The 10 X Rule

The Only Difference Between Success and Failure

Grant Cardone is CEO and founder of Grant Cardone Sales Training, is a New York Times best-selling author with his 2010 book ‘If You’re Not First, You’re Last’, is the lead and executive producer of the US reality TV show ‘Turnaround King’ and he was named the Top Sales Expert and a Top 10 Business Coach to follow on Twitter.

His latest offering, The 10 X Rule, has a core message – to take massive action. If you want to be successful, Cardone contends you need to show up, be all in and put in 10 times the amount of effort and actions than the average person.

The starting point for exceptional results is to set clear targets that are 10 times what you think it will take to accomplish the task. You then need to multiply your actions, time, energy, efforts, and money, basically by 10 – The 10 X Rule.

“In order to get to the next level of whatever you’re doing, you must think and act in a wildly different way than you previously have been. You cannot get to the next phase of a project without a grander mind-set, more acceleration, and extra horsepower.”

Cardone’s style is quite a rant. He wants to smash the status quo of small level thinking and all the excuses that people use for not setting and reaching goals; what he describes as middle class, safe thinking, and settling for a risk adverse life. “Average levels of anything will fail you – or at the very least, put you at risk!”

Cardone wants us to ‘quit being reasonable with ourselves’ and wake up and start doing what’s required for a successful life. A successful life is not just business orientated goals, he is talking about all aspects of life; relationships, money, career, spiritual, emotional, business, philanthropy, community, etc.

The 10 X Rule is a book that I would not necessarily recommend to everyone and it’s not a book that I particularly loved from start to finish. In fact, Cardone as an author will make many people uncomfortable and I am sure he will divide his readers.

Cardone deplores the excuses people tell themselves about not meeting their goals and he is not interested in a life of being average or the clichés around balance. “I personally am not interested in balance: I am interested in abundance in every area. I don’t think I should have to sacrifice one in favor of another.” Cardone is only interested in attaining your goals, with success being absolutely critical.

So, if you come to this book about success looking for tricks on establishing ‘work/life balance’ or a new take on how to ‘work smarter not harder’, then this is the wrong book
for you!

I must say, reading The 10 X Rule both frustrated and delighted me. Personally, I found myself thinking that Cardone’s message is so over the top and that it was hard to not perceive his message as arrogant, or at least reading an over achiever’s rant to the world – with only the rare few that could possibly replicate the approach he is recommending.

However, this was also combined with loving the fact that Cardone is provocative enough to say how it is and brave enough to put a reality check out there; that having a successful life requires extreme hard work!

It has been a long time since I read a leadership or motivational book that challenged me to not only reach my goals, but in fact to start multiplying them by 10 and stop playing it safe with an average life and starting to question how much courage and commitment you are prepared to give to strive for true success.

The real game-changing message in Cardone’s book for me however, is his contention that being successful is actually a moral duty. People who choose mediocrity and a below par life he argues, are not only being selfish with their choices, but are reneging on their moral responsibility. Cardone considers it “unethical not to fully utilise the gifts, talents, and the mind” with which we have been given and the most successful people “are driven by ethical obligation and motivation to do something significant that aligns with their potential.”

Part of the reason I wanted to review this book for Proteus Life is because it is rare to find a book on motivation that is so provocative and challenges people’s inaction and the many excuses we tell ourselves why we fail.

The 10 X Rule might be just what you need to shake things up, recalibrate your thinking and give you a reality check on what is really required for a successful life. Plus, Cardone’s absolute clarity in one simple formula – take massive action!

“Keep taking action until you can’t stop your forward momentum.”

Proteus Leadership is one of Australia’s premier leadership training and development companies. Proteus Leadership provides leadership courses and management training to a range of industries and assists organisations to build positive workplace cultures, implement change and Create Great Leaders. Proteus also facilitates a range of world-class management courses, workshops, conferences and events across Australia and beyond with the sole purpose of bringing leaders together to connect and grow.

“Our core purpose is to Create Great Leaders that will in turn build Great companies and develop Great teams.”

Book review by:
Richard Dore - CEO, Proteus Leadership