What Is The 80/20 Principle and How To Apply It To Your Health
The 80/20 Principle, also known as the Pareto principle, states that 80% of the output or results will come from 20% of the input or action. Here is a more straightforward way of putting it… In a business, 80% of revenue will often come from 20% of the business’ clients. This isn’t always 100% true, but in general, you can see Pareto’s principle play out in all parts of life.
The 80/20 principle can be found in areas like economics where 20% of the population owns 80% of the land, and in athletics where 20% of athletes’ habits attribute to 80% of their performance outcome. Or in software where companies like Microsoft have reported that by fixing the top 20% of bugs, they were also able to repair 80% of related errors. (1) Again, this is not a perfect science, but it’s at the very least, an intriguing trend.
And it should really get you thinking about how you might apply this principle to your health and life.
What is the 80/20 Principle of Health?
When you Google the 80/20 Principle of Health you’ll likely see articles about health insurance companies, but we’re not here to discuss that. Over the last few years, there’s been a new diet trend that is also leaning on the 80/20 principle.
This trend focuses on eating healthy 80% of the time and allowing yourself to eat whatever you want the other 20% of the time. I’m not one to prescribe a specific diet, but I do believe this could be a great lifestyle shift for someone looking to make a transition to eating healthier.
80/20 Principle and Healthier Habits?
You can also think about using the 80/20 principle to improve your health through habit changes.
Let’s go back to the 80/20 Principle and athletes. 80% of their performance outcomes will come from 20% of the athlete’s habits. The takeaway here is to identify the key habits that support a positive health outcome and really focus on incorporating those into your daily routine.
Instead of trying to change everything all at once, consider replacing a few specific habits with healthier ones. Spend 80% of your time identifying, replacing, and creating those “20%” habits that will help you reach your health goal. Now, this doesn’t mean you should forget about your other 80% of habits, but maybe just don’t worry about them as much right now.
Here is an example: Say you have 10 health-related habits. If you start by focusing on getting better sleep (1 habit) and drinking more water (2nd habit) your health is likely to improve. Or you could focus on exercising 3 times per week (1 habit) and eating a protein-rich mid-morning meal 5 days a week (2nd habit). You aren’t fixing everything at once, but focusing on just 20% of your best habit changes at one time can drastically improve your health.
How To Start Applying The 80/20 Principle To Your Life?
The first step is to do a self-assessment, by asking yourself some simple questions:
- What do you spend 20% of your time on at either work or at home, that gives you 80% of the best outcomes? What could you do to improve this outcome?
- What are 20% of the foods you eat, 80% of the time? Are these healthy foods? Could you make small adjustments to improve your diet by swapping those “20%” foods?
- Who do you spend 20% of your time with that gives you the most happiness? This might not be exactly an 80/20 Principle, but I think by now you get the drift
- At work, what 20% of your focus brings 80% of your success?
- Emotionally, what are the 20% of behaviors causing 80% of your problems or issues? How can you address these behaviors?
These questions are essentially endless… You can apply this principle to almost anything. Try using it as an assessment tool for any area you’d like to change or improve.
