Book SummaryThe 10X Rule, by Grant Cardone

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of The 10X Rule

Nearly everyone seeks the “holy grail” of success, but most people fall short. In The 10X Rule, entrepreneur and motivational speaker Grant Cardone argues that people don’t succeed because:

1) They misunderstand what it takes to be successful. People mistakenly think success requires having money, connections, talent, the right education, being in the right business, or being in the right place at the right time. But these don’t guarantee success.

Only the 10X Rule—setting extreme goals and taking extreme action to meet them—guarantees success and, unlike the above criteria, it’s available to everyone.

2) People don’t approach success the right way. First, they don’t set high enough goals due to “average” thinking. They don’t want to be unrealistic or risk failure, so they set seemingly attainable goals, yet still fall short.

Second, people fail to reach their goals because they underestimate what it will take to reach them and don’t apply enough effort. Again, this is average thinking—they assume that by putting in a “reasonable” amount of effort they’ll succeed.

The 10X Solution

Instead of coming from external factors (money or connections), success comes from having the right mindset. Cardone argues you need to scale up your thinking and actions by a factor of 10. The 10X Rule for success is: set goals that are 10 times bigger than the average, then work 10 times harder than average to achieve them. Cardone refers to the latter as taking “massive” action. It takes extraordinary thinking and effort to achieve extraordinary success.

Setting 10X goals and taking extraordinary steps to achieve them isn’t taught in business schools. But anyone who achieves extraordinary success—whether a CEO, philanthropist, entrepreneur, politician, or athlete—follows the 10X rule, whether they realize it or not. What successful athlete hasn’t devoted extraordinary effort to training and practice?

The 10X Rule can be applied to any personal or professional goal, whether it’s having an extraordinary marriage, starting a hugely successful business, or making $10 million.

Besides reaching your goals, living by the 10X standard provides other benefits, including a sense of purpose, increased self-confidence, a way to overcome fears and procrastination, renewed energy, and greater satisfaction. Further, it’s a way to stand out from the crowd, fulfill your potential, and create the life you want.

In business, a think big/act big mindset enables you to overcome obstacles such as competition, economic downturns, disruptions, and client resistance.

Operating at a 10X level is a discipline for reaching all goals, it’s a way of life, and the way to handle all tasks and projects.

Why Set 10X Goals?

Most people set modest goals. Our goals are based on beliefs drummed into us by others, who define what constitutes “enough” or what’s realistic. We’re told that if we set unrealistic goals, we’ll just fall short and get discouraged; that we should be happy with “enough” to live comfortably.

However, you’ve probably been disappointed more often in the past by setting goals that are too low rather than too high—because when you set low targets and hit them, you know it’s not much of an achievement and you feel dissatisfied.

But if you set a huge (10X) goal and come up short, you’ll still achieve more than you would have in hitting a lesser goal. For example, if you originally set a goal of making $100,000, then boosted it to a 10X goal of $1 million, wouldn’t you rather come up short on the $1 million goal?

When you aim for only “enough” to be comfortable, you’re limiting yourself to being happy with just a little success. As a result, you’ll put in a limited amount of effort, get little in return, and won’t keep it very long.

Extraordinary or 10X goals are, by definition, bigger than what most people can imagine and achieve.

How to Set 10X Goals

Since your daily actions determine the course of your life, do the following:

• Write down your goals two times every day to fix them in your mind. Make it the first thing you do each morning...

The 10X Rule Summary Introduction

Nearly everyone is pursuing the “holy grail” of success. But while we all want to succeed, most people fall short. In The 10X Rule, entrepreneur and motivational speaker Grant Cardone argues that people don’t succeed because:

1) They misunderstand what it takes to be successful. People often mistakenly think success is a matter of having money, connections, talent, the right education, the right personality, getting lucky breaks, being in the right business or industry, or being in the right place at the right time. But these don’t guarantee success.

Only the 10X Rule—setting extreme goals and taking extreme action to meet them—guarantees success and, unlike the above criteria, it’s available to everyone.

2) People don’t approach success the right way. First, they don’t set high enough goals due to “average” thinking. They don’t want to be unrealistic or risk failure, so they set seemingly attainable goals, yet still fall short.

Cardone himself fell into this trap. He has achieved success by many measures: as a best-selling author, a popular...

The 10X Rule Summary Chapter 1: The 10X Rule

Few people have what they think of as success. They want more in their career, finances, health, relationships, or some other area. Regardless of how you define success, to reach the next level, you need to think and act differently.

You’re where you are now because of the way you’re thinking and acting—whether you want to find a job, lose weight, find a partner, or increase your income or savings.

The 10X Rule is about radically changing your thinking by setting 10X goals, then acting at a 10X level to achieve them. Here’s what this means.

Set 10X goals

Most people set modest goals. Our goals are based on beliefs drummed into us by others, who define what constitutes “enough” or what’s realistic. We’re told that if we set unrealistic goals, we’ll just fall short and get discouraged; that we should be happy with “enough” to live comfortably. Or, we’re told that if our expectations are too high, we’ll end up unhappy.

However, you’ve probably been disappointed more often in the past by setting goals that are too low rather than too high—because when you set low targets and hit them, you know it’s not much of an achievement and you feel dissatisfied.

But if you...

Shortform Exercise: Elevate Your Thinking

People often set only modest goals that they think are realistic. However, you can’t achieve extraordinary success without setting extraordinary goals.

What are your current goals and why?

The 10X Rule Summary Chapter 2: Applying the 10X Rule

Cardone learned four lessons about operating by the 10X Rule when he started his first business age 29:

Lesson #1: Beware of Underestimating

Underestimating what it will take to achieve your goal has a debilitating effect.

When you miscalculate, you become discouraged, you rationalize and attribute your problems to the wrong factors, you assume your goal is unreachable and you give up.

Whether you’re starting a business, building a house, raising money, or searching for a new job, it will always take more effort than you initially expect. No matter how great your new product or service is, there will be something you didn’t expect or properly plan for—for example, economic changes, legal issues, competition, or people problems.

Extreme effort is the only thing that will overcome these obstacles; throwing money at them won’t do it. To use a battle metaphor, you can’t just take a territory—it takes persistence and sustained effort to keep it.

When you accurately estimate what it will take, you’ll approach the job with the right mindset—a determination to go all out—and the market (your customers and competitors) will respond to your forcefulness.

...

Shortform Exercise: Apply Extreme Effort

When things don’t go as planned, people’s response is often to scale back the goal rather than increase their efforts.

Think of a time you missed or started falling short of a target. How did your feelings about the target change—for instance, did you conclude it was unrealistic?

The 10X Rule Summary Chapters 3-5: Three Characteristics of Success

What you want to accomplish (what you define as success) depends on where you are in life and what you’re focused on. But whatever success means to you, it has three characteristics:

1) Success matters.

2) Success is your obligation or duty.

3) The supply of success is unlimited.

Success Matters

People often comment that “success isn’t everything.” But success is vital to all organizations—they must succeed and grow in order to thrive and contribute to society. Similarly, individuals and families must succeed to have security, confidence, satisfaction, and growth.

People who downplay the importance of success are sometimes rationalizing their own failures. No one benefits when you fail or quit, but when you accomplish something important, you and everyone around you gain—and it lays the groundwork for further success.

Success Is Your Duty

Cardone’s life changed when he stopped waiting for success and began thinking of it as an ethical obligation—that is, as a duty to himself, his family, and his company.

People often think of success as an option, something that may or may not happen....

Shortform Exercise: Treat Success as a Duty

People often think of success as an option, something that may or may not happen. However, Cardone argues that you have an ethical obligation to make it happen—that not living up to your potential is unethical.

How have you defined success in your life? Why do you define it this way?

The 10X Rule Summary Chapter 6: Accept Total Responsibility

The attitude of a successful person is that things don’t happen to you, they happen because of you and the actions you take. Successful people take responsibility for everything that happens in their lives, good or bad.

If you’re willing to take credit when you succeed, you have to take responsibility for problems too. Taking responsibility enables you to take the big actions that create big success.

Whiners and victims think much differently and therefore don’t do well at creating success. You can’t take 10X actions when you’re making excuses. So it’s critical that you rid yourself of victim thinking, which plagues about half the population.

Victim Thinking

Here’s how victims look at life:

1) Bad things regularly happen to them.

2) Someone or something else is to blame.

Here’s how these beliefs preclude 10X thinking and action:

• If you blame others you will never create and build your own success—and you’ll be a “slave” to others who use you to achieve their own goals.
• By blaming others, you give them control over whether you succeed; thus, you’ll never be in control of your life.
• When you take the role of victim, you’ll never be secure or...

Shortform Exercise: Take Control

This book argues that things don’t happen to you, they happen because of you. Therefore, you need to get rid of victim thinking and take responsibility for everything—good or bad—that happens in your life. By doing so, you take control and can act at 10X levels.

Think of something bad you interpreted as happening to you. Who/what did you blame?

The 10X Rule Summary Chapter 7: Four Action Levels

There’s no formula for calculating how much action it will take to reach a specific goal. But in general, the more effort you put in, the better your chances of success. Your actions must be both consistent and persistent.

Applying enough effort is more important than having the right idea or business plan. Most people fail because they don’t do enough (take sufficient action) to succeed. Everyone opts for one of these four action levels, but only the fourth brings success:

1) Not doing anything

2) Retreating

3) Taking an average amount of action

4) Taking extreme action

We’ve all acted at each of these levels, depending on the situation. You might put extreme effort into your career, but back away from acting in another situation, such as a relationship or exercising for your health.

Typically, people do nothing, retreat, or put in an average amount of action. Doing nothing and retreating result in failure. Taking average action produces no better than average results. Only extreme action guarantees success. Following is a closer look at the levels:

1) Not Doing Anything

You may choose not to do anything to advance your career, improve your finances or build...

The 10X Rule Summary Chapters 8, 11: The Middle Class Trap

(Shortform note: In the rest of this summary, we’ve combined chapters and reordered material to reduce repetition and improve coherence.)

In the ‘50s and ‘60s, Americans were sold a middle class dream—the idea that a life of relative comfort and security was attainable by most people and everyone should strive for it. Many people still strive for much of their lives to become what they think of as middle class.

However, middle-class status means something different today than it meant 50 years ago. A middle-class income no longer guarantees comfort—in fact, because it promotes “average” thinking, it leads to failure and financial insecurity.

Defining Middle Class

Most people think of a comfortable middle-class lifestyle as one with a reliable income, health care coverage, an affordable home in a nice neighborhood, vacation time, and a retirement fund. But today, living on a middle income in an urban area would be difficult and far from financially secure. Even upper-middle-class status could be tenuous during an economic downturn.

The middle class is generally defined as those with reasonable disposable income (about 30% of their income left after taxes and basic...

The 10X Rule Summary Chapter 9: How to Set 10X Goals

People often set goals they never get started on or soon quit on. While it may seem counterintuitive, the major reason for failure is that they don’t set their goals high enough.

Instead of following their dreams, they set average goals based on what others think is possible. Others encourage us to be realistic and avoid setting goals that are too high, so we limit ourselves to doing what others do—for instance, going to college, practicing the religion and speaking only the language we grew up with.

This is a recipe for failure because these goals aren’t motivating, so you don’t reach for them or achieve them. You can't get excited about working toward realistic goals with an average payoff. So you put in average effort, if any. If you encounter obstacles, you quit because your goals aren’t worth the additional effort of overcoming obstacles. Goals need to be big to inspire you and hold your attention. However, many people’s goals are so unremarkable that they write them down only once a year and then forget them.

If you’re inclined to follow someone else’s lead, base your goals on exceeding those of successful people. Better yet, set your own big, unrealistic 10X...

Shortform Exercise: Reject ‘Realistic’ Goals

Many people set average goals based on what others think is possible. Others encourage us to be realistic and avoid setting goals that are too high, so we limit ourselves to doing what others do.

What are your current goals? How was your choice of goals affected by your upbringing or by those around you?

The 10X Rule Summary Chapters 10, 17, 19: Myths That Sabotage 10X Success

Just as following others’ advice undermines 10X goal setting, believing conventional wisdom can keep us from taking the 10X-level action necessary for extraordinary success.

Some of the most harmful business myths in terms of undermining success involve competition, customer satisfaction, and time management.

Myth 1: Competition

A tenet of capitalism is that competition is good. While that may be true from a consumer standpoint (it can create more choices), when your goal is extraordinary success, competition is a limiting concept. For 10X success, you need to dominate, not compete.

When you’re competing with others, you’re focused on what they’re doing, which makes it difficult to think outside the box. The most successful people and companies look forward rather than at what others are doing—they create rather than copy or improve.

(Shortform note: For venture capitalist Peter Thiel’s thoughts on why competition is destructive, read our summary of his book Zero to One here.)

Don’t Compete—Dominate

Here are some ways to dominate rather than compete:

• **Do what no one else is doing either...

The 10X Rule Summary Chapters 12-15, 20: Going ‘All In’

People who achieve 10X success differentiate themselves by being everywhere and going over the top when others hesitate, pull back, or under-commit. They’re omnipresent, obsessed with success, and they see opportunities in misfortune.

Omnipresence

A public relations executive once suggested to Cardone that he was in danger of being overexposed, that his media and online efforts were drawing too much attention to his name and company. The idea is that too much exposure cheapens a brand.

However, this is ridiculous on its face. Is Coca-Cola overexposed? It’s better to be overexposed, if that’s actually a problem, than overlooked. Your brand and reputation are valuable assets only if enough people are aware of them. For a new product or company, the problem is more likely to be obscurity than overexposure.

Rather than worrying about overexposure, strive for omnipresence, meaning your name is everywhere all the time—like McDonald’s, Google, Walmart, or Apple. Or Warren Buffett, George Bush, Bill Gates, or Oprah.

Cardone’s goal is for more than 6 billion people to hear his name every day and think of sales training when they think of him. Because it’s a 10X goal, he’ll...

The 10X Rule Summary Chapters 16, 18, 21: Psychological Hurdles to Success

While being obsessed with success and going all in drive you toward your goals, there are three common attitudes and behaviors that can derail you if you don’t reject them: fear of risk, fear of criticism, and making excuses.

1) Fear of Risk

When taking extreme action, you’ll experience fear because you’re going out on a limb by yourself. Everyone fears things in life; the key is what you do with fear. Rather than let it sap your confidence and momentum, use it to spur you toward your goals.

Fear is beneficial because:

• Fear is an indication you’re on the right track: you’re taking the right actions in the right amounts. You’re pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone. (Not pushing yourself beyond what’s comfortable only gets you more of the same.)
• Fear is a motivator: Most of what you fear doesn’t happen. Instead of avoiding fear, use it to motivate yourself to act. If you’re afraid to call on a particular client, or raise a concern with your boss, do it. If you fear requesting a client’s business, persist in asking for it. The actions you fear often will give you the greatest return.
• Fear helps you grow: Embrace fear because it enables you to...

Shortform Exercise: Push Past Fear

Everyone fears things in life; the key is what you do with fear. To succeed, use it to push you toward your goals.

What are your three biggest fears in your professional life? How do they hold you back from success?

Shortform Exercise: Overcome Excuses

Everyone has favorite excuses or reasons for what they do or don’t do. But excuses usually aren’t the real reasons motivating what you do; they’re a rewrite of the facts to make you feel better later.

What excuse do you find yourself using frequently, or what’s an excuse you’ve used in the past week? (For instance, the traffic is terrible, my boss hates me, I don’t have time to exercise).

The 10X Rule Summary Chapter 22: Success Traits

As this book has shown, success has little to do with economics, education, or demographics.

It stems from how you approach situations, challenges, and problems. This chapter looks at the common qualities, personality traits, and habits of successful people. Adopt the following actions and mindsets and you’ll be successful yourself.

Think Big

Have big goals and aspirations: Set “unrealistic” or 10X goals; small goals won’t inspire you or make you stand out. If you don’t set and focus on your own goals, you’ll spend your life working for the objectives of others.

Break with tradition: Challenge traditional thinking. Don’t be concerned with the way things have been done in the past; find new and better ways to do them.

Take risks: Many of us are taught to avoid risks and play it safe; to never really go big. Take enough risks daily to create success. Life is a lot like Vegas: you have to put something significant in the game to get a return.

Create your reality: Create your own reality by accomplishing your dreams. Don’t let anyone else set limits for you or define your reality.

Have a can-do attitude: Tackle every task with a can-do attitude. Use...

Shortform Exercise: Develop Success Traits

Chapter 22 describes a variety of qualities, personality traits, and habits that create success. They fall into the categories of thinking big, taking action, going all out, looking forward, and committing to personal growth.

How many of the success traits described in the above chapter do you share?

The 10X Rule Summary Chapter 23: Getting Started with 10X

To get started, just look at the list of success traits in Chapter 22 and determine what you need to do.

Make a list of your goals, then a list of actions, then start taking those actions.

Keep in mind:

• Don’t scale back your goals as you write them.
• Don’t get hung on the details of how to achieve them.
• Write down what you can do today...