What is success? If you ask 10 different people, you will get 10 different definitions of success, as everyone has different notions of what success is. For some, it is meeting their sales goals for the year. For others, it is doing what they love in life. Though success is more or less one and the same thing, we use different parameters to measure it.
If you were to look up success in a dictionary, you would find the following definition: “the accomplishment of an aim or goal.” Though that is an excellent definition, I’d like to take it a step further. Success is not only accomplishing one goal but, rather, completing several goals over and over.
You achieve success when you get a new client, but does that make you successful? No! Because success is building a book of business. But what if you lose it in two years? Will you still be successful then? No! Thus, success is progressive. It is something you must sustain. That is where the 10x Rule comes in.
According to the 10x Rule, Success is the “continuing realization and practical implementation of renewed goals.” It’s building a book of business and then sustaining or growing it. Success is not a once-in-a-lifetime achievement. It is something you must achieve over and over for you to truly achieve it at all.
Success never ends, and you can maintain success by obeying the 10x Rule principles by Grant Cardone.

10x Rule Principles
The basic 10x rule principle is “Don’t live below your potential!” Success is important, and it is present in abundance in everything we do. The more you succeed in your life, career, business, and family, the more gratifying your life will be, so you must consider success as an obligation, a duty, an ethic.
When you start viewing attainment of success as a crucial component in your ethical code of conduct, your mindset toward it will begin to shift. Life is a gift that is meant to be enjoyed and not just endured. When you start believing that there is no limit to the amount of success you can achieve, the more you will succeed and the happier you will be. The 10x Rule can help you realize and actualize that.
The 10x Rule strongly emphasizes 10x goals and 10x more action. You are as only successful as the goals you set. You need to set big goals, and you must put in the work to make those goals a reality. Don’t limit what you can do, and don’t be afraid to think big. Think about what your dream life would look like, and then start writing down the goals you need to set to achieve it.
After you have your goals in place, practice 10x more action. But before you increase your level of activity, you need to realize the level of activity you are currently on.
There are four levels of action:
- No action. People in this category lack ambition and motivation. They do not have any goals in life, or even if they do, they do not take any action to achieve them. Such people usually blame external factors for their shortcomings and refuse to be accountable for their lack of action. You will most often find them engaging in mindless activities that drain their energy and make little to no contribution towards the betterment of their future.
- Retreat. Those in the retreat phase are usually people who have faced disappointment and helplessness. They probably put in the effort to achieve set goals, failed, and gave up. If you are in the retreat phase, you need to let go of the past mistakes, learn from them and start afresh. The goal is not to give up!
- Normal action. Though people in the normal action phase take action, they don’t take enough action to achieve success. They are more likely to fail as they may give up and stop putting in the effort once they achieve one or two goals. They need to make a conscious effort to put in extra work towards the sustainability of success. As the pandemic has proven, life can take unexpected turns, so do not become complacent and comfortable with what you have. Make more of an effort to ensure you can get through the good days and bad.
- Massive action. As the name suggests, people engaging in massive action put in quite a bit of effort in achieving and sustaining their goals. They adopt a proactive attitude, are the doers who step out of their comfort zones time and again to challenge themselves and achieve results. They are not afraid of failure and are humble. They do not let success get to their head but instead use it to renew their energy and work on the next goals with even more vigor than before.
You can dominate your field by using massive action and critical thinking as it enables you to go above and beyond to reach your goals and be successful.
The 10x Mindset
The 10x mindset enables you to take responsibility for your actions and hold yourself accountable for when things don’t go right instead of playing the blame game and using external factors as your scapegoat. You, too, must stop blaming other people or external factors for not getting what you want out of life if you ever plan on becoming successful. Take your life’s reigns into your own hands.
You are in charge of your life, and it is up to you to plan for your future, for unforeseen circumstances, for the good days and the bad days. Once you develop this mindset and inculcate a sense of responsibility for your actions, your life will take a dramatic shift for the better.
You will notice other’s opinions will have less of an impact on you. You will also develop a strong sense of self-efficacy and feel more confident in the face of challenges. You will be motivated to work harder to achieve the things you want in life.
The key to achieving success and a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment is putting in the extra effort, the extra hour at work, waking up a little earlier, and making conscious decisions. Think, plan, and do 10x more than normal people. Refuse to think or act small. Dream big and work hard toward your goals with no excuses. Resolve today to fulfill your potential. View success as an ethical obligation, and you will find yourself heading in the right direction.
Challenge
- Take inventory of your life.
- Are you satisfied?
- What changes do you want to make?
- What goals do you want to accomplish?
- Imagine what your dream life looks like.
- Write it all down.
- These are your goals for the next 12 months.
- Look at your goals every day and do something daily to move forward to completing those goals.