Eighty twenty

I think I might have done too much rest (that is, from blogging) thanks to my previous post. My other side had been quite filled up, it's really sick season these past few weeks both in the clinics and in the hospital. Actually had just been back from a seminar and some respite, I might as well post on the same topic as promised.

The world literally had trained us to keep busy if we want to go up the ladder of success. Tim Ferris puts this in a graphic tone as follows: "If you want to move up the ladder in most of our corporate world, and assuming they don't really check what you're doing (let's be honest), just run around the office holding a cell phone to your head and carrying papers from 9 am to 5 pm. Now that is one busy employee". Unfortunately ( or quite fortunately), that's not how you increase your results and attain objectives.

Being effective is different from being efficient. Effectiveness is doing the things that get you closer to your goals. Efficiency is performing a given task ( whether important or not) in the most economical matter possible. Sadly, being efficient without regard to effectiveness is the default mode of the universe.

It is no different to you to see so many people working in a company or more so in the government, when you visit their offices. It would surprise you why even with so much manpower, you find yourself with so much people waiting like you in a queue where the service staff seem to have no regard for your personal time. Then observing them closely, some of them just chatting with each other, some just having their eyes fixed to their documents not even looking at you when they talk to you, and most just running around in circles. All for the routine of just to consume their 9 to 5 regimen. It is a wonder why it takes months just to get some simple government permits done. The society is infected with AIDS (As If Doing Something).

Applying this to your life, there are two truisms to take note of.
1. Doing something unimportant well does not make it important.
2. Requiring a lot of time does not make a task important.

Enter this principle of a renowned economist who lived from 1848 to 1923, Mr Vilfredo Pareto. The principle he conceived and presented then is now one of the secrets of the most successful people in the world. His Pareto principle is more popularly called the "80/20 principle". 


His principle originally describes how uneven the income distribution was in all parts of the world. "80% of the wealth and income was produced by 20% of the population". But this proportion is found actually in almost all aspects of human life.

• 80% of the outputs result from 20% of the inputs.
• 80% of the results come from 20% of the effort and time.
• 80% of company profits come from 20% of the products and customers.
• 80% of all stock marketgains are realized by 20% of the investors and 20% of an individual portfolio.

So with this in mind, here are two basic questions which you should work on to free your precious time (as recommended by Mr Tim Ferris in his book "The Four Hour Work week)".

1. Which 20% of sources are causing 80% of my problems and unhappiness?
2. Which 20% of sources are resulting in 80% of my desired outcomes and happiness?

Just set an entire day to ponder on these questions and write and record your answers in each aspect of your life ( family, business or career). Your goal is to find your inefficiencies in order to eliminate them and to find your strengths so you can multiply them. 

Being overwhelmed with things to do is often as unproductive as doing nothing and is far more unpleasant. Being selective- doing less- is the path of the productive. Focus on the important few and ignore the rest.

It;s easy to get caught in a flood of minutiae, and the key to not feeling rushed is remembering that lack of time is actually lack of priorities. Take time to stop and smell the flowers...



"One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase but decrease. The height of cultivation runs to simplicity. - Bruce Lee

On leadership and dreams

Now, I would like to share some highlights of Dr Sanjiv Chopra's lecture during our annual PCP convention held May 6-8, 2012. Dr.Sanjiv Chopra is a Professor of Medicine and Faculty Dean for Continuing Medical Education at Harvard Medical School, and Senior Consultant in Hepatology at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts. He has several publications and five books to his credit and we were lucky enough to have him personally speak to us.

Based on a talk that he has given to more than 60,000 people in at least seven countries, Dr. Chopra explains in depth what leadership by example is about.

It is based on this mnemonic:
L - listen well
E - empathy
A - attitude
D - dreams and decisiveness
E - effectiveness
R - resilience
S - a sense of purpose
H - humility and humor
I - integrity and imagination
P - principles, and willingness to pack other people’s parachutes ( willingness to help)

He had spiced up the talk on the lives of the great leaders of history as he goes along each letter. There were short excerpts from Mahatma Gandhi and his salt march, Mother Teresa, and many other personalities. I would strongly recommend his latest book which had just been released for publication this May 2012 and which is where his talk is elaborated on.

But one thing that made its mark was on his story about a boy's dreams and decisiveness (D). There was a classroom teacher who gave out an assignment to his grade school students. They were told to make a short essay on "What I would be doing in 15 years".

There was this boy born from hired laborers in a farm who made his piece, the composition was so illustrated and well thought of.....I would own and be managing a 30 hectare farm, I would fill it with about 100 apple and mango fruit bearing trees, in my farm is a ranch with a huge stable where about 50 horses are taken cared of, in the farm is a huge picnic and playground where kids from nearby schools could visit for a trip and frolic around, there would also be a huge mansion and it went on and on complete with colors and even the scent of the grass etc.

The next day, he submitted it to his teacher. The teacher stared at the home work for about 30 minutes frowned and shook his head. When the paper went back to the student, he saw a glaring red F mark on it. Determined, the kid went back to his teacher and asked why. The teacher reminded him to take his assignment seriously and not "play" with it.

The kid gave the paper back to his teacher and said, "You can keep the F sir, but I will keep my dream..."

Many years had passed and the teacher who was still working in the same school was now handling a group of children excursionists in this famed 50 hectare farm. The day was almost about to end but they still barely reached 1/4 of the lot area in their tour. But they would be lucky enough to get to meet and talk the owner before they leave. The teacher was dumbfounded to discover that it was the boy he mocked 15 years ago. He was now in his early 30s. The boy who immediately recognized his teacher gave him a tight hug and said, "I hope sir you enjoyed your stay here". The teacher was in tears and he just could say, " I am so sorry for what I said to you many years ago, I would never again become a dream stealer"...


Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.   -  Les Brown