This week I learned about something called the Pareto Principle. This principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, states that there is a disproportionate relationship between inputs and outputs, or effort and results: 80% of our results come from 20% of our efforts. At first, I denied this. As someone who constantly multi-tasks and stretches herself so thinly among too many obligations, I did not want to accept that this principle was true. If I accepted that this principle was true, I felt like I would be admitting that 80% of my efforts were essentially meaningless. However, after discussing with my team and classmates, I realized that in my defensiveness, I misunderstood what this principle really means. This rule isn’t saying 80% of my efforts are producing nothing, rather it is saying that 20% of my efforts are so much more fruitful than the other 80%. This hit me hard. This was a matter of quality over quantity.
I realized that I needed to shift my efforts to focus on the 20% that are the most impactful. I was committing myself to so many things, good things that do bring good results, but 80% of these things were trivial while only 20% of them were actually vital. So now I knew I needed to change my perspective from quantity to quality, to put all of my effort into the 20% that is the most fruitful. However, I had no idea where to begin. How would I determine what 20% of my efforts were producing my results? I listed all of the things I put my effort into, the things I think are producing results in my life, no matter how small or how big they were. I considered both the personal aspects and community aspects of my life to see just how many things were taking up my effort. The list was overwhelming. I realized how impossible it was for all of these things to be producing goof fruit and the Pareto Principle really began to make sense to me. With this new understanding, I was able to go through this list and determine the things that were actually beneficial to me, I found my 20%. But now, how do I change from doing everything to giving a few things my all?
Then, I learned about SMART goals. SMART is an acronym for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time bound. This principle basically explains how to set goals that can truly succeed in. The criteria of SMART goals allows us to know whether or not we have actually achieved the goals we have set for ourselves. I had the knowledge of where my effort was best spend and now, I had a way to see that those efforts would be as focused and beneficial as they could be. So I set a few SMART goals for the last two months of my World Race. I looked at the list I had created and set goals for personal growth and goals for growth with my community.
Since doing this, I have experienced results unlike anything before. Though the goals I set for myself are long term, each day I can clearly see if I have done was I strived for. That is rewarding. I know that I am truly working towards a goal and I can see the fruit of it in my day to day life. I may still be committed to a few too many things, but I know that as I continue to walk this out, I will find the places where my effort produces the best results and I will be able to continue to weed out the areas that aren’t producing the best fruit. My quantity of effort will become quality in results.
