Introduction: The Trap of Small Thinking

Most solopreneurs secretly play the wrong game.

  • They chase 2x growth: more clients, more content, more hustle.

  • They assume success comes from adding effort, hours, and tactics.

But as Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy reveal in 10x Is Easier than 2x, linear growth is a trap. 2x makes you work harder without becoming better.

Creators, consultants, and coaches often feel this:

  • You double your content output but see little audience growth.

  • You grind harder for clients, but margins shrink.

  • You keep tweaking, optimising, “doing more”—yet your freedom shrinks instead of expanding.

That’s because 2x growth demands addition. Ten percent better. Twice as many hours. More noise, less clarity.

By contrast, 10x growth demands subtraction. It forces you to let go of 80% of what you’re doing, and focus only on the 20% that creates transformative results.

For solopreneurs, that’s liberating:

  • You don’t need more platforms — you need a system.

  • You don’t need every client — you need the right clients.

  • You don’t need to hustle harder — you need to think bigger.

Let’s break down the 10x framework and apply it directly to your journey as a creator.

Part I: The Principles of 10x

1. Why 2x Is Exhausting — and 10x Is Simpler

Sullivan argues that 2x growth is harder than 10x growth because:

  • 2x relies on your past identity.

  • 2x requires keeping 80% of what you already do.

  • 2x clutters your focus with endless “options.”

10x, by contrast, simplifies:

  • You let go of the 80% that doesn’t scale.

  • You keep and expand the 20% that matters.

  • You adopt new identity, new focus, new freedom.

For solopreneurs, this means you stop tinkering with more “to-dos” and instead design systems around your unique ability—the work only you can do.

👉 IMMachines Link: Tools like From Chaos to Clarity GPT filter your workload through the 10x lens, spotlighting the 20% worth keeping.

2. 10x Is About Quality, Not Quantity

Michelangelo said: “It’s simple. I just remove everything that is not David.”
Sullivan applies the same to business: greatness comes not from more, but from less.

For creators, this means:

  • Fewer, higher-quality offers instead of dozens of half-baked ones.

  • Deeper, more resonant content instead of endless posts.

  • A business designed around mastery, not mediocrity.

👉 IMMachines Link: Copy Pro Engine GPT helps refine your sales copy into fewer, stronger campaigns. No more juggling 20 average funnels.

3. Freedom Is the Endgame

Sullivan identifies four freedoms entrepreneurs seek:

  • Time — choosing when and how you work.

  • Money — earning in proportion to value, not hours.

  • Relationship — surrounding yourself only with aligned people.

  • Purpose — pursuing work that matters.

2x clutters and compromises these freedoms. 10x expands them.

For solopreneurs, chasing “more” often reduces freedom. But committing to a 10x vision liberates you — because it forces clarity.

👉 IMMachines Link: Navigator GPT keeps your focus on strategies that expand freedom, not shrink it.

Part II: Applying 10x as a Solopreneur

4. Identity Shift: Becoming Your 10x Self

Every leap starts with identity. To go 10x, you can’t be who you are now. You must become your future self — the person capable of that scale.

That means:

  • Letting go of past offers, past roles, even past clients.

  • Redefining yourself not by what you do, but by the results you create.

  • Asking: What would my 10x self say no to?

👉 Exercise: Journal as if it’s 3 years from now and you’ve gone 10x. What did you stop doing? What identity did you embrace? Act As If Engine GPT will assist you.

5. The 80/20 Filter: Keeping the Right 20%

Sullivan’s core framework:

  • Going 2x keeps 80% of what you do now.

  • Going 10x forces you to cut 80% and double down on the 20% that matters.

For solopreneurs, this is brutal but freeing.

  • Which offers bring 80% of revenue and joy? Keep those.

  • Which clients energize you? Double down.

  • Which platforms compound visibility? Prioritize.

👉 IMMachines Link: Offer Optimiser Pro GPT helps rank offers against this filter.

6. Free Days, Focus Days, Buffer Days

Sullivan’s time system splits life into three categories:

  • Free Days — no work, full recovery.

  • Focus Days — high-impact activities in your unique ability zone.

  • Buffer Days — admin, preparation, clearing the decks.

For solopreneurs, adopting this prevents burnout and unlocks creativity. 10x demands cycles of recovery and intensity, not endless grind.

👉 IMMachines Link: From Chaos to Clarity GPT can help you design this schedule.

7. Building a Self-Managing Company

10x isn’t about doing everything yourself. It’s about designing a self-managing business. For solopreneurs, this means leveraging:

  • Automation (AI, GPTs, CRMs).

  • Delegation (freelancers, partnerships).

  • Systems (content repurposing, funnels, delivery).

Your role becomes vision and leadership. The systems handle the rest.

👉 IMMachines Link: The Client Delivery Engine GPT turns client work into repeatable, automated processes.

8. Unique Ability: Your 10x Edge

Sullivan insists 10x requires honing your Unique Ability — the work that feels like play to you but creates massive value for others.

For creators, this might be:

  • Storytelling.

  • Coaching transformation.

  • Designing frameworks.

Your job isn’t to do everything. Your job is to spend most of your time in your Unique Ability and outsource the rest.

👉 IMMachines Link: Thought-Leader Engine GPT helps clarify and amplify your unique ability into content and offers.

Part III: The Creator’s 10x Roadmap

Step 1: Define Your 10x Vision

Ask: If I went 10x, what would that look like? Revenue, audience, freedom.

Step 2: Identify the 20%

Audit your current business. What’s delivering disproportionate results?

Step 3: Ruthlessly Cut the 80%

Clients, platforms, offers, habits — let them go.

Step 4: Redesign Your Time

Adopt Free/Focus/Buffer days. Protect recovery.

Step 5: Build Systems

Use AI and automation to handle everything outside your Unique Ability. Sys-Sensei GPT was built for exactly this.

Step 6: Commit to Identity Shift

Embody your 10x self daily. Make decisions from that future identity.

Part IV: Stories and Examples

  • Michelangelo’s David: He didn’t add more clay — he subtracted marble until only David remained. Solopreneurs must do the same.

  • Steve Jobs’ iPod: He didn’t add more features — he simplified music into one elegant experience.

  • Carson Holmquist (Stream Logistics): Shifted from 95% routine clients to 100% high-stakes clients, achieving exponential profit without adding staff.

For creators, the lesson is clear: stop chasing every client, every platform, every tactic. Focus on your “high-stakes” opportunities.

Conclusion: The 10x Standard

The choice for solopreneurs is stark:

  • Stay in 2x mode — incremental, exhausting, cluttered.

  • Step into 10x — bold, freeing, transformational.

10x isn’t about working harder. It’s about becoming someone new, someone aligned with their unique ability, someone who designs a business around freedom and impact.

At IMMachines.com, every GPT, system, and framework is built for this: helping creators stop chasing 2x hacks and start designing 10x transformations.

So ask yourself:

  • What’s your David?

  • What’s your 20%?

  • What identity do you need to embrace?

Because once you commit, 10x isn’t just easier than 2x — it’s inevitable.