Customer Reviews

Living The 80/20 Way: Work Less, Worry Less, Succeed More, Enjoy More

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Although I also liked his original book The 80/20 Principle, Richard Koch has done a much better job in applying Vilfredo Pareto's 80/20 principle to everyday life in Living the 80/20 Way. The 80/20 principle means that in any area of life a few (approximately 20 percent) are vital and many (approximately 80 percent) are trivial. The key is to focus your time and energy on the 20 percent of your work projects, friends, investments, and leisure activities that are really important.
As the author of the international bestseller The Joy of Not Working (over 200,000 copies sold and published in 16 languages), I can lay claim to a measure of success not attained by the majority of people in North America. In fact, not so long my net worth was minus $30,000. Yet today I have a comfortable net worth, work only four to five hours a day, and have an income in the top 20 percent of wage earners. To get there I have implemented the following principles, which in one way or another are emphasized and expanded on by Richard Koch in Living the 80/20 Way.
1. Put more effort into simplifying your life and less into complicating it.
2. Reject the adage that everything worth doing is worth doing well - striving for excellence where excellence doesn't matter is the stuff that misfits are made of.
3. Concentrate on the things that really matter and be oblivious to practically everything else.
4. If you work more than eight hours a day, you are in the wrong job - either that or you are doing it wrong.
5. The belief in the morality of hard work signifies a hard head.
6. Forget about security and focus on opportunity.
7. Live life on your own terms and not someone else's.
The material in this book can be much more valuable than an MBA if you would like to get what you want out of life without killing yourself for it. I should know. I have an MBA and have never found anything worth reviewing from the courses I took in the program. Yet I find Living the 80/20 Way a great resource for reminding me what helped me become successful. It is also a valuable reminder for how I can continue to work fewer hours than most people and be more successful at what I do than most people who work in the same field.

Having read the 80/20 Principle by the same author, I found it extremely useful for putting into words what I have been doing for years with my actions and time management. His original book is great but several of those to whom I recommended it got bored, and didn't finish it, or they couldn't see how the business principles had any practical application to their own personal lives. The author acknowledges that this is why he wrote this current book which contains much of the same information as the original but repackaged to be easier to appreciate and apply. If you haven't read either book, I'd recommend this one because it covers most of the important points from the original book, plus adds useful applications to personal life. The numerous examples and exercises will probably prove useful to many readers who want to be more gently guided through these important concepts. I will say this, I agree so much with the principles of this book, that I've been applying them in my own life for many years now, even using exercises much like those presented by Richard Koch. I teach a course entitled "Working and Playing on Purpose," in which one objective is to motivate people to apply the 80/20 rule to their lives. The 80/20 Principle and the 80/20 Way definitely work. If you will read this book, do the exercises, and take action accordingly, I'm confident that you will see a dramatic difference in your life.

If you already have read the "80/20 Principle" by the same author, then this book will provide you with only 20% additional information. Mind you, the "80/20 Principle" contained 80% of the most valuable information you need to know about the 80/20 Principle. If you have yet to read the first book, however, this book will contain most of the valuable information contained in the first one and some more.

The additional 20% information is related to how you can APPLY the 80/20 principle to improve your life. Most of it is common sense, but it may help some. The author claims he wrote this book becaue one man told him he couldn't understand the 80/20 principle. If you are one of those, this book is a better read than the "80/20 Principle" since this book seems to be written for those with 8th grade reading level.

This book is about applying Paretto's 80/20 in our life (love, work, etc..)

I would separate the book into two parts:
the first part is quite boring and too philosophically written (though, the whole book is very easy to read). The author is repetitive, sometimes too abstract. Some statements are really fun and ironically saying mind-blowing, like: "if you are poor, money can make you happy". The whole book is full of such an unnecessary, useless statements.

The second part is, where the things are happening. The author forces the reader to think, how could she apply the 80/20 in life. There are lot of quizes, summaries, tables to fill and questions to answer. For example the author forces you to rethink, who are you, what do you want from life, and how to achieve it. IN A FUN WAY!. This type of self-discovery has tredemous value for the reader.

the funny thing is, that the 80/20 is explained in an undirect way (by showing examples of applicability). There are no hard to understand theories, statistics, etc...

Recommended

When we honestly look at how we spend our time, most of it is put to trivial uses, but if fully implemented the 80/20 principle would create a revolution in our work and lives.

When Richard Koch put out "The 80/20 Principle" in 1998 it was classified as a business book, but it was the section which applied the principle to personal life that made it such a big hit. The book made such an impact on me that I included it in a list of the key works in the personal development literature, along with the likes of Stephen Covey, Dale Carnegie, Norman Vincent Peale and Anthony Robbins. This list became "50 Self-Help Classics". I haven't regretted it.

True to his own principle of expanding on what works, the author has elaborated on the principle in subsequent books, but I personally do not tire of coming back to the 80/20 principle. Who COULD tire of a natural law? 'Living The 80/20 Way' is written in Koch's usual enjoyable style and is a superb place to start in understanding the principle. It won't take you long to read but may literally change your life. Highly recommended.

Tom Butler-Bowdon, author of "50 Self-Help Classics" (2003) and "50 Success Classics" (2004)

I think every over worked, under satisfied, perfectionist whether in business for themselves or not should read this book. I work for someone who is very, very successful and he lives his life this way and I wanted to see what his secret is and now I know. I look forward to answering the questions in the book and allowing my life to change for the better! I loved it!

Finally, a book that offers solutions that are acheivable, & take pressure off. This book is for all walks of life, businessmen, students, parents etc. It's very practical, & you individualise as you go. It offers a fairly simple philosophy, but incredibly powerfull when acted on. It will clear your confusion, inspire you to take action, breathe fresh air into your life, & it offers insights that you really need if you want happiness, not frustration. It really is a prescription to get off the treadmill & enjoy life!! You'll actually acheive more, in less time, without the stress. How bad can that be??
Read it, live it, have fun with life again.

Great book...but, if you've read the "80/20 Indiviudal", in my opinion, there's not much you'll get out of the "Living the 80/20/ Way".

"Living the 80/20 Way" teaches you how to apply the 80/20 principle to your personal life; I suppose if you need this outlined for you then the money for the book is worth it, but I received the same information from the "80/20 Individual".

Agreeing with author Richard Koch, you might say 20% of the statements in this book produce 80% of its value. Koch says he wrote this book because his last one, `The 80/20 Principle,' was too complex for some readers. As a result, Koch's writing, which is straightforward and concrete, at times borders on the simplistic. He illustrates each point with interesting stories and examples, some of which seem elementary to the point of being silly. That said, Koch's application of Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto's classic 80/20 rule is very useful. The modern interpretation of Pareto's law holds that 80% of your productivity stems from 20% of your activities - do more of these meaningful things, and less of the others, and you can actually become more productive while decreasing your workload. This is a valuable concept for busy people who want to be more productive while also reducing their stress. Koch's emphasis on flow, simplicity and following your passion are also useful. Some parts of the book reflect mainstream self-help literature - don't be surprised if you've heard some of it before. Koch includes worksheets to help you apply the 80/20 principle to your life. We recommend this book as a good introduction for self-help readers and those looking to do more with less.

The idea behind the book is that less is more. Koch says that we can be happier and more effective if we do less, but think very carefully before we spend any energy. It's a very simple idea and I thought at first that it was a statement of the obvious. But the stories and examples make the idea come alive in a way that I've never seen before. I think this is a great little book and well worth reading.