The Ten Times Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure

1.
Do not reduce your goals as you write them.

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2.
Do not get lost in the details of how to accomplish them at this
point.
3.
Ask yourself, “What actions can I take today to move me toward
these goals?”
4.
Take whatever actions you come up with—regardless of what they
are or how you feel.
5.
Do not prematurely value the outcome of your actions.
6.
Go back each day and review the list.
As you get started on this path of 10X, you may feel a bit overwhelmed. You
might even notice a tendency to start talking yourself out of getting started and
taking action. Don't be tempted to wait. You know it doesn't work to delay.
Think of yourself like being a car stuck in the mud; you need just enough
traction to move an inch, and then you can begin to get out. It may require that
you get dirty—but it's certainly better than being stuck.
As I've mentioned previously, you want to be aware of friends and family who
offer supposed “advice” because they love and care about you. Many of them
may suggest that they don't want you to be “unrealistic” and then disappointed.
The vocabulary and mind-set of average people, even those you love, is always
the same—be careful, play it safe, don't be impractical, success isn't everything,
be satisfied with what you have, life is to be lived, money won't make you
happy, don't want so much, take it easy, you don't have experience, you're too
young, you're too old—and on and on. When you hear what average people say
and think, thank them for their advice. Then remind them that you want their
support in going for it, and let them know that you would rather commit to your
dreams and goals and be disappointed than never commit and be disappointed.
Let me give you a real-life example of using 10X that took place for me as I
was writing this book. You'll see as you read the following scenario how I was
able to employ many of the habits and traits of the successful to reach the goals I
had set for myself—and even go beyond what I had initially imagined.
Sometime before I wrote my last book, 
If You're Not First, You're Last
, I realized
that although I had habitually been taking massive action in my life, I had yet to
really think in 10X magnitudes. So I decided to test out my 10X Rule as I wrote
this book. As I reset my targets to match 10X thinking, I realized that one of my
goals was to become 
the
name that is synonymous with sales training. I wanted
to become the person who people think of 
first
when they consider sales training,
sales motivation, strategies—anything to do with selling. This was the concept
of domination that I had in mind as I wrote 
If You're Not First, You're Last.
I had
my new, considerable goal in place—but no clue as to how to accomplish it. I

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know, however, that had I stopped and tried to figure out “how” to do this before
I committed to making it my goal, I never would have gotten started. I probably
would have decided immediately that it was impossible.
Once I clarified the right-sized target and avoided overwhelming myself with
technicalities and “how” minutiae, I then allowed the target to determine which
actions would be most consistent with its size. It seemed as though a big enough
goal would automatically move me to the right actions. A little trick I used was
to ask myself quality questions like “What do I have to do to become 
the name
people think of when it comes to the topic of sales?” I immediately began
writing down answers and ideas: (a) Get 6 billion people to know who I am. (b)
Get a TV show. (c) Get a radio show. (d) Get my books into every book store
and library. (e) Get on all the major talk shows and news shows. (f) Make