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by Brother Carlton

01/31/17
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Anybody in sales or time management has probably heard of Pareto's Principle which is also known as the 80/20 Rule.

Pareto's Principle is named after Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923), an Italian economist-sociologist, Professor of Political Economy at Lausanne, Switzerland, who first discovered and described the 80/20 Rule.

Pareto made an important observation. He discovered that eighty percent of the wealth of Italy was controlled by twenty percent of the population. If we apply the 80/20 Rule to goal setting then 20% of your activities will result in 80% of your results. This means if you want to be more productive then find the two things out of a list of ten that will turn out to be more productive than the totality of the other eight things on your list.

Richard Koch is an author and business strategist puts it this way. There is in life the trivial many which represents the 80% and there is the vital few which represents the 20%.

We shall soon see how this works out in various applications but first you'll recall the old cliche that the key to success in life is working hard but experience should teach you that not all hard workers are successful. Sometimes people are successful and achieve great results by not working very hard at all.

It was Ronald Reagan who quipped: "It's true that hard work never killed anyone but I figure why take a chance."

Well, one can appreciate the humor in that statement but what saith scripture?

There's at least one verse that comes to my mind and that is found in Eccl. 9:10 that would seem to validate the principle of diligent work.

"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest."

So should we work harder or should we work smarter? Perhaps both but the Biblical emphasis is on wisdom. You can work hard and be stupid and as Koch points out you would be a disaster and first on the list to be fired by a competent leader or manager.

According to Koch the most productive and wealthiest people spend their time on "the few essentials and little or no time on the massive trivia that engulfs all of us most of the time."

He also says, "Don't work to deal with the trivia. Work to avoid the trivia. Save yourself for the one or two things each week that are really important in terms of getting results. Spend time deciding what those things are then work out how to deal with them."

It's a process you must think through carefully.

Few things really matter but the few things that really matter, matter a tremendous amount.

That reminds me of something the Lord Jesus said in Luke 10:40. There we find when He was with Mary who was sitting at His feet while Martha was full of care because of her much serving and she wanted the Lord to make her sister come to help her.

How did Jesus respond? And Jesus answered and said unto her, "Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:

Verse 42. But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her."

Both Martha and Mary were women of very different temperments. Both were loved by the Lord and gifted with grace but Martha received a chastening word from the Lord, "but one thing is needful."

Health, money, beauty, youth, intelligence are all well in their proper place but they are not needful. Many men and women are happy without them and reach heaven without these "many things." but the "grace of God that bringeth salvation" is the one thing needful."

It is the "vital few" as opposed to the "trivial many" that we must focus on.

Koch says these things that really matter are not easy to find but are often difficult but once you find these few things they give you tremendous power.

Likewise in the spiritual realm eternal life is not easy to find but once you find it (if you find it) it brings a peace that the world can not give. This peace is a power that gives you more from less which is part of the 80/20 Rule.

Other applications of the Pareto Principle

* 20% of motorists will cause 80% of accidents.

*20% of the shoes you have in your closet you will wear 80% of the time.

*20% of your customers will give you 80% ofyour profits.

*20% of your time will give you 80% of your results or the major achievements of your life and career.

*20% of your training as an athlete will give you 80% of your speed and strength.

Your goal is to find the really powerful things or activities that work really well (the vital few) and concentrate on those things instead of the trivial many says Koch.

The person who earns one million dollars a year is isn't ten times smarter nor does he work ten times harder than the person earning $100,000 a year. so why is that million dollar earner so successful? If you can figure out the answer to that question you can start doing the same thing.

Carlton Pruitt ministers the gospel to the Los Angeles area. Formerly a Hollywood actor (SAG member) and junk removal expert he now spends most of his time studying the scriptures, writing articles, hymns and poems and doing street preaching. See all his videos on https://www.YouTube.com/user/LAStreetPreacher CONTACT at [email protected]

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