The 80/20 Rule
Here’s an interesting challenge: find actions, thoughts and feelings today where you can apply the 80/20 rule. My favorite way of applying this right now is to be less critical. Here’s how that works for me. When I have a negative thought, I stop and apply the 80/20 rule.
It goes like this, the thought “That person is a terrible driver” gets noticed and replaced by, “80 per cent of drivers are considerate and careful.”
Or how about this, the thought “It breaks my heart to see the damage we’re doing by polluting the water and land” gets noticed and replace by, “If I stop to think about it, at least 80 percent of the people I know are deeply involved in peace-making, ceremonies for healing, and other good things for the world and the environment.”
Here’s one for my friends who’re looking for that special someone and feel like it’s never going to happen. If you feel that thought starting… “I’ll never meet anyone nice, settle down and have a family” notice it and replace it with something like this, “Most of my favorite friends who have a spouse or a partner are pretty darn ordinary people and since they met someone special, there’s a better than 80 per cent chance that I will too.” And while you’re waiting for Mr. or Ms. Right to come along, instead of, “I feel a bit lonely, I have nobody to do things with,” try this, “Today, starting right now, I’m going to spend 80 per cent of my time doing things that are meaningful to me and important for the world and then when I do meet Mr. or Ms. Right there’s a good chance I’ll meet someone who is kind and thoughtful.”
How about it? I hope you’ll enjoy giving this a try and I hope you find it helpful. It’s a naive plan but sometimes the simplest things are the most powerful. I want to remap my own negative thinking and stay awake to the blessings in life. Nobody can do that for me, it’s my responsibility and I also get the benefits of increased peace and healing of body, mind and spirit and a sense of increasing the flow of harmony in the world.
Peace,
Pamela
More about that…
From Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_principle
The Pareto principle (also known as the 80-20 rule, the law of the vital few and the principle of factor sparsity) states that, for many events, 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. Business management thinker Joseph M. Juran suggested the principle and named it after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto.