Assume control and increase responsibility by adopting the position that you make all things happen, even those things you have previously considered to not be under your control. Never take the position that things just happen to you; rather, they happen because of something you did or did not do. If you are willing to take credit when you win, you have to take credit when you don't! Increasing your responsibility level will inherently enhance your ability to find solutions and create more success for yourself. Blaming someone or something else only extends how long you will be a victim and slave. Assuming control will cause you to start to look at what you can do to make sure negative events don't take place so that you can improve the quality of your life and reduce the occurrence of seemingly random unfortunate events.
Let's say that someone rear-ends me. Clearly, that person is at fault. Although I will be upset with him or her, the last thing I want to do is assume the position of victim. How horrible! “Look what happened to me—oh, poor me—I am a victim.” Would you get a business card or have a television campaign stating this to the public as a way to garner respect and attention? Of course not! Never claim the position of victim after deciding to create a life filled with success. Instead, figure out how to reduce the chances of inconveniences, like people rear-ending you, from ever happening again.
The 10X Rule refers to massive amounts of action taken persistently over time. In order to make good things happen more often, you cannot afford to act like a victim. Good things don't happen to victims; bad things do—quite frequently—and all you have to do is ask them. Those who embrace the victim position will gladly go on and on to you about how they had nothing to do with their many bad breaks and misfortunes in life that seem to strike them time and again throughout their lives. There are four consistent factors in the life of the victim: (1) bad things happen to them, (2) bad things happen often, (3) they are always involved, and (4) someone or something else is always to blame.
Successful people take the opposite stance, and you must too: Everything that happens in your life comes as a result of your own responsibility, not merely some outside force. This will prompt you to start looking for ways to move beyond the situation and take control of not having bad things “happen” to you in the future. Begin to ask yourself after every unpleasant encounter or event, “What can I do to reduce my chances of it happening again—or even ensure that it doesn't happen again?” Returning to my earlier example of being rear-ended: There are so many ways you might have prevented yourself from having a distracted driver run into the back of your car. You could have gotten a driver, left earlier or later, closed the deal last week, taken a different route—or been so important that your clients would have driven to you rather than you to them.
Let me try to get you to shift your thinking just a bit more before I move on. Many people agree with the notion that you draw or attract into your life the things—and people—to which you pay the most attention. Many may also agree that they have tapped into only a small portion of their understanding and mental capability. Is there any possibility, then, that you made some decision that you might not have even be aware of sometime prior to your appointment to, in a sense, create this supposed accident so that you could continue to have something to blame for your life? If it is even remotely possible, it is worth investigating! Understand that you had to be at that one place at that perfect moment in order to be in the accident. Thousands of other people were not involved—you were. You left at the precise time to coordinate with someone on one of a hundred streets and then arranged to be at that exact spot, at that precise moment, and positioned yourself directly in front of that one special driver who was not paying attention and rammed into your car. When bad things happen to good people, I assure you that the good people had more to do with it than they take responsibility for.
Had you left just moments earlier, you could have avoided the supposed accident. Had you been driving at any other speed, it would have been impossible for you to have coordinated so perfectly. Had you taken any other street, it would not have happened. Sound too far out there? Was it just an accident and just bad luck? Maybe you are just a victim, destined to a life of bad luck and misfortune. When the physical universe keeps slapping you around and it's not getting any better, you may want to consider that things happen not just by luck and happenstance but that you have something to do with what is happening—or it would not have involved you. Remember, although it may be happening to you, it is happening because of you. Although you may not want to claim responsibility for the accident on the police report, the reality is that the insurance company is going to exact a penalty regardless of who is at fault. Keep one thing in mind: Anytime you play victim in order to “be right,” you are taking on the identity of a victim, and that can't be a good thing. Until a person is done being a victim, he or she is unable to create solutions and success. That person only has problems.
Once you start to approach every situation as someone who is acting—not being acted upon—you will start to have more control over your life. Having (or failing to have) success, I believe, is a direct result of everything you are doing and thinking yourself. You are the source, the generator, the origin, and the reason for everything—both positive and negative. This is not meant to simplify the concept of success, of course, but until you decide you are responsible for everything, you likely will not take the action necessary to get you above the game. However, if you want to have it all, then of course you have to assume responsibility for everything. Otherwise, you are going to waste a lot of potential 10X energy making excuses instead of profits.
It is a myth and falsehood to think that success just happens or that it just happens to some people. I know that the approach I'm suggesting works, because it's the one I've used to accumulate my own success. I didn't grow up in an especially privileged household with any connections to the supposedly “right” people. I was given no money to start my companies and was not especially more “gifted” than the next person. Yet I was able to accumulate financial, physical, spiritual, and emotional success that is far beyond anything most people expected of me—all because I was willing to take actions at massive levels, assume control, and take responsibility for every outcome. Whether it is the flu, a stomachache, a car wreck, a criminal stealing my money, my computer crashing, or even the electricity going out, I assume control and responsibility.
It was only until I truly started to believe that nothing happens to me; it happens because of me that I was able to start operating at 10X levels. Someone once said, “No matter where I go, there I am.” This little saying suggested to me that I am both the problem and the solution. This outlook put me in a position of being the cause of the outcomes of my life rather than a victim. I didn't allow myself to blame anyone or anything else as a justification for any hardships I encountered. I started to believe that although I may not always have a say in what happens to me, I always have a choice about how I respond to it. Success isn't just a “journey,” as countless people and books suggest it is; rather, it's a state—constant or otherwise—over which you have control and responsibility. You either create success or you don't—and it isn't for whiners, crybabies, and victims.
You doubtlessly have gifts you have yet to use—potential that remains untapped. You've been endowed with a desire for greatness and are aware enough to know that there are no shortages of success. Increase your responsibility level, assume control for everything that happens to you, and live by the slogan that nothing happens to you—only because of you! And remember, “Don't be a little bitch.”
Chapter 7
Four Degrees of Action
One question that I've received over the years is, “Exactly how much action is necessary to create success?” Not surprisingly, everyone is looking for the secret shortcut—and equally unsurprising is the following fact: There are no shortcuts. The more action you take, the better your chances are of getting a break. Disciplined, consistent, and persistent act
ions are more of a determining factor in the creation of success than any other combination of things. Understanding how to calculate and then take the right amount of action is more important than your concept, idea, invention, or business plan.
Most people fail only because they are operating at the wrong degree of action. To simplify action, we are going to break down your choices into four simple categories or degrees of action. Your four choices are: 1. Do nothing.
2. Retreat.
3. Take normal levels of action.
4. Take massive action.
Before I get into describing each of these, it is important to understand that everyone utilizes all four degrees of action at some time in their lives and especially in response to different areas of life. For instance, you might use massive action in your career but then completely retreat when it comes to your civic duties and responsibilities. Another person might do nothing when it comes to learning about social media, even retreat from it. Another might only take normal levels of action when it comes to eating healthy and exercising but then overexcel (take massive action) when it comes to destructive habits. A person is obviously going to excel and do best in those areas in which he or she invests the most attention and takes the most action.
Unfortunately, most people on the planet spend their time in the first through third degrees: doing nothing, retreating completely, or just operating at normal levels of activity. The first two degrees of action (do nothing and retreat) are the basis for failure, and the third degree (normal levels) will only create a normal existence at best. Only the most successful people hit on very high levels of action that I refer to as massive. So let's take a look at each of the four degrees to see what they mean and why you might choose each in a range of situations and areas of life.
The First Degree of Action
“Doing nothing” is exactly what it sounds like: no longer taking actions to move yourself forward in order to learn, achieve, or control some area. People who do nothing in their career, relationships, or whatever they want have probably given up on their dreams and are now willing to accept pretty much whatever comes their way. Despite how it may sound, do not assume that doing nothing requires no energy, effort, and work! Regardless of which degree of action you operate in, they all require work in their own ways. Signs that you are doing nothing include exhibiting boredom, lethargy, complacency, and lack of purpose. People in this group will find themselves spending their time and energy justifying their situations—which requires as much work as the other actions.
When the alarm goes off in the morning, the “do-nothing” group will not respond at all. Although it may appear that they're not taking action, it actually takes a lot of energy not to get up in the morning. It takes work to lose a job because of lack of production. It is work to be overlooked for a promotion and have to wait another year to be considered and then go home and explain it to your spouse. It takes tremendous effort to exist on this planet as an underappreciated and underpaid employee—and even more energy to make sense of it. The person not taking action has to make excuses for his or her condition; this requires tremendous creativity and effort. Salespeople who do nothing and then lose the sale more often than they win the sale have to explain to themselves, their spouses, and their bosses why they are not hitting their quotas. It's also interesting to note that those who do nothing in one area of their lives will find something they love to do and spend time doing those things—something for which they'll often take massive action. It could be online poker, gaming, biking, watching movies, reading books. Whatever it may be, I assure you that some area of life receives their full energy and attention. Those who do nothing will insist to their friends and family that they are happy and content and that all is right with them, which only serves to confuse everyone because it is evident that they are not living up to their full potential.
The Second Degree of Action
“Retreaters” are those who take actions in reverse—probably in order to avoid negative experiences that they imagine will come as a result of taking action. The retreater personifies the “fear-of-success” phenomenon. He or she has experienced results that were not fruitful (or that he or she did not perceive as fruitful) and has therefore decided to avoid taking further actions that might prompt this to occur again. Like the “do-nothings,” retreaters justify their responses and believe it is in their best interest to remain operating at their current level. Retreaters claim to be doing so in order to avoid more rejection and/or failures; it is almost never the actual rejection or failure that has impacted them. More often than not, it's their impression and evaluation of what failing and rejection mean that is causing them to retreat.
Like doing nothing, retreating is an action that requires effort and hard work. Watch any healthy child, and you will see that it is not normal human behavior to retreat but rather to advance and conquer. Usually retreating only comes about as a result of being told to do so over and over. So many of us are instructed during childhood, “don't touch that,” “be careful,” “don't talk to him,” “get away from that,” and so on and then start to adopt retreat as an action. We tend to be pulled away from the very things about which we're most curious. Although it's often for our own good and supposedly keeps us safe, it can be difficult to rebound from these years of “holding back”—which might be why it's so difficult for so many of us to try new things later in life. We might even be encouraged to retreat by a work associate, friend, or family member who believes we are “too ambitious” or focused on a single area of our lives.
Regardless of the reasons why retreaters move themselves in the opposite direction of goals, the outcome is usually the same. I would imagine that everyone reading this knows someone who retreats, and perhaps you can even see how you retreat in some area of your life. Any realm in which you have assumed you can no longer advance and improve—and are now deciding that there is “nothing you can do”—would be considered an area of retreat. “The stock market sucks; I'm never investing in it again”—retreat. “Most marriages fail; I'm staying single”—retreat. “The acting business is too tough; I'll just be a waiter for the rest of my life”—retreat. “The job market is terrible; no one is hiring—I am filing for unemployment”—retreat. “I can't control the outcome of the election, so I'm not even going to bother to vote”—retreat! And notice the one thing that each of these scenarios has in common: They all still require some kind of action to be taken, even if it is just making a decision.
Those who retreat will spend a lot of time justifying why they are retreating. There is usually no arguing with these individuals, as they have typically convinced themselves completely that they're merely doing what they need to survive. They will then spend as much energy justifying their decision to retreat as the most successful person will in creating success. The best thing you can do for retreaters is to give them this book and allow them to identify for themselves that they are retreating. Once a person sees the four degrees of action and realizes that each requires energy, he or she may start to make other, healthier choices. After all, if you're going to expend effort, why not do so in the direction of success?
The Third Degree of Action
People who take normal levels of action are probably the most prevalent in our society today. This is the group that appears on the surface to be taking the necessary amounts of action and to be “normal.” This level of action creates the middle class and is actually the most dangerous—because it's considered acceptable. People in this group spend their lives taking enough action to appear average and create normal lives, marriages, and careers; however, they never do quite enough to create real success. Unfortunately, a majority of the workforce takes normal degrees of action; it's those managers, executives, and companies that blend in more than they stand out. Although some members of this group may occasionally attempt to generate exceptional quality, they almost never create anything in exceptional quantities. The goal here is average—average marriages,
health, careers, and finances. As long as average works, they are fine with it. They don't cause problems for others or themselves as long as conditions remain steady and predictable.
However, the moment market conditions become negatively impacted—and therefore less than normal—these people will suddenly realize that they're at risk. Add any serious change to the conditions in which people take only “normal” actions—which is certain to happen at some point—and all bets are off. It's not uncommon to encounter a situation that will challenge a person's life, career, marriage, business, or finances. When you have been taking only normal actions, you are even more susceptible to challenges that are certain to come your way. Any set of ordinary events, financial conditions, or stressful experiences can throw off a lifetime of typically “acceptable” levels of action and result in a serious degree of stress, uncertainty, and hurt.
Average, by definition, assumes “less than extraordinary.” It is truly—to some degree or another—just an alternative description of retreat and no action. And it does even take into consideration the negative spiritual effects of a person knowing his or her true potential for action and then operating well below that which he or she is capable. Someone who takes average actions but is capable of much more is really electing to do some variation of doing nothing or retreating.
The Ten Times Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure Page 5
