Pareto Principle: 20% of all activities produce 80% of all results.

Stated another way: we waste 80% of our time on activities that are meaningless.

How do you know if you are wasting your time?

The only individuals who are focused on activities that produce results are those who have created a blueprint for their lives and are following that blueprint. Successful individuals are those individuals who pursue activities that create a life that is consistent with their blueprint. Most don’t have a blueprint, so most are wasting their time.

I’ve written often about the importance of Dream-Setting and Goal-Setting.

Dream-Setting is a process in which you create a script of your ideal, perfect life (500 – 1,000 words) and then bullet point all of the dreams within that script that need to come true in order to make that life a reality.

Goal-Seting is the process of creating and pursuing the goals (the action steps) that enable you to realize your dreams. It may take three or more goals in order to realize just one dream. When you accomplish a goal, you are pursuing activities that create results that matter.

Without a blueprint, there really is no way to know which activities are important. Without a blueprint, there is no way to know if your activities are creating results that will produce the life you desire. Without a blueprint, you are leaving it all to chance.

Individuals who have created a blueprint do not waste their time on activities that will not produce results that lead to the life of their dreams. Individuals with a blueprint say no often. They only focus on things that matter.

With a blueprint, you are able to focus on fewer activities that produce results that will create the life of your dreams. With a blueprint, you are able to stop yourself from wasting 80% of your time.

“Inaction breeds doubts and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage.” Dale Carnegie

The biggest thing holding you back from success in life is the fact that you do not believe in yourself. You second-guess every move you make. You overthink everything.

Overthinking is a habit. It’s triggered by the fear of uncertainty. The fear is that you will fail if you take action, so you avoid taking action by planning and thinking to the point of inaction.

Those who succeed in life shed this overthnking habit. They take action, fail and make mistakes.

Failures and mistakes enable you to figure out what works and what doesn’t work. Successful people make a habit of overcoming their fear of taking action.

When you take action and survive the failures and mistakes, you gain courage and this empowers you to take more action.

Why do you do what you do?

Is what you do primarily to make money? If so, you are a mere cog in the wheel because a billion other people are doing the same thing. When you do what you do merely to make a profit, you are putting yourself in competition with a billion people.

Or, is what you do value-based? Are you doing something you know will improve the lives of others?

If so, then you just reduced your competition from a billion to zero.

When we pursue a dream, we are essentially competing only with only ourselves. In other words, pursuing a dream eliminates the competition to zero. No one can compete against someone with a dream.

A dream is unique. It is personal. It separates you from the competition. So, go out and pursue a dream. Dreams set you apart from everyone else.

“There is more than one way to skin a cat.” Seba Smith, The Money Diggers (1840).

How do you go about pursuing success when you are stuck in a job?

It’s a conundrum. Most have to work at a job in order to provide for their families. The need to provide for your family makes it difficult to pursue those things you are passionate about.

But there’s more than one way to skin cat – The Side Hustle.

According to The Bureau of Labor Statistics (2012), the average person watches 2.8 hours of TV every day. There are also other distractions: Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube, etc.

The point is, we all waste a portion of our free time doing unproductive things.

The Side Hustle involves doing something on the side, outside of your work hours that could one day create a stream of income.

It involves finding something you are passionate about and redirecting your behavior, reallocating your resources, to devote to that passion.

The Side Hustle:

• Minimizes Risk – While maintaining your existing employment, you are able to build a side business that you hope one day will generate a stream of income that will replace your employment.
• Hedges Your Bets – Being employed involves risk. The economy could turn, like it did in 2008/2009, and you could find yourself out of work. The Side Hustle becomes insurance against that happening.
• Allows You to Fail and Make Mistakes – Failing and making mistakes costs you time and money. Quitting a job to start a business means those mistakes and failures could result in bankruptcy, jeopardizing your livelihood and putting your family at great risk. The Side Hustle minimizes the impact of those mistakes and failures because you still have your current employment providing a stream of income.
• Allows You to Learn and Grow – The Side Hustle buys you time to develop the knowledge and skills you need to realize success.  

Successful individuals devote time to building their knowledge and skills.

They lay the foundation for success every day. They improve their skills and knowledge, every day. They Dream-Set and then they create a plan for success.

You goals are the action plans you create in order to make your dream a reality.

Create a vision of your ideal future life and then pursue the goals that will make that vision a reality.