How to Think Bigger: Aim Higher, Get More Motivated, and Accomplish Big Things

by Martin Meadows

Some anthropologists1 suggest that members of the upper middle class are most driven to achievement. Unlike the poor, they’re not struggling to get by. And unlike the rich, they still feel hunger to achieve more.

One simple change – replacing news and mass media with books – can produce dramatic changes in your life.

Surrounding yourself with empowering books and people on a daily basis will put you into a positive state that will inspire you to raise your standards. Please keep in mind it’s a process of conditioning, and it’s never-ending.

There are two kinds of ambitious people – people who have big goals and act on them, and people who say “one day I’ll do X,” but never do it. The difference between these two kinds of people is, among others, their level of energy and urgency.

If your body doesn’t work on the highest level, how are you supposed to work on the big goals?

The second difference between “someday” people and people who take action right away is their sense of urgency. What drives them to achieve more is their perception of time – life is short, and they want to make the most out of it. Hence, they set big goals. They don’t have time to work on small thinking, because it’s only the bold ideas that will lead to exponential results.

For years, I was an extremely shy person. My crippling shyness cast a shadow on my life and blocked me from realizing my full potential. It was only when I overcame shyness that I observed dramatic changes in other areas of my life and could focus on the bigger goals.

Successful people don’t have time for small thinking because they want to make the most out of their time on Earth.

Without a powerful “why,” big achievements are close to impossible. We all need strong internal motivation to act on our goals.

We can draw a conclusion that past $75,000 in annual income, money (and things it can buy) won’t motivate you to think bigger, as it won’t affect your well-being.

Intrinsic motivation is about enjoyment, fulfillment, or challenge – anything that comes from within you rather than the influences outside of you.

If you’ve been trying to motivate yourself to work on a certain goal, write down your vision. If you’ve written it properly (meaning: it fires you up so much you’re restless), you should no longer struggle with procrastination.

Your mind will either help you achieve your goal or sabotage you. It gives you exactly what you feed it. Give it self-doubt, and you’ll get self-defeat. Give it empowering thoughts, and it will be your best pal.

By creating your vision, and most importantly, re-reading it every single day and visualizing the outcome, your mindset will shift and your physiology will reflect it. You’ll get more energized to work, you’ll increase your discipline, and you’ll get more focused and fired up to keep going.

every single day, develop more certainty in your abilities to succeed. Put yourself in a prime state by visualizing and anchoring.

There’s no way to make a permanent change to your body if you don’t change your mindset.

Growth happens outside comfort zone. Security leads to mediocrity.

When you look at some of the most successful people on the planet, like Richard Branson or Jeff Bezos, it’s clear to see that all of them have the mentality of a winner.

By putting focus on your customer, you constantly raise your standards and innovate instead of merely following the competition so you don’t lose.

If there’s one thing that is shared by every successful person, it is that they all hang out with other successful people. For a good reason – once you start thinking big, people who haven’t grown with you won’t be able to relate to you. It’s a price you need to pay for achievement – some relationships will weaken, while some will end.

The more you simplify the goal you want to achieve, the easier and faster you’ll achieve it.

First and foremost, the most effective way to develop your self-efficacy is through achieving small wins and persisting in face of obstacles

Self-efficacy is the starting point for all achievements in your life. Without the belief that you can achieve a certain goal, you’ll subconsciously sabotage yourself, either by putting too little effort or not even planning how to reach your objectives.

“If you have a 10 year plan and know how to get there, you have to ask: why can’t you do this in 6 months?”

Often the only reason why we postpone acting on our goals is a lack of confidence in our abilities. The only solution to this problem is to start – self-efficacy won’t build itself. The impossible is possible, but only if you start.

“Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling five balls. The balls are called work, family, health, friends, and integrity. And you’re keeping all of them in the air. But one day you finally come to understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls… are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered.50”

Keller suggests the third approach – counterbalancing. With this approach, you never go long periods of time without paying attention to your personal life. It always gets a similar level of focus. With your work life, you frequently go to the extremes, but only for short periods of time so your personal life won’t suffer. This approach requires you to sacrifice the unessential aspects of your work in pursuit of working on the biggest things.