Q. I recently attended one of your seminars and heard you talk about the 20:80 Rule. That’s a good theory, but do you really think people actually apply what you share?

A. Yes, some people do, and it can make huge and positive differences in their lives. As a brain-function educator, I find that very rewarding, even exciting! It so happens that I just received an e-mail from a woman who did apply practically what she had learned and this is what she shared:

You recently did a series of presentations at an Elderhostel event at the St. Helena Center for Health that I attended and enjoyed very much. On my journey back to Alaska I had an opportunity to practice some of the techniques that you introduced to the group.

On Thursday I arrived at the Oakland airport around 1:00 p.m. for a 2:30 p.m. flight and discovered that my flight had been cancelled. My reservations now indicated that I was to leave Oakland at 9:00 p.m. with no connections in Seattle. That clearly was not going to work for me. After some searching, the reservation agent found a flight leaving San Jose at 2:15 p.m. with a connecting flight in Seattle.

The shuttle van picked me up and I asked the driver if he could get me to San Jose in time for a 2:15 flight. He said that he would try. So I thought of what I had learned from your presentations: I put on my seatbelt, took a deep breath, got out my Sudoku puzzles and started to work on them. The driver looked at me and in an astonished voice asked, “Why I are you so calm? Most of my passengers would be highly agitated and/or yelling at this point in their travels!”

I explained to him about the 20:80 rule, outlined some of the stress management techniques I had learned, described how cortisol has a deleterious effect on one's brain and body and thanked him for doing the best he could to get me to the San Jose airport on time. I could not ask for more.

We actually had a very interesting conversation all the way to the airport, and I learned a lot about business enterprises that were previously unknown to me. And I made my flight in San Jose with time to spare. Thank you for your insights and for sharing such applicable information.

P.S. If you want more information on the 20:80 Rule, refer to the May-Jun 2007 Brain Bulletin.