The 80/20 Principle

By: Richard Koch

Narrated by: Richard Koch

Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's Summary

Secrets of the 80/20 Principle revealed!

Find your "critical 20%" and transform your time - and life - forever! The 80/20 principle - also known as the Pareto principle - is the well-verified observation that in business, economics, and life generally, about 80 percent of all results flow from a mere 20 percent of our efforts. In this thought-provoking and highly informative program, Richard Koch unveils the secrets to how this mysterious but practical principle actually works... how it is affecting your life right now... and how you can start using it to your advantage. You'll learn:

• How to identify the critical 20% in every area of your life
• How to give up the guilt of not working as hard as you think you're supposed to
• Why "time management" is a counter-productive fallacy
• The six things successful 80/20 practitioners do differently than you
• How to make the 80/20 Principle work for you in your job, even when you don't have total control over your time
• What the 80/20 Principle can teach you about who to hire
• How to avoid dooming yourself to life as a wage slave
• How the 80/20 principle can multiply your money
• And much more!

The unspoken corollary of the 80/20 principle is that little of what you spend your time on actually enriches your life. But by concentrating instead on the few things that do matter, you can unlock the enormous potential of the critical 20 percent and multiply your happiness and fulfillment. When you learn how to systematically apply the 80/20 principle, you will finally have the power to transcend the pressures of modern life: to become more successful and to enjoy more leisure, serenity, and great relationships with friends and loved ones.

©2003 Richard Koch (P)2003 Nightingale Conant

Long version of a short topic

Richard Koch could have shared this gem with 80% less effort.
The introduction is very boring.
There were some good points. Do what you love, don't waste your time on too much stuff or things you hate.

16 of 16 people found this review helpful

Simplicity

A little repetitious at first but once it gets going it provides some great insight about principles of success. The emphasis on simplicity throughout the book is a refreshing change from other motivational presentations I have heard. This one is on my "re-listen" list.

15 of 15 people found this review helpful

I've finally finished this book!!

This has been on my to read lost forever. Before I even knew what this book was I had been hearing about this infamous 80/20 principle. The book quickly breaks down the history behind 80/20. and gives the reasoning why 20% of your efforts beget 80% of your results. Since then I've truly worked to identify what my most important 20% is that I should work on daily to get the biggest bang for my buck. The book is helping me redesign my ideas of prioritization - which is helpful as a new business owner. I felt the last quarter of the book could have been cut. while it shared great tips to live a happy life it just seemed to lose the theme of the first 3/4 of the book.

Def recommend to any self help junkies, creative's, entrepreneurs, or leaders in the making! ✊🏿✊🏿 grab the audio, not sure you need paperback for this book!

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

excellent book

this book was a great lesson and very thought-provoking about how to cut down on the stress and busyness and be more effective in life. Highly recommended!

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

English accent refreshing!

Of course it's easy to say, "work smart, make a million dollars, cut back, then enjoy life..." but- I don't think Koch is saying that here. His discussions are an enlightening look at the old Pareto principal in the words of someone who's actually accomplished it. I thought his look at bad relationships and avoiding snake pits was very useful and – he also has a big reminder against superficial friendships and the Internet.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Great book

very informative. includes practical applications, and helpful lists for accomplishing tasks as well as proper life allocation.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Good principle

Great principle, just need more in depth examples. The Australian accent was a pleasent surprise!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Powerful

I like the cold undisputed facts the author laid out. The principles are solid. This a a great book and reference guide. I have telling almost everyone I meet to grab a copy.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

You only need 20% or less of this book

Skip this book, and just look up a summary online. There's so much filler here, it's as though he's trying to teach us a lesson about 80/20 with his own book.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Contrarian Approach to happiness as success

An easy to listen to book, Mr. Koch lays out simple strategies to achieving huge success in your personal and professional life. Give it a listen, you'll be surprised.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

makes you take a new look at yourself

I see the 20/80 connection at play in my life and will take action to get out of the rat race

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

enlightened

great book, took me a while as it doesn't capture you as much as others but still worth it

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Sheer brilliance

Brilliant. Brilliant and life changing. Some reviewer mentioned that it was repetitive. It isn't. Every example is unique. The reviewer missed the point...

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

great tips, great principle

very concise would highly recommend. great principle with some amazing information. the 80/20 principle is something i will certainly adapt in my own life.

Good General Content but poorly recorded

The general Content of the 80/20 rule was quite eye opening in that it translates into virtually every aspect of life. It also makes you appreciate just how much comes from certain activities and how you could modify your results in certain areas of life with some small changes.
A couple of areas of the book seemed to stray off track a little although the author was clearly trying to impart his life wisdom - personally, although some parts were interesting enough they didn't add value to the general view of the book.
My biggest gripe though was the terrible quality of the recording. As someone who works with sound professionally, the over-enthusiastic use of the noise gate made it very hard to listen to. This gating meant that many of his words were cut off as the gate closed too harshly or early, making it a struggle to hear all the dialogue clearly. Also his erratic speaking / phrasing did nothing to help.
Normally I'm a big fan of the author presenting their own ideas and much prefer that but on this ocassion Koch woukd have been much better letting a professional get his message across.
A shame really as it spoilt an otherwise great book for me, which offered some inciteful content.

A balsy book.

A great read with countless info, that if studied in a rational manor will be life changing.

Great book for all of life

This book takes the age old principle and explains is in a way that will make you want to remodel your entire life better, not just your business and career

Thought Provoking

This book contains lots of easy to do exercises to help change your approach to personal and professional happiness.

The content is rich, but a bit too theoretical

Gave me the "wake up" call for my daily tasks! read with patience. Good luck

Great philosophy.

The 80/20 principle is defiantly worth learning and practicing in day to day life. This is the best book I have found dedicated solely on this philosophy but in my personal opinion it could have been far shorter. Don't get me wrong it has all of the meat you will need to grasp the 80/20 principle but I did find it hard to finish. When listening to this audio book I felt like I was in a university lecture rather than listening to a friend tell an insitive and engaging story.

Summary,

80/20 principle is worth learning about but book can get boring, is rather repetitive and narrated in monotone.