Success, however you might measure it, is often elusive. Over the years, many people have tried to distil the essence of success into easy catchphrases or simple mottos, but most of these have failed.
Let’s face it, most lifestyle gurus are little more than salesmen for grandiose and dubious ideas; they know all the cliches and slogans, but they have no idea how to really lead people toward success.
In the book, The 10X Rule, author Grant Cardone presents a real method to success, the 10X Rule. Based on the experiences of a top sales trainer and business owner, they explain how anybody can apply one simple rule to set themselves up for the lasting successes and ambitious achievements that once seemed out of reach.
Perusing the shelves of your average bookstore, you’re bound to find a plethora of titles that promise you the secrets to a successful life. But with so many options, it can be hard to know which is the best one.
So, before you get sucked into another questionable formula for success, consider the 10X rule – a surefire way to succeed at whatever you want.
The 10X rule is based on the knowledge that success always requires more effort than you originally thought. You can look back on your life and easily see that your endeavors always demanded ten times more effort than you thought they would. Success in business pursuits always came when you invested ten times more than your competitors.
So, if you want to sell a product and think making ten phone calls a day will help you do so, you should probably aim for closer to 100 phone calls per day.
But putting in this added effort won’t just help you achieve your daily goals; the 10X rule will help you accomplish a whole lot more.
This brings us to the second half of the 10X rule: all your goals should be ten times bigger than what’s considered realistic.
In other words, reach for the heavens and pick a goal that’s beyond your wildest dreams. It might seem silly, but if you aim too low you’ll still be disappointed when you achieve your goal, and feel crushed if you fail. It’s much more desirable to fail to meet an incredibly high expectation than to attain a mediocre goal.
For instance, say your dream is to be an author. Writing a novel should be your goal, not writing a two-page short story. Even if you successfully accomplish the latter, you still won’t consider yourself a writer.
In this way, the 10X rule is about trying harder and dreaming bigger.
History has shown time and time again that merely having the best product isn’t enough to make you a success. Real market success is a product of the right attitude and the readiness to handle unexpected issues.
That’s why the 10X rule is also about being ready to confront unforeseen challenges.
By aiming as high as the 10X rule tells you to, you’ll be working hard enough to deal with anything that comes your way. Imagine you aim to sell 100,000 items in your product line when most people would shoot for just 10,000. This gargantuan goal means that if you, say, experience a huge influx of orders, you’ll succeed where others will fail because you’ve developed the capacity to handle a bigger operation.
But the 10X rule also offers some clear guidelines for success. The first has to do with the fact that people often think of success as something for others, but not for themselves. It’s essential to disabuse yourself of this belief and remember that success has no restrictions.
No matter what other people say, success isn’t a zero-sum game and there’s plenty to go around. Anyone with a 10X mindset can achieve success, and it doesn’t have to come at someone else’s expense.
For example, if you succeed at bringing an improved cell phone to market, you’ll have offered a positive contribution, making it a success that benefits everyone. Even if other businesses look on with envy at first, others will learn from your contribution and attitude to find their own success.
In this way, the 10X rule, by pushing you to achieve all you can, is a tool for reaching your true potential.
Just consider the author.
Until the age of 25, his life was all about alcohol and drugs. At a certain point, he realized he wasn’t living a fulfilling life whatsoever and had no will to achieve anything at all. So, he transformed his mindset and pushed himself to levels of achievement he could never have imagined.
Have you heard about the four degrees of action? It’s a pretty simple concept that states that, when confronted with a situation, you can respond in one of four ways.
You can either do nothing, retreat, take normal action or take massive action, and it’s the last of these that is the key to success.
To see this principle in action, look no further than children. When they’re faced with a challenge, they simply give it everything they’ve got; they don’t pause to calculate or budget their effort.
So follow their lead. Instead of determining how many hours you’ll need to devote, just make massive action your natural habit. Say you need to sell your product to a market influencer. Instead of skimping on budget or keeping your efforts measured, go all out to convince him. Do all the research you can, spare no expense and don’t let up until he’s sold.
However, following this route means taking responsibility. Remember, success isn’t something that happens to you – it’s something that happens because of you.
As such, it’s key to avoid thinking of yourself as a victim, or someone who can be acted upon, and start thinking of yourself as an actor. Embrace challenges and see opportunities instead of risks and dangers.
Keep in mind that the word “average” by definition means less than extraordinary; it’s your task to push beyond this boundary.
The fact is, the world is full of average everything. Just consider how most people aim to be middle class. Wanting to be average means thinking only about getting by, perhaps thinking about tomorrow or the day after, but not any further.
The danger here is that average can sink to below average very quickly. The 2008 financial crisis is a great example, as it hit the middle class hardest, forcing many into poverty.
It just goes to show that aiming for average isn’t enough. Define what average means in your context, but only to shoot for ten times above it – doing so will make you a success for years to come. You can do it!
Check out my related post: What types of people do not succeed at work?
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