The Magic of Thinking Big

by David J. Schwartz

1. Look at your present age positively. Think, “I’m still young,” not “I’m already old.”

2. Compute how much productive time you have left. Remember, a person age thirty still has 80 percent of his productive life ahead of him.

And the fifty-year-old still has a big 40 percent—the best 40 percent—of his opportunity years left. Life is actually longer than most people think!

3. Invest future time in doing what you really want to do. It’s too late only when you let your mind go negative and think it’s too late. Stop thinking “I should have started years ago.” That’s failure thinking. Instead think, “I’m going to start now, my ...

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

1. Deposit only positive thoughts in your memory bank.

2. Withdraw only positive thoughts from your memory bank.

5. Smile big. Most folks have heard at one time or another that a smile will give them a real boost. They’ve been told that a smile is excellent medicine for confidence deficiency. But lots of people still don’t really believe this because they’ve never tried smiling when they feel fear.

Make this little test. Try to feel defeated and smile big at the same time. You can’t. A big smile gives you confidence. A big smile beats fear, rolls away worry, defeats despondency.

Smile big and you feel like “happy days are here again.” But smile big. A half-developed smile is not fully guaranteed. Smile until your teeth show. That large-size smile is fully guaranteed. I’ve heard many times, “Yes, but when I fear something, or when I’m angry, I don’t feel like smiling.” Of course you don’t. No one does. The trick is to tell yourself forcefully, “I’m going to smile.” Then smile. Harness the power of smiling.