The Meeting - A day of a pareto DOER

12:10 PM Unknown 0 Comments

If you didn't read yet, check out the DONTER version of this story.

The Morning

All of the priorities for the day were set in advance. First of all, waking up early and going for a walk - the best way to breathe some fresh air and keep the head cool for the day ahead.

Later, he/she had a healthy breakfast and some 15 minutes of meditating. The notes to the meeting were revised according to their importance: the most crucial ones were seen twice and the whole presentation was rehearsed also twice. He/she thought that by doing this he/she could get his/her mind on the work rather on worrying about it.

The Afternoon

Arrived early at the building where the meeting would take place. But, with the spare time he chose to walk around and talk to some other executives. "A good opportunity to maybe even exchange a card or two" - he thought.

As the meeting begins, he/she had three major concerns: 1) make the executives comprehend the importance of the subject for their business; 2) transmit the key factors which could help them in any way; and 3) make a solid conclusion of the presentation, while showing appreciation for their attention and opening him/herself to eventual questions.

Needless to say, the meeting was a success, since the top 20% priorities set by him/her were taken care of with undivided focus.

The Night

Since the day went quite well for him/her, his/her mood was great and also the time spent with family at home was indeed a quality time.

Sure that his/her professional status had its value increased before the other executives, he/she could be safe to direct himself to new improvements in his/her project and also creating other ones, as he/she felt confident and useful for the market in a major way.

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The Meeting - A day of a pareto DONTER

5:56 AM Unknown 0 Comments

Few things in work life beat the nervousness of an important meeting. It may be a job interview, a presentation of a project or a debating session among different levels staff.

If you do not plan your meetings on a pareto basis (= thinking about what is the most important meetings to have or not to have, the most important subjects, the key staff involved and such things), they most probably will only get harder and less productive. Following is a story that exemplifies that.


The Morning


The preparation for the meeting only begun this day. Few notes were made while multitasking with TV and internet. No rehearsal was done for the presentation, since he/she felt it would come up as not original when presented later.

An interesting fact is that he/she did not set goals and a strategy for the meeting. Also, his notes were all reviewed with no focus on specifics.

The Afternoon

Arriving at the office on time was easy (maybe the easier thing that will happen this day). He/she is there, already reviewed all the lines he/she had written to say at the meeting. The expectations are high, and also the nervousness.

His/her thoughts go like "you are not able to deliver it properly" and he/she even tries to argue with this kind of mental nonsense. Things only get worse, for he/she chose to wait alone (feeding bad thoughts) more than one hour for the meeting in the hall of the building. Maybe a poor choice, since his/her mental state should be a prime concern on this day.

He gets into the office and, stammering, starts the presentation. Confidence drops even more and the other executives feel it. He/she tries to underline at least the most important facts of the presentation prepared, but as he gave all of them the same indistinct attention, he/she knows as few of the low importance things as the high importance ones.

The Night

After the devastating outcome of the meeting, he/she is so sad he feels he/she can't even try anymore. Obviously there is not much choice, but he/she knows (or should know) that next tries probably will be branded by the same kind of bad habits performed this day.

He/she goes to bed thinking of his/her failure not as a lesson, but as a burden. Therefore, he/she doesn't see any kind of opportunity to learn with this day experience.

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Texts From Vilfie - 06

4:27 PM Unknown 0 Comments



http://flic.kr/p/p4e47t

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"The 4 hour body" by Tim Ferriss - Review

2:41 PM Unknown 0 Comments

Book/Author overview: Again a review of a Tim Ferriss' book, and may I say, well deserved. "The 4-hour body" brings Ferriss' lessons about health and other skills to a whole new level.

What ideas it brings: The book covers many subjects, from muscle gaining to even habits to increase the longevity. As in his previous works, Ferriss brings to the reader much data about his experiments and also thoughts on the reason of their successes/failures. In this sense, the book helps you to learn more about how the human body works on different situations (sometimes extreme ones).

The practical side of the tips is really the biggest part of the book. Ferriss even explain his methods to have a better night of sleep, better performance with your partner, run faster... and much more!

"The 4-hour body" is divided in many chapters and each one can be read separately or in a sequence suggested by the author.

Focus: The gist is that you can have more control over your health if you spend enough quality time planning your eating habits and exercises. For this, Ferriss uses his famous strategies of teaching through real cases and is able to capture our attention throughout the whole book.

For anyone who wants to get in a better shape, this is a MUST read. Obviously, not everything there is for everybody, so you have to know your limits and your purposes in the physical area. This is a really interesting book.

Check out other reviews at Amazon.

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"Outliers" Book Review

12:57 PM Unknown 0 Comments

Book/Author overview: Malcolm Gladwell's storytelling way of transmitting powerful concepts is really great and makes this book a masterpiece. The main discussion in it is about what high achievers do differently than the rest of the people.

Gladwell brings a very profound analysis of cases in which the "outliers" (the few ones who distinguished themselves by overachieving) were found in less than expected situations.

What ideas it brings: "Outliers" reasons that there is a fine and almost invisible logic between behavior, context and success. What it suggests is that there are many factors that come into place in order to someone achieve any level of success.

For example, the author argues that the situational environment (of the family, the society, the country) where a student is raised can help improve his/her odds of succeeding in any endeavor.

Well, looking at this, we can figure out that maybe even effort is one of the defining factors of success, it can be accelerated by putting oneself in the ideal environment.

Focus: The focus of Malcolm Gladwell in his book is really to convince us that nobody is "self made" in a extremist way, but what successful people do is to make themselves their best in their own situations.

In this sense, opposing to the "self made" culture, Gladwell suggests some kind of "made by many factors" success.

Worth the read, definitely.

Check out other reviews at Amazon.

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"The 4-hour Workweek" - Book Review

10:15 AM Unknown 0 Comments

Book/Author overview: Few authors bring so much practical insight in his books as Tim Ferriss. Also, his style of teaching through storytelling and making connections between totally different subjects are an unique trait of his writing books.


What ideas it brings: "The 4-hour workweek" brings practical advice about how to increase your ability to work less and still achieve more results, and in this sense it takes the Pareto principle in a very serious account.


The author shows us the importance of experimenting and trying new ways to solve the most important problems in our lives. While doing this, he uses a great deal of sense of humor and solid arguments.

The concept of muse is one of the key subjects in the book and is related to having a passive income, which is one of the tips of Ferriss in order to have financial freedom.


Focus: The main focus of the book is about being able to work on what you truly want and in a manner that will not kill you of stress or work overload. Ferriss talks about how happiness is related to our satisfaction in our work life and brings us many important concepts in order to boost it, such as the "muses".


No matter if you are happy with your desk job or you want to switch to a mobile work environment, this book has great insights for you. Again, this is a MUST read.

Check out other reviews at Amazon.

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"Living the 80/20 way" - Book Review

6:41 AM Unknown 0 Comments

Book/Author overview: Richard Koch is a major student and practitioner of the Pareto principle. His lessons cover both personal as professional areas and are simple enough for anybody to grasp it and be able to enrich their lives at once.

Koch's books are very recognized for their depth and the matter of 80/20 thinking is a common subject among them. "Living the 80/20 way" brings us a vantage point that focus on self improvement by using the 80/20 analysis in the various areas of one's life.

What ideas it brings: The book shows a variety of subjects analysed through the pareto way lenses. Personal responsibility is a major theme, as it is understood throughout the book that you make your destiny through your everyday choices and well, if you do them using the pareto principle, the results can be bigger and better.

Maybe we could say that for this book, simplification is the name of the game. You must avoid overcomplicating your life and seek ways to simplify it in order to live less stressed and busy while still getting great results from your actions.

It is important to notice that the pareto law is not pictured in this book as a magical principle, but rather a practical one. And also, only mature and rational planning on your life wishes can yield you the growth of results that is promised by the author.

Focus: The main question in the book is seeking ways of throwing away what doesn't work for you and investing your best time and efforts on what makes up your most valued goals. The thought of "less is more" is somehow related to this concept and represents a paradigm shift for most of us.

What "Living the 80/20 way" proposes is not necessarily easy to do, but is simple and straightforward. Following Koch's teachings can have a great impact on your life both personally and professionally.

So, this is a MUST read.

Check out other reviews at Amazon.


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Texts From Vilfie - 05

5:17 AM Unknown 0 Comments



http://flic.kr/p/oKksGA

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Family Trip: A day of a pareto DOER

7:00 PM Unknown 0 Comments

If you didn't read it yet, check out the p-DONTER version of this story.

The Morning

The family had set the priorities to the trip: waking up at the right time, having already packed all the most important items and having the car already fueled the day before. In this manner, the first hours of the day of the trip were smooth and they could get to the beach with no rush and well equipped.

The Afternoon

The lunch was great, since dad already had searched the best restaurants in the area through an online app.

The spot gotten in the beach by the family was simply perfect, within a nice distance from the water.

There was absolutely no complain from the kids or the parents and every setback found was only minor and did not grow into a bigger one. The day was being a success.

The Night

The family had the best time at the beach. As they had almost no unforeseen expenses, the dad was able to gift everybody with a gift of their choice.

Happy and in a good vibe, the family went back home with no problems and still could enjoy a great dinner together.

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Family Trip - A day of a pareto DONTER

6:19 PM Unknown 0 Comments

Certain family decided to go on a one-day trip to the ocean, 100 miles from home. Great idea, but, they did not think of it in a pareto style. Let's find out how it went.

The Morning

Waking up was not easy and definitely not on time. The night before was a little bit too long for the whole family and the alarm clocks weren't set properly.

In order not to lose any more time, the mother and the father urged the teenage sons to pack their stuff and get ready to leave fast. Obviously, this was the exact formula for forgetting things, which indeed was the case. Sunscreen and sunglasses were left at home.

The Afternoon

The afternoon started, already at the beach, with the purchase of a new sunscreen = money spent that could have been avoided.

Having already gotten there late, the family were able to only get a place far from the water to put their beach equipment. Also, with the happenings, arguing and blaming was the tone of the talks among them.

The Night

At last, hungry and in a terrible mood, the family decides to go back home. But wait, the gas was almost gone, and when they were already half way home, the fuel lights gave the verdict. No gas. Seems like somebody did not plan fuelling the car as one of the 20% priorities in order to have a successful trip.

With the last drop of battery in dad's cellphone, he was able to reach for help. Nevertheless, it would be hard to say that something was successful in the trip.


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A Pareto look on doing things faster

5:22 PM Unknown 0 Comments

The illusive power of speed

I believe most of the time we fall for a collective illusion, which is that speed has some sort of power in itself. If we think about it, not only our whole schedule is a symbol of hurry, but also our language and thought processes.

In fact, in the same way it is said that time flies when we do something fun, we can also perceive that time stretches in a positive manner when we care enough to do things slowly enough, ensuring a better and a more lasting result.

Slowing down to reach more

Although it is true that sometimes we have to run before walk, most of time this is not the case. This way, reducing the rush in any activity can help you increase the quality of learning it and also performing it in a better and unexpected way.

Slowing down does not mean to stop, and also does not mean some lack of enthusiasm or passion. On the contrary, it suggests the importance of doing things right. And this is only achieved by caring even for the tiniest details, which takes time.

Time and schedule in the eyes of Pareto

Through making a pareto analysis of your weekly/monthly schedule and the usage of your time in a daily basis, you can figure out what is being the main focus of your efforts. The million dollar question is: does it worth your time?

If the answer is a sounding NO, then you should erase the time sucking activities and gather as much time as you can to the things you really care about. By doing this, you can spend more quality time in those areas, and therefore achieve more important things done.

On the other hand, if the answer to that question is a beautiful YES, than intensify your efforts to these areas (usually is easier to focus on one or two areas). Spend at least 20% of your time figuring out how to increase the results on such subject(s).

As always, the main thing is to use your time consciously. This way, you'll achieve more with less time and effort.

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A Pareto look on fast food

4:09 PM Unknown 0 Comments

Do's and dont's of fast food

Nutrition is more about habit than about rigid rules. The reason is simple: you have to be able to keep eating well in the long run in order to have a strong and solid health. Well, this is not easy, but it can be helped a little bit with a sistematic pareto view on the subject.

Eating, obviously, is mainly composed by two parts: 1) what to eat?, and 2) what NOT to eat?. But, also, there is a third component, which is 3) how much to eat?

In this sense, we see that fast food is often demonized and put in a basket of bad habits people sustain. Eating only fast food will probably bring you to a bad overall health. But eating healthy and ocasionally enjoying a day with your favorite fast food cuisine will not damage you irreversibly.


Is it possible to plan what to eat daily?

Sure it is, many people do it. The lessons Tim Ferriss brings us in his great book "The 4-Hour Body" show that planning meals in advance can be a great way to make a commitment to treat well your body.

Also, Jim Rohn used to talk a lot about nutrition. "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" was one of the most listened quotes at his seminars. And even if it seems too easy to do, it is simply because it MIGHT be.

At one point, we come to discover that every action has its own consequence, and in matters of food there is no exception.

Ways in which the pareto principle can help you eat better

I am listing here only 5, but you can imagine infinite more. Just use your creativity and your will to get away from the daily habit of fast food eating.

1 - Make an 80/20 analysis of the fast food you eat and find out the 20% that is more dangerous to your health. It shouldn't be very hard, just google them and separate between rankings according to their health menaces. CUT them.

2 - Limit yourself to eating fast food just 20% of the days. It means something around a meal and a half (a dessert, it might be) per week.

3 - Find out the 20% least dangerous fast food items you like to eat. If possible, when you really feel like eating fast food, stick to them.

4 - As food is sometimes a matter of context, find out the 20% of the situations in which you find yourself inevitably falling for a fast food meal. If you cannot avoid those kind of situations, try to be prepared like bringing something healthy to eat in order to maybe weaken the fast food habit link.

5 - And, finally, as quality food and exercises are together when it comes to taking care of someone's health, try to exercise 80% of the week (or around 4 times a week).

Well, as said before, eating healthy is not about rigid rules, but mainly about a conscious act of choosing the kind of lifestyle will be better for you and your body. Following some of the mentioned tips can surely help you with that.

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