Smarter Pursuit of Happiness: The 80/20 Rule for a Happy Life

The pursuit of happiness is a universal, inalienable right of any man. Why are so many people not living a happy life?

by Robert Snache – Spirithands.net

In today’s society, life is moving so fast. As a consequence, we are not fully present and experiencing our life. Instead of savoring life, we’re just rushing through it.  We’re constantly in a hurry to get to the next task or the next experience.

Just like millions of people, you probably have a very busy life. You have lots of phone calls to make… too many people to see… and too much to do. Your life may have become too hectic and complicated. Even if you have achieved financial success, you may not have the time or even energy to enjoy it.

How many times have you missed out on spending time with your family and friends because you had too much work to do? If you’re like most people, you probably don’t have a lot of time for your loved ones — and practically no time for yourself.

If you’re already feeling overwhelmed by having too many things to do and having too little time, how can you even think about finding time for happiness?

What’s the solution?

Instead of working so hard trying to accomplish everything, you can change your mindset. If it’s unthinkable to think about switching jobs or cutting back on your work schedule, you can look at other areas of your life where you can start cutting back.

Just like most people, you’re probably spending a lot of time on things that are not absolutely necessary for you to do. You’re probably doing these things out of habit. You can look at your to-do list and think about how you can spend your time differently.

Look closely at activities that take up a lot of your time and end up wasting your time. Try making some changes on the way you spend your time. For example, you can schedule to watch your most favorite TV shows only instead of watching TV for a couple of hours a day or more. You can visit your favorite sites online for a limited amount of time instead of surfing the Internet for hours.

You can focus on the most important activities for generating maximum results or enjoyment.

By cutting back on time-wasters, you can create more free time for yourself. You can have more time for things that you really enjoy. You can have more time for things that really nourish your heart and soul. You can have more time for things that really matter to you  –  and you can have more time for the people you love.

How do you accomplish this?

By applying the 80/20 Rule or Pareto’s Principle to finding happiness and life satisfaction, you can focus on 20% of activities that can generate 80% of your results.

To give you a brief background: The 80/20 Rule is based on an observation by an Italian economist, Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923). He made the observation that 20% of the people of Italy owned 80% of it’s wealth.

Since Pareto’s time, other studies have also shown that in other areas of life, 80% of results are generated by 20% of activities. The 80/20 Rule also applies to finding happiness and satisfaction in life.

A huge advantage of applying the 80/20 Rule is that you can avoid wasting a lot of time by NOT doing 80% of the activities that will only generate 20% of your results.

This makes it a lot easier for you to focus on the few activities that can generate the greatest happiness and life satisfaction. You can achieve more using less time and effort.

By taking action on 20% of activities that can generate 80% of your results, you can focus on the best use of your time and energy. You can finally have enough time for the things that really matter to you and for the people you love. You can finally have enough time to find greater happiness and life satisfaction.

Allie

Related Posts:

1. Psychological Research Studies on the Pursuit of Happiness: What Makes People Happy?
2. Can You Stop Making Yourself Miserable and Learn How to Be Happy? How to Live a Happy Life and Start Living Your Life to the Fullest
3. What Happens to Your Brain When You Change Your Mind and Change Your Life? Smarter Ways of Achieving Your Goals and Changing Your Life
4. The Pursuit of Love, Happiness and Success: Are You Doomed to Fail? What Do You Need to Do to Succeed?
5. Training Yourself to Find Happiness: How Do You Make a Habit of Being Happy?

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