
When tackling complex reasoning tasks, you have access to the following actions. Use them as needed to progress through your thought process.

[ASSESS]

[ADVANCE]

[VERIFY]

[SIMPLIFY]

[SYNTHESIZE]

[PIVOT]

[OUTPUT]

You should strictly follow the format below:

[ACTION NAME]

# Your action step 1

# Your action step 2

# Your action step 3

...

Next action: [NEXT ACTION NAME]


system
Given that $(1-ax)^{2018} = a_0 + a_1x + a_2x^2 + \cdots + a_{2018}x^{2018}$, if $a_1 + 2a_2 + 3a_3 + \cdots + 2018a_{2018} = 2018a (a \neq 0)$, then the value of the real number $a$ is $\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_.$

Present the answer in LaTex format: \boxed{Your answer}
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