Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life: How to Unlock Your Full Potential for Success and Achievement

Commit to Excellence
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longer represent the highest and best use of your time if you want to
get the highest return on energy in your life and career. Zero-based
thinking will help you to make better choices. It is a key thinking
tool that can change your life.
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THE PARETO PRINCIPLE
Another important strategic planning concept is the 80/20 Rule,
the “Pareto Principle,” which Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto
wrote about in 1895 in Switzerland. This rule says that 80 percent
of your results will come from 20 percent of your activities. If you
make a list of 10 tasks that you have to do in the coming day,
two of those items will be worth more than the other eight items
put together.
But the 20 percent of activities that account for most of the
value in your work are invariably the most difficult and challeng-
ing tasks. The 80 percent of activities that account for only 20
percent of your results are usually fun and easy. Being human,
you have a natural tendency to do the 
easy
things, even though
they are not particularly valuable or important. To get the most
done and the greatest results from every minute invested, you
must
resist the temptation to clear up small things first
. You must dis-
cipline yourself to keep your energies focused on the one or two
things that you can do that are more important and valuable than
anything else.
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