The 80/20 Rule

The past cannot be changed, the present is hard to gauge, but future prospects are 80 percent a result of what you do today and 20 percent circumstance and beyond your circle of influence. 

Pareto’s Principle too often applies - the vital few and trivial many, meaning 20 percent of something is always responsible for 80 percent of the results. While seemingly an accurate assessment in business, too many allow the vital few to control their many possibilities in life. 

Future prospects are not trivial, but are to be tended to with seriousness and profound effort.