5 ways an obsessive personality can pay off
According to Grant Cardone
“I probably do have an obsessive personality, but striving for perfection has served me well.”
Tom Ford
About three weeks ago, we published an article about Grant Cardone’s 10X Rule, his simple equation for business success (although we directed its message at a slightly different target). And while The 10X Rule focuses on what to do to succeed, his newer release Be Obsessed or Be Average narrows in on how to be. After all, it’s right there in the title.
With the same unbridled enthusiasm displayed in his earlier book, the real estate mogul explains that he got to where he is by tapping into the wealth of his obsessive personality. After struggling with the bad kind of obsession — a destructive addiction to drugs — as well as a failed business, he turned his life around by directing his obsessiveness to a constructive purpose (and is now worth $400 million).
We’re not promising that by giving rein to your inner obsessive you too will one day be worth as much as Cardone. However, if you follow these 5 steps, there’s no knowing just how far you might get.
1. Embrace your obsessive personality
According to Cardone, if you have long been hiding your obsessive traits, you have also been denying yourself huge potential. It is time for you to show the world you are obsessive, but only if it is a constructive obsession. As previously mentioned, Cardone’s obsessiveness originally manifested itself in drug addiction. Only by recognizing that, and directing himself to a positive obsession with business goals, did he find the road to success.
2. Decide upon the focus of this obsession
It is easy enough to decide to constructively obsess, but then comes the task of deciding what to obsess about. Cardone has the trick though: ask yourself what you would do if you did not have to make money, as well as what you dedicate yourself to in your free time, and you can quickly identify the passions worth obsessing over.
3. Maintain your obsession by focusing on the future
Once you’ve started on your obsession-driven path to success, you cannot let yourself lag. Therefore you must always be focusing on the future by learning how to be obsessively compulsive with money, how to obsessively pursue connections with people, and how to gradually decide on what your next obsession will be.
4. Avoid self-doubts and the concern of others
This step might be the most difficult to follow, because self-doubting is a rampant human habit, and those that are concerned about you are usually your closest friends and family. But once you surpass self-doubt by being confident in the power of your obsession, you must gently ignore the concerns of those warning you about burning out. As Cardone says, most of them have no experience working on the type of obsessive project you are focusing on.
5. Always practice self-control
Cardone explains the erroneous belief of many people that discipline is something you are born with, or that it is a value cultures either have or lack, and therefore cannot be learned later in life. He argues that it is instead a force of willpower, something that you can train yourself to perfect over time. And it is therefore this discipline that is a key to success, because it will help you obsess about the most important aspects of building a business, like money management and team formation.
Even for those of you without a business-oriented obsession, Be Obsessed or Be Average is a tremendously positive self-help book aimed at motivating anyone and everyone to recognize their own potential. Whether building a business, or learning French, a little constructive obsession is a key to success.
Cheers!
Team Instaread
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