There are so many good habits to pick up from Grant Cardone’s The 10X Rule but one of the most pivotalnt to date is from his practice of what he calls ‘Reaching Up’ when it comes to relationships. It’s quite simple but also encompasses a profound principle: surround yourself with people who are more successful, more connected and more informed than you are.
At first, the prospect of deliberately seeking out and connecting with people ‘above my level’ was daunting. Yet the habit of reaching up has changed my life and career.
A Personal Story
Once the 10X philosophy found its way into my brain, I began to feel like I was living inside a comfortable bubble. That bubble involved a lot of people like me – who lived on the same streets, travelled the same roads, went to the same schools, worked in the same building with the same types of people in the same types of jobs, met at sporting events, joined ski excursions, went to the same restaurants, golf tournaments and charity affairs, and generally did the same things essentially in the same ways. Nothing threw off that pattern or got anyone’s attention like someone walking straight up to another person and asking about his or her books. Inspired by a friend’s advice to expand my network – I had made big professional moves, so he pushed me to move boldly at a personal level too – I made a tiny step that still counts as the most impactful one I’ve taken on behalf of my growth: the decision to approach strangers who had written books, run companies, made a lot of money, played sports, made speeches, won racesor done remarkable things.
My memory goes back to one of my first – I’d gone to a networking event and ended up chatting to a prominent entrepreneur, a person whose achievements dwarfed my own. In the past, I would probably have avoided the conversation, thinking I had nothing to offer him. But that night, newly energised by the power of 10X, I spoke to him and, far from finding I had nothing to offer, I learned an enormous amount and created a mentoring relationship that remains to this day.
Why Reaching Up Matters
There are several reasons why reaching up in your relationships can be tremendously beneficial:
- Constantly exposures to New Ideas: Most successful people have lived impressive careers; that implies they’re used to thinking out of the box, and that by being around them, you will hear new ways to tackle you daily problems and open your mind to new ideas.
- Better Accountability: It has been noted that hanging around people who are good at what you do creates a quiet pressure to up your game. There is an element of increased accountability in the mis en scene for people who allow their standards to slip.
- Fast-track Learning: The path to greatness has been trodden before and learning from other people’s experiences, both their triumphs and their missteps, can fast-track your learning curve. You can learn from their mistakes and leapfrog their shortcomings while piggybacking on their success.
- Supportive Community: There are more chances of holding on to your goals and enjoying the process when you have support from others on the same path and who share your interests and mission.
- Expert Advice: No matter how much you read and work on improving, there will always be specific areas you can’t see or fully reach. Getting expert advice will allow you to see and do things that would be impossible otherwise.
- Wider Horizons: Your thinking gets bigger with the company you keep. High achievers think big and set bigger goals. You absorb their ambition by the people you surround yourself with.
My Humble Tips for Reaching Up
And so, I have been reaching up – an entirely familiar habit that I’m pleased to teach up to you.
- Start low: Don’t try to get mentoring from the leaders in your field. Work with people who mentor you locally. You could also go for advanced-level colleagues and even look at books and podcasts from your heroes in your field.
- Offer Value First: With more successful individuals, lead with value. Offer help, connect them with information or other people, or let them know that you respect or admire their work. Be genuine.
- Keep reaching up: reaching up will occasion rejections, unanswered emails and forwardings. Don’t be dissuaded. Persistence can bring unexpected opportunities.
- Contemplate and Practice: After every encounter, digest your observations and put them into action until you get it right. Practice makes perfect.
Final Thoughts
Networking – or reaching up – inhabits the realm of personal relations as much as business ones. Reaching up invites heightened forms of growth because it puts you in the company of those closer to the edge of success, cutting out the easy and painless alternatives.
