web design
• playing with fancy new online tools

You can’t completely ignore the 80% activities.

The 80% activities will never go away.  In fact, you can’t stop doing them.  Often they provide a foundation for making the 20% activities so successful. The fact that you understand your customer’s products DOES make your sales calls more effective.  The search engine optimization you have done allows your articles to reach more people.  These activities are useful and you still need to build them into your day.

You just want to REDUCE the amount of time you spend on them.

Take the time to make your list.  What are your 20% activities? Those activities that produce most of the results as you work towards your goals. The list might surprise you.  How are you at doing these activities?  Are there ways you can do more?  Even putting in a little more time into the activities that pay off the most can allow you to reap huge benefits.  On the flip side, what falls into your 80% activities?  What are the activities that, while useful, are only contributing 20% of your results?  Identifying this list will help you see patterns.  You will be able to see what you can cut back on and where you can shift time away from.
Do it today.  Make your list. It likely won’t get it exactly right the first time, but start with a list in hand.  Use that list to plan your week.  After your week review your list again.  Make any changes you need until you are sure you have your list right.  You may even want to log your time, recording what you do in each fifteen minute segment.  Know what your 20% activities are, and then do more of them!

Written by:

Danny Gamache –The Success Professor

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A little over a year ago I shared a list of my top 10 podcasts.  The list has become one of the most popular posts on this site.  Over that time some of the podcasts have gotten better, some have gotten worse, and a few have basically disappeared.  On top of that, I have discovered a few new podcasts that are excellent. In this article you will find the updated list!

Podcasts are a fantastic way of learning, being inspired, and for personal growth. They are audio presentations that you download and are able to listen to at your convenience, whether on iTunes or on an iPod (or other Mp3 player).  If you don’t currently listen to any podcasts the first step is to download iTunes.  After subscribing to podcasts, such as the ones listed below, iTunes will automatically download any recent episodes every time you open the program.  I listen to some podcasts directly on my computer and download others to my iPod.

Each of these podcasts can be found by searching for the title in the iTunes store, or by subscribing at the webpage linked to in the title of each podcast.

1. The Daily Boost

This is a powerful motivation podcast from motivationtomove.com. The free podcast is generally a once a week motivating message, that comes out of their daily podcast service for “premium” members.

The message is short, about 10 minutes a day, and provides a powerful personal development tip that motivates you to move forward.  You may consider upgrading to the paid premium membership, the podcasts are that good!  At least check out the free version.

http://www.podanza.com/podcast/the-daily-boost/1f69ac3b897e89089c4df741388ef093/

2. Inspiring Words of Encouragement – Zig Ziglar

Motivational expert Zig Ziglar offers this excellent podcast.  The subject list is diverse within the framework of living a positive life.  Past episodes include tips on success, lessons for salespeople, and even parenting advice.

This podcast is updated every two weeks, and I never fail to be encouraged, inspired, and to learn every episode.  The full archives are available for download also, giving you lots of powerful motivational material.

http://www.podanza.com/podcast/inspiring-words-of-encouragement/45e6042b3698d45c9a06ff1686a395ac/

3. Mosaic – A Community of Faith, Love & Hope

One of two churches that make the list.  I hesitate to call it a church.   Partly because it meets in a night club, and partly because it is nothing like most churches you may have experiences with.

Pastor Erwin McManus is an amazing communicator of God’s word.  He does it in a way that communicates the true message of Jesus.  He speaks of important personal development topics such as work, relationships and money.  Be sure to make your way into the archives of past messages.  My favorite messages that I recommend you check out are entitled, “Fear”, “Work”, and “Everyone Gave”.

http://www.mosaic.org/podcast/

4. Duct Tape Marketing Podcast

John Jantsch, author of the book Duct Tape Marketing, hosts this excellent podcast filled with interviews of marketing experts and entrepreneurs.  It is always informative and helps to keep up to date with trends in the world of marketing, particularly social media and new marketing. These podcasts come approximately once a week and there is a fantastic archive of previous episodes.

http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/podcast.php

5. Harvard Business Review Ideacast

This weekly podcast from the editors of Harvard Business Review shares interviews with the author of an article in the current issues of the Harvard Business Review.  Listening to this podcast allows you to hear about import research in the world of business and get application ideas directly from the author.

http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/hbr/hbr_ideacast.jhtml

6. Help My Business Sucks *video podcast*

This is the only video podcast on my list.  I am not usually as much of a fan of video podcasts because I prefer to listen to podcasts while walking to work or driving.  In spite of that this video podcast is worth subscribing to.  I let a few weeks accumulate at a time and then watch through them during a workout.

This podcast is done by Andrew Lock and focuses on marketing for the small business owner and entrepreneur.  It is an excellently produced piece that includes several different segments in each week’s episode.  The idea is that all decisions an organization makes needs to be tied to marketing.  Lock frequently repeats his theme, “Everything is marketing, and marketing is everything.”

http://helpmybusiness.com/

7. Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast

This is a monthly leadership training podcast by leadership expert, author and pastor Andy Stanley.  While the podcast is actually designed for church leaders it is a valuable resource for anyone trying to grow an organization, especially entrepreneurs.  The current series has been on the topic of vision, and it has discussed how to come up with your vision, state your vision clearly, and communicate it to your organization.

To subscribe visit this site: (it is the third podcast listed)
http://www.northpoint.org/podcasts

8. CBC Radio Vinyl Café

Stuart McLean is a master storyteller.  This podcast of his weekly radio show is a fantastic break from the ordinary as it allows you to listen to a master story teller at work. This podcast is a wonderful break for relaxation and stress reduction.  If you are looking for a personal development angle beyond the rest it is this: listening to Stuart will help you become a better storyteller for all of your presentations.

http://www.cbc.ca/podcasting/index.html?arts#vinylcafe

9. Mars Hill Bible Church

The second church to make my list is Mars Hill Bible Church from Grand Rapids, MI home of pastor and author Rob Bell.  Because of Bell’s travel schedule normally about half of the teachings are from him and half are from other fantastic guest speakers.  Bell teaches the Bible in a way that helps you open your eyes to the uniqueness of who Jesus is and the type of people he calls us to be.  Again, this is not your typical church.

http://marshill.org/teaching/pcast.php

10. Behind the Leader/ Renegade Profile

This podcast is a series of excellent interviews conducted by Jonathan Fields author of Career Renegade.  The podcast consists of interviews with business leaders and entrepreneurs.  The podcast recently switched from “Renegade Profiles” to “Behind the Leader” in order to focus more on established business leaders.  There are plenty of podcasts to listen through in the back catalogue with all sorts of different entrepreneurs.  The interviews Fields conducts are excellent and thorough, many lasting almost an hour. He asks great questions that really help you get an idea of how these leaders and entrepreneurs think.

You’ll need to go to the iTunes store to subscribe, but you can check out a sample episode here:

http://www.jonathanfields.com/blog/behind-the-leader-mullen-cco-edward-boches/

I hope you find a couple of valuable podcasts from this list.  What did I miss?  What is your favorite?  Be sure to share below!

Written by:
The Success Professor – Danny Gamache

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Hello everyone,

The year is 17 days old.  How are you doing at moving towards your goals? Stop for a minute.  Celebrate if you are on track, if you are not, get back on track today!

Every couple of weeks I share some of the best posts I have found around the web.  Here is today’s top choices!

1. Mary Janksch at Goodlife Zen, shares “Why Some People Thrive No Matter What Happens.”

2. Entrepreneur and author Guy Kawasaki introduces the “The Six Twitter Types.”

3. “Is it too Late to Catch Up?” Seth Godin shares how a business can get up to speed on the internet.  This is a great list even anyone who uses the internet.

4. Elizabeth Griffen shares why you should complete “One Project at a Time.”

5. The blog Pickthebrain shares “5 Reasons Why You Might NOT Want to Work For Yourself.”

Enjoy!

The Success Professor – Danny Gamache

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In the personal development and self help work there is a lot of focus on setting and achieving goals.  If you’ve read this blog for any length of time you will know that I am a firm believe in this kind of goal setting.  Unfortunately, one thing that is often missing is celebrating goals that have been achieved. We tend to move from one goal to another. If we do celebrate it is for just a short while before moving on to the next goal. It is important to look back from time to time at what you have achieved.

Reviewing your accomplishments does a lot of things for you:

• reminds you of good things in your life
• helps you focus on positive happy things
• gives you belief that you can really accomplish your goals
• forces you to be thankful about where you have come from
• sparks your imagination about future goals
• inspires you to do it again

You can do a review of your accomplishments at anytime.  Here is how:

1.    Pick a period of time to review. One year is a good starting point, but you could also go shorter (try six months), or a little longer (perhaps three years).

2.    Divide your life into important roles or functional areas. (If you follow my weekly goal setting plan you should already have this done).

3.    Think through the MOST IMPORTANT thing you have accomplished in each area during the specified time period.

4.    Think through other accomplishments that you have achieved that you are proud of.

5.    Don’t forget to include little things. Sometimes little things to you would be big things to others, plus what is little to you know may have been a big thing at some point in the past.

6.    Look at old goals lists so you don’t forget anything.

Once you have done a review make sure you put it somewhere that you can return to it. You want to review your accomplishments from time to time to help you remember the goals that you have achieved.

Lastly, make it an annual tradition. I do an annual review as a part of my New Year goal setting process. You can use my reviews as an example.  Here is my review of 2008 and my review of 2009.

You don’t need to wait until a new year to do this exercise. You can do it anytime. The benefits are worth the time. Before you leave this article, schedule a time to do this exercise. Even taking thirty minutes will go a long way.

Written by:
Danny Gamache – The Success Professor

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One trap that many people fall into is the trap of comparing themselves to others. This is a trap because it only leads to negative results. You cannot win by comparing yourself to others.

When you are comparing yourself to others you are likely doing one of four things:

1. You compare yourself to people who are more successful than you and you get discouraged.

Comparing yourself with people more successful than you may cause you to be discouraged because they have achieved success and you have not. You start looking at their level of success as where you should be. This causes you to look at what you do not have instead of what you do have. It takes away from an attitude of thankfulness and contentment with your current situation. While it is healthy to have goals that you pursue, it is not healthy to get discouraged because others get there faster or have more.

2. You compare yourself with people who are more successful than you and you make excuses.

Another risk in comparing yourself with people more successful is that you start to make excuses for your current position. You start to think about why they have succeeded and you have not. You use these differences to justify your current situation – as an excuse. Certainly other people will have a different skill set, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t succeed with what you have.

3. You compare yourself with people less successful than you and you get prideful.

It is easy to feel good about yourself when you compare yourself with people who you think are less successful than you are. This is a false form of self-esteem. True self-esteem does not come from considering yourself better than others. It comes from an awareness of your abilities, what you can achieve, and what you have achieved already.

4. You compare yourself with people less successful than you and you get satisfied.

If you continually compare yourself with people who you view as less successful it is easy to get satisfied with where you are at. If you get satisfied with where you are at, you are less likely to pursue goals that may make a big difference in your life and in the lives of others. You are unique. Your skills and abilities are different from everyone else. You should be satisfied when you do your very best. Your satisfaction should not come from the fact that you are further ahead than someone else. They started at a very different point than you.

Instead of comparing yourself to others:

1. Learn from those more successful than you.

Don’t look at the success of others and get discouraged. Don’t look at them and make excuses for where you are at. Look at successful people and learn from them. Look at their activity. What are they doing to reach their goals? Take those activities and duplicate them in your life. You will move towards the type of successes that they have.

2. Teach those less successful than you.

Don’t look down on people less successful than you and get prideful. Don’t use their lack of success and get satisfied with where you are at. Instead, look for ways to encourage, lead, and teach those people. If they are willing to learn you can lift them up. If you have gotten somewhere that they would like to get, you can help them get there too. Success is not a limited pie. When others become more successful, it doesn’t mean you become less successful. In fact, it is usually the opposite. As you help people become more successful you become more successful as well.

In conclusion:

• don’t compare yourself with others
• learn from those more successful than you
• teach those less successful than you
• understand that everyone started at a different place
• everyone can succeed by doing the best that they can

Written by:

The Success Professor – Danny Gamache

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Each year you should take some time to conduct a review of your accomplishments in the past year.  This should be a review of your successes.  What did you do well?  What did you accomplish?  Here is my 2009 list.  (You can see the 2008 version here)

MOST IMPORTANT

BABY

At the end of April we welcomed a healthy baby boy into the world.  He continues to be healthy, happy, and big!   He brings joy to our lives on a daily basis and certainly is the most important thing about 2009.

Travel

Unlike previous years, we stayed closer to home in 2009, but did travel significantly throughout North America:

• visited 12 States and 4 Canadian Provinces
• highlights include Old City Quebec & Johnson Space Center in Houston

Business

Continued to focus on both the Success Professor blog and on our Home Business Program where we help people to get healthy, go green, and earn extra money while they do it:

• had over 10,000 page views in one month
• again earned over $10,000 in our home business program
• helped three people reach the leadership levels in our home business program

Volunteer

• completed time on leadership of our church after over 4 years of service
• continued to oversee bookkeeping and finances for our church

Career/ Work

• successfully completed the GMAT, scoring in the 98 percentile!
• applied to PhD programs for fall of 2010
• once again taught my largest ever classes

Personal

• maintained my weight (after losing 14 lbs in 2008)
• established a full emergency fund (article on this coming soon!)
• saw the Broadway musicals: Jersey Boys, In The Heights, Chicago
• visited another Major League Ballpark (Milwaukee) to watch a game

Most Read Posts of 2010

1. How to Make a Good First Impression
2. The Importance of Keeping Consistent
3. How to Stay Consistent
4. What is Holding You Back?
5. 6 Steps to Defeating Self Doubt
6. 8 Ways to Pay Off Your Mortgage Quickly
7. Lou Holtz’s 5 Keys to Success
8. How to Work in Bursts
9. WIN NOW
10. What is Your 4 Minute Mile?

Thank you all for your support in 2009, and best wishes for 2010!

Written by:

The Success Professor – Danny Gamache

Hi everyone!

I’m back after a break to mark exams and for Christmas.  I’m excited about the New Year.  Are you?

Here’s some of the best articles I’ve come across over the last couple of weeks!

1. Chris Guillebeau from “The Art of Non-Conformity” shared about how to conduct an “Annual Review“.

2. On a related note Michael Hyatt shares “7 Questions to Ask About Last Year.”

3. Here’s a great system on how to integrate habits into your life from Freestyle Mind.

4. Wasabi Burger shares the scientific “Formula of Motivation.”

5. Learn about the power of “1000 True Fans” on The Technium.

Now start the year right by doing something that will help you reach your goals!

The Success Professor – Danny Gamache

PS. I just helped another team member reach the leadership level with our home business, which means I have more time available to help someone else.  If you have a goal of increasing your self-employment income in 2010 visit http://dannyg.makemoreathome.com