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_{Exploring 80/20, good to great, and wasting today}

Happy Thursday! Thanks for reading Intentional Dollar — where we look at old money ideas through a new perspective.

What’s inside?

• One idea to experiment with

• Two quotes from others

• Three questions to dig deeper

• Four lines of poetry for the point

Disclaimer: This is not investment advice. These weekly posts represent my simple thoughts, a few quotes, and some questions — for educational purposes only.

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_{One idea to experiment with:}

80/20:

Last month, I went to a pop-up coffee event. A local roaster had opened their doors for an open house, offering a few craft espresso drinks to sample. It was awesome. I don’t often consume espresso after 5 p.m., but this was a happy exception. The coffee was phenomenal.

Owning a “retail” espresso machine at home, I was curious to learn all the little tips that could make my espresso great. So I asked if I could watch this mad barista scientist in action. I assumed he’d have some super portafilter, a magic leveling disc, a precisely pressurized tamper, maybe even a squirt bottle to mist the beans before grinding—plus a host of other tactics to elevate the shot. So I thought.

I started with the basic questions on grind size, dose, and weight. I figured he must have the golden ratio dialed in. But in a kind of Socratic, Mr. Miyagi moment, he answered my question with a question:

“What percentage of espresso is water?”

To my embarrassment, I guessed somewhere around 40%. Such a small volume of liquid, I figured, had to be mostly coffee. I was dead wrong.

He gently let me in on the truth: espresso is 90+% water.

That being the case, he followed up with a question about my water source. Hard tap water, I confessed. 

In the time it took him to pull the shot and prepare The Lime Light—a double espresso with cardamom-infused maple syrup, rimmed with lime—I’d learned the single most important improvement I could make to my espresso: better water.

But I’d also pocketed a deeper insight: I’d been focusing on the wrong things. Obsessing over tools and gadgets—fancy, low-leverage tweaks—while overlooking the one factor that made up almost the entire drink. A perfect reminder of the 80/20 rule.

Vilfredo Pareto coined the 80/20 rule after noticing that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population. He saw a similar pattern in his garden—80% of his peas came from 20% of the plants. The principle was born.

It’s not a hard law, but a powerful lens—a way to find leverage in any system.

In this case, I was devoting the majority of my attention to things that held a minority stake in the outcome. I missed the forest for the trees.

The 80/20 principle is a way to reverse that. It lets us focus on what actually matters—whether in coffee, business, money, or life.

⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻

In business:

• What 20% of customers drive 80% of sales?

• What 20% cause 80% of your stress or take up most of your time?

• What 20% of products or services generate the most revenue?

In your financial life:

• What 20% of purchases deliver 80% of your happiness?

• What 20% of assets cause 80% of your stress or maintenance strain? (boats, second homes, etc.)

• What 20% of work tasks produce 80% of your income?

• What 20% of your investments account for 80% of your losses?

In daily life:

• What 20% of your dietary habits cause 80% of your problems?

• What 20% of your workouts generate 80% of your results?

• What 20% of people bring 80% of your joy?

• What 20% of your experiences account for 80% of your best memories?

Do you have any “espresso water” revelations?

_{Two quotes on good to great:}

Good is a final arbiter for a lot of us. Why break what’s not broken? 

_{Three questions on wasting today:}

1. How much of today am I wasting on tomorrow?

2. What if that future fear never materialized and that anticipated happiness wasn’t as joyous as it seemed?

3. What dormant fears/aspirations might spring up after dealing with the current suspects?

Which question stuck with you? Questions like these are spotlights for the mind. Reply to this email and let me know which one shined light on a previously dark cave.

_{Four lines of poetry for the point:}

Contact Me:

Content ideas, questions? Reply to this email or reach out to me at [email protected]

Disclaimer: This is not investment advice. These weekly posts represent my simple thoughts, a few quotes, and some questions — for educational purposes only.

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