Speech Impediments

While talking with a friend the other day I was shocked by a severe speech impediment he had.  He was telling me that he had no willpower, couldn't stick to anything for very long, and was constantly compromising his goals in life but it was hard for me to understand his garbled words.  Instead, it sounded just like "Yeah, that's too strict for me, I'm a big believer in the 80/20 rule."

Oh, the 80/20 rule. That's when 80% of the time your sphincter is stretched around your 20" neck.  Is that the rule to which you refer?

Come on, people!  There are places to apply this rule and places to not apply the rule.  It's not a free pass to be a loser.  Sheesh.  If something's genuinely bad, it's bad 100% of the time.  Neutral stuff can be folded in 20% of the time with no big deal.

Want to do 80/20 on low carb?  No problem, carbs aren't bad.

Want to strive for at least 80% of your beef being grass fed?  Sounds good.  IF you eat out, it sounds ambitious, but it's a good goal.

Want to hit at least 80% of your workouts with high intensity and phone it in the rest of the time?  Heck, that'll still work.  Because the 20% is still better than being on the couch.  And that 80/20 overall is WAY better than being on the couch.

But when you're talking about things that are genuinely bad and harmful, the 80/20 rule doesn't apply.

Being shot is genuinely bad.

What 20% of your body are you willing to let me aim the gun at while I play Russian roulette?

Being raped is genuinely bad.

Name the 20% of your friends who can be raped without you caring.

Rat poison?  Bad.

So you just won't have it in more than 20% of your meals and then it's fine?

You have 5 beautiful kids.

You're happy if just 4 of them grow up to be happy adults, right?

You get the idea here.  Rules are best applied with a degree of intelligence.  Use that hat holder just above your shoulders to figure out when an 80/20 rule applies and when it's just an excuse to keep sabotaging yourself.