You’re Doing Too Much (There’s an Easier Way)

Added: 2026-04-29

[00:00:00]Most people think living this lifestyle of freedom takes a lot. A lot of money, a lot of excursions, a lot of time hanging out with other people and doing things on cruise ships. And I understand why people think that because I used to think the same thing. But what if I told you living full-time on cruise ships didn't come from doing more? It actually came from doing less but better. There's a principle that I learned years ago, long before I ever stepped foot on any cruise ships. Once I really understood it, it changed how I dealt with money, how I dealt with personal possessions, and how I dealt with my relationships.

[00:00:46]It actually changed my whole life. That principle is called the 8020 rule.

[00:00:59]The paro principle, also known as the 8020 rule, basically says this. It says that 80% of your results come from 20% of your effort. Not everything that you do matters equally. Some things are going to move the needle, others not so much. The 8020 rule is not an exact science, and the numbers aren't precise.

[00:01:23]There's going to be some exceptions to the rules, but basically this is how it goes. 80% of the clothes that you wear on a regular basis are really only 20% of your entire wardrobe.

[00:01:36]80% of the food that you eat on a regular basis are usually your top 20% favorites. 80% of your social media engagement happens with about 20% of your contacts. And about 80% of the YouTube videos that you watch come from about 20% of the channels that you're subscribed to. The 8020 rule can and probably does apply to almost every area of our life. So what does this mean? If only the top 20% make the most impact, what happens to the other 80%.

[00:02:12]Most things they just take up your time.

[00:02:16]And the problem is most people spend their lives focused on the wrong 80%.

[00:02:22]I used to be busy all the time working, managing responsibilities, handling different things, doing what I thought I was supposed to do. But when I learned this rule and I really stepped back and looked at how it applies to my life, I realized some things that were really interesting.

[00:02:44]I realized that a small part of my life was responsible for most of my stress.

[00:02:50]Certain people, certain obligations, certain environments, places that I would go and things I would be doing.

[00:02:59]And I was giving those things most of my time. I started getting overwhelmed because I was misallocating my energy on the things that mattered the least.

[00:03:10]So, I was learning that I was putting my energy into things that weren't really giving anything back to me. So, I started making changes. Not big dramatic changes at first, but eventually they became bigger. What I started was with intentional changes. I started asking what actually matters here? What's actually moving my life forward? And then I started letting go of all the other things. For me, I applied the 8020 rule to just about every area in my life, just about everything. My time, my money, my relationships, if something was taking a lot from me, but giving very little back. I had to question why it was even still in my life. And if something was small and had a big impact, I actually lean into that.

[00:04:04]That's where the shift really started happening for me. I read the book the the richest man in Babylon. And after I read that, I did an assessment and I found where I was spending money on things that really didn't matter.

[00:04:20]Jewelry I barely wear because I'm not really big on jewelry. Makeup that I really didn't feel comfortable in, but I knew that it made an impression on other people.

[00:04:32]I was also doing things that weren't really important to me, like accepting invitations to events that I really wasn't interested in, like going to karaoke, comedy clubs, listening to music that was totally out of my element, reading fictional books because everyone at work was into them.

[00:04:54]Later, I regretted doing those um because I felt like they were time wasters. things like 50 shades of gray.

[00:05:03]Once I learned the 8020 rule, I started incremental changes that made big impacts in my life. I started reading books that I enjoyed, books that mattered. For example, I read the Coupon Mom's Guide to Cutting Your Grocery Bills in half. I became an extreme couponer and I started putting the cash savings away and started paying for cruises for my family. I went through my closet and I put all my clothes in boxes. After a month, I noticed that about 80% of my clothes were still in the boxes because I enjoyed wearing only about 20% and those items that I was wearing, I was wearing those multiple times during the month. The rest of those things were mostly things that I had purchased because some of them were on sale or they were they were some kind of trend or I only wore it once for some event. I gave myself about 6 months and anything I still didn't wear, I donated that to family, friends, charity, whatever. I did these types of assessments in just about every area of my life. And I started to realize that the things that sparked joy for me were my closest family and friends, a small portion of my possessions, a few shows that I watched, and some activities that I enjoy over and over. And it was mainly it was the 20% of things in my life that made the biggest impact overall. To this day, I still incorporate that into my current life, and it's made a huge difference in my freedom journey. This is my current life. No rushing to meet unwanted obligations, no chaos and regrets caused by spur-of-the- moment decisions, and no constant pressure of guilt for saying no. It's not because I suddenly have more time than everybody else. Absolutely not. It's because I stopped giving my time and attention to things that didn't deserve them. This right here, what you see on the screen, it's actually not about the ship. It's about what the ship represents to me.

[00:07:14]Freedom of time, freedom of choice, freedom of energy. And none of that came from doing everything. It came from focusing on the right things. Friend, you already know most people don't need more money. They don't need more hours in the day. They need to stop giving 80% of their life to the wrong 20%. Because that's what keeps you stuck. I didn't change everything overnight. Of course not. But I did change and that's what's made a big difference. It's changed everything for me. Friend, I'll leave you with this. Take an honest look at your life. What's the 80% that's draining you and the 20% that brings you joy? Focus on that.

[00:08:01]This has been Lenel with more proof that life doesn't have to look the way they said it should.