80 20 Rule

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the Pareto Principle, also known as the “80-20 rule”. It states that for many events 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. This principle was named after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto who studied and found that 20% of the population controlled 80% of Italy’s wealth and income. Later studies have been done to show this principle rings true in many areas. For example:

 

20% of your wardrobe is worn 80% of the time.

20% of clients account for 80% of an organization’s income.

20% of streets account for 80% of traffic.

20% of your friends account for 80% of your satisfaction.

 

How do we apply this to our life? It all comes back to thinking efficiently and getting better results. Doing less, gaining more. How great is that?! I heard one speaker who figured out that in an eight hour work day, 96 minutes works out to be 20% of our day. So if we focused basically an hour and half of our entire day on accomplishing something really important, 80% of the results we are looking for will follow. Everything on top of that is gravy.

 

My question for you is, what are you doing 80% of the time that is only accounting for 20% of your results? And how could you flip that equation in your life or work?

 

On that note, I have been hearing from so many of you that in this economy it feels unwise to take risks. So many of you have these brilliant business ideas and have such marketable talents but due to the financial state of the world, you are keeping your head low. I actually think boldness has never been more important than right now. I am not encouraging people to quit their day jobs but I do want keep your ideas and passions alive. Which is why I created the below class, “Dream Job…On the Side”. What if you dedicated 20% of your time to your business idea, would you get 80% of your satisfaction out of it? And if so, isn’t that worth it? We all need something to look forward to right now, something that fuels our fire. What fuels yours and what are you doing about it?

 

Mastermind Series

 

Dream Job… On the Side

Come meet fellow budding entrepreneurs and share a glass of wine while learning how to work on your business idea.

 

In this class you will:

1.    Learn how to create a basic business plan

2.    Find out how to ease your worries

3.    Discover what it takes to implement your big idea

4.    Establish concrete goals to achieve success

5.    Receive a free half hour follow up consultation

 

*Space is very limited

 

When: Monday November 10th – 7-9pm

Where: BIN 38 – 3232 Scott Street San Francisco, CA

Registration Fee: $15.00

Ticket Link: http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=169773

Art of the Start – Guy Kawasaki

I have recently come across Guy Kawasaki who is a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley and has a blog called http://www.alltop.com. In reading his blog and finding out more about him, I came across this lecture that he did on innovation and I was absolutely riveted. I sat at my desk and took copious notes. He is not only incredibly intelligent and resourceful but is also a wonderful speaker who is very engaging. I would love to host an event with him as the speaker!

If you are interested in starting up your own company or in the process of it, I highly recommend that you check out this video. He also has written a book called Art of the Start which I am also planning on buying and reading.

I recommend that you also come check out my class called “Dream Job…On the Side” on Monday November 10th at BIN 38 where I will be incorporating a lot of this information. To purchase tickets and find out more information, click here: http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=169773

Goals for the Week

If this morning is any indication of how productive my week is going to be, I’m in trouble. As soon as the weather turns cold and grey, I find it harder to get out of bed. I am less inspired to take my dog to the beach and lag on taking her. Once I returned home, I found myself calling to check with family members before getting to work. And then it was shower time and then reading my favorite blogs. Well, you get the point, a whole lot of nothing has been accomplished so far on this Monday morning.

I find that one of the only ways that I can truly accomplish what I want and move forward is to set clear daily and weekly goals for myself. And to differentiate between what is urgent to get done vs. what is important to get done. And so I am off to set my daily and weekly goals. I hope you will to!

Dream Job…On the Side

New Mastermind Series Class:

 

Dream Job… On the Side

 

How many of you have great business ideas brewing but feel that it isn’t the right time to pursue your idea due to the current economic climate? Are you a great photographer and want to start a business doing children’s photography or maybe you are in great shape and would like to be a personal trainer? Whatever your talent and passion may be, I believe that life is too short to put those dreams up on a shelf only to get dusty. While I believe that it is financially wise in a lot of cases to hold on to your day job, there is no reason that you cannot still build your dream company outside of work. This class is for all of you who are aching to find more meaning in your work and to listen to that voice in your gut that tells you that this is what you were meant to do.

 

In this class you will:

·         Learn how to create a business plan

·         Find out how to ease your worries

·         Discover what it takes to implement your big idea

·         Establish concrete goals to achieve success

·         Receive a free half hour follow up consultation

 

*Space is very limited

 

When: Monday November 10th – 7-9pm

Where: BIN 38 – 3232 Scott Street San Francisco, CA

Registration Fee: $15.00

Ticket Link: http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=169773

 

“Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.”

~ Stephen King

 

Look forward to seeing you there!

Daily Inspiration – Little Boys & Girls

In keeping with what I touched on  yesterday talking about the amazing women that I encountered at Sunday night’s fundraiser, I wanted to talk about something else that I learned. Jane Fonda was speaking about the difference in men and women, particularly a change that happens around the age of five years old when they enter public schooling. She talked about how men stop listening to their hearts and women lose their voice.

Let me explain more. When boys are under the age of five, they love their mommies, they are in touch with their emotions and their intuition. They cry when they are sad and don’t think twice about it. But once they get into school they are called a “sissy” or a “wimp” and all of a sudden, expressing emotion becomes off limits to boys. In the case of girls, before they get to school, they say what is on their mind and they listen to their intuition. But then they are called “chatty” or “bossy” once they get into school. Hence, women lose their voices.

Jane Fonda talked about the important role of parents in making sure that boys don’t lose touch with their hearts and girls don’t lose touch with their voices. As a soon to be mom of a little boy, I took that advice to heart.

Men – where in your life are you not listening to your heart?

Women – where in your life have you lost your voice?

Daily Inspiration – Delegate Drain

Last night I went to an incredibly inspiring event benefitting the Women’s Media Center http://www.womensmediacenter.com/ with the guest of honor being Jane Fonda. I was surrounded by women who were intelligent, successful, in touch, feminine and powerful. This week I will use nuggets of wisdom that I gained from that event in my blog so stay tuned.

At the dinner I sat next to a woman who is only one of two women CEOs of law firms in the United States. While I have no desire to climb to the upper eschelons of corporate management, I had so much admiration for this woman who was clearly brilliant and more importantly very in tune with what gave her meaning in life. One of her pieces of advice to me was around balance in your life. She said that she believes that it is a misnomer that in order to have balance in your life, you should spend more time at home and less time at work. Instead she said, you should discover what activities drain your energy, both at work and at home. And take those activities and delegate them out. Once you have discovered the activities that sustain and lift your energy, it is then when you feel true balance in your life. I loved that.

What activities drain your energy? Which ones can you delegate this week?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this!

Daily Inspiration – Shake it Off

This morning was an absolutely spectacular day at the beach. You could still see the full moon and there was no fog to be seen covering the golden gate bridge. The day was clear and crisp and I found myself in such a great mood. My dog, Saidy, and I trotted to the beach for her morning romp with other dogs and I was smiling ear to ear. After about ten minutes, Saidy tried to play with a little daschund who didn’t want any part of her and the daschund started barking. All of a sudden, two other dogs (read: bullies) came and started attacking Saidy! My heart started beating out of control as I dove in to grab Saidy. Luckily, the fight was more bark than bite but poor Saidy’s legs were shaking and she cuddled up to me. After about one minute of her getting her bearings back, she did a big shake and off she went to go play with other dogs. It was as if nothing ever happened. She was as happy as could be splashing in the water with other friendlier dogs. Me on the other hand, I was still shaken up and couldn’t stop thinking about it. I was cursing the other dogs owners, thinking about what could have happened, every negative thought ran through my mind as I sat and stewed.

Until finally, I took another look up at that gorgeous bridge and looked at my happy puppy and realized that this could either ruin my day or I too could shake it off and move on with my day. It was my choice.

I am choosing to shake it off.

In the Zone

A friend of mine recently passed on a New York Times article that talked about the importance of relaxation for professional athletes. The article was not talking about relaxation before a competition; it talked about the importance of it during a competition. One of the key examples was Michael Phelps at this year’s Olympics. No one has ever seen a swimmer so relaxed in the water. I also remember watching Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt at the Olympics. I remember being amazed by how nonchalant he looked when he ran. His face looked as if he was taking a relaxed stroll in a park, yet his speed was mind blowing. One of the best ways to describe this feeling of relaxation for athletes is that they are simply in the zone. It is when your mind and body are in sync. To relax does not mean to slow down, it means to allow your body to do what it wants to do and for your head to get out of the way.

I thought about this in my own life. How when I am really stressed or when I want to be successful at something but I am finding it really difficult, that is when I am getting in my own way. It is time to get “in the zone”. So, how does one get into this state of mind? You block out all negative and self defeating thoughts and you focus on the goal that you want to achieve. And you take it a step further than that in that you visualize the end goal in your mind. That achieving thought should be the only thing that enters your mind. Any other thoughts you have will only slow you down.

Where in your life do you need to get out of your own way and get into the zone?

“The only one who can beat me is me.”
-Michael Johnson – Olympic Gold Medalist

If you’d like to read the full article, click here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/02/health/nutrition/02best.html?_r=1&ei=5070&emc=eta1&oref=slogin

Daily Inspiration – Imperfections

“Being happy doesn’t mean that everything is perfect. It means that you’ve decided to look beyond the imperfections.”

-Anonymous

What a great quote! So many of us are looking for the perfect mate or the perfect job or the perfect house. Or to go even further, trying to be perfect. The truth of the matter is that happiness comes when we look past imperfections and allow ourselves to be with what is. That is not to say that any of us should ever settle.

Where in your life are you trying to find the “perfect” thing?

Daily Inspiration – Clearing

Perhaps I am going through the “nesting” phase of my pregnancy or perhaps it is the economy but I am feeling the need to clear out a lot of the “stuff” in my house. Books I’m never going to read again, paintings I bought but never hung up, computer accessories that I am holding on to for that “one time” I may need it; all of these “things” are clutter. I believe wholeheartedly in the concept that your physical space is in direct relation to your mental clarity. The recession is really making me think about what I truly “need” instead of what I “want”.

I believe that a lot of what led us into this recession was our need to buy “stuff” to fill some other void. More. More. More. And so we consumed and bought and the pile grew so high that it has now tipped over on its side. And so now it is time to sort through that “stuff” and start giving away what we don’t need. It’s time to clean up.

That is my intention for the week.