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Published by Bethany Simmons.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 4

FOUR DISCTINCT CATEGORIES OF ESSENTIAL HABITS ............................... 6

ENERGY ........................................................................................................ 7

MEMORY ..................................................................................................... 14

SCHEDULE .................................................................................................. 20

FOCUS ......................................................................................................... 24

CONCLUSION ............................................................................................. 28


INTRODUCTION

When you observe the daily routines of the most successful people in the world – those who

earned their millions on their own – certain specific patterns of behavior emerge. But

human behaviors can be learned, practiced, and replicated – and if you integrate those

habits into your own life, you’ll automatically be more productive and successful.

Taking cues from others who are experts is the basis of what psychologists call “social

learning,” a branch of psychology often leveraged by entrepreneurs and corporations to

make them more productive.

There are literally thousands of different studies

and research papers that confirm the validity of

this process, which involves observing role

models who are extremely good at what they do

and then essentially copying that behavior.

If you want to improve your golf swing, for

example, practice the same movements and

body mechanics of the best golfers in the world.

To become a more efficient business, apply the same concept by implementing the best

practices of leading Fortune 500 companies.Similarly, if you want to make more money and

do it in the shortest amount of time possible, figure out what millionaires do every day that

makes them so productive, focused, and successful.

The purpose of this book is to show you how they do it, and how you can begin to model

your daily routine in the same way to get more done in less time and make more money,

faster.

The key, of course, is to identify exactly which particular habits and routines those super-

successful people adhere to that makes them more productive and efficient.Oftentimes

people mistakenly believe that they’d be more productive by working harder or being

busier, but much of that effort can actually be counterproductive.


You have to know exactly how to apply yourself – and if you do, you can be more successful

while exerting less effort, and enjoying more time away from work to do the things you

love.

This book has isolated four of the most important behaviors and signature habits of

millionaires and billionaires that you can easily learn and begin to practice and emulate.

Then you, too, will start to reap the benefits and financial rewards of those smart, high-

performance habits.


THESE ESSENTIAL HABITS FALL INTO FOUR

DISTINCT CATEGORIES:

Energy

To be productive, you have to exert yourself and work hard, and that requires energetic

output. Successful millionaires and billionaires adopt habits and techniques that make

theme high-energy people.

Memory

Productivity requires having a good memory. Anyone who has ever used a computer that

had insufficient memory knows that when memory is lacking, it slows down every process.

But improve your memory, using the right tips and habits, and your productivity will also be

enhanced.

Schedule

Everyone has exactly the same amount of time per day, but what differentiates the

successful, productive people from those who lag behind is time management. Millionaires

and billionaires stick to a schedule that allows them to accomplish a great deal more in

much less time, and that is one of the keys to being more productive and earning more.

Focus

Of course if you want to enhance your productivity, you have to be able to concentrate on

the tasks that are most important, with laser focus. If you want to hit a target, your aim has

to be perfect, and if you want to reach your financial goals then your focus has to be

unwavering, like an arrow to the bull’s eye.

In the chapters that follow, each of these areas of critical importance will be explained in

greater detail, as well as examples of why they are so effective. The most successful people

throughout history exemplify these traits of focus, energy, memory, and scheduling their

time wisely.

But anyone can follow in their footsteps by simply implementing the productivity habits

that are described in this book.


ENERGY

The whole universe runs on energy, and without it

everything comes to a grinding halt. Youcan drive a Rolls

Royce or fly your own private jet, but if you don’t give it

the proper fuel you will go nowhere.

That’s why the billionaires of the world make sure that

they have sufficient energy to compete, stay at the top of

their game, and get things done without slowing down or

losing any of their precious momentum.

As explained in an article published by the Harvard Business Review, to be productive, you

need to optimize your whole life – not just your work routine. Leading a healthy lifestyle,

which includes getting enough rest and putting the right kind of fuel into your body, is one

of the secrets to success shared by many successful, high-performance individuals.

A business professor at Wharton College included

physical health as one of the major components of a

winning lifestyle, and there are three areas involving

personal health where anyone can concentrate to

develop productive habits.

They are easy, too, because you already do all three of these things – so it’s just a matter of

doing them in a more strategic and intentional way.

The three components are exercise, diet, and sleep. Everyone exerts physical effort in order

to get from one place to another, eats and drinks, and sleeps.

But how you do it can make you a millionaire if you follow role models who exemplify why

this trio of behaviors can dramatically improve your productivity. Let’s look at some real-life

examples.


Getting Enough Rest

One of the leaders of the business world who has also become a recognized authority on

sleep is Arianna Huffington, the co-founder and editor of The Huffington Post – an online

news portal that revolutionized the news industry.

Her recently-published best-selling book “The Sleep

Revolution” deals with the importance of sleep and its impact

on performance. Huffington believes that sleep is the key to

taking control of your life, and that by getting enough sleep,

you can complete transform yourself.

She cites this from personal experience, because as a busy

executive she was often sleep deprived – until it took a serious

toll on her health and productivity.

That experience led her to do extensive research on the value of sleep, and in 2016 she

revealed that she used to get by on only four hours of sleep, but is now in the habit of

getting eight hours’ sleep on average per night.

One of her tricks that she passes along to readers is to avoid caffeinated and sugary drinks

as a substitute for healthy rest. Those can give you a jolt of energy, which is why beverages

like Red Bull and the 5-Hour Energy Drink as so popular. But they also can trigger an energy

crash, leaving you feeling depleted and exhausted. That’s because when the body is tired,

nothing is a viable substitute for sleep.

If you fake-out the body with stimulants like

caffeine, those artificial aids will eventually lose

their ability to sustain you, and because you have

kept going when you really needed to stop and

rejuvenate, the crash will be more severe and

prolonged.

Even if you have a demanding and uneven schedule that does not allow for seven or eight

hours of continuous sleep, you can compensate in healthy, sustainable ways by napping.


Instead of spending 10 or 15 minutes consuming an energy drink, productive people skip it

and use that valuable time to nap.

Former President Bill Clinton, who still has a very busy schedule, is one of the millionaires

who believe in napping. He told CBS news:

“When I’m a little short of sleep I try to just lie down for 15 minutes or a

half hour, and it really makes all the difference in the world.”

Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher slept about four hours a night, but napped every

day – clearing her schedule on a daily basis to sleep between 2:30 and 3:30 in the afternoon.

While other Brits might have been having their afternoon tea to keep them going, she took

the smarter, more scientific path and slept.

Charlie Rose, one of the highest-paid and hardest working news anchors in television, told

the Hollywood Reporter that he takes not one, but two naps a day to stay in peak condition.

He developed that habit when he was a college student.


As one of the world’s most award-winning interviewer, Rose says that if he has a choice

between a half-hour of extra preparation before an interview or a half-hour nap, he will

always choose the nap – because it makes him sharper, keener, more relaxed, and a better

interviewer.

Other powerfully productive people throughout history who napped as a daily habit include

Leonardo Da Vinci, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and wealthy business baron John. D.

Rockefeller.

That is also why some of the most progressive and profitable organizations in the world –

such as Google, Uber, Zappos, Nike, and NASA – have nap rooms where employees can go

to lie down in a quiet place and catch a few winks. These companies know that short naps

lead to greater productivity, whereas too little sleep not only causes people to feel worse

and grumpier but it also leads to costly human error and workplace accidents.

By tapping into a deeper reservoir of energy, they can accomplish exponentially more in the

same number of minutes, hours, and days – and it begins with putting the right kind of fuel

into their bodies.

Following an Exercise Routine

President Obama has, arguably, the most stressful and time-consuming job in the world.

But despite his busy schedule and the extreme demands on his time, he sticks to a rigid

workout schedule, making sure to get a minimum of 45 minutes of physical exercise every

day.

Not only does physical exercise keep you

healthy, but it also triggers the release of

natural chemicals in the body such as

endorphins, which help to elevate your

mood and make you feel good. When a

person feels good, they are more engaged

and productive.


Cardiovascular exercise also reduces high blood pressure and stress, to ensure that you can

work longer and be more resilient in the face of challenges.

Apple CEO Tim Cook, for example, has a reputation for virtually limitless energy – even

though he is a middle-aged man. It is not out of the ordinary for him to conduct intense, 12-

hour meetings. But when asked how he does it, Cook explains that he is strict about getting

in a good workout at the gym every day before going to the office.

He starts his routine at five o’clock in the morning, too,

which is a daily habit shared by many successful people

who have extraordinary amounts of energy.

But these leaders and millionaires don’t shortchange

themselves when it comes to sleep, because sleep is

one of the most vital fuels for the human body.

The Wall Street Journal profiled Nike CEO Mark Parker

and his exercise routines, describing how he works out

for two hours per workout session, four days of the

week. But on the remaining three days, he also works

out, but for only one hour. So he averages 11 hours of

exercise a week, almost four times as much as most

“active” people do.

Square, Inc. CEO Jack Dorsey is an avid jogger, and the CEO of Xerox works out with her

own personal trainer. The CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, rides a bike for exercise, and

the CEO of Starwood Hotels gets up every morning and runs 10 miles.

Best-selling author Tom Corley, whose specialty is writing about the habits of rich people,

explains how the wealthy manage to do some aerobic exercise at least four days a week –

while other people may only get to the gym twice a week.


Eating and Hydrating

Corley also highlights the fact that millionaires and billionaires have healthier diets,

consuming very few junk foods. When the Obama family moved into the White House, First

Lady Michelle Obama’s first project was to start an organic garden on the premises. Not

only does the First Family eat healthy, but they promote a healthy diet as one of the keys to

success and productivity.

The connection between what you eat and drink and

your level of productivity was explored in an article in

the Harvard Business Review in 2014, where it was

explained that what you decide to eat at lunch can

determine whether you have a productive afternoon

or go back to work and feel tired, lethargic, and

unable to focus.

Research conducted by Population Health Management also revealed that nearly 70% of

workers who eat an unhealthy diet suffer lost productivity. That’s why the United

Kingdom’s Human Resource Guide recommends that companies provide healthy,

nutritious snacks to employees – such as fresh fruit – and that eating vitamin-rich foods and

drinking plenty of clean, fresh water will keep workers mentally sharper and feeling better

physically.

Employees who are dehydrated take more sick

days, process information at a slower rate, and also

tend to show a distinct lack of focus. Hydrating the

body with water instead of sodas, caffeinated

beverages like Red Bull, or lots of coffee and

espresso can actually help a person feel more

refreshed and rested.

The body and the brain need sufficient water. But once a person feels thirsty, the body is

already in a state of dehydration. That’s why it’s important to drink several 8-ounce glasses

of water a day, in order to prevent the body from becoming dehydrated.


The recommended amount is eight glasses of water a day, but if you can feel yourself

feeling thirsty more often, you can drink a couple of glasses more.

Self-help book author Eileen Rose Giadone, whose 2016 book “The Habit Fix” became an

instant best-seller on Amazon, devotes a large part of that book to extolling the many

benefits of drinking water. She says that not only does it improve concentration and

productivity, but it can help you achieve noticeably healthier-looking skin and rejuvenated

energy levels that improve every facet of your life.


MEMORY

If energy fuels productivity, forgetfulness impedes it. That is why memory is one of the

other pillars of success. The National Bureau of Economic Researchpublished findings that

drew a strong correlation between memory and wealth.

Using data from the Health and Retirement Survey, the researchers found that the amount

of money someone had was related in many measures to their ability to remember such

things as numbers and facts.

Anyone who attended college knows how valuable memory is, because without a good

memory and ability to recall information it is virtually impossible to score consistently high

marks on exams. But it is interesting to note that many millionaires and billionaires don’t

necessarily have exceptional memories from birth. Instead they have superior systems and


techniques for remembering. In other words, you don’t have to have amazing cognitive

recall in order to be able to remember more data that the average person.

Nowadays, even if you don’t remember facts, you can search for them and recall them

because the Google software and search engine has such an advanced capability for finding

facts fast. While you may not have a search engine like that for your brain, you can employ

specific techniques that will speed up your memory and your retrieval of important

information.

Take Notes and Grow Rich

The concept was beautifully illustrated by Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg

who was recently at a meeting of powerful leaders in Silicon Valley. He noticed that there

were only two people in the room writing down notes, and they happened to be two of

those powerful and wealthy investors in Silicon Valley. Zuckerberg’s takeaway from that

interesting observation was that most people do not think that they need to take notes, but

those who are the most successful do it anyway – and grow rich thanks to that kind of

memory-enhancing habit.

You don’t need a bigger brain and a higher

IQ – you just need a pen and a notebook and

the habit of taking notes to write down

ideas, helpful facts, and other valuable

information that comes your way

throughout the day.

Researchers at California’s Dominican University found that a person’s chance of success

actually increased by more than 30% if they just took good notes. PhD. researcher and

author Henriette Klauser also explained in one of her books that writing down your goals is

one of the keys to achieving them.

Notable Millionaire Note Takers

History helps to prove Klauser’s point. Billionaire Richard Branson is famous for doing the

same kind of copious note-taking, and musician and songwriter Bob Dylan – who earns


about a quarter of a million dollars every time he plays a concert – scribbles notes in

notebooks which he later uses to help him create the songs that have made him so wealthy

and famous.

Likewise, J.K. Rowling, who is one of the richest women on earth, got many of her ideas for

her Harry Potter books while taking notes on the bus en route to her job as a school

teacher. The movie director George Lucas, who created Star Wars, carries a notebook in his

pocket to jot down ideas, and some of the most valuable ideas for his movies come from

those notes.

Peter Jennings, who was a legendary newscaster for ABC television, was actually a high

school dropout. But he had the habit of taking lots of notes, and the Vice-President of ABC

said that was one of the skills that made him so successful. Comedian and screenwriter

Larry David, who made his millions by creating the Seinfeld TV show, is another celebrity

who carries a notebook in his pocket to help him have better memory.

The same was true of millionaire John D. Rockefeller, who recorded notes, facts, and

figures in ledger books that he always carried with him. Tiger Woods, one of the highest

paid athletes in history, always writes down notes to help him remember how to play a

particular hole or green on a golf course.

Why Writing Notes Works

In this digital age, there are plenty of other ways to help remember information, including

smart phone recorders, apps, and voice recognition systems that will take spoken notes

and type them up for you automatically.

But while those are excellent tools for

anyone who may have dyslexia or other

challenges that make writing down notes

difficult, people who are able to write in a

notebook should still handwrite for the best

results.


It’s better to view laptops, post-it notes, and other shortcut note-taking tools like junk food.

They are easy, but don’t give you the desired results and can be a time-waster. As General

Dwight Eisenhower, who later became U.S. President, said, to-do lists can make things at

the top of your list more time-sensitive or urgent.But while you are concentrating on

finishing those so you can scratch them off the list, things that are much more important

could be getting neglected. That may sound too time-consuming and laborious.

However, research supports this idea, even if it may sound too hands-on to those who are

accustomed to digital shortcuts that sometimes make our lives move faster but also make

us less productive and more forgetful.

Why taking notes in your own handwriting is

considered superior is that it requires multiple types of

knowledge acquisition and cognitive engagement

simultaneously.

Each of us has a different learning style. Some people

are visual learners, some process information better if

they read it, and others find that if they are physically

active while learning, they retain the knowledge better.

Most people, however, use a combination of these learning methods – even if they do favor

one particular style over another.

More recent research about effective ways to educate people emphasizes this multimodal

approach, and one of the great things about handwritten note-taking is that it capitalizes

on this multifaceted style of learning, for better comprehension and stronger memory of

what you process.

The reason that works so well is that you engage your visual sense to write and read, while

the cerebellum and motor cortex regions of the brain are employed when you do physical

activity – like writing, for instance, which requires motor skills. In order to take good notes,

you have to listen or read, and also write. To take that process to the next level, you can

also read your notes out loud to yourself, which engages the auditory sense.


Come Up with Your Own System

In its resources for students, the University of California at Berkeley – one of the top schools

in the world – advises students to organize their notes by subject matter for easy access

and cross-referencing.

The university also emphasizes that taking notes aids in both understanding and retention,

and that notes taken in your own handwriting are easier to read that printed materials like

textbooks.

Here is one approach or system as an example to help you:

Keep a pen and notebook with you always.

Whenever you hear anything you want to remember, write it down.

That applies to inspirational quotes, facts, business statistics, and anything

else of interest to you.

Try to organize your notebooks into subject categories, with tabs or other

aids.

You may have a section for personal info, one for motivational ideas, one for

tips useful at work, one for business plan idea, and so forth.

Review your notes within two hours of taking them, because research shows

that is the optimum time to study new material and remember it.

Once you have filled a notebook, save it by date or topic for future reference.

At the end of each year, you may also want to put all of those notebooks into

a large annual binder.

Figure out what system works best for you, including the kind of writing instrument you

prefer and the type of notebook that’s most practical and helpful.


Just avoid using shortcuts like index cards and sticky notes, because those typically create

lots of disorganization and clutter, and can get misplaced easily. That is frustrating, time-

wasting, and a general impediment to productivity.

Of course, you may want to use pocket-sized notebooks when carrying around a large one

is not convenient or appropriate.

In that case, get into the habit of transferring those notes from the smaller notepads into

your larger one at the end of the day. Doing so gives you another chance to drill that

information into your memory through the multi-level learning process.


SCHEDULE

An article in the Harvard Business Review says that managing your energy is the best way

to be successful at time management. That means that you need to follow a schedule that

allows time for getting sufficient sleep and exercise while also having enough hours in the

day to work and earn money.

To-do lists, on the other hand, typically fail. What happens is that you simply waste time

making lists of things you need to do. Then each time you refer to the list you either

become worried that you cannot accomplish everything or you add more things to the list.

That leads to the biggest schedule-killer of all,

procrastination.

Instead of trying to use these kinds of lists, do as

the Harvard Business Review article suggests and

instead of managing what needs to get done,

focus your attention instead on managing your

use of time.

Research published in that business journal explains, for instance, that humans respond to

natural rhythms and cycles of activity – not strict hierarchies like lists.

Time moves in cycles that are natural, so the best way to maximize productivity is to focus

on managing yourself and your energy, not lists of things that need to get done.

With enough time you can accomplish everything on

your lists, and one of the first steps to freeing up extra

time to do that is to stop making all those unnecessary

and ineffective lists.

Members of the Harvard Business Review staff wrote an

article that describes how you should be goal-oriented,

not fixated on to-do list type systems.


When you clearly know your goals, you can focus on these in the most productive ways and

start to understand how much time you need to invest in order to reach a goal or a set of

objectives. That way you actually get more done, instead of being bogged-down in metrics

that mostly highlight how little you accomplished yesterday that has to be carried over to

tomorrow’s list of things to do.

One of the healthiest and most effective techniques used by millionaires is to work in

shorter bursts of time, so that you work a while and then take a quick break that will

rejuvenate you.

Walk away from the desk, drink some water, do some stretching exercises, eat a piece of

fruit, and then dive back into your work. That will make you productive over a much longer,

more sustainable period of time and will ensure that your energy and concentration when

you are “on task” is fully optimized.

A very popular way to manage this kind of schedule is to use a system such as the

Pomodoro Technique.

The name of this technique is rather peculiar, but the essence of the technique is time

management.

Pomodoro is the Italian word for tomato, and there are kitchen timers shaped like a tomato

– thus the name Pomodoro for this timed strategy.

The way it works is that you use a kitchen timer or other type of alarm clock device, and you

set it to ring after 10, 15, or 20 minutes of work. Then you sit at your desk and become fully

absorbed.


Normally once you are in that zone the tendency is to continue working for hours, without

those healthy and useful productivity breaks. But since you are using an alarm timer, it

reminds you at short intervals that it’s time to take your quick break, clear your mind and

refresh your body, and get rejuvenated for the next work phase.

People who schedule their entire workday this way

may wind up taking 60 to 90 minutes of breaks, but

despite doing that they are more productive than

people who do not give themselves those

opportunities to pause and reset.

Harvard Business Review also promoted this idea in an article that recommended making a

habit of stepping away from your work at strategic intervals. The article cited research that

shows how those who feel stuck trying to find a solution to a problem or a way around an

obstacle or challenge often just need to stop working on that task long enough to get a

fresh perspective and new way of looking at things.

Rather than viewing this kind of pause as lost time, successful people see it as an essential

element within their overall performance schedule.

In fact, many of the most successful millionaires

and billionaires in the world don’t even start their

day until they pause to reflect, meditate, or

otherwise relax and clear their minds.

Oprah Winfrey, who is one of the busiest and

wealthiest people in the world, sits silently for 20

minutes, two times each day.

Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post does yoga and meditation every morning. John

Paul DeJoria, known for the Patron Spirits Company and Paul Mitchell products, takes five

minutes every morning to do some undisturbed contemplation, and Jack Dorsey, the CEO

of Twitter, wakes up at five in the morning to either work out or meditate.


That leads to another important secret of successful people. They schedule their lives to

start early. Benjamin Franklin, who became fabulously wealthy, famously said,

“Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”

And that advice holds true for people like Jack Dorsey and billionaire Sir Richard Branson,

who also rises at five in the morning.

Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne is awake by four in the morning, as are Michelle

Obama, Virgin America CEO David Cush, and Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Waking up early gives you a head start on your project,and your, while also providing you

with extra hours of peace and quiet to aid in your concentration and focusbefore the rest of

the world stirs. It doesn’t cost anything, but can make all the difference between barely

scraping by and making millions.


FOCUS

The Pareto Principle, articulated by an economist who lived in the early 1900s, is often cited

as an important concept to grasp in order to gain practical insight into the nature of

productivity. The ratio explained by Pareto is that 20% of human endeavor accounts for

80% of human accomplishments.

In the world of business and moneymaking,

that means that only one-fifth of what you

do generates 80% of the results you get.

Millionaires and billionaires can spend two

hours each day to earn what most people

earn in eight hours, because they leverage

the Pareto Principle to their advantage.

How do they do that? They focus their 20% where it really counts, instead of wasting time

with unproductive efforts that account for 80% of the average person’s business and

preoccupation.

Here are some examples of people and ways to put this concept into action. Most people

who invest in the stock market get great returns from around 20% of their investments,

while the others don’t advance their wealth.

Many executives spend 80% of their time reading emails,

when only 20% of those emails are valuable or worth

responding to or reading. In fact, most of what people

read – whether it is books, emails, or magazine articles –

can be summarized into a few main points.

Learn to digest 100 pages of material into 20 pages of

notes that highlight the most important information and

you will save yourself 80% of your study time.


The same goes for marketing and sales. Many companies could get rid of 80% of the

customers who just browse but don’t regularly buy anything, and raise their revenues by

instead catering to the other 20% who do spend money and account for repeat sales.

Steve Jobs, who made Apple the most profitable company in American history, was an

expert at applying this idea. He told graduates during a commencement address he gave at

Stanford University that they should focus on discovering their passion in life to do what

they loved for a living.

That way, they’re spared the burden of having to wade through 8 out of 10 offers for jobs

they don’t really want, and instead propelling themselves towards their dream jobs that will

motivate them to excel (and won’t even feel like work!).

The Apple founder also organized company retreats, where he would write down 100 ideas

on a blackboard – ideas that were submitted by employees. But instead of trying to

implement those, he would spend the whole weekend paring that list down until he just

had the best ideas left – and those were the ones that Apple would execute.


He would take the Pareto Principle to the extreme, because once he got rid of 80 inferior

ideas and had only 20 left, he would then drill-down to eliminate half of those and wind up

with only 10. By then applying the talent and energy of the company to those, he was able

to lead one of the most successful companies in the world and amass billions of dollars in

wealth.

Larry Page, who helped launch Google, applies the same kind of focus to his life, while also

concentrating on removing busy work from his calendar and focusing on solving challenges

that will make him feel better and more productive at the end of the day.

As Steve Jobs advised the head of Google, find the five products that you really want to

focus on, and get rid of the rest of the ones that are dragging the business down. As Jobs

said:

“They’re causing you to turn out products that are adequate but not great.”

If you want your life to be better and more productive, find out what is holding you back or

pulling you down and get rid of it, so that you are liberated to be as productive as you

possibly can.

There are numerous strategies for gaining more focus so that you can

zone in on what you need to accomplish.

One of President Obama’s tricks to getting more done in less time is to eliminate

the kinds of choices that you face when you create a list of things to do and then

have to decide how to prioritize them.

He told a reporter recently that the fewer decisions about ordinary things he has to make,

the more time and focus he can give to making the really important decisions. Obama said

that is why he always wears either a gray or blue suit. Rather than stand at the closet

making mundane decisions, he solves that problem and saves time that he can invest wisely

in another part of his day.


If you have eight sets of clothes in your closet and narrow it down to just two sets, then you

have successfully applied the 80/20 rule to free up time and be more productive.

Do you spend 80% of your time networking at conferences or on social media, just to

generate 10 or 20 valuable leads, partnerships, or other relationships? If so, analyze what

you really want out of those interactions and relationships, and concentrate on ways to

meet those people while saving yourself time by cutting out unproductive connections.

Are you spending an hour in traffic to drive

to the gym where you workout for an hour

on the treadmill? In that case, maybe you’d

be more productive if you installed a

treadmill at home or at the office. Then you

can leverage all the time used on your

commute for a longer period or do some

other productive activity.

Henry Ford did that. He’s famous for his automobile empire, but his greatest contribution

was not automobiles. What he gave the world was much more important: the idea of the

assembly line, which makes mass production possible. He brought together all the

necessary components needed to build a car in one place, and each worker was assigned

one specialized task. That enabled Ford to produce many more cars, and make a great deal

more money.

Think about chain stores and restaurant franchises. Their creators spend about 20% of their

efforts to come up with the concept and business model. But once they have done that, the

other 80% of their profit comes from just repeating the same process over and over again.

That makes wealth growth much easier.

You establish one formula or create 20 recipes to put on your menu, and then instead of

reinventing the wheel every day, you just focus on doing those few things perfectly,

multiple times, to increase your revenue.In that way, if you begin to view your life and your

schedule through the 80/20 formula, you will uncover many different ways to create more

time, eliminate wastage, and be exponentially more productive.


CONCLUSION

One of the biggest mistakes that people make when striving to grow rich or be more

productive is that they confuse productivity with work or staying busy.

Work can be productive, but if you exert yourself without focus and intent, work can

actually just create a cycle of fatigue and a money-losing effort.

To be genuinely productive, you need positive outcomes that are planned. That comes

easily to those who follow the four core principles of energy, memory, schedule, and focus.

You will no longer stay stagnant, but will be engaged in optimal ways to make you the most

productive you can be.

As you adopt these four elements of productivity,

you’ll also discover that they have a unique kind of

synergy. In other words, they feed each other in

ways that make them even more effective.

If you are focused, for example, you will feel more

energetic.

When you have extra energy, your brain works faster, and your memory improves.

When your memory is sharp, it becomes easier to schedule your life by freeing up time you

would otherwise spend looking up a fact you forgot or working double-time because you

didn’t remember to do something the right way and now you have to do it again.

As you focus your energy like a laser, your

schedule opens up with more minutes and

hours you didn’t realize you had, and

suddenly you find that you are so much more

productive, on so many different levels, that

you can make more money in less time.


You’ll have more freedom to spend time in leisure activities and with friends and family –

and the more you are able to relax and enjoy life to the fullest, the less stress you’ll

experience.

That makes you all the more productive, so just by adhering to these four simple principles,

you can make the life you dream about and the wealth you want to accumulate a daily

reality.

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