Living the 80/20 Way: Work Less, Worry Less, Succeed More, Enjoy More

Having read the 80/20 Principle by the same author, I found it extremely useful for putting into words what I have been doing for years with my actions and time management. His original book is great but several of those to whom I recommended it got bored, and didn't finish it, or they couldn't see how the business principles had any practical application to their own personal lives. The author acknowledges that this is why he wrote this current book which contains much of the same information as the original but repackaged to be easier to appreciate and apply. If you haven't read either book, I'd recommend this one because it covers most of the important points from the original book, plus adds useful applications to personal life. The numerous examples and exercises will probably prove useful to many readers who want to be more gently guided through these important concepts. I will say this, I agree so much with the principles of this book, that I've been applying them in my own life for many years now, even using exercises much like those presented by Richard Koch. I teach a course entitled "Working and Playing on Purpose," in which one objective is to motivate people to apply the 80/20 rule to their lives. The 80/20 Principle and the 80/20 Way definitely work. If you will read this book, do the exercises, and take action accordingly, I'm confident that you will see a dramatic difference in your life.

Although I also liked his original book The 80/20 Principle, Richard Koch has done a much better job in applying Vilfredo Pareto's 80/20 principle to everyday life in Living the 80/20 Way. The 80/20 principle means that in any area of life a few (approximately 20 percent) are vital and many (approximately 80 percent) are trivial. The key is to focus your time and energy on the 20 percent of your work projects, friends, investments, and leisure activities that are really important.As the author of the international bestseller The Joy of Not Working (over 200,000 copies sold and published in 16 languages), I can lay claim to a measure of success not attained by the majority of people in North America. In fact, not so long my net worth was minus $30,000. Yet today I have a comfortable net worth, work only four to five hours a day, and have an income in the top 20 percent of wage earners. To get there I have implemented the following principles, which in one way or another are emphasized and expanded on by Richard Koch in Living the 80/20 Way. 1. Put more effort into simplifying your life and less into complicating it.2. Reject the adage that everything worth doing is worth doing well - striving for excellence where excellence doesn't matter is the stuff that misfits are made of.3. Concentrate on the things that really matter and be oblivious to practically everything else.4. If you work more than eight hours a day, you are in the wrong job - either that or you are doing it wrong. 5. The belief in the morality of hard work signifies a hard head.6. Forget about security and focus on opportunity.7. Live life on your own terms and not someone else's.The material in this book can be much more valuable than an MBA if you would like to get what you want out of life without killing yourself for it. I should know. I have an MBA and have never found anything worth reviewing from the courses I took in the program. Yet I find Living the 80/20 Way a great resource for reminding me what helped me become successful. It is also a valuable reminder for how I can continue to work fewer hours than most people and be more successful at what I do than most people who work in the same field.

Finally, a book that offers solutions that are acheivable, & take pressure off. This book is for all walks of life, businessmen, students, parents etc. It's very practical, & you individualise as you go. It offers a fairly simple philosophy, but incredibly powerfull when acted on. It will clear your confusion, inspire you to take action, breathe fresh air into your life, & it offers insights that you really need if you want happiness, not frustration. It really is a prescription to get off the treadmill & enjoy life!! You'll actually acheive more, in less time, without the stress. How bad can that be?? Read it, live it, have fun with life again.

When we honestly look at how we spend our time, most of it is put to trivial uses, but if fully implemented the 80/20 principle would create a revolution in our work and lives. When Richard Koch put out "The 80/20 Principle" in 1998 it was classified as a business book, but it was the section which applied the principle to personal life that made it such a big hit. The book made such an impact on me that I included it in a list of the key works in the personal development literature, along with the likes of Stephen Covey, Dale Carnegie, Norman Vincent Peale and Anthony Robbins. This list became "50 Self-Help Classics". I haven't regretted it. True to his own principle of expanding on what works, the author has elaborated on the principle in subsequent books, but I personally do not tire of coming back to the 80/20 principle. Who COULD tire of a natural law? 'Living The 80/20 Way' is written in Koch's usual enjoyable style and is a superb place to start in understanding the principle. It won't take you long to read but may literally change your life. Highly recommended. Tom Butler-Bowdon, author of "50 Self-Help Classics" (2003) and "50 Success Classics" (2004)