Sách 10x Is Easier Than 2x PDF có tiếng Việt

At age 17, Michelangelo became fixated with secretly obtaining and dissecting human cadavers. “Violating a corpse” was a crime punishable by death in Florence, Italy, in 1493. “And if one were willing to risk it? How could it be gone about? Watch the poverty fields for burials?” he asked an elderly friend, Marsilio Ficino, whose father had been a prominent doctor. Ficino could not believe what he was hearing. “My dear young friend, you cannot conceive of yourself as a grave robber.”¹ But Michelangelo was desperate. Indeed, he would rob graves to get bodies if he could find no other option. Learning anatomy was essential to his aim. He’d just begun working on his first life-sized, three-dimensional sculpture: a nine-foot Hercules. Prompted by the recent death of his sponsor and mentor, Michelangelo planned to do the project to memorialize Lorenzo di Piero de’ Medici. Before attempting this Hercules, he’d done many smaller sculptures. None three-dimensional.

And none he’d ever been directly paid for. It was his first major project with a professional mindset. He was no longer thinking or operating like a novice or an amateur. He convinced the foreman of the Florence Duomo Cathedral to sell him an old block of marble that had been sitting unused in the cathedral courtyard. He used most of his savings from working in the Medici palace the previous two years—five golden florins—to buy the marble. After Lorenzo’s death, Michelangelo had been forced to move back.

Michelangelo was offered 100 golden florins—a large sum of money for a common Florentine—by the Strozzi family who wanted it in their palace courtyard. When Hercules was finished, it was the spring of 1494 and Michelangelo was 19 years old. To sculpt Hercules at the level he aspired, Michelangelo developed mastery of human anatomy to a degree no other sculptor ever had or would. Aiming for what seemed impossible, he made many mistakes, got serious and focused, took risks, and ultimately completed a tangible project that was beyond noteworthy. Michelangelo was not born a great artist. He became one and then ultimately reached legendary levels by continually pursuing what I call the 10x process. He set out to do something far beyond anything he’d ever done, and also something innovative and non-linear to the preestablished standard or norm of his field. To complete the project at the level he desired required a full-on transformation of not only his skills and creativity, but also of his commitment, convictions, and identity. He had to risk a great deal to even attempt his 10x project. He was required to learn and develop unique knowledge and perspectives, such as the intricacies of human anatomy and how to craft a life-sized and believable human statue.

He saw it as a huge opportunity—a 10x opportunity. He believed he could do something special with the David. Now 26, Michelangelo convinced the Operai that he was the sculptor to complete the David.14 Unlike the many other David sculptures of his era—including Donatello’s—Michelangelo chose not to depict David standing victorious over Goliath’s severed head. He chose not to reflect David as a small and feminine character, as he was often portrayed. Michelangelo reflected on and studied David’s interaction with King Saul, in the book of Samuel, when young David convinced Saul that he could go up against the giant, Goliath. Reading about David who wrested and killed lions and bears, Michelangelo saw David as the perfect man. Rather than depict him after his great victory over the giant, Michelangelo would depict David just before the courageous encounter.

Most people reach for just a little bit more—a promotion, a little more money, a new personal record. Going for incremental progress is a 2x mindset, which at a fundamental level means you’re continuing or maintaining what you’re already doing. You’re letting the past dictate what you do and how you do it. 2x is linear, meaning you’re striving to double output by doubling effort. Do more of the same, just faster and harder. 2x is exhausting and soul-defeating. It’s extremely difficult to put the pedal to the metal and grind away for inches of progress. By contrast, 10x is so big and seemingly impossible that it immediately forces you out of your current mindset and approach. You can’t work 10x harder or longer. Brute force and linear methods won’t get you to 10x. 10x has become a trendy concept thrown around in entrepreneurial, financial, and self-help circles. Yet, most people radically misunderstand what 10x means and what it can do. In fact, most people understand 10x literally and exactly backward. Because most people have it backward, they struggle manifesting 10x in their lives. They get stuck in a 2x mindset. But even more, their quest for 10x leads them to seek the wrong thing, an endless race for more.

10x isn’t about more. It’s about less. Michelangelo understood this clearly. When the Pope asked about the secret of his genius, particularly in regard to the statue of David, Michelangelo explained, “It’s simple. I just remove everything that is not David.” Going 10x is the simplification of your focus down to the core essential. Then you remove everything else. Steve Jobs was the master of extreme simplification, which is the essence of innovation. When designing the iPod, he removed all aspects of owning music that people didn’t want and provided technology that made the experience of music 10x better and easier. Rather than having to go to the store and spend $12–15 for a full album when you really just wanted one song, now you could simply and easily purchase only the songs you wanted and have them all pocket-size in one easy place. No more lugging around hundreds of CDs containing 80 percent or more of songs you don’t even like. Just as 10x isn’t about more but less, 10x is also not about quantity. It’s about quality.