The 10X Rule – Grant Cardone

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In The 10X Rule, Grant breaks down limiting beliefs that I had (and I’m sure many others have) towards success and impacting the world. 

The 10X Rule is a book about thinking bigger than most people are comfortable with. It is about exponential thinking and acting 10X more than the average person. 

In this summary, I share the five key takeaways I got from the book and what I am going to implement into my life immediately. 

Why people fail

At first glance, this seems obvious. People fail because they don’t set goals. But that actually isn’t true. If you don’t set goals, then there is nothing to fail at. 

The real insight comes from why people who set goals fail. People fail because they don’t set big enough goals. The issue with setting small goals is that it doesn’t require you to change the person you are to achieve them. 

Instead of saying I’m going to lose 5 pounds, say I’m going to get in the best shape of my life no matter what!

Instead of setting a goal to have $5,000 extra this year, set a goal to make an extra $50,000.

The difference is night and day. Having a small goal always leads to working a little harder and giving up some of the things you enjoy in life. On the other hand, having a 10X goal requires an entirely new thinking framework. You can not simply work a little harder to get in the best shape of your life. You have to become a different type of person. The same is true with making an extra $50,000. You can not do that by working a little more overtime or buying oatmeal instead of steak. You need to come up with a new way of providing value to the world.

If you are going to come up short on a goal (like we almost always do) would you rather come up short having an extra $5,000 or come up short having an extra $50,000? I know I would rather come up short making the extra $50K.

Brandon’s note: Whenever I felt satisfied and like I “won”, it was when I set massive goals regardless of if I actually accomplished them or not. Before this book, I did not have words for it, but it always felt better to have a crazy large mission than a secure small goal.

Any Aspect of life

Although the 10X rule primarily focuses on business, it can be applied to any aspect of life. It doesn’t matter what you use 10X for; the principle is the same. If you want something, why not go big. Whatever goal you have, whatever you want in life, make it bigger and go for it.

Some examples of this are:

• I want a good Marriage -> I want the best marriage full of love and laughter.

• I want a best friend -> I want a group of ride-or-die friends that I can count on for anything.

• I want enough money to retire at 65 -> I want enough money to retire at 40 and then just work for pleasure and not because I need to

The 10X rule can be applied to many things in life, so why not dream and act big?

Massive Action

Success doesn’t come from dreams alone. It comes from dreaming and taking action. In The 10X Rule, Cardone argues that to have 10X success, you need to set goals that are 10 times bigger than average and work 10 times harder than average to achieve them. 

Talking about a goal does not make it real. Instead, it’s the action that turns ambitions into reality.

Brandon’s note: I know several people that have great ideas, but they seldom execute them (myself included). Their great ideas do not end up improving their life. This is because they are missing the most essential step, action. Something Elon Musk said resonates with this fact as well. When discussing SpaceX and building rockets, he said, “Design is only 10% of the problem; manufacturing is the other 90%.” I could not agree more. We need to dream big and fulfill our calling to have an extraordinary life, but we can’t stop there. We need to put in the work and take massive action.

Anyone can do it

There are no prerequisites to thinking 10X. Whether you are a barista, a janitor, a fitness instructor, or a CEO, you can do it. The only one holding you back from dreaming bigger and doing more is you. 

With that being said, we all have limiting beliefs of what we think is reasonable. This is influenced by parents, friends, neighborhood, and society. It is essential to surround yourself with people who bring you up, people you aspire to learn from, and people who inspire you to do more. 

Brandon’s Note: An easy way to do this is to: read great books, follow inspiring blogs, take courses, and spend more time with someone you look up to.

How to set 10X goals

The best part of this entire book is how simple it is to start using. Whatever goal you have, professional or personal, make it bigger, or try to accomplish it much faster. It doesn’t have to be 10X as big or one-tenth as fast. But it does have to be a multiple of what you feel comfortable with. 

• If you want to run a marathon sometime in your life, sign up for one 4-6 months from now and start training immediately. 

• If you want to lose 5 pounds by summer, set a goal to lose 20 pounds.

• If you want to make $200 a month with your side hustle, change that to $1000 a month. 

• If you want to retire at 65 to travel the world change your plan to retire at 45 and go travel, then when you are bored, go back to work.

The important thing is not actually achieving your goal. It’s making something important enough to you that you will put in the required effort to have a chance of success. What happens otherwise is we set goals when we have high motivation, but then we run out of steam before we build our own habits. This happens because we didn’t estimate how hard it would be. By setting a 10X goal, you know how hard it will be, so you need to change yourself into a person who can achieve it.

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Whenever I run into a problem I can’t solve, I always make it bigger. I can never solve it by trying to make it smaller, but if I make it big enough, I can begin to see the outlines of a solution.

— Dwight D. Eisenhower

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What I am implementing in my life

While reading this book, two thoughts hit home the hardest. They are: Most people fail because they don’t set big enough goals and Take massive action.

Most people fail because they don’t set big enough goals.

This sentence has changed my thinking about goals, achievement, and success. Before this book, I wanted to be 100% successful in achieving my goals. This was a significant error. By wanting to accomplish each of my goals, I would set them too low and put a large safety margin on them.

Now I am setting massive goals, not in hopes of doing them word for word. But instead to inspire me to be the kind of person who would even attempt them. An example of this is running a half marathon (I signed up for one in May).

Take massive action

The second main idea I took away from this book was taking massive action. I often set ambitious goals immediately after a holiday while relaxed and still feeling fresh. But the motivation would only last a couple of weeks. After the motivation was gone, I did not want to put in the effort necessary to accomplish my goal. The reason for this was always the same; I didn’t honestly want my goal. I had conflicting desires. There is a quote that perfectly explains this.

You can get almost anything you want out of life, as long as it’s one thing and you want it far more than anything else.

— Naval Ravikant

My problem was it was never just one thing that I wanted, and I didn’t actually want it more than anything else. I wanted everything, which resulted in a lack of priorities. I could never take massive action because I was spread thinly on too many priorities.

Now, I am being much more selective on my priorities, and if I honestly want something, I am taking massive action to get it. I’m not just going to spend an hour a week working on it, now I’m going for it and putting in as much effort as I can afford.

I would love to hear what goals you want to make 10X below in the comments.
I believe in you.