Create Clarity Like A Boss with The Rule of 3
We all want to do work that matters. But most of us get caught in the swirl of reacting instead of acting. The average manager has 150 tasks on their to-do list. Forty-two percent will never get done. We confuse activity with impact.
Cut through the noise with the Rule of 3
Research by Stephen Covey found we work better when we focus on the “big rocks.”
If you have 11–20 priorities, you’ll finish none to a high standard.
If you have 4–10, you’ll finish 1–2.
If you have 2–3, you’ll complete 2–3.
It’s a simple demonstration of focus. We can only hold so much in our heads, and what we choose to hold drives what we do.
You can read Work deliberately instead of reactively for a practical look at how the Rule of 3 helps you filter your focus and make progress on what matters most.
To see it in action, watch The Rule of 3 explained. It’s a simple three-step process for cutting through overwhelm and getting meaningful work done.
And to see how it applies to communication, Isabel Walker of Clearsay Communications explains how to use the Rule of 3 when delivering a message. She shows how our brains can only hold three or four chunks of information at once, so clear and convincing messages should be limited to three key points, each backed by stories, evidence, or statistics.
Focus, it turns out, isn’t just a productivity skill. It’s a communication skill too. The Rule of 3 helps you decide what’s in and what’s out. It creates the space to ask, Which three should I focus on?
The three that matter most
When I coach people and ask for their top priorities, they almost always fall into three buckets: health, wealth, and relationships.
It’s a timeless idea backed by Marshall Goldsmith and Brian Tracy. In Eat That Frog, Tracy calls it The Law of Three. He found that people’s goals and challenges nearly always cluster around those same three areas:
Health I want to feel stronger, have more energy, eat better
Wealth I want to grow, earn more, or add more value
Relationships I want to connect, spend more time, or work better with others
In business, Gallup backs this up in what they call The Three Performance Domains That Predict Job Success. Those same three buckets look like this:
Health = systems, processes, tools, and individual contribution
Wealth = customer value and profit
Relationships = team culture and collaboration
It’s simple, but it’s powerful. And interestingly, this same structure shows up in how our brains work - our thinking, feeling, and protective systems. You can read more about that in Stronger than you think.
For now, not forever
Your priorities aren’t permanent. They shift with context. The trick is naming your three for now. If you need a hand filtering the noise, check out Bossing the busy: Four tools to choose what matters.
Ask yourself:
What’s essential to the health of my team or business right now?
What’s essential to our wealth, the value we create?
What’s essential to our relationships, the trust that makes it work?
Clarity feeds confidence
When you get clear, you work with purpose instead of pressure. You know what to say yes to and what to leave out. Clarity builds calm. Calm builds control. And that quiet steadiness is what your team feels most.