Happiness Islands and the 80/20 Principle

I’m determining my Happiness Islands today. Sounds strange, like a weird, kashi crunching, hippy ritual but actually it’s based on Pareto’s Law which is now commonly referred to as the 80/20 principle. So what is a Happiness Island? Well for me its when I’m traveling, making money from a business I love and when I’m enjoying social events. These activities bring me the most amount of happiness… even if they are floating down a river on a tube with a bunch of rowdy Renoites (Reno River Rat Race) or getting positive feedback from customers about my newest business venture.

What the 80/20 principle says about my Happiness Islands is that they are the 20% of my life that brings me the 80% of pleasure. By attempting to deduce whats common between all of these events, or Islands, and attempting to minimize the monotony in life and maximize my 20% of super happiness I’m applying Pareto’s law…. and it is great! I’ve been reading through Richard Koch’s book The 80/20 Principle and its amazing. Firstly, I only picked it up through Tim Ferriss’ recommended readings on his blog but now I see that Ferriss himself took most of the ideas from his book The Four Hour Week directly from Pareto’s Law and probably Koch’s interpretation of it.

So what does this mean for you out there in the blogosphere? Firstly, write down your own Happiness Islands on a sheet of clean paper. You’ll be surprised how simple the things that bring you the greatest joy are. Secondly, go pick up The 80/20 Principle, its been around for forever so you can get it super cheap at Amazon. Thirdly start looking at all aspects of your time through the lens of what 20% brings me 80% of blank… then maximize!

Also send me some comments on your Happiness Islands or your view of the 80/20 principle… anything just to know that you care!

Here’s me at one of the Happiness Islands in my life >>>>

I'm the one rocking the budweiser bandana