Dear friend,
I’ll teach you now something that’s not very sexy. It’s not a method to get rich quick or to earn $3400 in the next 24 hours. It’s not even a method.
It’s a principle.
And when you hear it, you may first dismiss it. You may say “that’s nice” and return to whatever you were doing before, forgetting all about it.
I don’t blame you if you want to take this route.
But you’d miss out because if you understand what I will tell you… and if you at least try to apply it in your life, then everything will change for you.
You’ll earn more money. A lot more. We’re talking double or triple your income.
You’ll work less. You’ll live the true four hour workweek dream.
And you’ll be happier, because for the first time in a long, long time, you’ll see how everything you do makes an impact. You’ll be like a master chess player, making moves that win the game again and again… and again.
So I urge you, as your friend, don’t skip on this. It may well make the difference between an easy and satisfying life, business and work… and one where you’ll feel like no matter what you do, you can’t get ahead.
Still here?
Good.
So I was having dinner with a friend a few weeks ago and he asked me…
“Imran. I don’t get it…
… how do you achieve so much in so little time?
I mean I look at you and you’re always winning at something. You’re a great spouse. You’re attending all these events. You are writing these great posts. You have so many businesses you run. You keep in shape.
Like… what’s your secret?
I can’t get done even 10% of what you do and we both have the same 24 hours a day. Do you have a hidden army of minions doing everything for you or what?”
No.
I don’t have an army of minions although that’d be nice.
Instead, I understand a basic fact about life and business.
I know the signal versus noise dynamic. What does this mean?
In every field, in every job, in every business or life, there are a few things that get results. These are the life force, the engine that keeps everything together. I call them AoMs or “areas of management”.
In most businesses, the AoMs are:
One – my customers.
Two – my products.
Three – my marketing.
Four – my systems.
Five – my team.
Without these, the business could not exist. If I take just one away, I’ll face bankruptcy. My customers is all about understanding the person I have in front of me and what they want. My products is designing stuff people want to exchange money for that provide far more value than they’re expecting. My marketing is putting these products in the people‘s hands who want them, who need them, who can afford them and who are actively looking for a solution. My systems is creating procedures and using tools so what took me two hours yesterday can be done in ten minutes today. It is automation. And my team is finding and empowering the right people – because without employees, you don’t have a business. You have a high-paying job.
So what does this have to do with my results?
Well, most people when they start a business focus on everything apart from these areas. They focus on getting business cards done. Or on bookkeeping. Or on having a beautiful site or a nice LinkedIn profile. You know, stuff that is nice to have, but it’s polish.
I don’t.
I invest all my time in the few things that matter. I find the 20% that generates 80% of the results in everything I do. 20% of all activities in sales generate 80% of the results. So I look carefully at what that 20% is and I do only them. I stop doing the rest.
I want “concentrated results”. I want to work as little as possible and get as much as possible back. Sure, sometimes this means a special technique or approach. Tactics are good.
But on a day-to-day basis, the secret to success is made of just two steps…
Step #1 – Discover what makes the biggest difference.
Step #2 – Do that and stop doing everything else.
I know.
It’s not sexy.
But it’s the best business advice I can give you.
You know The Four Hour Workweek by Tim Ferris? This is his philosophy too. He applies the Pareto principle again and again. He eliminated 80% of his customers and kept only 20%, the same 20% that amounted for 80% of his revenue. He eliminated 80% of all marketing channels. He eliminated 80% of all products that did not sell.
This guy is a genius at trimming the fat and keeping a lean and mean business machine.
And once I’ve understood the power of this, all changed for me. Instead of taking me 10 hours to achieve something, I’ve achieved it good enough in only two. Instead of spending $1000 to get a result, I’ve spent $200 and got 80% of the quality.
And yes, that 80% is enough. You don’t need perfection. You need momentum and speed.
Look…
I think you have two choices.
You can work your ass off. You can put in 40 or 50 or 60 hours per week. I know that some of my readers put in even more, working 10 – 12 hours a day, every day. And if that’s your thing, fine – but I think it’s unhealthy.
Or you have a better alternative.
You can look at what you are doing in these 60 hours and pick the 20%. The signal. The engine. This means 12 hours. And by doing these, you’ll get 80% done compared to before.
I mean, honestly… it is even a choice?
Work 60 hours, sacrifice everything, ruin your health, ruin your happiness = get 100%.
Work 12 hours, have a happy and relaxing life, enjoy every day to the fullest, travel, see the world, be a good parent, enjoy freedom = get 80%.
In my book, I would just ask “where do I sign up?”.
And yes, I’m sure you’ve done the math but you can do two other things. You can invest all your time in that 20% and this means you’ll increase your results by 300%. I haven’t done the math, but it sounds close enough.
Or you can do the 20% of the 20%. This means you’ll spend only about 2.5 hours and get 80% of 80% which is 64%. Yes. If you do this properly, you’ll work 3 hours and get over half of what you’d get by putting in a 60 hour workweek.
Tim Ferris did it.
He’s a master at this.
I do it too although my choice is to still work a lot but work on what’s important – as I love what I do. So look at your life right now. Ask yourself what’s the 20% that matters. Make a conscious decision to drop the rest. You’ll see amazing things happen.
So what do you think is the 20% that generates 80% of the results for you?
Please leave your comment below.
Best regards,
Imran,
