The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone

The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone in a Nutshell

Cardone say’s the secret to extraordinary success is to put in 10 times the relevant effort than most people, and to condition your mind for the success. You also have to recognize that with the increased efforts, increased obstacles will confront you, and you have to work your way around and through them. Mega success is not possible without overexposure, because you have to be everywhere at the same time, so people recognize your name, brand and logo. The book gives you ideas on how to grow a business fast.

8 Big Ideas from The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone

Approach every situation with an in-it-to-win mindset: Tackle every project with the 10X Rule, acting like you have to succeed because your life depends on it. Take appropriate, consistent and persistent action, and over time, you must succeed.

Surround yourself with exceptional thinkers and doers: It’s been said that you are the sum total of the five people who are closest to you, so surround yourself with exceptional thinkers and doers who will motivate you to become a better version of yourself by putting in 10 times the effort.

Murphy’s law is always rearing its ugly head: Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. This aligns with what Cardone says, “People optimistically overestimate how well things will go and then underestimate how much energy and effort it will take just to push things through.” You will always face obstacles that you never dreamed of when working on achieving your goals, some may be so big that they stop you in your tracks.

Go after your goals with the speed of a hare and the steadfastness of the turtle: In the fable, the Turtle and the Hare, the hare rushes, becomes tired, so decides to take a nap, while the turtle moves slowly, is persistent, winning the race because he doesn’t give up. But in the book, Cardone recommends that you adopt traits from both the turtle and the hare to achieve success. You move 10 times faster while being consistent and persistent.

Learn to overcommit: This forces you to operate at the ten times level to deliver on your commitments because you will have to take massive action. When you overcommit, you will face unimaginable problems, but when you are persistent and consistent with your high level of action, you will deliver at levels that will amaze both you and your customers.

Expand when the economy is contracting: When the economy is contracting, the knee-jerk reaction is to cut costs and lay off workers, but many successful companies were started during a recession. Cardone recommends that the way out of a recession is to expand, push and take action, despite what others are saying and doing. The intent is to take whatever action is needed to dominate your sector.

Be proactive, take responsibility for your life: Everything that occurs in your life, good or bad, is your responsibility, even if outside forces are at play. If something negative happens to you, even if you did not have control over it, ask yourself, “If this situation arises again, what can I do to reduce its negative impact?” This new mindset puts you in the driver’s seat of your life, and you occupy a position of power.

Master yourself: Before you can dominate your sector, your goal, dream or ambition, you have to first dominate your every interest, thought, and consideration. You have to learn how to master yourself first.

The 10X Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure by Grant Cardone gives insights into the answers to the above questions. To really understand the book, requires a shift in mindset, because some of the author’s ideas are contrary to what you may believe. You have to suspend disbelief, so that you can truly understand what the author is trying to tell you. After having read and digested The 10X Rule, there are some things in the book that I do not agree with, but there are many instances where I changed my views because Cardone provided compelling reasons for me to do so.

According to Grant Cardone, The 10X Rule is the amount of effort and thought that’s needed to get anything done successfully, while adjusting your thinking to dream big dreams. The secret to extraordinary success is to put in 10 times the effort than most people. And he defines success as, “The degree or measure of attaining some desired object or end.” And to maintain or build on your success, you have to keep on achieving. You have to have a dogged determination to achieve your goals.

Cardone uses himself as an example to drive home his point about taking massive appropriate action, and he says the same thing over and over again to emphasize his point, so you will understand the importance of what he has to say. You make your own success, and once you have attained success, that does not mean that you have got it made and no longer have to take action. To maintain success, you have to constantly raise the bar higher following the ten times rule.

He encourages people to overexpose themselves, since overexposure is better than obscurity. This means that you have to be everywhere at the same time, so people will see you often.

“You want people to see you so often that they think of you constantly and instantaneously identify your face or name or logo with not just the offering you represent.”

Be active on social media, send out emails, publish a newsletter, make phone calls, make personal visits to clients and prospective clients, use LinkedIn’s publishing platform, blog and become a guest blogger, accept speaking engagements, and accept opportunities for interviews. You do not have to fear overexposure because if you are continually raising the success bar, it’s unlikely that you will become stale.

The point is that you cannot become mega successful without making your ideas, products, services or your brand universal. This is a part of what Austin Kleon means when he said to Show Your Work.

What You MUST Know About Success:-

Success is important.
Success is your duty.
There is no shortage of success.

You will never attain success if you do not believe that it is important, and it is your responsibility in life to live up to your true potential, becoming the person you were meant to be. You owe it to all those who are depending on you to be the best version of yourself. Becoming successful shouldn’t be an option for you, but an obligation that you have to honor.

Do you believe this, think about it for a second?

Anyone can attain success because there is no shortage of it. It’s not a fixed size because it is forever expanding. You becoming a successful person, doesn’t mean that another person has to fail, so do not limit what you can achieve in life. This point is often what holds people back. They think that if they succeed, others will fail, so they never push themselves – 10X more. But if you changed your mindset to: Success is Important, Success is Your Duty, and There is No Shortage of Success, imagine how much you could accomplish, and how much good you could do in the world?

The Four Degrees of Action:-

Do nothing: You accept whatever life throws your way. You do not take any kind of action to move forward in life. How is this working for you?
Retreat: You fear success and probably take negative actions because you do not want to be criticized. Is this really working any better than doing nothing?
Take normal levels of action: You do what everyone does, take normal levels of action, sticking to the status quo. You operate within the established norms. Really, why aren’t you living up to your true potential.
Take massive action: Take whatever action is required to achieve mega levels of success. DON’T HIDE YOUR LIGHT UNDER A BUSHEL. Be the best you can be!

Things to Consider When Setting Your Goals:-

You are setting your goals for yourself, not for someone else. It’s about YOU and what you WANT to ACHIEVE.
Anything is possible, you have the capacity to change an impossible into a possible. Audrey Hepburn once said, “Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible’!”
You have more potential than you realize. Scotiabank has a saying, “You’re richer than you think.” My spin on that is, “You’re smarter than you think.”
Success is your duty and responsibility, so you owe it to yourself to do what you need to do to become successful. How would your life change if you read a book a week, books that will elevate your thinking, books that will allow you to perform your job better, books that will improve your life?
There is no shortage of success, anyone can become successful if he or she so chooses.
Every goal, regardless of its sizes, requires taking action to accomplish.

Common Mistakes When Working on Achieving Goals

Mistargeting: This means setting goals and objectives too low and not properly motivating yourself. To succeed, you have to have a compelling reason for doing what you do.
Underestimating the amount of actions, resources, money and energy it will take to achieve goals and objectives. Adopt the mindset that things take longer to complete, cost more, and take longer, plan for these things as best as you can.
Spending too much time competing, instead of dominating the sector. The most successful people focus on creating, and not on competing.
Underestimating the amount of adversity, roadblocks, you will face, and have to overcome before you can achieve your desired goal. Things will always go wrong, and there are always unforeseen obstacles – expect them, but do not let them stop you from taking massive action.

How to Dominate Your Sector/Industry

Decide that you are going to dominate the sector by being the best, and top-of-mind when customers want your products and services. This means that you have to change your mindset, and commit to spending the necessary energy, effort and time that is required.
Do what others are not willing to do to create an unfair advantage. The truth is that most people are not willing to amplify their efforts by 10 times. This means that you take immediate, consistent and persistent action at a level that no other person is willing to take or duplicate. This allows you to rise to the top.
Refuse to stick with the status quo, that is, never play by the agreed upon norms by which others operate. Innovation does not occur by sticking to the status quo because it stifles and inhibits creativity and prevents breakthrough ideas from emerging.

How to Get through the Noise in the Marketplace

Get noticed.

Amplify your actions 10 times to serve more people.

Get through the noise.

Refuse to listen to naysayers. Determine the capabilities, actions and mindset of your competitors. Take consistent and persistent action at a level that your competitors are unwilling to go.

An important point Cardone makes in his book is that successful people, “talk, think, and approach situations differently from most people – and they definitely think about money differently.” He identified 32 traits of successful people, many of which are related – here are a 22 of them.

22 Traits of Successful People

Have a “can do” attitude, and believe that “I can figure it out.”
Focus on the opportunity – every problem comes with a related opportunity and that’s what successful people focus on.
Are unreasonable, which means they are willing to do what others refuse to do. They will take the massive action that’s necessary to succeed, and they do not operate within the established norms.
Create wealth through the exchange of new ideas, the products and services they offer, and the solutions they provide. They do not believe there is a shortage of success.
Readily take massive amounts of action to achieve their bold and audacious goals.
Always say “yes.” Successful people are willing to take on new situations and have new experiences…. to expand the situation.
Go all the way and see things through to completion. Cardone rightfully says, “Until an action is turned into a success, it is not done.”
Focus on “now.” Take action now to create the future you want. Never put off what you can do today. Acquire the discipline, muscle memory, and achievements that come from taking massive action.
Demonstrate courage – act with confidence and courage. “Attack, dominate, and keep your attention on the future, and then continue to repeat your actions – and your courage will grow. Do the things that scare you more often, and they will eventually scare you less.”
Embrace change. The world is changing rapidly, so successful people are always looking to see how they can apply the changes to improve their work and increase their advantage.
Determined and take the right approach. They take the time to figure out how to work smarter, and find and use the right approach to achieve success.
Break traditional ideas. They challenge the status quo, and work outside of the established norms.
Is goal-oriented. Successful people pay more attention to the goal than to the problem.
Have a high level of motivation. They are stimulated to take action and find reasons to continually raise the success bar.
Interested in results. They do not let themselves off the hook until they achieve the results they are after.
Commit first-figure out later. This reminds me of the Martin Luther King quote, “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”
Are highly ethical. In this case, the way that Cardone defines ethics is honoring that success is a responsibility. It is about not lying to yourself and honoring the commitments you make to yourself and others. It’s about living up to your full potential. Taking action without achieving results to him is being unethical.
Interested in the group. You are the sum total of the five people who are closest to you, so surround yourself with great thinkers and doers.
Dedicated to continuous learning. Make lifelong learning a habit. It is said that the average CEO reads about 60 books a year, while the average American reads only one. CEOs make 319 times the income of the average person, is there a correlation? Seek out new information and never stop learning.
Are uncomfortable. They are willing to put themselves in unfamiliar situations that are often uncomfortable.
“Reach up” in relationships. Surround themselves with people who are smarter, brighter and more creative.
Be Disciplined. This refers to being successful in all areas of life. Discipline is orderly, prescribed conduct that will get you what you want.

Final Word.

And there you have it. A really short summary of a classic book by Grant Cardone. Some of the advice that Cardone dishes out may not be to the taste of everyone but you’ve got to admit that it has been massively successful for Grant Cardone and many others who have followed his advice. So go and treat yourself and buy the book on Amazon (follow the link below).

Buy on Amazon.