The Magic of Thinking Big

by David J. Schwartz

But, in truth, success doesn’t demand a price. Every step forward pays a dividend.

The how-to-do-it always comes to the person who believes he can do it.

Remember, the thinking that guides your intelligence is much more important than how much intelligence you have. Not even a Ph.D. degree can override this basic success principle!

Ask yourself, “Am I using my mental ability to make history, or am I using it merely to record history made by others?”

action cures fear. Indecision, postponement, on the other hand, fertilize 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 experience big fear or little fear, steady yourself. Then search for an answer to this question: What kind of action can I take to conquer my fear? Isolate your fear. Then take appropriate action.

Use this two-step procedure to cure fear and win confidence: 1. Isolate your fear. Pin it down. Determine exactly what you are afraid of. 2. Then take action. There is some kind of action for any kind of fear.

Give first-class treatment to your employees, and you get first-class cooperation, first-class output. Think first class about everyone around you, and you’ll receive first-class results in return.

Thinking right toward people removes frustrations and stress. When you boil it all down, the big cause of stress is negative feelings toward other people. So think positive toward people and discover how wonderful, really wonderful this world is.

Make yourself lighter to lift. Be likable. Practice being the kind of person people like.

Accept human differences and limitations. Don’t expect anyone to be perfect,

Tune in Channel P, the Good Thoughts Station. Find qualities to like and admire in a person, not things to dislike. And don’t let others prejudice your thinking about a third person. Think positive thoughts toward people—and get positive results.

Don’t blame others when you receive a setback. Remember, how you think when you lose determines how long it will be until you win.

1. Use the mechanical way to accomplish simple but sometimes unpleasant business and household chores.

2. Next, use the mechanical way to create ideas, map out plans, solve problems, and do other work that requires top mental performance. Rather than wait for the spirit to move you, sit down and move your spirit.

1. Be an activationist. Be someone who does things. Be a doer, not a don’t-er. 2. Don’t wait until conditions are perfect. They never will be. Expect future obstacles and difficulties and solve them as they arise. 3. Remember, ideas alone won’t bring success. Ideas have value only when you act upon them. 4. Use action to cure fear and gain confidence. Do what you fear, and fear disappears. Just try it and see. 5. Start your mental engine mechanically Don’t wait for the spirit to move you. Take action, dig in, and you move the spirit. 6. Think in terms of now. Tomorrow, next week, later, and similar words often are synonymous with the failure word, never. Be an “I’m starting right now” kind of person. 7. Get down to business—pronto. Don’t waste time getting ready to act. Start acting instead. 8. Seize the initiative. Be a crusader. Pick up the ball and run. Be a volunteer. Show that you have the ability and ambition to do.

Decide right now to salvage something from every setback. Next time things seem to go wrong on the job or at home, calm down and find out what caused the trouble. This is the way to avoid making the same error twice.

Put the trading minds principle to work for you. Consider the other person’s situation. Put yourself in his shoes, so to speak. Remember, his interests, income, intelligence, and background may differ considerably from yours. Now ask yourself, “If I were in his situation, how would I react to this?” (Whatever it is you want him to do.) Then take the action that would move you if you were the other person.

Here are two ways to use the be-human approach to make you a better leader. First, each time you face a difficult matter, involving people, ask yourself, “What is the human way to handle this?”

sometimes sooner, sometimes later, but it always pays. A second way to profit from the be-human rule is to let your action show you put people first.

Am I a Progressive Thinker? Checklist Do I Think Progressively Toward My Work? Do I appraise my work with the “how can we do it better?” attitude? Do I praise my company, the people in it, and the products it sells at every possible opportunity? Are my personal standards with reference to the quantity and quality of my output higher now than three or six months ago? Am I setting an excellent example for my subordinates, associates, and others I work with? Do I Think Progressively Toward My Family? Is my family happier today than it was three or six months ago? Am I following a plan to improve my family’s standard of living? Does my family have an ample variety of stimulating activities outside the home? Do I set an example of “a progressive,” a supporter of progress, for my children? Do I Think Progressively Toward Myself? Can I honestly say I am a more valuable person today than three or six months ago? Am I following an organized self-improvement program to increase my value to others? Do I have forward-looking goals for at least five years in the future? Am I a booster in every organization or group to which I belong? Do I Think Progressively Toward My Community? Have I done anything in the past six months that I honestly feel has improved my community (neighborhood, churches, schools, etc.)? Do I boost worthwhile community projects rather than object, criticize, or complain? Have I ever taken the lead in bringing about some worthwhile improvement in my community? Do I ...

You win when you refuse to fight petty people. Fighting little people reduces you to their size. Stay big.

Remember: if you think you are weak, you are. If you think you’re inadequate, you are. If you think you’re second-class, you are. Whip that natural tendency to sell yourself short with these tools: 1. Look important. It helps you think important. How you look on the outside has a lot to do with how you feel on the inside. 2. Concentrate on your assets. Build a sell-yourself-to-yourself commercial and use it. Learn to supercharge yourself. Know your positive self. 3. Put other people in proper perspective. The other person is just another human being, so why be afraid of him?

Successfully resist the temptation to argue and quarrel by: 1. Asking yourself, “Honestly now, is this thing really important enough to argue about?” 2. Reminding yourself, you never gain anything from an argument but you always lose something.

It is not possible to achieve large success without hardships and setbacks. But it is possible to live the rest of your life without defeat. Big thinkers react to setbacks this way: Regard the setback as a lesson. Learn from it. Research it. Use it to propel you forward. Salvage something from every setback. Blend persistence with experimentation. Back off and start afresh with a new approach.

No matter what you do and regardless of your occupation, higher status, higher pay come from one thing: increasing the quality and quantity of your output. Do this: Think, “I can do better.” The best is not unattainable. There is room for doing everything better. Nothing in this world is being done as well as it could be. And when you think, “I can do better,” ways to do better will appear. Thinking “I can do better” switches on your creative power. Think Big Enough to see that if you put service first, money takes care of itself. In the words of Publilius Syrus: A wise man will be master of his mind, A fool will be its slave.