Are you an entrepreneur or small business owner, who is looking to accelerate his business? If you have ever asked yourself, or wondered, how to grow my business fast, then The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone is for you!

If you're not an entrepreneur, or a small business owner, The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone will help you as well. By amplifying your goals 10X, you'll place yourself in the discomfort zone where genius happens. This article is also appropriate for millennials.

Now that we're experiencing a global pandemic many have to pivot their business and career. Understanding the 10x rule you to accelerate the process.

All images in the post are clickable! 

The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone in a Nutshell

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. You have to work your way around and through them.

Mega success is not possible without overexposure. You have to be everywhere at the same time, so people recognize your name, brand and logo.

According to The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone, 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.

The book gives you ideas on how to grow a business fast.

Have you read?

How to Get Attention for Your Business

The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks – Book Review 

8 Big Ideas from the Book

1. Approach every situation with an in-it-to-win mindset: Tackle every project with the 10X Rule. Act like you have to succeed because your life depends on it. Take appropriate, consistent and persistent action, and over time, you must succeed.
2. 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. Put in 10 times the effort.
3. 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.
4. 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. The turtle moves slowly, is persistent, winning the race because he doesn’t give up. But in the book, Grant 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.
5. Learn to over-commit: 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 over-commit, 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.
6. Expand when the economy is contracting: When the economy is contracting, the knee jerk reaction is to cut costs and lay off workers. However, many successful companies were started during a recession. Grant 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.

Summary of The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone

In his book, The Greatest Secret in the World, Og Mandino declares,

“The greatest secret in the world is that you only have to be a small, measurable amount better than mediocrity… and you’ve got it made.”

So what would happen if you became a better version of you? Ten times better? How much would you be able to accomplish? How much good could you do in the world?

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 Grant 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.

In The 10X Rule byGrant 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
• 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

1. Success is important.
2. Success is your duty.
3. There is no shortage of success.

You will never attain success if you do not believe that it is important. 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 10X Rule by Grant Cardone: Four Degrees of Action

1. 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?
2. 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?
3. 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.
4. 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!

Have you read?

Elevate: Push Beyond Your Limit by Robert Glazer, Summary

The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone: Things to Consider When Setting Your Goals

1. You are setting your goals for yourself, not for someone else. It’s about YOU and what you WANT to ACHIEVE.
2. 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'!”
3. 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.”
4. 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?
5. There is no shortage of success, anyone can become successful if he or she so chooses.
6. Every goal, regardless of its sizes, requires taking action to accomplish.

Common Mistakes When Working on Achieving Goals

1. 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.
2. 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, then plan for these things as best as you can.
3. Spending too much time competing, instead of dominating the sector. The most successful people focus on creating, and not on competing.
4. 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

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.

The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone: 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 21 of them.

The 10X Rule: 21 Traits of Successful People

1. Have a “can do” attitude, and believe that “I can figure it out.”
2. Focus on the opportunity. Every problem comes with a related opportunity. And that’s what successful people focus on.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Readily take massive amounts of action to achieve their bold and audacious goals.
6. Always say “yes.” Successful people are willing to take on new situations and have new experiences…. to expand the situation.
7. 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.”
8. 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.
9. 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.”
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. Break traditional ideas. They challenge the status quo, and work outside of the established norms.
13. Is goal-oriented. Successful people pay more attention to the goal than to the problem.
14. Have a high level of motivation. They are stimulated to take action and find reasons to continually raise the success bar.
15. Interested in results. They do not let themselves off the hook until they achieve the results they are after.
16. 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.”
17. 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.
18. 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.
19. 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.
20. Are uncomfortable. They are willing to put themselves in unfamiliar situations that are often uncomfortable.
21. “Reach up” in relationships. Surround themselves with people who are smarter, brighter and more creative.

Avil Beckford’s Musings after Reading The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone

While reading The 10X Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure by Grant Cardone, I was reminded of the following books and believe they make a great complement to this one.

• Zero to One by Peter Thiel: In Zero to One, Peter Thiel writes that there are seven questions that a startup must answer and one of the questions is an engineering one, which is, “Is what you are offering 10 times better than what’s available?” I think that if you are offering a service, and you do what others are not willing to do, such as work consistently and persistently, at 10 times the level of others, you will likely offer a service that’s ten times better. (Avil's Review of Zero to One)
• Do the Work by Steven Pressfield: In The 10X Rule, Grant Cardone writes about people underestimating the amount of obstacles they will face when working on their goals. If faced with too many obstacles many will falter, and some will even abandon their goals. The book, Do the Work by Steven Pressfield, teaches you how to move through any resistance you may face. (Avil's Review of Do the Work)
• Wake Up and Live by Dorothea Brande: In Wake Up and Live, Dorothea Brande reveals the secret to success, which is to act as if it was impossible to fail. In my humble opinion, if you are putting in ten times the thought and effort to achieve your goals, adopting the proper mindset, aligning your goal with a bigger cause, and avoiding the four common mistakes, you are acting as if it’s impossible to fail. (Avil's Review of Wake Up and Live)
• The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz: The concepts in The Magic of Thinking Big line up perfectly with The 10X Rule. Imagine what would happen if you elevated your thinking and had bigger dreams that you worked towards? I read The Magic of Thinking Big years ago, but I did not write a review.
• Show Your Work by Austin Kleon: In the 10X Rule by Grant Cardone, he talks about being everywhere at the same time. In Show Your Work, Austin Kleon emphasizes the importance of letting others know and see what you are doing.  (Avil's Review of Show Your Work)

How I Plan to Use The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone

As I was reading The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone, I had to admit that I am not living up to my full potential. And I am guilty of many of the offenses that Grant Cardone mentions. I work hard and I am persistent, but I sometimes become discouraged because my goals are so big, there are so many obstacles in my path, so I make them smaller.

The result is that I am an underachiever. It sounds harsh, but I have to be honest with myself. In The 10X Rule, Grant Cardone writes,

“People optimistically overestimate how well things will go and then underestimate how much energy and effort it will take just to push things through.”

I have become complacent and settled for a mediocre life, instead of striving, and achieving abundance.

To rectify the situation, I am creating a 30-60-90 Day Plan for 2020. This will include the things that I must accomplish in the first 90 days of the year. But my intent is to focus on only 30 days at a time, so that I do not become overwhelmed. I plan to read Michael Hyatt's Your Best Year Ever. I have owned this book for close to two years. The other thing is that I am working on the PhotoReading course as well as the Future Mapping one.

I have been wanting to create book summaries that are different from what’s offered, but I always have reasons why I haven’t produced them. I created a few but I believe that it would be better to create book study guides that would part of a subscription plan. We are in the subscription economy.

Here is a taste of what I planned to offer, so you see where I am heading with the book summaries. The book study guide will include a shorter summary, in addition to discussion questions. Where possible, I will tie the book to what is happening in the world.

My tactic has changed, I am focusing for now on book summaries that teach you the 10 skills that the World Economic Forum says you need to thrive in 2020 and beyond. I'm creating book discussion guides and I plan to offer them as part of a subscription service.

Reading the books is easy for me, what is more difficult is finding the best rhythm to write the book summaries and discussion guides in a timely manner.

Most people do not read one book each month, and I plan to not only read eight books, but write discussion guides for them, am I insane? [Yes, this is insane, and very difficult to do]

I must admit that in a typical year, I read over 150 books from various genres. To achieve this goal, and to make sure that I grow and benefit from the experience, I have to be strategic about which books I choose to read, which will be difficult.

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Applying the 10X Rule by Grant Cardone

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