The Magic of Thinking Big

by David J. Schwartz

Case history after case history proved that the size of bank accounts, the size of happiness accounts, and the size of one’s general satisfaction account is dependent on the size of one’s thinking. There is magic in thinking big.

Those who believe they can move mountains, do. Those who believe they can’t, cannot. Belief triggers the power to do.

Disbelief is negative power. When the mind disbelieves or doubts, the mind attracts “reasons” to support the disbelief.

Think doubt and fail. Think victory and succeed.

It is well to respect the leader. Learn from him. Observe him. Study him. But don’t worship him. Believe you can surpass. Believe you can go beyond. Those who harbor the second-best attitude are invariably second-best doers.

Then it dawned on me that no one else was going to believe in me until I believed in myself.

Your mind is a “thought factory.” It’s a busy factory, producing countless thoughts in one day.

Remind yourself regularly that you are better than you think you are. Successful people are not supermen. Success does not require a superintellect. Nor is there anything mystical about success. And success isn’t based on luck. Successful people are just ordinary folks who have developed belief in themselves and what they do. Never—yes, never—sell yourself short.

3. Believe Big. The size of your success is determined by the size of your belief. Think little goals and expect little achievements. Think big goals and win big success. Remember this, too! Big ideas and big plans are often easier—certainly no more difficult—than small ideas and small plans.

You will discover that excusitis explains the difference between the person who is going places and the fellow who is barely holding his own. You will find that the more successful the individual, the less inclined he is to make excuses.

Thoughts, positive or negative, grow stronger when fertilized with constant repetition.

“I’m going to live until I die and I’m not going to get life and death confused. While I’m on this earth I’m going to live.

The right attitude and one arm will beat the wrong attitude and two arms every time.

the thinking that guides your intelligence is much more important than how much intelligence you may have.

that how old we are is not important. It’s one’s attitude toward age that makes it a blessing or a barricade.

preparation, planning, and success-producing thinking

Truly, fear is a powerful force. In one way or another fear prevents people from getting what they want from life.

action cures fear. Indecision, postponement, on the other hand, fertilize fear.

Action cures fear.

When we face tough problems, we stay mired in the mud until we take action. Hope is a start. But hope needs action to win victories. Put the action principle to work. Next time you

hesitation only enlarges, magnifies the fear.

Your brain is very much like a bank. Every day you make thought deposits in your “mind bank.” These thought deposits grow and become your memory.

1. Deposit only positive thoughts in your memory bank. Let’s face it squarely: everyone encounters plenty of unpleasant, embarrassing, and discouraging situations. But unsuccessful and successful people deal with these situations in directly opposite ways. Unsuccessful people take them to heart, so to speak. They dwell on the unpleasant situations, thereby giving them a good start in their memory. They don’t take their minds away from them. At night the unpleasant situation is the last thing they think about. Confident, successful people, on the other hand, “don’t give it another thought.” Successful people specialize in putting positive thoughts into their memory bank.

Withdraw only positive thoughts from your memory bank. Let the others fade away. And your confidence, that feeling of being on top of the world, will zoom upward. You take a big step forward toward conquering fear when you refuse to remember negative, self-deprecating thoughts.

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Action cures fear. Isolate your fear and then take constructive action. Inaction—doing nothing about a situation—strengthens fear and destroys confidence. 2. Make a supreme effort to put only positive thoughts in your memory bank. Don’t let negative, self-deprecatory thoughts grow into mental monsters. Simply refuse to recall unpleasant events or situations. 3. Put people in proper perspective. Remember, people are more alike, much more alike, than they are different. Get a balanced view of the other fellow. He is just another human being. And develop an understanding attitude. Many people will bark, but it’s a rare one who bites.

4. Practice doing what your conscience tells you is right. This prevents a poisonous guilt complex from developing. Doing what’s right is a very practical rule for success. 5. Make everything about you say, “I’m confident, really confident.” Practice these little techniques in your day-to-day activities:

Be a front seater. Make eye contact. Walk 25 percent faster. ...

Where success is concerned, people are not measured in inches or pounds or college degrees, or family background; they

are measured by the size of their thinking. How big we think determines the size of our accomplishments. Now let’s see how we can enlarge our thinking.

The point is this: Big thinkers are specialists in creating positive, forward-looking, optimistic pictures in their own minds and in the minds of others. To think big, we must use words and phrases that produce big, positive mental images.

Look at things not as they are, but as they can be. Visualization adds value to everything. A big thinker always visualizes what can be done in the future. He isn’t stuck with the present.

It’s repeat business that makes the profit.

Practice adding value to yourself. Conduct a daily interview with yourself. Ask, “What can I do to make myself more valuable today?”

We can all learn a lesson from Harry. The “I’m doing my job and that’s enough” attitude is small, negative thinking. Big thinkers see themselves as members of a team effort, as winning or losing with the team, not by themselves. They help in every way they can, even when there is no direct and immediate compensation or other reward.

big things that make a good speaker: knowledge of what he’s going to talk about and an intense desire to tell it to other people.

Here’s a technique that works: before complaining or accusing or reprimanding someone or launching a counterattack in self-defense, ask yourself, “Is it really important?” In most cases, it isn’t and you avoid conflict. Ask yourself, “Is it really important if he (or she) is messy with cigarettes or forgets to put the cap on the toothpaste or is late coming home?” “Is it really important if he (or she) squandered a little money or invited some people in I don’t like?” When you feel like taking negative action, ask yourself, “Is it really important?” That question works magic in building a finer home situation. It works at the office, too. It works in home-going traffic when another driver cuts in ahead of you. It works in any situation in life that is apt to produce quarrels.

When you believe something is impossible, your mind goes to work for you to prove why. But

when you believe, really believe, something can be done, your mind goes to work for you and helps you find the ways to do it.

The traditional thinker’s mind is paralyzed.

Capacity is a state of mind. How much we can do depends on how much we think we can do. When you really believe you can do more, your mind thinks creatively and shows you the way.

is do what you do better (improve the quality of your output) and do more of what you do (increase the quantity of your output).

Big people monopolize the listening. Small people monopolize the talking.

Your ears are your intake valves. They feed your mind raw materials that can be converted into creative power. We learn nothing from telling. But there is no limit to what we can learn by asking and listening.

Remember, a mind that feeds only on itself soon is undernourished, becoming weak and incapable of creative progressive thought. Stimulation from others is excellent mind food.

The fellow who thinks he is inferior, regardless of what his real qualifications may be, is inferior.

The person who feels he isn’t important, isn’t.

LOOK IMPORTANT—IT HELPS YOU THINK IMPORTANT Rule: Remember, your appearance “talks.” Be sure it says positive things about you. Never leave home without feeling certain you look like the kind of person you want to be.

It costs so little to be neat. Take the slogan literally. Interpret it to say: Dress right; it always pays. Remember: look important because it helps you to think important.

Pay twice as much and buy half as many. Commit this answer to memory. Then practice it. Apply it to hats, suits, shoes, socks, coats—everything you wear. Insofar as appearance is concerned, quality is far more important than quantity.