My [Mini] Seminar and the 80/20 Rule
Today I had one of my first real speaking experiences outside of college where I could really talk about the area of life I am most interested in, exercise and strength training.
I am not well known in the world of strength and conditioning so I am even more unknown with the group I was to talk to. I was told to make an hour-long presentation on the benefits of exercise and strength training for optimal health. OK a little remedial but pretty straight forward none-the-less.
So I figured that this was not my typical tire-flippin’, box squattin’ crowd but I imagined a room full of eager eyes waiting to soak up all the information I was about to spew out for the hour to come, well I was a little wrong.
The room filled with about eight people and I was assured more. I was not worried about the numbers but I did need to get the show on the road. More trickled in late and as I began to speak I assessed the crowd I was dealing with to see which direction I was going to take it.
My eager eyes I dream of before were few and far between. Out of a room of 15 people only three seemed interested and the rest of the lot were either shy, sleeping, know-it-alls, or just there to try and piss me off by walking in late and bringing McDonalds to stuff their faces with.
In all honesty I have learned over the years to work as hard as I can for myself and not to care too much about others. Like the famous 80/20 rule where 80% of your ______(fill in the blank) comes from 20% of your _____ (fill in the blank). In my case 20% of the people represented 80% of all the attention, question asking, and personal story sharing that went on this afternoon.
I guess the best we can do in the real game of life is knowing you worked as hard as you could to reach for the elite 20% that will listen, execute and return the favor by passing it along to others. If only that were easier said than done.