The 10X Factor: Why "Realistic" Goals are the Most Dangerous
“Success is your duty, obligation, and responsibility. Don't treat it as optional. It's something you OWE yourself." --Grant Cardone
Introduction: The Trap of the "Reasonable"
In the previous sub-module, we excavated your purpose. You identified why you are here. Now, we must discuss the scale of your ambition.
Most people enter Primerica with what they consider "reasonable" goals. They look at their current salary, add 10% or 20%, and set that as their target. They think, "I just want to replace my income," or "I just want to pay off this one credit card."
It sounds logical. It sounds safe. But in the world of entrepreneurship, "reasonable" is often a trap. The greatest cause of failure in the Success Triad isn't setting a goal so high you miss it; it is setting a goal so low that you hit it, and realize it wasn't worth the effort. Or worse, setting a goal so low that it fails to ignite the necessary fire to overcome the friction of starting a business.
This lesson is about shifting your operating system from "Incremental Growth" to "Exponential Growth." We call this 10X Thinking.
The Math of Underestimation
The concept of 10X comes from the realization that humans are historically terrible at estimating two things:
How much potential they actually have.
How much effort is actually required to get a result.
Most new agents underestimate the effort required to get a client. They think, "I’ll call three people, get one appointment, and make a sale." When they call three people and get zero appointments, they quit. They assume the business doesn't work.
The business works fine; their math was broken. They applied 1X effort expecting a result, when the market demanded 10X effort.
If you assume everything will be ten times harder than you think, you are prepared for reality. If it turns out to be easier, you are pleasantly surprised. But if you assume it will be easy, you are inevitably crushed. 10X thinking acts as a psychological buffer against the difficulty of the market.
Why Big Goals Are Safer Than Small Goals
This sounds counter-intuitive, but aiming for $100,000 a month is often "safer" than aiming for $1,000 a month.
Why? Because of the problem of enthusiasm.
If your goal is small—say, just making enough to cover a car payment—you will only exert a small amount of energy. When a problem arises (a rejection, a compliance hurdle, a difficult client), that problem often looks bigger than the goal. If a $500 problem stands in front of a $300 goal, you stop. The obstacle blocks the view.
However, if your goal is massive—total financial freedom, a legacy for your children, a crusade to change your community—that same $500 problem looks like a pebble on the road. You step over it because your eyes are fixed on a mountain peak, not a molehill.
10X goals generate 10X energy. They demand creativity. If you want to increase your income by 10%, you work a few more hours. If you want to increase your income by 1,000% (10X), you have to fundamentally change how you work. You have to stop being an "agent" and start being a "leader." You have to build a team. You have to master the system. Big goals force evolution; small goals encourage stagnation.
Expanding the Container
Imagine your mindset is a container. If you have a "pint-sized" mindset, you can only hold a pint of success. If the ocean of opportunity is poured into your pint glass, you will still only walk away with a pint. The rest spills over.
10X Thinking is about expanding the container. It is about stretching your mental capacity to believe that you belong in a tax bracket you have never visited.
In Primerica, we see this constantly. A new recruit looks at an RVP earning seven figures and thinks, "That’s them. They are special. I’m just me." That is 1X thinking. 10X thinking looks at that RVP and says, "They have the same products I have. They have the same 24 hours I have. If they did it, it is evidence that it is possible. The only variable is the size of my thinking and the volume of my action."
The Two Prongs of 10X
10X isn't just about the Goal (The Result). It is also about the Action (The Input).
1. The 10X Goal: Take your current income target. Multiply it by 10. Does that number scare you? Good. Fear is a sign of growth. If your goal doesn't make you uncomfortable, it isn't stretching you.
Instead of "I want to be a District Leader," aim for "I want to be an RVP."
Instead of "I want to save $5,000," aim for "I want to save $50,000."
2. The 10X Action: This is where the rubber meets the road. You cannot have a 10X dream with 1X work ethic. If you think you need to make 5 calls a day to succeed, make 50. If you think you need to read one book a month, read one a week. Massive action is the cure for fear. You don't have time to worry about "what if" when you are busy executing "what is."
Addressing the Critics
When you start thinking 10X, you will encounter friction from your environment. Friends and family who are operating on "realistic" settings will tell you to calm down. They will say, "Don't get your hopes up." "Be happy with what you have."
They aren't trying to hurt you; they are trying to protect you from disappointment. But they are also protecting you from greatness.
In Primerica, you are surrounded by 10X thinkers. This is why the environment is so crucial. You need to be around people where a "big" goal is considered normal. When you are the only one dreaming big, you feel crazy. When you are in a room full of dreamers, you feel at home.
The 10X Multiplier Exercise (Preview)
In the upcoming Vision Portal exercise, we are going to use a tool called the "10X Multiplier." You will input your current "reasonable" goal, and the system will force you to confront the 10X version of it.
You will likely feel resistance. You will think, "That's impossible." Your job in that moment is to change the question from "Is this possible?" to "HOW would this be possible?"
The moment you ask "How," your brain stops looking for excuses and starts looking for solutions.
Conclusion: Permission to be Unreasonable
George Bernard Shaw famously said, "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."
Primerica was built by unreasonable people. Art Williams was unreasonable when he challenged the entire life insurance industry.
To succeed here, you need to give yourself permission to be unreasonable. Stop negotiating the price of success. Pay the 10X price, and you will live a life that 99% of people only see in movies.
Dream bigger. The world is big enough for it.
