10-minute readClose your eyes and think big. Think about all of your goals and what you imagine success looks like. Now multiply that by 10.
The 10X Rule argues that we're selling ourselves short in terms of goals and visions of success. Grant Cardone explains that we all need to up the ante, and set bigger and better goals by multiplying them by 10.
Grant Cardone is a bestselling author, and business and sales trainer. He's worked with companies like Google, Toyota, and GM, and is an expert in social media and sales training. Cardone has a no-nonsense approach to success and says, 'Success is your duty, obligation, responsibility.' He suggests that many of us have fallen into the trap of adopting a "middle-class mindset" where we can't get out of financial ruts and achieve economic freedom.
This summary will briefly guide us through success, what it means, and how to achieve it. We'll learn that success should be seen as an extreme sport, and in order to achieve true success, we need to shed ourselves of mediocrity and think ten times bigger.
Scaling Up Mindset
How do you achieve success? Does it come down to having a great network of connections, or having the right financial resources?
Many people believe that success comes from external factors, but Cardone insists that success is a mindset. We've all heard of the power of positive thinking; however, our author asserts that we need to scale this up significantly. We need to set goals that are 10 times bigger, and work 10 times harder to achieve them. Success therefore, requires a tremendous amount of effort and resilience.
Basically, if you want to be highly successful, you have to work extremely hard to achieve this. And, Cardone says that it doesn't matter what field you're in, or what you want to accomplish; if you multiply your efforts by 10, you'll reap the rewards. And the 10X rule doesn't just apply to reaching goals and being successful. Upscaling one's mindset is better for our well-being. With an increased sense of purpose, we're more likely to procrastinate less, have more energy, and fulfill our maximum potential.
It all comes down to responsibility. We're all in control of our lives, yet many of us relinquish control and make excuses for why we're not living up to our potential. We need to abandon the victimhood mindset, and instead of blaming external factors, we need to work towards finding solutions rather than complaining. We need to shift our perspectives and insist on more, as opposed to settling for less.
In short, the 10X rule is a way to optimize our mindsets and to lead a more productive and successful life.
Scaling Up Goals
Cardone says that where most of us go wrong is because our goals are too modest. How can you achieve greatness if you don't believe that's what you deserve?
Our author explains that highly successful people aren't satisfied with "enough," they want more. We're indoctrinated to believe that our goals should be realistic and attainable, but who decides what's realistic?
We've been shown pictures of the middle-class lifestyle, and it's been packaged as the ideal. The trouble with this is that we don't question this ideal, and we become satisfied with the middle-class package. Cardone insists that middle-class isn't good enough because it pegs us as average, as somewhere in the middle. We need to move past middle and think and dream bigger.
When we set goals that aren't elaborate or big enough, we're often disappointed because they don't match up to our expectations, and we feel dissatisfied. The notable thing about setting extraordinary goals, is that if we don't reach them in their entirety, we'll still exceed our expectations. Plus, we're more motivated to keep on trying to achieve that little bit extra to realize the complete goal.
We need to be fixated on our goals. Being fixated means that we should write them down every morning and every night. Keeping up to date with our goals keeps them fresh in our minds. And, revising and tweaking goals makes them more attainable.
Goals should stretch us just enough that we stay interested and don't become bored and disinterested in achieving them. Goals are there to make us live up to our full potential. Cardone says that when it comes to writing down our goals, we have to write them as if we've already reached them. For example, 'I've never been healthier and fitter,' 'I earn $10 000 a month,' and 'I own my dream home.' It's also essential to expand on our goals – so if you want a dream home, you also need to decide who you want to live in it. We need to visualize all of the aspects of a goal to make it more vivid, which enhances motivation.
Finally, make sure that your goals fit in with your purpose, and assess whether your current situation allows you to move upwards.
Scaling Up Effort
Have you ever wondered why some people succeed and others fail?
According to Cardone, there's a simple reason, and it comes down to effort and action. If we want to succeed, we need to have extraordinary goals, and follow these up with exceptional effort.
In his own life, Cardone looked at what made him successful, and he realized that he was putting in ten times more effort than anyone else. Whereas other people might be making one phone call, he was making ten. It soon became apparent that he was doing ten times more than anyone else, and was succeeding as a result. From this observation, Cardone explains that most of the time, we fail through lack of action.
There are four levels of action, and only the last one brings success and fulfillment.
The first level is passivity. Passive people don't do anything and don't have any sense of their potential. When we get used to inactivity, we stagnate, become lethargic, and lose any sense of purpose. The second level is where we retreat or bury our heads in the sand. People like this are afraid of taking any steps forward because they fear failure. Then there's the third level, which, according to Cardone, is where most people fall. This is the level of mediocrity. These people do enough to get by and put in an average amount of effort. The trouble is if you put in a moderate amount, you'll reap average rewards. Cardone believes that you reap what you sow, and therefore the people who succeed take extreme action. Although extreme action takes a lot more work and effort, you'll see the rewards in the long term. If you're not experiencing hardships and struggles, you aren't working hard enough.
The bottom line is that you get out what you put in.
As an example, Cardone analyzes his first business. Most of us know that new businesses take a while to get started, and it takes time for them to reach financial stability. Cardone was prepared for this, or so he thought. He expected a few months running at a loss, but instead, it took three years. Managing his expectations was difficult, and he nearly quit. In a bid to rationalize what was going on, he wrote down a list of reasons as to why he should throw in the towel. When he looked at some of the reasons he had, such as being too young, the poor economy, and so forth, he concluded that his struggles were because he had underestimated what it was going to take.
He adjusted his mindset and realized he was going to have to increase his effort. He put all his energy into cold-calling customers. He made ten times more cold calls, and even though he experienced rejection, by upping his efforts, he had more success.
Scaling Up Responsibility
Cardone asserts that it's our duty and responsibility to be successful. Many people think that success is something we can opt-in on; however, our author says we're obligated to do more.
We will only succeed if we adopt the mindset that it's our ethical duty to be highly successful and productive. We owe this to ourselves, our families, and the people that we work with. There's no genie in a bottle, and success doesn't just land on our lap. What's more, many people believe that they're entitled to success.
Having an entitled attitude is akin to laziness. We need to go "all in" and decide to be successful and self-motivated. While many may accuse us of being workaholics or obsessive, Cardone says we need to reframe positive work ethics. He thinks we should look to children for inspiration. Children are constantly curious and ask an abundance of questions every day. Children go all in and dream big and never doubt their dreams. We need to live by this ethos and "go all in on life"; otherwise, we're living unethically. Cardone says that it's unethical to fail to live up to our potential because it's wasteful. And success is not just about money; it's about relationships, health, wellness, social responsibility, community, and so on.
It's not easy to get started on this path; however, reframing success in terms of ethics and duty helps us to take agency. Having agency in our lives allows us to take responsibility, abandon all excuses, and accept that living a mediocre life isn't an option.
And it's not about starting tomorrow. You have to start now. So get out a pen and a paper, set your goals, multiply them by ten, and begin the journey.
In Conclusion
When you were a kid, what was your biggest dream?
Maybe it's time to start thinking like a kid and go all in on the one life you've been given. Being successful and achieving greatness isn't obsessive or akin to being a "workaholic." Being successful is about being curious, not settling for average, and compounding dreams and goals, so we're never bored or unfulfilled.
Success is in our hands. It's not about luck, money, connections, talent, or an Ivy League education. The cool thing is that the 10X rule is free, and it's available to everyone. All you need to do is set bigger goals and work harder than the majority of people around you.
All too often, we underestimate what it takes, and how hard we have to work in order to create the life we want. Sure it takes discipline. Absolutely it takes motivation. All of us want to leave something behind, and doing this means that we maintain our enthusiasm and drive. Success has no finish line, so get busy creating the legacy that you want to leave behind.