Using the 80/20 Principle to Focus Your Health Habits

In this episode, I break down how to use the 80/20 principle to simplify your health habits and get better results with less effort. Most of your success comes from a small percentage of what you do—and when you identify your 20%, everything becomes easier.

What You’ll Learn

• What the 80/20 (Pareto) Principle is and why it matters for your health
• How to identify the habits that create the biggest results in your energy, strength, and weight loss
• How to stay consistent on busy or stressful days
• How focusing on your health creates a ripple effect in your confidence, relationships, and overall life
• The surprising connection between the 80/20 principle and The Five Love Languages

Key Takeaway

You don’t need to do everything—you just need to focus on the few habits that move the needle. When you simplify, you succeed.

Interested in speaking with me about how we can work together? Click here to head to my website: https://www.modernbodymodernlife.com/ and schedule a free consultation with me.

Transcript

Unknown: 0:00

Bob, welcome to modern body, modern life, the podcast for women who want to feel powerful, healthy, strong and confident, inside and out at every age. On this podcast, we talk about becoming a woman who is fully in control of her eating and movement, so weight loss, strength and energy become permanent. We also talk about something bigger, becoming the woman who takes her deepest desire seriously and goes after more in every area of her life. I'm body and life coach Courtney Gray, and I believe you can get in the best shape of your life at any age, and when you do, it becomes a catalyst for everything else, your relationships, your confidence, your joy, because when you feel like you and your body, all of life gets better. Let's get started. Welcome to the podcast episode 109 focusing your health habits using the 8020 principle. Have you ever heard of the 8020 principle? It's called, it's either, either called the 8020 principle, or it's called the Paredes principle, and usually I feel like people hear about it in terms of business. Now I'm going to dive into it in a little bit, but, but I've been focusing it a lot on my business and my life in general, but I really want to take it in terms of focusing it on your health habits. And we're going to dive into that in just a minute. But before I get started, I have some personal, exciting news I want to share with you while you're listening to this podcast. If you're listening in real time, I am actually in Thailand on a vacation with my sister. We are going and we are working at an elephant sanctuary, and we're staying there for seven days. And we are. It's not glamorous. We are shoveling poop, making food, and I don't even know what else, but we are. We're going to be labor for this, this beautiful elephant sanctuary in Chiang Mai in Thailand, and it's the trip of a lifetime. So while you're listening to this, that's where I will be going to be off grid for a little bit if you are on my email list. I believe after I get back, I'm going to send some pictures and talk about my experience to my email list. I'm not going to be posting a lot about it on social media, but I know I have a lot of clients and past clients, and possibly you podcast listener, if you're interested in hearing about my trip, I'm very, very excited. I've been having more travel on my vision board for a few years now. So this has been manifested, my friends, it's been manifested. So I'm really excited about it. So you may have heard about the provetos principle, the 8020 principle, especially when it comes to business people, if they hear, if they hear, if they if I say, Do you know the 8020 principle? They usually think of business. For the last few months, I've been reading on repeat, listening on Audible, on repeat, to a great business book, and it's called 10x is easier than 2x and they started referring to the 8020 principle. And so I started thinking about my business in that way. And I thought, You know what? I really should start thinking about my health this way. And then I thought, you know, I really should start helping my clients this way. So what is this 8020 principle? What it means is roughly 80% of the results we're getting in our life come from 20% of our efforts. Or you can also say 80% of results come from 20% of causes. The Pareto principle was created by villefred, I think, is how you say his name, willifed Pareto. He was an economist in the 1800s and he came up with this principle that says 80% of the results come from 80% of the causes. And he came to find this in two different ways. He really started noticing that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population. He also observed that in his garden, he said, like 20% of his pea pods produced 80% of his peas. And so it's a concept that people have really used to get better in all areas or specific areas of their life, by really figuring out what of all their efforts are they getting the best bang for their buck? Is the best way to say it. Let me give you some other examples so you can understand this. Let me give you a business example. 80% of a company's sales may come from 20% of its customers, or 80% of profits are coming from 20% of its products. I started thinking about this when I was a glass artist long ago. That's so weird to even say when I was a glass artist long ago, because I've I've shut that business down. But I remember at one point I would go to the farmers market, and I would come home and I'd be like, Okay, I made $600 where did most of that $600 come from? And I started realizing, Oh, I'm really not. I'm not making very much money on all these big platters and bowls. Most of my money is coming from jewelry or night lights. And so that dictated what I did in my business. And then. It got to a point where I thought, Okay, where is most of my profits coming from? Most of my profits weren't with the night lights. It was with the jewelry. So then, in the end, for the last few years, I specifically focused on creating only jewelry. So it's an amazing principle that you can really use to focus and get better in any area. So let me give you a few more examples. In terms of productivity, 80% of your progress towards a goal might come from completing 20% of your tasks. And then personal life, 20% of the words you learn in a new language may be the ones that you use 80% of the time. So hopefully, you understand the concept if it's new to you, and let's think about like, how to apply it to your health. I think the most common way I've heard people apply this principle to their health is they say things like, oh, you know, 80% of the time eat really well, and then 20% of the time you can indulge without guilt. And I think it's a great, great way of thinking about eating. It really is a great way of thinking about eating. Sometimes people make the mistake of thinking, okay, so I'm going to eat really well during the week and then not worry on the weekends. That we don't want to take it too literal, because when I've seen people do that is they can literally negate all of their results by eating whatever they want on the weekends. So I think we need to tighten that up a little bit when it comes to our eating, if we're thinking of a weekly basis, but it's still a great concept. So let's dive into how we can use this principle for your health habits. Let's start by acknowledging what you're already doing well. So if you can identify everything you're already doing well, where you really take care of yourself and it's helping you age well and feel good and move good. And if you think of all the things you're doing, if you have a moment to, like, slow this down, this podcast down, and journal on this, it would be very powerful for you. So if you can acknowledge, make a little list of all the things that you're doing really well at how are you killing it? And then break it down to the 20% that are most significant. So let's say you'll say, Okay, I'm journaling most days. I'm meditating most days, and I work out, you know, five times a week, and I try to food prep most weeks. I'm walking in addition to working out. Maybe you're playing, you know, pickleball, maybe you're focusing on organic food. Maybe you're trying to not eat out as much. Maybe you're getting more protein, getting more water, right? So in many areas, maybe you're doing really well. What do you think of all those things is having the most significant impact on your health, not only your health today, but like your longevity and your you know, the way you're aging or on how you feel every day. So what do you think is the biggest bang for your buck? So you might say, okay, of all those things, like, if it were me, if I looked over that list I just gave you, and if that were me, doing all those things, I think I would say eating well and meditating probably would be, for me, the most powerful in terms of my everyday health. Now, in terms of longevity, I might say, Oh, it's going to be hard, because we got to put working out in there, but that's okay, like, there's a lot of things here, right? You might say three, eating, well, meditating, working out. That might not be exactly 20% but it really focuses down on what really gives you the best bang for your buck. Yes, walking is important. Yes, journaling is important. Yes, Food Prepping is important, and trying not to eat out all that is important. But when we can focus down on a few we really can kind of say, Okay, this is why I'm doing so well. And one of the reasons why this is really helpful is if you have a really busy day and you simply don't have time to do all the things you're doing, right? If it's not a beautiful day where the sun is shining and there's no drama and you feel amazing and there's no schedule disruptions, then you can do all the things. But what is of all those things, the 20% that is going to give you the biggest bang for your buck when it comes to results, I do a lot of things when it comes to my wellness, when it comes to what I call, like my best health practices, I do a lot of those things every day. I make time, literally in one day I can journal, visualize, meditate, breath, work, and these aren't long. I mean, sometimes I'll do five minutes of each so this isn't a huge it's not like I'm doing this for hours and lighting a candle and sitting around for hours and hours, but I can do a lot of those things, and I can also go for a walk, and I can also go to the gym and eat really well and make sure I'm getting my water and all those things. But if all of a sudden I need to tighten up my day, and it's a wild day like yesterday. For example, I had 10 clients yesterday. I did a lot of clients. I It's Thanksgiving week, so a lot of my clients were funneled to the beginning of the week, and so I didn't get to all of those things. I don't think I got to visualizing, I don't think I got to meditating. I did breath work instead, and I did go for a walk, but I didn't actually work out. Out. And so it the reason why it's really great to understand what are the best things for you? What is your like? 20% that are making the most impact? It helps you on those days when when you can't do it all. So you might say, I don't have time for anything except for I'm going to eat really well. One of the reasons I love that is I don't have time for hardly anything, but I'm going to eat really well. And I think of this when there's like an emergency, when all of a sudden one of our loved ones is in the hospital, and you literally have to leave work early, cancel plans. All that happens. We're not going to be working out, probably not going to be meditating, you know, but we are at some point going to eat. So can you eat really well. I love this example, because what a lot of people struggle with is being all or none. I did a podcast about all or none thinking and behavior a few weeks ago. It was very popular. It's, I'm looking at the the tracking on it, how many people have downloaded it, and clearly it's a very popular one. I think a lot of people resonate and associate with being all or none, but they're either doing all of the things. They're doing all of that list their health, you know, best health practices, or they're doing none of them. But even if you have a crazy busy schedule, or a schedule that is totally interrupted with even sometimes difficult things, you will eat at some point, and so can you eat well? So you can ask yourself in these situations, what would make the most difference? What would be doable? What would be the most doable for me to do in this situation, it's important to know what the 20% is that really is going to not only be doable, but feel the best and really be the biggest bang for your buck. The next way you can apply the 8020, principle to your life is identify where you want to grow. So we started with like, what's already going well? I love starting in that place, because there are things you're doing well, but what is an area that you either don't feel like you're doing well, also that area is an area you want to grow, you want to get better, either a certain area or maybe overall, that you want to grow. And break it down to the 20% that are most significant and make a list, right? Maybe you're not moving enough, maybe you haven't been focusing on strength. Maybe you haven't been sleeping well, maybe you want to, you know, get out into nature, more focus on Hobbies, more maybe you're not eating as well as you want to. You're not hydrating. You know, you can drink more water, but you just haven't been making it a priority. Maybe your habits aren't great when you eat out or when you're at social events. Maybe you people please not connected to spirituality. Maybe you're not challenging your brain, right? Brain Health is a real thing too. Are you just sitting around scrolling all day? Are you actually doing things that are challenging and growing your mental health? Most people aren't going to take this list, even at the New Year, and say, I'm doing all these things at the same time, right? We're not doing all of these things. It'd be too much. We get give up. It would be too overwhelming. So if we think in terms of the 8020 principle, you want to get 80% of results from the 20% of your efforts, which of all of these would be a great place to start? And when we think of results. You can think, Okay, which one of these would make me feel happier? That's the result I want. I feel happier. I want to feel proud. Maybe you want to feel more joy. Maybe you really want to feel better physically. So which one of these from that list Do you want to focus on? It makes me think of a book by James clear, atomic habits. Great book. It talks a lot about starting with a small, intentional habit. You know, I think at one point he even talks about, if you want to be a runner, run to, like, run half a block and come back. Now, at some point, of course, we are going to need to put more effort out. And if you can run more than a half a block, I would suggest doing so. But for some people, starting small is the perfect place to start. Let me give you a client example that really showcases this. I had a woman in one of my groups who was creating a goal for our time together. In that group, I suggested to everyone, okay, I want you to think of a goal. And she really wanted two things, and she said, I really don't know, because I kind of equally want both. She wanted to focus on her health and she also want to focus on her business. Now, can we focus on our health and our business at the same time, totally but for the sake of this group, I really wanted them to focus on one goal, because it was kind of a shorter group. And so what I had her consider was, if she focused on her business, would it have a ripple effect and up level her life. And she thought about it for a second, she goes, I don't think so. Now there's a philosophy out there that says, when you like rising tide lifts all boats, right? So when you do improve one area, it usually does improve other areas of your life, for sure. But she didn't really see a direct. Line to how if she focused on her business, her health would improve. And I agree, but then I said the opposite. I said, if you focus on your health, do you think it will improve your business? And she very quickly said, Yes, and I completely agree. That's why I love helping women with their health, with their weight loss and habits and drinking and all the things. Is because when we dial in our health, it seems to affect our relationships, our money, our confidence, our organization. I mean, it affects everything in our lives. And so when we put the focus on our health as our 20% it is the biggest bang for our buck in terms of our life. When you think of your life in terms of like a pie or a graph, where it has all the different areas of your life, you know, relationships, money, hobbies, spirituality, all these different things, there's a few that I think affect everything. And I, you know, off the cuff right now, would argue that health and spirituality are probably two that affect everything. In fact, I really believe, and I believe this more and more as I coach more and more women to better health, is that health and spirituality are very connected. Because I believe that when we are eating and living and moving in a way that is is really aligned with what we truly want. I think we are connected spiritually to whatever you believe. I think we're connected to ourselves, our future self, if you believe in God or spirit or energy. I think there's really something about that. I think when we are taking care of the vessel we are given, we are connected, and it affects everything positively. When I was thinking of examples, it made me think about how we can use the 8020 principle in our relationships, since our relationships are a very important part of our health. And it made me think of one of my favorite books called The Five Love Languages. If you have, if you know what the five love languages, you're like smiling right now. It's such a great book. If you've never heard of The Five Love Languages, stop right now and order it on Amazon. Or, even better, go to a local bookstore. If you have a local bookstore, it is an amazing book you will want to have and keep the five love languages and the 8020 principle are very in line with each other, and so let me explain in my own words what The Five Love Languages is. It's just so funny. When we were camping this summer, I started talking about the five love languages, and it created an amazing camps, Camp side, early morning conversation with all the adults. But basically what I learned from The Five Love Languages is that in first of all, there's probably more than five. The person who wrote this book said there's five. There could be eight. We don't know, but it's the it's the theory that I really like. But basically, the author of this book said that there are five basic love languages. And what that means is is, I'm going to take myself, for example, is that I have a specific love language of the five. I have a centered like a more significant love language, and that means the way I feel love is when people do this certain thing. And let me tell you what the five are. The Five Love Languages are, touch, like physical touch, words of affirmation, like saying to someone, you're such a great mom, gifts. We know what that is. Quality time. We know what that is, and then acts of service. And so the the author of this book, says that most people are one or a combination of two of these five love languages. And so when we think back to me, when I think of like my main love language, I know is touch. And what that means is, is that my husband can walk in the house and he can say, you look great. And of course, that makes me feel good. He can bring me flowers. Of course, it makes me feel good. He can say, hey, let's watch a movie tonight, feeling amazing. He could make the bed. I do love me some acts of service. I think that mine, my love language, is a strong, physical touch, and with a second, with a with a side hustle of acts of service, because even as I went through those with you, when I said and makes the bed, that lights me up. And so what that means is my husband could do all those things, but when he comes and slaps me on the ass, or grabs my face and kisses me unexpectedly, or even, like touches his back while he's walking next to me, that it like radiates with me. It makes me feel like he loves me, and second to that is when he does things for me. But here's what this also means. It also means that that's how I show love. So we're not just talking about how we receive love. Your love language is how you receive love and how you give love. So that means with my husband, when I want to show him love, I'm probably not going to buy him something, probably not going to tell him how great he is, probably not going to spend quality time with him. I do all those things for sure, but if I'm wanting to love on him, I am going to touch him. When he's sitting in his chair, and I walk by, I touch his head, because I just can't stop touching him, because I love him. And then secondly, I do things for him. Hey, can I get you a cup of coffee? Hey, can I do this for you? I'm going to the store. Do you need anything? You can see, if you take a moment, if this is the first time you're hearing about this, your your brain is probably exploding. I should probably do a whole podcast on this, but you can see how it's it's so impactful with the people you love. And so here's how I was thinking about this with my kids. So when my kids were young, we have three boys, and I realized, oh, I should figure out what my kids love language is. There is actually a Five Love Languages book, but then there's a five love languages for children books. I bought that one as well. If you have the main book, you really don't. I don't think you need the others. It was a little repetitive, but what it said was, with kids, they have to be a certain age, and I forget what age they they're supposed to be, but in order for them to know, but they say, you go into them and you say to them, Hey, honey, out of all these things I do for you, and you list all the things, all the love languages. How do you know I love you? And I'm telling you, each of my boys immediately said what their love language is, and I knew what Tyler's was. Tyler's is touch, and I know that just because he's been extremely touchy from a very young age, and I'm touchy, so I recognize that in him, but my other two boys had different love languages, they immediately said, gifts. When you buy me this, and that's Justin's, that's one of my twins, and I remember when he said gifts at the time, it felt very, very kind of shallow to me. I'm just admitting it to you. I thought, like, what gifts? It's such a shallow one. But I said to him, really? And then I went deeper, and I said, tell me why gifts like, why that's so special to you. And he started going on and on and on about my mom gave him this last Christmas for his last birthday. Uncle Dave gave him this, and Aunt Magda gave him this, I mean. And it was very clear that it was not a superficial, greedy type of love languages. It was just his love language. And I know this from this child, because not only did he tell me that, and not only does he love receiving gifts, but he gives me gifts. Because remember, your love language is not only how you receive love, it's how you give love. And then my little one, right away, he said, quality time. And the reason why understanding what each of my three children's love languages, the reason why that was so powerful for me was because I'm going to love them in all the ways. I'm going to spend time with them and tell them how great they are, and give them gifts and do all the things for them. But what I want to do is I want to be able to focus my attention on where it matters most. If I am walking by all three of them, I am grabbing on and hugging Tyler, because that is his love language. If I have 20 minutes to spare, I'm sparing it with Ryan, because his is quality time. If I'm giving anyone a gift, I'm giving it to Justin, because I want to focus my time on where it matters most. In fact, when it comes to giving gifts, that was a little tricky for me. So what I do with that is, when I make something special for dinner, because Justin loves to eat and he loves my cooking, I will try to make what his favorites are, or I will tell him, like, I'll whisper in his ear, you know, I made this for you. And he was like, I know you did so that even though it's not really a gift here, I got this from the store, it's a gift in terms of, like, I want him to know that it is a gift for him. The others don't care. Oh, you made cookies. Great. I love cookies. But to Justin, it matters more. The Five Love Languages concept is trying to teach us to focus our behaviors on the specific love language of the person we want to connect to. So yes, we love them in a myriad of ways, but when we focus on loving them the way they want to be loved, it is felt so much deeply. So can you see the connection between the 8020 principle and the five love languages. I'm like, really excited about my This is amazing. This like connection. So what I also want you to consider is, am I putting effort into what is really going to create the results I want? We don't necessarily need to cut out the 80% of what we're doing. That's not really the heavy hitters. We just need to be aware of what is really driving the most powerful results. If you are one of my clients, you know that oftentimes, when you come and you tell me something is working, you'll be like, I've lost weight, or I've been sleeping so much better, or I'm making more money in my business, or I feel like I'm having better conversations with my children, whatever is is going well for you. I often say, How did you create that? How are we doing this? Because it's so powerful to realize, oh, this is what is working. Let's do more of that. I want your efforts to be on what is really going to. Move the needle, and once you understand what moves the needle, you can really create a body and life that you love living in. I hope you have a wonderful Tuesday for information on how we can work together. Head to modern body, modern life.com. To schedule a consultation with me. I'm currently coaching women privately, and I offer group coaching programs. I.