Strategic Coach® has always been in the business of multiplying growth. In the beginning, we encouraged entrepreneurs to double their income and free time. But, years ago, I realized double isn’t enough. To make real change in your business and life, you have to go for 10x.
Working harder and longer doesn’t work.
At first, aiming for 10x growth seems like it would be much more work. The truth is that it’s actually easier because it requires real change and transformation, not just more of what you’re doing now.
It’s just not possible to work 10x harder and 10x longer to achieve 10x growth. You could work twice as hard and twice as long to achieve 2x growth, but that’s a small payoff for the effort. You would also be doing the same thing you’re doing now with no real change in your life and business. And while you might double your income, you certainly wouldn’t be doubling your free time or enjoyment.
A 2x goal doesn’t create enough change.
Going 2x is not enough growth or enough of an incentive to really make a difference. With 2x growth, an increase in income means an increase in time and effort. You’d be working longer and harder, but not smarter.
On the other hand, 10x growth requires working less than you are now. It demands real change in the way you operate. It’s a total transformation of how you run your business in order to include more teamwork and more delegation. Both free you up personally to focus on what you do best: innovating and providing the vision for your company.
When you’re freed of the tasks and activities that use your time but don’t give you energy, you’re able to concentrate on improvements to your company and creating greater value for your clients. You’re able to focus on the innovations that will be game changers in your business and industry. This is how dramatic 10x growth happens.
Making the extraordinary ordinary.
The brain cannot do extraordinary things. If your brain perceives a 10x goal to be extraordinary, it will seem beyond the realm of possibility. The very idea of this goal is paralyzing.
To make extraordinary goals achievable, you have to make them seem ordinary. The way to do this is through a simple process I call The 10x Mind Expander®. This is a mental exercise in which you time travel in your mind to a future in which you’ve already reached your 10x goal and then look back at how you achieved it. When you start from the mindset of having already achieved your bigger future goal, your mind expands to recognize it as a possibility and you can then imagine the steps you would have taken to get there. Once you’ve identified them, you can start implementing those strategies.
A crucial part of this exercise is talking about your 10x achievement as though it has already happened. This convinces your brain that it’s possible and makes your goal seem ordinary, normal, and attainable.
You’ve done it before.
If the idea of 10x growth still seems too difficult or even impossible, look back and you’ll most likely realize that you’ve grown 10x already — maybe even more than once! Simply look back to a time when your business was only one-tenth where it is now. You were able to grow your business 10x to where it is today, and your current level of growth feels normal. Once you reach your next 10x level of growth, it, too, will feel normal.
Knowing you’ve grown 10x before gives you the confidence to do it again. Show your team how you’ve gone from one-tenth of your business in your past to your current levels to get their buy-in for joining you on your new 10x journey. Those team members who are keen to multiply their growth and their contribution to the company will be eager to join you. Those who aren’t will leave. Either way, this is a win for you. You’ll have the right team on board.
10x growth is not impossible. It’s not an unreachable ideal. Not only that, but to keep up in today’s constantly evolving and advancing society, 10x is a necessity. But don’t simply push yourself and your team to work more. Going 10x requires greater capabilities, confidence, teamwork, and vision. It means being smarter and more strategic, aiming not just for 10x greater income, but 10x greater freedom, as well.
10x is totally possible if you think it is.
There are entrepreneurs who have been incredibly successful but who nevertheless think they’ve gone as far as they can go. They’re convinced that 10x growth is impossible.
I believe that 10x growth is totally possible for every person who thinks it’s possible.
It all starts with individual courage. To a certain extent, it’s an act of imagination to be able to see outside your present circumstances and into the future. It means being so emotionally committed to that future that you’re willing to go through the discomfort of uncertainty and change.
Those who do commit get 10x rewards. And as they move toward their 10x future, their thinking transforms in ways that enable them to see a growing number of 10x opportunities.
