Here's a Mental Model That 10x-ed My Results

Pareto Principle: 80/20

Even though I spent the last decade of my life building a 7 figure company. I don’t consider myself a business expert, or a guru, or anything close to that.

But I can contribute one mental model to having 10x-ed my results. And it's not complicated or fancy.

In fact, it's embarrassingly simple.

I'm sharing it with you because I believe in the power of giving and because I hope it will help you as much as it has helped me.

You see, many of us don't achieve our goals because we don't know what to focus on.

We don’t know what drives results.

Which actually leads to a common cop out of "I'm too busy" or i’ll get to that after I finish this.

But are we really that busy?

Do we really have that much going on?

Have you ever audit of your time?

Like truly, have you taken a day to audit yourself hour by hour?

I did this for a week and l was SHOCKED at how much time I was spending on certain task, media platforms, in the bathroom, etc.

I even justified the time spent on something by “multi-tasking” but we will save multi-tasking for another letter….let’s stay focused on driving for results.

Where’s My Time Going?

And that’s exactly why auditing my time led to being able to 10x my results.

We’ll get to the mental model soon…

First, I want to put in to perspective how little causes can have drastic effects.

According to statista.com daily time spent on social media is 147 minutes (2hours 27 minutes per day).

So let’s say you’re 30 years old and assuming this daily consumption of 2h 47m a day on social stays consistent.

By the time you are 65 years old you will have spent just over 4 years on social media alone. Not including Netflix, HULU, HBO, and so on.

Here’s the breakdown:

2 + 47 / 60 = 2.78 (2h 47min in to decimal)

2.78 x 365 = 1,014.7h per year

1,014.7h x 35 years = 35,514.5h

35,514.5h / 8760 (hours in 1 year) = 4.05 years

Oh and also, adults will spend an average of around three hours watching TV each day (there goes another 4.375 years of your life).

Do you see how little decisions such as 2.78 hours a day on social media can add up to 4 precious years of opportunity to learn something new!

Or just imagine what you could do and become in half that time…

What would you learn, do, or become if you had 2 years to dedicate to something.

Maybe learn an instrument. What would you play?

How to dance. What kind of dancing?

Transform your body. How would that impact your life?

Although we can’t get lost time back we can decide what skill we learn, starting right now.

Ok, But Where Do I begin?

Well, this is where we get to implement the Pareto principle.

It’s a simple yet powerful idea that can be applied to many different situations. Named after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto.

The Pareto principle also know as the “80/20 rule”.

80% of results come from 20% of efforts.

In other words, a small number of factors are responsible for the majority of the outcome.

For example in your personal life, you spend 20% of time with people that bring you 80% of happiness.

In most organizations, a small number of employees produce the majority of the results.

Similarly, a small number of customers usually generate the majority of sales.

In business, you may be able to increase profits by focusing on your most productive employees or customers.

By understanding and applying the Pareto principle, you can often achieve dramatic results with relatively little effort.

However, there is one catch to this…you have to be consistent.

Just like 2.78 hours a day consistently over time = 4.05 years of your life.

Here’s How I’ve Applied Pareto Principle

No need to buckle up because this is going to be a breeze and you’re about to learn how to 10x your results in any area of your life your big beautiful heart desires.

Literally, this one (20%) adjustment has improved (80%) of my life.

See what I did there 🤓

Pareto Principle is the model that helps me organize creating content for my personal brand and various businesses (free workshop on this at the end of the letter).

Prioritizing My Work

I have (2) to-do lists. I suggest paper and pen, not pencil, make it permanent.

1. Open

2. Closed

Open to-do list serves as a mind dump of all the tasks I would like to get done or think are important but really aren’t.

Once I’ve mind dumped onto the open list I put it away.

Seriously, avoid this list like it’s the plague.

I won’t look at it until I’ve completed my 3 MVP’s (Most Valuable Priorities) for the day or the specified time per MVP for that day.

And more often than not, if I completed all my MVP’s and have time left in the day then I’m spending the remainder however I chose to.

Whether that be pulling from my open list, going on a bike ride, hike, watching something, whatever my mind, body, or soul is asking for.

Closed to-do list are for your 3 MVP’s. I typically assign a 90 minute block per MVP per day.

If an MVP is completed and is now waiting on another person then it gets marked off and revisited when the time is necessary.

My suggestion is to list it by importance and not what you WANT to do.

“Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves.” ~Dale Carnegie~

A good question to ask yourself to determine your MVP’s in any area of your life you want to improve is to consider what actions will have the largest impact on achieving the desired outcome.

Want to lose weight? 20% gym 80% Whole, colorful, non-process foods.

Want to save money? 20% dining out 80% cooking (philo-hack → this saves money, can improve your relationship if you cook with your partner, and help you reach your health goals).

We call that compounding, but more on that for another time.

My goal is not to overwhelm you with information but to leave you with one actionable mental model.

So I hope that this model has helped demonstrate how the Pareto principle can be used to improve your life.

Have an amazing week ahead 🌞 and don’t forget prioritize little moments of gratitude throughout your day.

Nadeem Al-Hasan

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Free Workshop

Matt Gottesman and I are doing a free workshop on Collecting, Organizing, & Distilling content On Tuesday, July 26th @ 11 am PST.

Specifically related to creating content for your personal brand or business.

You can sign up 👉 here👈 for free (expressing content will be part 2 😉)

If you didn’t see last month workshop on Systems Hacking Saving Time & Money You can catch a replay 👉 here 👈

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Somatic Breathwork Session Online - August 14th.

• You can sign up 🌬 here

• Learn more here 👉 here👈

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Free 8-Week Course - Beginning Sept. 20th, 2022.

Philosophical Fellowship: Architects of the Psyche. Join 👉 here👈

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Conclusion

Pareto principle can be a powerful ally in your quest for a better life. By understanding and applying the concepts of this principle, you can reduce mental suffering and make progress towards your goals.

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