Recently, I read a book called 10x Is Easier Than 2x (10x book) at a timely moment. I say “timely” because it helped me find a missing piece of my current life: a 10x goal.

Past

I finished my PhD about 1.5 years ago in 2022 when I was 27 and have been working full-time ever since. Before earning my PhD, everything was largely “planned”: excel in school, do research and publish papers, get the degree, and get a job in a large company. Despite encountering some challenges along the way, the whole journey finished as planned. I kept motivating myself to work to “make things happen.” Also, as an “above-average smart” (everyone thinks so, right?) person, I learned from other people’s experiences and followed the game rules of school to hit the finish line.

A bit of struggle in the hindsight

On the surface, things seemed fine:

  • My pay increased significantly compared to my PhD stipend
  • I continue to finish work well and get good reviews from my boss and colleagues
  • I continue to work out in the gym to stay fit, despite having several injuries along the way
  • I am still reading at least one book per month to elevate my perspective (luckily!)

However, mentally, I have some struggles: I wasn’t excited about my activities (e.g., work, exercise, learning), I was doing everything mainly driven by my self-discipline/willpower. For example, one major factor in working out in the gym was to check off boxes for squat and deadlift on an app — just to complete the tasks. My progress, however, was largely stuck at the same weights (injury is another factor though). In other words, I was working to maintain my current level instead of progressing. This is, of course, not exciting. Also, staying focused was challenging, despite pushing myself to do this and that. For example, I lost my focus after one hour in front of my computer, unconsciously opening a web browser to “relax”. I was working mainly to finish the task to an expected level.

Reading the 10x book, combined with my learning of Personal Development for Smart People (the personal development book), made me realize the cause of my struggle: I relied too much on self-discipline instead of motivation and desire. As explained in the personal development book,

  • Motivation/desire is the thing you want to without any other external force. You set goals that are so inspiring to you that you can’t wait to take action, and your body moves almost effortlessly. For example, how do you move when you’re about to go on an eagerly anticipated vacation? Do you lie in bed feeling lazy, whining that it’s too much work to go to the airport?
  • Self-discipline/willpower is the willingness to do what it takes to achieve the results you want, regardless of your mood.
  • Motivation and self-discipline are the twin tools of power.

This might be a common issue among many “good students” who are used to following the rules and finishing things regardless of whether this is exciting or not. Regardless of how much you love something, we humans will get lazy sometimes, so self-discipline is still valuable because it helps us push forward and make breakthroughs when times are tough. But when the proportion of self-discipline is too high, we tend to stick with the way without heart (emotional, the why), while the emotion part can actually be more powerful and more lasting. Overall, I start to realize that “the why” is so important that I will figure out the how, what, who as long as I want something enough. “He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

The solution: 10x goals

Considering the thoughts discussed above, I started to propose a solution for myself:

  1. First, set 10x goals that are truly inspiring to me. I limit my goals to no more than three and make them as specific as possible; otherwise, I will get distracted.
    1. Make more valuable contributions to the world, in return, to achieve financial freedom earlier. The key here is “fair”, with the specific question of “What specific value would I need to provide such that my check would be a no-brainer for the person who would pay me?” At this point, I am excited to contribute more to automated population model selection to replace the current manual modeling process in the pharmacometrics field.
    2. Improve my strength in the gym to reach the intermediate level (216 lbs for bench press, 286 lbs for squat, 333 lbs for deadlift for my current body weight, according to https://strengthlevel.com/). I also want to cut my body fat to 12% and achieve 5 muscle-ups.
    3. Experience the amazing world more by traveling, reading and talking with others more.
  2. Use my 10x results as a filter for my activities, focusing all my efforts on the top 20% and eliminating the rest. When the goal is seemingly impossible but exciting, it immediately forces me out of my current mindset and approach. I will screen my daily activities and ask myself whether they are helpful to my 10x goals, considering opportunity cost. For example, I will drop some activities like grocery shopping and cleaning and hire others to do them. I will also avoid texts/emails/requests/spending time with people who don’t positively contribute to my goals. In return, I will have all of my attention and energy to focus on my 10x goals.
  3. Continuously seek the next 10x project along my way. These are just my 10x goals as of July 2024. My goal is to push myself to finish them as soon as possible and switch to the next 10x goals. Ultimately, the 10x goals excite me and help me enjoy the moment. The result then become an extra bonus.