The Magic of Thinking Big

by David J. Schwartz

All of us, more than we recognize, are products of the thinking around us. And much of this thinking is little, not big. All around you is an environment that is trying to tug you, trying to pull you down Second Class Street. You are told almost daily that there are “too many chiefs and not enough Indians.” In other words, that opportunities to lead no longer exist, that there is a surplus of chiefs, so be content to be a little guy. But this “too many chiefs” idea simply doesn’t square with the truth. Leading people in all occupations will tell you, as they’ve told me, that “the trouble is, there are too many Indians and not nearly enough chiefs.”

The basic principles and concepts supporting The Magic of Thinking Big come from the highest-pedigree sources, the very finest and biggest-thinking minds yet to live on planet Earth. Minds like the prophet David, who wrote, “As one thinketh in his heart, so is he”; minds such as Emerson, who said, “Great men are those who see that thoughts rule the world”; minds like Milton, who in Paradise Lost wrote, “The mind is its own place and in itself can make a heaven of hell or a hell of heaven.” Amazingly perceptive minds like Shakespeare, who observed, “There is nothing either good or bad except that thinking makes it so.”

Start now, right now, to discover how to make your thinking make magic for you. Start out with this thought of the great philosopher Disraeli: “Life is too short to be little.”

Belief, the “I’m-positive-I-can” attitude, generates the power, skill, and energy needed to do. When you believe I-can-do-it, the how-to-do-it develops.

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

Belief in great results is the driving force, the power behind all great books, plays, scientific discoveries. Belief in success is behind every successful business, church, and political organization. Belief in success is the one basic, absolutely essential ingredient of successful people. Believe, really believe, you can succeed, and you will.

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.

Belief is the thermostat that regulates what we accomplish in life.

I found this streak of self-depreciation showed through in everything I did. Then it dawned on me that no one else was going to believe in me until I believed in myself. “Right then I decided, ‘I’m through feeling second-class. From here on in I’m not going to sell myself short.’

Here is the first step toward success. It’s a basic step. It can’t be avoided. Step One: Believe in yourself, believe you can succeed.

Here are the three guides to acquiring and strengthening the power of belief: 1. Think success, don’t think failure.

Remind yourself regularly that you are better than you think you are.

Believe Big. The size of your success is determined by the size of your belief.

Study the lives of successful people and you’ll discover this: all the excuses made by the mediocre fellow could be but aren’t made by the successful person.

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.

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.

Think you’re weak, think you lack what it takes, think you will lose, think you are second-class—think this way, and you are doomed to mediocrity. But think instead, I am important. I do have what it takes. I am a first-class performer. My work is important. Think this way, and you’re headed straight to success.

Build your own “sell-yourself-to-yourself” commercial.

Remember: People who tell you it cannot be done almost always are unsuccessful people, are strictly average or mediocre at best in terms of accomplishment. The opinions of these people can be poison. Develop a defense against people who want to convince you that you can’t do it. Accept negative advice only as a challenge to prove that you can do it.

In the words of Publilius Syrus: A wise man will be master of his mind, A fool will be its slave.