Why Your Next Level Won’t Come From More Effort
For a long time, I believed success meant output.
More hours.
More hustle.
More proving.
And honestly, it worked—on the outside.
Until it didn’t.
Despite progress in my business and a growing list of external wins, I felt quietly… off.
Like I was running fast but arriving nowhere that felt like me.
Sound familiar?
I thought 10x meant doing more.
Turns out, it meant becoming more honest.
Not with my strategy.
With my state.
I only learned that when everything forced me to stop.
Not just from burnout—but from a deeper kind of misalignment.
I wasn’t chasing goals anymore.
I was chasing permission to rest.
And I’d forgotten that real growth doesn’t come from “more.”
It comes from truth.
This insight landed for me while reading Benjamin Hardy’s 10x is Easier Than 2x.
At first, the title felt counterintuitive. How could aiming for something 10x bigger actually be easier than going 2x?
But Hardy breaks it down:
Going from 2x growth means doing more of what you're already doing—more tasks, more hustle, more bandwidth. It’s linear, familiar… and honestly, exhausting.
But 10x?
That requires a different identity, not just better habits.
It forces you to let go of 80% of what no longer aligns, and focus entirely on the few things that truly move your future forward.
And here’s the kicker:
Because 10x is so clear, you make better decisions, faster. You simplify. You align. You stop doing things just to keep the machine running.
That’s when I realised—
10x isn’t about scaling your output.
It’s about scaling your alignment.
That shift changed everything.
Your brain can’t create your next level from your current patterns.
Neuroscience backs this.
In high-output, high-stress states, we operate from beta brainwaves—wired for survival, not creativity.
But when we slow down—through stillness, breathwork, presence—our brain shifts.
Alpha and theta waves activate the parts of us where clarity, vision, and identity live.
You don’t hustle your way into alignment.
You pause your way into insight.
10x Isn’t a Strategy. It’s a Relationship With Self.
This version of success doesn’t come from doing more.
It comes from:
- saying no to everything that’s noise,
- anchoring into your why,
- and trusting that stillness is not laziness—it’s leadership.
Here’s what’s working for me now:
💡 The 4 Practices That Shifted Everything:
1. Stillness before strategy
5 minutes of breath before I touch my calendar.
Let me decide what’s next—not my dopamine.
2. Future-self journaling (but different)
Less “vision board” energy, more:
→ How does future me make decisions?
→ What does she no longer tolerate?
3. One aligned move a day
Not five tasks.
One action rooted in the next version of me—not the version trying to keep up.
4. Gratitude that grounds
Not performative.
But a real check-in with:
“What’s already enough today?”
What 10x Feels Like Now
Not achievement.
But alignment.
Not output.
But ownership.
Not control.
But clarity.
Because the real version of 10x?
She doesn’t chase.
She listens.
And she trusts that the version of her who can hold what’s next
won’t be found in the noise—
but in the quiet space where she’s finally home in herself.
If this resonated, hit reply and let me know what your next level feels like—not in effort, but in energy.
And if you’re exploring how to build your version of 10x with more clarity, authenticity, and alignment—I'll be sharing more soon.
With gratitude,