Key Takeaways - 10x Is Easier Than 2x

What could you do today to produce twice as much profit in your business?

In answering this question, you'd likely do what I did and think of how you could tweak what you are currently doing to generate more profit. Now ask yourself, what would I have to do to produce 10x the amount of profit in my business? The answer to this question is you'd have to be a completely different business (most likely).

In "10x Is Easier Than 2x," it is stressed that almost nothing works for producing 10x the profit in your business so your future work becomes extremely focused. You cannot afford to work on your current 80% of tasks that are just day-to-day producing your current profits. In fact, you will be working on 80% new tasks. "Going for 10x requires letting go of 80 percent of your current life and focus on going all-in on the crucial 20 percent that's relevant and high-impact."

The shift in your business will take a time. Time to plan new courses of action for the team, but before that, time to think. Most entrepreneurs are holding themselves back because they are absorbed in the day-to-day. Dan Sullivan points out, "tightly scheduled entrepreneurs cannot transform themselves." This was hard for me to read because I have pride in staying "on task" or focused in my work. What I have to realize is what Sullivan said two pages later, "80 percent of your current activities, habits, and mindsets become impediments."

What would increase your company's profits by 10x? What are the 80% of things that take your time that you'd have to let go of to make 10x happen? Who on your team would try to stop you from doing that??

"Who Not How is a fundamental principle you'll need to master if you want to make 10x a way of life. You can't go 10x by getting stuck in the endless 'How's' of running a business."

I am through the first quarter of the book and I can tell how Sullivan's two books ("Who Not How" and "10x is Easier Than 2x") work together. Committing to 10x thinking is a mindset of letting go of the 80% completely so you can become a master of the 20%. Many times, the 80% cannot be just turned off so you need a "Who" to take over. The beautiful thing is when someone makes your 80% their 20% the tasks are performed at such a higher level. When everything is done that well in a business, the overall standard of production increases and growth occurs.

Who can you recruit that could do your 80% better than you? How would you grow your expertise in the 20% most important tasks that you have today? What mindset shift do you need to make to commit fully to this new way of thinking??

"To go 10x, you live based on freedom."

Sullivan teaches that your identity is two things: 1) The story you have for yourself and 2) the standards you hold for yourself. In short, your identity as a person is the person you are most committed to.

The easiest part of Sullivan's explanation of identity for me to connect with is living by standards. At West Point and then in the regular Army we stressed standards for performance. Whenever you did anything, the standard was clearly defined and the outcome was either a pass or fail. When performance criteria is that clear, true commitment shows up. You get, at a minimum, someone's best.

Sullivan pushes that evolving your identity requires elevating your standards. He recommends using his "4 C's Formula" to do that:

1. Commitment - Nothing happens until you truly commit.

2. Courage - When you commit to something more you'll need courage to start and stay committed.

3. Capability - By courageously committing you'll experience a good bit of learning which will increase your capability.

4. Confidence - The new capabilities will produce higher confidence.

Your identity flexibility will directly correlate with how well you can adapt 10x thinking. What is the current story that you are telling yourself? What are your personal standards? Are you will to change 10x to grow?

"You could upload one great video per year and get more views that if you uploaded 100 mediocre videos." -Jimmy Donaldson, MrBeast

Every time I open "10x is easier than 2x," Sullivan says do less to produce more in another way. He's trying every way he can to motivate the reader to think niche, to produce within a niche, to grow a team in a niche. He says that it's easier to solve a $10M problem than it is to solve one hundred $100K problems. When you develop the expertise to solve the $10M problem you'll end up earning $30M because of your skill set. Not only will you earn more, but you'll likely work less.

The key is to think nonlinear, to focus on the 20% that you know could be special, and leverage yourself into a position where you can spend all of your time there. Sullivan says repeatedly, "think qualitatively, not quantitatively."

What is the $10M problem that you could solve? How can you leverage your 80% away from your life immediately? Are you thinking qualitatively??

There are two core points that Dan Sullivan has for those who are wanters:

1) Wanting is about abundance and creation.

2) Wanting requires no justification.

Sullivan wrote out his list of wants every morning for over 9,000 days in a row. He reportedly only missed 12 days during that time. He said it turned him into a "wanter" and created in him a mindset of abundance. His definition of wealth shifted from money focused to freedom focused. He lived free of so many mindset hurdles that people generally have to work through. It was easier for him to be a creator, to think like an innovator, and to be pioneer the 10x mindset.

Do you focus on needs? Do you have a scarcity mindset? Do you feel like you have to justify your goals to others? Be a wanter.

Would you call your work a "calling?"

Sullivan wrote the following about finding work that is your calling, "Research shows that when someone subjectively feels their work is a calling - meaning they have a sense of purpose, and that they're doing what they are meant to do - that they experience greater overall subjective well-being or happiness as well as greater career success than those who view their work as a job or career." Well-being, happiness, and more success are the outcomes. Sullivan goes one to say that what you are called to do is tied to your "Unique Ability" which he defines as "the purest and most honest expression of yourself."

I have found that staying on your purpose (your why) and being willing to stay within your personal strength zone is the quickest way to find your unique ability. The hardest part of finding it is that it's always evolving. As you have more life wisdom, why you are here and what you are great at becomes more clear. In age, most people also get really good at saying no to things outside of their unique ability. All of this is critical because it equates to happiness and freedom.

What is your purpose? What are your great at? Where do you want to spend all of your time in a day? Make sure that you are intentional with what you are calling your profession.

Is it difficult for you to let go of parts of your job?

It's difficult for most people to eliminate things that they have been doing for a long time. Many of us know that we need to let go of our old work to increase our value within or organization, but we have fallen into the identity trap. When you connect your identity to what you do, you make it very difficult to evolve.

Dr James Carse in "Finite and Infinite Games," said that "Only that which can change can continue... Only that which can continue can compound and grow exponentially. Only that which can change can continue. Only that which effectively adapts can successfully evolve and not be filtered-out."

What makes up your identity? Are you hanging onto your 80% because of your identity is tied to what you do? What reflection do you need to do to change your identity into something different??

Dan Sullivan teaches a model called "The Gap and The Gain," and I consider myself blessed to read this today.

Many entrepreneurs, leaders, and people in general live in the "gap." They are miserable and devalue everything they accomplish because they are measuring themselves against an ideal. The problem with using an ideal to measure yourself against is it constantly moves. It's a horizon that no matter how long you walk toward it, it continues to stretch out beyond your grasp. Clearly stated, it's impossible to reach. That's the disturbing part about being in the gap. You've technically made progress, but you feel worse because you are measuring the progress against what it should be. If you stay in the gap, your goals (the horizon) will burn you out.

Where we want to be is in the "gain." Sullivan writes, "When you're in the gain you're never measuring yourself against anything external. You're only measuring yourself against yourself. More directly, you're measuring yourself against where you were before." By looking at your progress in this way, you can appreciate how far you have come. Gratitude and motivation will be the feelings you experience, and your current position will be better and clearer.

Sullivan is not saying to stop thinking 10x and pushing hard against what is possible for the future. He's saying, acknowledge your progress and be grateful for what you have accomplished. We should live in the gain in all parts of our life.

Are you living in the gap or the gain? Are you measuring your life, your family, your job, etcetera based on ideals? When's the last time you gave yourself praise on how far you have progressed??

How clear are you about the person you are becoming?

Sullivan introduces the concept of your "Dream Check" to drive direction for your growth. He used Jim Carrey's story to drive the point home. Carrey was living out of a car when he wrote himself a $10M check for "acting services rendered" dated 5 years in the future. Carrey made it happen with "Dumb and Dumber" in that fifth year. What made Carrey great was the clarity of who he needed to become in order to cash that dream check.

What value can you bring (in the future) that can be 10x more than anyone else? Who do you want to be a hero to? Developing and operating within your unique ability for the right person is going to be the way you are ever able to cash your dream check. You are in the process of becoming someone specific. How clear are you about who that is? Get intentional.

Sullivan makes a strong case that rejuvenation is the most important usage of time.

The more of a high performer you are, the more rejuvenation you need. Sullivan takes 180 days off a year. He pointed to Lebron James sleeping up to 12 hours a day during his season. Bill Gates used to leave his company for weeks at a time, completely detached, to think of the next big jump for Microsoft. The point is that we all need recovery. Research shows that recovery is essential for flow and increased high performance.

The method to ensure you take recovery seriously is to get your "Free Days" on the calendar at the beginning of the year first. You must make them a priority or you'll allow your 2x thinking to get in the way. The second part of making recovery effective is surrounding yourself with the right people (first and foremost) and materials. This time shouldn't be work at another place. This time should be true psychological detachment where you detach completely from work-related thoughts (day-to-day work).

"Free days" are for exploring and that's where your 10x ideas usually show up. How good are you at giving yourself free days? Could you calendar the rest of your year out today to make them a priority??

There are two types of time out there: 1) Manager time and 2) Maker time.

Manager time focuses on quantitative measures and busyness. Managers want you in your seat eight hours a day and working on stuff. Maker time is focusing on the three big goals for the day and when they are complete, you are done working. Some days will be longer and others will be shorter, but you are done when you accomplished your big three. When you are working in Maker time, there's no time to deviate from your 20% focus area. Enough Maker time will make 10x happen.

Are you working according to Manager or Maker time? What's the culture of your team? Do you all focus on getting three big goals knocked out daily? How can you help people focus on their job's top 20%?

Susan Kichuk was hired by Targeted Strategies Limited in 2017 to 10x their company. Susan has a 4-step process that she leverages when leading a company which I've shared in the screen shot.

1. Stabilize - This step is about making the business functional and compliant. She studies the company's policies and scrutinizes the business and how it makes money.

2. Optimize - This step is about standardizing key processes and diversifying revenue.

3. Growing - This step is about structuring and organizing the business and getting the right Whos in place to accomplish the objectives. This includes removing legacy people that don't align with the new approach and recruiting talent for the new positions created.

4. Transformation - This is about creating a self-managed company where every leader is encouraged to focus on their 20% so space is created to think of and execute on 10x opportunities.

Do you have a simple process for how you achieve success in your business? Whether its intentional and easy to explain like Susan's or something we do naturally, we all have a process we like to follow. Document your model so you can refine it over time and apply it better to all situations.

"The reason people join any organization or association is psychographic alignment. All humans have a deep desire to feel a sense of belonging and connection to a group of people with shared beliefs and culture." -Tim Schmidt

Tim is the founder and leader of US Concealed Cary Association (USCCA). USCCA is an organization with over $250M in revenue that started with a $100K loan to produce a magazine that was distributed to 30,000 households. Tim has taken his business 10x multiple times and has settled in on a formula that makes his organization's connection with his members strong. His seven principles are:

1. The story - powerful origin story

2. An ideology - a mission and purpose that give people goosebumps

3. A symbol - a strong sounding name and logo

4. Shared rituals - a consistent activity that provides a sense of meaning and belonging

5. The enemy - common enemy for people to bond with

6. The language - "insider language" with unique words and acronyms

7. The leader - an attractive character and a servant

What's your formula that drives your team and clients be extremely loyal? How are you keeping watch on those principles? Are you the right leader to make sure those stay in place??

"When the 'why' is strong enough, you find the 'how.'"

How to become what Sullivan labels, "transformational leader." A strong why, clear vision, standards, and culture all matter, but the one thing he harped on was Trust. "Trust in leader" was the top concept pushed for transformation leadership. Without trust, nothing is happening. Trust is the key ingredient that allows leaders to inspire their team.

Stephen Covey said in "The Speed of Trust," to gain trust, you give trust. Rather than micromanaging your team, you give them vision, clarity, culture, and standards to live by and they lead themselves. You must execute well on this to achieve a 10x transformation. When going 10x, the leader will be the bottleneck if you don't lead a self-managed team. How you lead will attract the "who" and your need the right "who" to grow.

Are you a leader that's applying "Who Not How?" Are you giving your trust? Where is your company not self-managed and how can YOU change that by the way you are leading?

Every day I spend time in the early morning reading books to grow my knowledge in business, wealth, religion and more. I share the key takeaways from my week of reading with in?Exclusive Weekly Leader Note?to a group of motivated business professionals – if you would like to join the group, you can sign up here .

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