When Vilfredo Pareto published his 1903 book, Manual of Political Economy, he invented the 80/20 principle.
He wasn’t literally saying that 80% of the game is won by 20% of the players. It could be 70/30, or even 99/1.
But it’s universally true that the majority of rewards go to a minority of participants in any field.
Here’s how to skew the 80/20 rules in your favour:
- Any achievement – writing a best-selling book, scoring a high-paying job, becoming known as an authority – makes your further achievement more likely
- Your success is affected by limits of customer spending capability and their desire for action. Capture that by attracting a corporate client or two and you will likely do it again and again.
- You don’t have to be 10x as good as everyone else to crush the competition. When 10 companies pitch for a job, only one gets it. Being 1% better gets 100% of the result.
- People and businesses who are consistently 1% better will dominate their respective fields.
- Your 1% edge comes from being unafraid to take risks, from grabbing attention with your determination, messaging and outreach.
Don’t envy the 1%. BE the 1%.