What is the vital work?

The Pareto Principle suggests that 80% of the consequences come from 20% of the causes. 

‘The vital few’ - as the 20% part is often referred to - is worth finding. 

It’s worth finding in our efforts, our ideas, decisions, choices, actions and behaviours. 

So what would be your ‘vital work’?

What’s the stuff that’s really truly worth doing? Worth doing because it delivers such a return, you’d be crazy not to do it. 

But wait ... we can spend plenty of time dong anything BUT ‘the vital work’!

We dance around the edges, pffft about with busy work, rework things that are already done and stall and delay ... rather than hit the vital work with focus. 

If you can spend even a few minutes at your next meeting, in the team workshop or at the quarterly planning session focusing on the vital work, you’ll be spending time wisely. 

And a daily - or hourly - check of our to do list can also help reveal whether we are working on the vital, valuable work. 

Now ... we just need to identify WHY it’s valuable, why it’s vital. 

It probably delivers great impacts, results and outcomes. 

A hefty 80% of them!

The struggle of decision making

In the times of uncertainty we’ve been experiencing, it can feel too hard or overwhelming to make decisions. 

There are so many options, scenarios and what ifs that are possible

Try this 1-2-3 mantra I use with mentoring clients:


1. Find the path
A path helps give us more certainty of where we’re heading - even if we don’t know all the details or what’s ahead yet. It’s a direction marker. 

It may be a new path for you, or a path another has taken. 


2. Make a decision. 
What are you going to do? 

Our attention, energy and motivation is stolen by unmade decisions. To reduce overwhelm and pressure and move out of inertia, we can make decisions now we have a path. 

There’s less to fear about this because many decisions can be adjusted later (or reversed) if they’re not right for you. 

But make a decision. Making no decision on a path when a decision is needed saps our time, energy and attention. 


3. Take action. 
We can’t think our way through decisions. Action is the best way to work out if what you’ve decided and where you’re going is a good fit. 


You can step out along a safer, less uncertain path:

1. Find the path. 
2. Make decisions. 
3. Take action.