Reality Check

 

 

Are you familiar with the Pareto Principle?

Simply put 20% of the input = 80% of the result.

In terms of happiness, if we invest our time and effort into the 20% things, we will be more happy.

Let’s me break this down and show you what I mean…

If I focus my time and energy into the things that give me the greatest happiness, I will only need to focus on 20% of the whole, or 20% of the things that are on my plate. In other words, there are a handful of things that make me happiest, that give me the greatest reward for my effort and time.

The reason this is important is because, when I sat down to look at where I invest most of my time… it is not on the things that make me most happy, actually, quite the opposite. 80% of my time is expended on the items that give me 20% of my happiness, maybe less….

 

So, sadly, I have always had it backwards. When I made a list of the things I value most.. they were not the things I spend most of my effort on… why do I do that to myself?

Once I started paying attention, I was able to see how much I spin my wheels, trying to spend my time, attention and even money on things that do not make me the most happy.

If you are playing along on my little journey… try it for yourself, list the things that are the most important to you.

Think about the most important categories in your life… Family, Relationships, work, health, spirituality, recreation, travel, charity, finances… whatever is most important to you.. You want a balanced life, so make sure you include all areas. Then, think about what needs to happen in each area… what makes you happy and fulfilled?

For example, remember my post on blissful timelessness? Think about the times when you get lost in the moment, when you are so happy in the present moment that nothing else matters. These are the things that make you most happy.

Spending quality time with the people I love IS important to me, it makes me happy, it feels good. Unfortunately, I often neglect the people I love for things that are much less important…. like… work, or watching TV.

Why, I spend 80% of my time on the things that produce only 20% of my happiness… Its in the past, its irrelevant. I will not allow myself to judge my past, I will not allow myself to get caught up in what I should have done… In shaming myself…the only thing I can do is to change the present, change the right here, right now.

I broke out my handy little bullet journal and I listed the areas of my life:

Relationships

Career

Self Improvement (Mind)

Health and Fitness (Body)

Finances

Paying it Forward

Recreation

Environment

Spirituality (Soul)

Travel/Adventure

These are my categories, you can feel free to choose your own once you start getting clarity on your happiness.

In my next post, I am going to show you how I broke down the things in each category and how I started applying the Pareto principle to each category, to re-focus on the 20%, the things that will give me the most bang for my buck in the happiness department. I would love for you to play along! What categories do you have?