I always get a rush writing about that book, The 10X Rule, because it changed my life so much. So today, as a fun episode, we’re going to talk about this question that comes up a lot. It usually goes like this: is The 10X Rule about spending 10 times more time on your projects? And Grant Cardone, who wrote the 10X Rule, how does he do this balancing act between creativity and time? Let’s jump in!
The Myth of 10X Time Investment
The 10X Rule might, at first glance, seem daunting; does adopting a 10X attitude really mean having to set aside 10 times as many hours for every endeavour? Not exactly. To be clear, 10X refers to putting in 10 times the amount of effort of those with whom you compare yourself – but I’m not talking about time.
For example, Grant Cardone talks of waking up at dawn and making far more contacts than ‘the average human being’. Operating at this level needn’t mean physical exhaustion or a colossal drain of time. Cardone speaks of massive, focused action aimed at results rather than hours clocked up.
Creativity Over Time
Perhaps one of the most important points of the 10X Rule is that creativity and efficiency are the most important metrics, not simply time invested; Cardone disagrees vociferously with the notion of time management, pointing out that managing time creates an artificial scarcity in our lives which, in turn, sets a low ceiling for achievement. What should happen, instead, he preaches, is that you believe you can have it all.
For instance, it’s about realising that, when Cardone advises you to work 10 times as long, you don’t suddenly need 10 times the money, the time, the energy, or the discipline. It’s about using your creativity and resourcefulness, as well as your unrelenting hustle, to get 10 times the result for the same time input.
Effort Pays Off
Cardone brings the lesson home with a personal anecdote: For every deal that I would do, I would end up having to work 10 times more phone calls, 10 times more mail, 10 times more emails, 10 times more contacts, to make the deal happen… It is the effort — and more clever than just harder — that wins the race.
Massive action produces massive problems and until you create problems, you’re not truly working at the 10X level. This does not mean working harder but working in ways that multiply examples of your units.
Harnessing Massive Action
So how do you succeed at 10X level without looking at a clock with a ball and chain attached to it? The answer is massive action, not massive time. Consider how Cardone built his seminar business: He would do like eight meetings in a day so that he’s going to get more business done in two weeks than many people will do in months because he just shows up more, in more places.
That’s all intensity and focus, and a bit of creativity — doing something off-script, pushing at the boundaries of what seems possible.
Quality Over Quantity
Despite how it sounds, unrealistic goals, says Cardone, will prod you to work harder and smarter. The goal can’t require any more hours. What it requires is for you to do what you normally would in the time you normally have, but to do it better.
You can’t squeeze more blood from a stone, but if you shoot for the moon you’ll end up, sooner or later, having the planets come to your doorstep. The mere fact of setting a stretching goal will make you more productive and creative; by thinking about how to reach that objective twice as high, you might very well come up with twice the result in the same time, just by thinking harder.
Real-World Application
A simple example from my experience: going to a 10X mentality meant that I shifted towards high leverage activities. I stopped spreading my time on a lot of low return activities, and instead started focusing on activities that had a greater return. That wasn’t about increasing the number of hours that I was working, but rather the value I was creating per hour.
For anyone who thinks this sounds like the road to burnout, it’s not – it’s about being able to achieve more with less, working smarter by learning to focus, take massive action, and bring creativity to the process.
The Final Word
Working 10X harder isn’t about sitting at your desk for 10X longer each day. It is: working 10X harder: your effort; your creativity; your approach to your goals. If the observations of Grant Cardone are correct, then the key to super-success is not in the minutes on the clock, but in the intensity and magnitude of your effort and the actions you take.
Think 10X and see yourself achieving more in life than you’ve even dreamed of, not for more hours, just better hours with greater focus, imagination, passion, and mammoth action.
