Thread by @bbourque

The Pareto Multiplier

A framework for getting the most out of life...

Most people are familiar with the 80/20 rule, also known as the Pareto Principle, which states that 80% of results come from 20% of the effort.

Few people realize that the 80/20 rule can also be applied to the 80/20 rule, which has PROFOUND implications.

Let's take a look:

Effort: 20% of 20% of 20% = 0.8%

Results: 80% of 80% of 80% = 51.2%

Translation: over 50% of your results are produced by less than 1% of your effort.

Read that again:

Over 50% of your results are produced by less than 1% of your effort.

If you work a 40-hour week, 50% of your results are produced in about 24 minutes.

Let that sink in, because it's insane.

Half of your impact will be decided by a few big moments.

The other 50% of your impact you’ll earn each week with the remaining 2,376 minutes.

With this lens you can now look at your work and say:

1) What are the results that matter most?

2) What are the behaviors that produce these results most effectively?

While this seems obvious, most of us never stop to actually pin these down.

Let's walk through an example:

Suppose you're a marketer.

The results that matter might be:

- generating X revenue
- Achieving Y profitability

The efforts that produce these results might be:

- creating new ads
- optimizing campaigns
- testing new traffic sources

From there you'd consider:

- what makes some ads great?
- what info do I need to optimize campaigns?
- how do I find new traffic sources?

From there you'd:

- build a process around creating new ads
- automate data insights to optimize campaigns
- identify new traffic sources

Using the Pareto Multiplier framework, you can:

1) Identify what matters most

2) Do more of what matters, more effectively

But this doesn't just apply to work.

It's a powerful framework for all areas of life.

Let's look at a few examples:

A Multiplier for Friendship:

People need friends to thrive.

Ask yourself - which friendships provide me with the most joy, the most sense of well-being?

Those are the people to draw closer.

Curate more warm fuzzy moments and your happiness will multiply.

A Multiplier for Health

If you're struggling with your health, there's probably one big thing causing half of your suffering.

Exercise? Diet? Depression?

Maybe you already know what it is.

Know that if you face that one big thing, your health will improve dramatically.

A Multiplier for Happiness

Negative emotions can ruin your day.

Anger. Frustration. Envy. Hatred. Fear.

Look for the patterns and triggers (events or people) that produce most of these emotions.

Remove the triggers or break the patterns and you'll multiply your happiness.

A Multiplier for Creativity

Creative insights often seem to come from nowhere.

In reality, they rise from the subconscious when you let your mind wander.

Watch when your mind wanders, and do more of that.

Take walks, meditate, ride a bike, etc.

A Multiplier for Knowledge

Learning new skills often takes a lot longer than it has to.

And people forget much of what they learn.

Figure out how you learn best, and how to apply what you learn to retain it.

Stop wasting time by learning unskillfully.

The Pareto Multiplier works equally for positives and negatives

50% of your happiness likely comes from 1% of your life.

50% of your misery likely comes from 1% of your life.

So be careful how you spend your time and who you spend it with.

h/t @jaltucher

What are some other ways you can apply the Pareto Multiplier to your life?

If this gave you some perspective, please retweet it so others can enjoy.

I write threads on marketing, startups and human behavior. Follow me @bbourque

Thanks for reading!

https://twitter.com/bbourque/status/1464203055558279171?s=20