The book, 10X Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure by Grant Cardone
I’m excited to share some of my favorite takeaways today with you.
Intro
“The 10X Rule will ensure your success regardless of your talent, education, financial situation, organizational skills, time management, the industry you are in, or the amount of luck you have. Use the book as though your life and your dreams depend on it, and you will learn to operate at new and higher levels than you ever thought possible!” Who could resist?!
#1: Success is an investment in yourself
It’s never one and done or a battle to be won. Cardone likens success to a lawn that’s been perfectly groomed and manicured; it can only be a true success if it’s constantly maintained.
The focus of the 10X Rule:
“You must set targets that are 10 times what you think you want and then do 10 times what you think it will take to accomplish those targets. Massive thoughts must be followed by massive actions. There is nothing ordinary about the 10X Rule. It is simply what it says it is: 10 times the thoughts and 10 times the actions of other people.”
The basic series of mistakes that cost you your own success are:
- Setting your sights too low
- “Severely underestimating” what it will take to get things finished
- Striving to compete rather than aiming to dominate
- Assuming the challenge will be easy
#2: Do not underestimate the effort it takes to get things done
This book will open your eyes as to how many of us do just enough to get by, accessing only a fraction of our true potential.
This is the 10X Rule in effect.
“Never reduce a target. Instead, increase actions. When you start rethinking your targets, making up excuses, and letting yourself off the hook, you are giving up on your dreams! These actions should be an indication that you’re getting off track—that you should begin thinking in terms of correcting your initial estimation of effort.”
From a marketing standpoint, the above quote made so much sense to me. Have you ever shared something, then felt it fizzle out within moments? It’s as if you called the attention of a roomful of people expecting their audience, only to watch them glance up and then go right back to what they were doing. It raises the question: are you doing enough to be remembered?
#3: Assume control of and responsibility for your life
If you’re holding tight to excuses or self-imposed limitations, Cardone’s got your number.
“Crybabies, whiners, and victims just don’t do well at attracting or creating success. It’s not that they aren’t capable; it’s just that people who typically succeed are required to take big actions—and it is impossible to take big actions if you don’t take responsibility. It is equally impossible to do something possible when you are spending your time making excuses.”
The 10X Rule leaves you reevaluating everything you think you can and can’t do to create your own success. It’s an eye-opening lesson in responsibility and self-ownership.
#4: You must take massive action to get things done
I can think of a handful of things I’ve wanted to do for ten years now, such as own investment properties, take more vacations abroad, and open a storefront. After a decade of wishing, I haven’t even approached step one on any of those desires.
I’m working privately with clients right now, and every single one of them has a list of untapped, dreamy aspirations as well. How about you? What remains unfulfilled on your life’s wish list?
Cardone teaches four degrees of action:
- Do nothing. In this degree of action, you’re working to make excuses.
- Retreat. In this degree of action, you’re moving in the opposite direction of success.
- Take normal levels of action. You do enough to get by (the majority dwell here).
- Take massive action. You take immense, unstoppable action toward the target.
What you’re reminded of throughout the book is how rare the fourth degree of action actually is. Numbers one through three are comfortable and average. Cardone goes onto explain all of the problems you’ll encounter if you tackle a new approach of massive action.
“A mediocre person will tell you that you are wasting your time, this won’t work in your industry, it is a turnoff to your clientele, no one will want to work with you, and so on.”
“You will know you are stepping into the realm of massive action when you (1) create new problems for yourself and (2) start to receive criticism and warning from others.”
The advice he gives in Chapter 7: The Four Degrees of Action is worth the price of the book alone. It shines a new light on everyday thinking, causing you to question everything you’ve ever been taught about attaining success.
#5: To be average is to fail
Cardone believes people are addicted to average because it “assumes—incorrectly, of course—that everything operates stably.” He says,
Rid yourself of every concept of average.
“Study what average people do, and prohibit yourself and your team from considering average as an option. Surround yourself with exceptional thinkers and doers.”
I’ve taken this advice to heart. I even made lists of what average wives, mothers, bloggers, and friends do to ensure I don’t follow the herd, but carve a path of excellence instead.
#6: Dominate the territory
Competition is one of my favorite subjects in the book because it speaks to exactly how most of us think about competing in our industry or online space.
“From what I have seen, competing with others limits a person’s ability to think creatively because he or she is constantly watching what someone else is doing.”
Instead, Cardone suggests a personal campaign trail that will overshadow and dominate your industry completely. He advises that you not try to compete in a space, but become it. “The message you want to send to the marketplace through your persistent action is, ‘No one can keep up with me. I’m not going away. I am not a competitor. I am the space.”
His thinking on competition, in itself, is worth a million dollars!
#7: Make the ask
“Many sales professionals give themselves much more credit for trying to close the deal than they deserve and think they’re doing so much more often than they actually are. In reality, most never even ask for the order once, much less the supposed five times that are necessary.”
#8: The goal is to expand
The 10X Rule speaks to that idea, and I love how he explains why quitters fail. When you think that one of your ideas didn’t work, Cardone says “the only reason why it didn’t work is because you didn’t stick with it long enough for the market, your clients, and your competition to finally submit to your efforts. Repeated attacks over extended periods of time will always be successful.”
#9: Never rest on your laurels
Never rest on your laurels.
“Once you take 10X actions and start getting traction, you must continue to add wood to your fire until you either start a brushfire or a bonfire—or burn the place down. Don’t rest, and don’t stop—ever.”
I want to be careful with what I’m highlighting here because trust that the author, Grant Cardone takes vacations and time off. The message is here to ensure you keep persisting and pushing your ideas forward. That, and “there can never be enough wood on your fire.”
#10: Fear is a good sign.
Are you scared to email and ask? Scared to ask again? Scared to ask yet again?! All good indicators that’s the push your business needs in order to achieve the next level. Cardone says, “Fear of requesting the client’s business means that you must ask for the business—and then keep asking.”
“The person who takes action on whatever he or she fears the most will be the person who advances his or her cause the most. Let the rest of the marketplace submit to anxiety and prepare unnecessarily for False Events Appearing Real. You’ve got a job to do.”
I review my notes on the 10X Rule regularly, and I always leave the book to make a call, take an action, or express a need for something I’ve feared up to that point. The above quote could not be more true for you and me in our careers: the person who conquers their fears the most advances their cause the most.
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