#1stresponders... What's Your Top 20% in Life???

By Safe Call Now®'s Steve Gutzler

When I have the opportunity to present with Safe Call Now® at first responder conferences, I always challenge them to think about their top 20%.  What do I mean by this???  My life and leadership changed dramatically when I not only understood the 80/20 principle, but started practicing it. A eureka moment! A respected CEO I admire recently explained its impact again. This time it started to sink in. This time I started to really change the way I lived and worked. 

He explained: 

·         80% of the wealth comes from 20% of the people.

·         80% of the production comes from 20% of the workforce.

·         80% of classroom participation comes from 20% of the students.

·         80% of the profits comes from only 20% of the customers.

·         80% of problems are generated from 20% of the employees.

·         80% of sales are generated by 20% of the sales people. 

What an eye opener, the best 20% of my activities were sixteen times more productive than the remaining 80%!

What changed for me?

1. If I want to decrease the rush and complexity of my life and increase my productivity, then I needed to focus on my top 20%.
2. I needed to stop doing so many low value activities. 
3. I needed to identify with ruthless conviction my top 20%. 
4. In needed to schedule my top 20% in my calendar every day. 
5. I needed to off-load the over-load and delegate, outsource, and eliminate my 80%.
6. I needed to evaluate the way I was spending my time and reprioritize my schedule.
7. I need to exercise my "no muscles" and stop trying to please everyone.
8. I needed to ask "what gives me the greatest return in my business?"
9. I needed to ask "what is most fulfilling and rewarding in my life?"
10. I needed to be guided by my purpose not pressures.

I have revisited the powerful 80/20 principle and am striving to experience more simplicity. The one thing helping me most is keeping focused on the "main thing" in each of the seven key areas:

• Employment
• Leadership
• Family
• Fitness
• Finances
• Spiritual peace
• Fun

During this season of your life I encourage you to shift from being a doer of many things, to a leader of a few great things.

Here's to your top 20%!