The 90/10 Rule

An email came through to me not too long ago with the subject reading "FW:FW:FW:FW: The 90/10 Rule".  Normally I don't open emails that have that many forwards but it was from a reliable source and so I decided to check it out.  The email, once I got to it, describes a typical morning in a typical American household with a typical American family unit. 

A father sits down to the breakfast table with his business shirt on ready for work.  His oldest daughter, excited about the morning, accidentally spills her orange juice, soiling his shirt.  He becomes angered and yells at his daughter to watch what she's doing, causing her to run off and sob.  She misses her bus and when he comes downstairs again, he finds out that he will now have to take her to school.  Hurriedly they dash out the door and into the car.  A policeman pulls him over for speeding a half mile from school.  His daughter is late for school and he is late for work.

The email goes on to ask a few questions such as, "...did the daughter cause him to be late for work?  Did the policeman cause him to be late for work?  ...".  The premise is very simple.  If the man had reacted differently to the situation he became involved in, he would not have been late for work.  If the man had simply made lighter of the spilled juice, his daughter would not have missed her bus.  It would have only taken him a few minutes to change his shirt.  His decision about 10% of the morning effected 90% of the day.

How many times in our lives have we lashed out at someone and wished we had never opened our mouths?  How many times in our lives have we made a hasty decision and had to live with it for a very long time?  How many of those are you still dealing with?

In Yin-Yang theory, one learns that everything has an opposite to balance it.  This balance does not come in the form of a scale where both parts are equal.  This balance comes in the form of a sphere.  Within this sphere is one thing and its opposite.  Ideally, Yin and Yang have equal share of the sphere.  More of one than the other can exist, though.  If there is more Yin, there is less Yang and vice versa.  How does this apply to the 90/10 rule?

The more you do of the thing you would not normally do, the more you will normally do it.  We call this a habit.  Ever hear the saying, it gets easier every time?  What ultimately becomes easier is our willingness to give in to habit because we feel it is too hard to change.  Try this next time you feel you are caught in a rut or there is something you would like to do differently, make a conscious effort to do what you want to do.  Do it for two weeks.  No matter how many times you talk yourself into not doing it, keep trying.  No matter how silly it feels or how many people laugh at you, keep trying.  Once you can successfully do it for two weeks, you can make it a habit.  It does get easier every time.

Take advantage of the small moments in your life.  They all add up to bigger things.

The information contained herein is not intended to diagnose or treat any condition, nor to insult or demean anyone or any being. Please respect this boundary. Otherwise, anything goes.