The 85/15 Principle

The 85/15 Principle. It sounds really official, huh? I actually just made it up– it’s a factual number, but let’s make the 85/15 Principle a thing! The premise of the 85/15 principle is based on a poll that was taken in 2022 that states that 85% of employed individuals in the United States are unhappy with their jobs. That’s an absurd number! That leaves 15% of the entire U.S. population that actually “enjoy” their jobs. And to be precise, the study doesn’t even say that people are “happy,” it simply states that 15% of individuals are “engaged.”

The question is why? What can we do to change that number? As we all know, technology is advancing almost faster than we can keep up, but is this going to help move the needle in the right direction for the 85/15 Principle? I believe it depends. I can tell you that things, such as AI, will certainly make people’s lives easier as it evolves and becomes a more prominent piece of the workforce. But will it make people enjoy their jobs more? Only time will tell.

Looking at what we can do today is simply a case of teaching people how to Hack Their Job. The numerous amount of people that I have taught how to hack their job all had the same thing in common, they hated their job and honestly, it translated to them hating their lives. They hated waking up, hated fighting through the day, hated interacting with customers and co-workers, and they are the people that are making up 85% of the workforce! 

The other thing they had in common was being much happier with their jobs and their overall lives after learning what it meant to hack their job. As these individuals implemented the hacks that I present in the book, their overall happiness with work went through the roof. It was incremental in the beginning, as is expected with hacking your job, but as they were able to free up enough time to start their side gig, they saw exponential increases in their happiness and well-being.

As we continue to delve into hacking your job and your life through this blog series, we will look to unfold the many ways you can learn to enjoy your job and have a more fulfilling life and career.