The 90/10 principle
I am sharing this article by Stephen Covey
I hope you Enjoy it
Discover the 90/10 Principle
It will change your life (at least the way you react to situations)
What is this principle? 10% of life is made up of what happens to you
90% of life is decided by how you react
What does this mean? We really have no control over 10% of what happens to us
We cannot stop the car from breaking down
The plane will be late arriving, which throws our whole schedule off
A driver may cut us off in traffic
We have no control over this 10%
The other 90% is different
You determine the other 90%
How? ……….By your reaction
You cannot control a red light but you can control your reaction
Don't let people fool you; YOU can control how you react
Let's use an example
You are eating breakfast with your family
Your daughter knocks over a cup of coffee onto your business shirt
You have no control over what just happened
What happens next will be determined by how you react
You curse
You harshly scold your daughter for knocking the cup over
She breaks down in tears
After scolding her, you turn to your spouse and criticize her for placing the cup too close to the edge of the table.
A short verbal battle follows
You storm upstairs and change your shirt
Back downstairs, you find your daughter has been too busy crying to finish breakfast and could not get ready for school
She misses the bus
Your spouse must leave immediately for work
You rush to the car and drive your daughter to school
Because you are late, you drive 40 miles an hour in a 30 mph speed limit
After a 15-minute delay and throwing $60 traffic fine away, you arrive at school
Your daughter runs into the building without saying goodbye
After arriving at the office 20 minutes late, you find you forgot your briefcase
Your day has started terrible
As it continues, it seems to get worse and worse
You look forward to coming home
When you arrive home, you find small wedge in your relationship with your spouse and daughter
Why?
Because of how you reacted in the morning
Why did you have a bad day
A) Did the coffee cause it
B) Did your daughter cause it
C) Did the policeman cause it
D) Did you cause it
The answer is “D"
You had no control over what happened with the coffee
How you reacted in those 5 seconds is what caused your bad day
Here is what could have and should have happened
Coffee splashes over you
Your daughter is about to cry
You gently say, "Its ok honey, you just need to be more careful next time"
Grabbing a towel you rush upstairs
After grabbing a new shirt and your briefcase, you come back down in time to look through the window and see your child getting on the bus
She turns and waves
You arrive 5 minutes early and cheerfully greet the staff
Your boss comments on how good the day you are having
Notice the difference
Two different scenarios
Both started the same
Both ended different
Why?
Because of how you REACTED
You really do not have any control over 10% of what happens
The other 90% was determined by your reaction.
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