The REAL 80/20 Rule

In 1848, a boy was born in Paris, France descendant of Italian parents, one a civil engineer and another an Italian Nationalist. He would make one of the most critical observations contributing to economics, business, individual choice, and successful people worldwide.

This boy was named Vilfredo Pareto. He introduced the concept of Pareto Efficiency, which first discovered that income follows a unique distribution. He noticed that 80% of the wealth in Italy belonged to about 20% of the population.

One hundred fifty years later, high performers in all fields, sports, and industries focus on Pareto’s Principle to unlock incredible success. 

When I discovered Pareto's Principle, it changed my real estate career.  I went from 18 sales in 2005, 32 deals in 2006, 52 sales in 2007, and 98 sales in 2008.  Once you see it, you can't unsee the power of focus on the most critical areas of business.

Pareto’s Principle in your life and business

20% of your efforts produce 80% of your results

20% of your complaining makes 80% of your drama

20% of your clients pay 80% of your revenue

20% of your marketing delivers 80% of your leads

20% of your friends make 80% of your friendship

20% of your free time produces 80% of your freedom

20% of your employees contribute 80% of the profits

20% of your thoughts make 80% of actions

20% of agents produce 80% of the sales

20% of your workouts produce 80% of your gains

The opportunity is when someone can identify what areas in life and business produce the 80/20 rule. They can share optimism for the 20% and eliminate or delegate the 80%.

“It is not a shortage of time that should worry us, but the tendency for the majority of time to be spent in low-quality ways.” Richard Koch

In 2008, I started Jacobs & Co. Real Estate with the vision to provide value-based full-service brokerage services to brokers.  The services remove the 80% of activities holding them back so they can focus on the 20% that gives them 80% of the results.