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To Succeed You Must Become a Knowledge Junkie The first step to solving most problems is figuring out what you don't know and then learning it.

By Grant Cardone Edited by Dan Bova

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

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A junkie can be defined as anyone suffering from an addiction. I'll be the first to admit, I exchanged one addiction for another. My drug addiction nearly cost me my life, but my addiction to knowledge -- which is power -- helped me save my life.

I was 25 years old when I went to drug rehab and finally made a commitment to have success as a salesman. I knew to become successful in sales I needed knowledge, so I invested $3,000 in a sales training program that gave me the knowledge I needed to start making more sales and 10X my annual income.

Related: 8 Success Habits Learned Building a 7-Figure Business by Age 17

Selling is hard if you haven't made a commitment to it, but the truth is anything is hard without a commitment. It doesn't matter what industry you are in, if you aren't committed to it, you will suffer. Being committed means you write down your goals and train daily to be better at whatever you do.

Anytime I am having trouble getting what I want in my life, in my career, in money or in my relationships, I ask "What is it that I do not know?" It doesn't matter if it's more quality time with my kids, more income, more freedom, security, confidence or whatever it is I want, the first thing I look for is to become clear about my desire and then look for what I don't know.

Don't give up on what you want, get the knowledge that you are missing. Make this your steadfast formula! If you really want something, but you aren't getting it, then just know with total confidence that it is merely something you do not know. Determine what that is and get the knowledge. This has worked for me many times in my life to get me what I want. If you don't commit to this formula you actually start creating dumb reasons for giving up on the things you deserve.

Related: No Matter How Much Experience You Have, There's Always Something New to Learn

When you know something…

1. You can predict outcomes successfully.

2. You will acquire true confidence.

3. Others will agree with you because they see you are knowledgeable.

Add knowledge to desire, like you would wood to a fire, and sooner or later you will achieve your dreams. But know this: There is a shortage of people who fully understand how to sell others on their dreams. You need to sell others on your dream to help make it a reality.

Do you know how to sell? Come to 10XGrowthCon 2018 and let me help you double your sales, and even 10X your sales.

Grant Cardone

International Sales Expert & $1.78B Real Estate Fund Manager

Grant Cardone is an internationally-renowned speaker on sales, leadership, real-estate investing, entrepreneurship and finance whose five privately held companies have annual revenues exceeding $300 million.

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