Does the 80/20 Rule Apply to Your Health?

By Steven Hefferon, CMT, PTA, CPRS

We've all heard about the 80/20 Rule - the idea that 80 percent of your gain will come from 20 percent of your effort. The 80/20 rule can be applied to most anything in our lives. But have you ever considered how this rule might apply to your health?

I will use wealth as an example because everyone can relate to having it or not having it, which is the underlying premise of the 80/20 Rule. If someone starts a business and hires people to make widgets, a handful of worker bees do most of the work and the owner gets most of the money (it's not fair, but this process is repeated over again and again throughout the world).

The 80/20 Rule like you've never heard

Now let's take a little deeper look into what has to happen for that business owner to get wealthy, again using the 80/20 Rule. Knowing that 80 percent of businesses fail and only 20 percent survive, that business owner has two options:

Don't do what the 80 percent do to fail

The same rule applies to your health. If you seek out the same treatments as the 80% of patients who failed to get relief, then you are guaranteeing that you will also fail.

On the other hand, if you seek treatments that have proven successful in the past, then you are greatly increasing your odds of finding relief and getting your life back. You have to concentrate on finding what works - not doing what everybody else does or simply doing what you are told.

The problem is that it takes courage and determination to try new things. You may be uncomfortable at first, but don't worry. Keep in mind that the 80/20 Rule is hard to argue with and even harder to bet against. So, don't be one of those people who become jealous of the success of others. Join the successful by getting off your buns and taking action.