The Magic Of Thinking Big Summary

BookSummaryClub Blog The Magic Of Thinking Big Summary

Many people today have a tendency of thinking too little of themselves. Unfortunately, what you think of yourself you become. In his book The Magic of Thinking Big, David J Schwartz describes the art of thinking big and how you can make it a habit for you. This bestseller was first published in 1965, and it contains timeless advice that will give you a brand new outlook of yourself.

Remember your success will be determined by the size of your thinking. In this The Magic of Thinking Big summary we take a look at the book and the techniques stated in it which can help you change the way you think about yourself and learn to think big.

Believe you can succeed and you will – every human being wants success. Although success is different for different people, it can generally be said to be achievement. People who believe that they can succeed do succeed because they put in the hard work required. It is not only supposed to be faith but faith with actions.

If you believe you will rise to the top of your company, start studying the executives. Learn their mannerisms, how they behave, how they think and everything else you can and soon enough you will be there. Strong belief triggers your mind to think in exceptional ways to make it happen.

Cure yourself of excusitis, the failure disease – highly successful people are less inclined to make excuses. Failures have the four common excuses that they make as described by David;

  • But my health isn’t good
  • But you’ve got to have the brains to succeed
  • It’s no use. I’m too old (too young)
  • But my case is different. I attract bad luck

David has provided how you can cure yourself of all these types of excusitis. Without excuses, you will take charge of your life and aim to always perform to the best.

Build confidence and destroy fear – fear is one of the most potent forces that is causing many people to achieve very little and therefore enjoy little. You can combat fear by building your confidence so that you are able to go boldly and do whatever it is that you need to do.

Understand that no one is born with confidence. All confidence is developed, so work on developing yours. Deposit and withdraw only positive thoughts in your memory bank and you will not have a problem with confidence.

How to think big – David states that the size of your accomplishments is determined by how big you think. The worst thing that you can do to yourself is self-deprecate or sell yourself short.  You must think big about yourself. When you think big, you change the mental picture of yourself and how you view issues. Supposing you tell your employees that “we have failed.”

They see the mental picture of defeat. However, if you tell them “we face a problem” their minds start looking for solutions and it becomes pleasant. To think big you must learn to use words and phrases that produce big positive images.

How to think and dream creatively – to develop creative thinking you have to;

  • Believe it can be done – when your mind believes that it can be done, it creates the way to do it.
  • Be receptive to new ideas. Do not hold on to traditions.
  • Ask yourself every day how you can do better
  • Ask yourself how you can do more
  • Stretch your mind
  • Practice asking and listening

You are what you think you are – some people command loyalty, confidence, and respect while others do not. This is because of the way they think about themselves. Thinking regulates actions and therefore what you think of yourself is what you become and eventually what you will portray to people.

How you think determines how you act and how you act determines how others respond to you. David suggests that you; look important, think your work is important, and keep giving yourself a pep talk through the day.

Manage your environment: go, first class – your mind is what you feed it. What you feed your mind is what is around you in your environment. Your environment shapes your size of thinking, your goals, your attitudes, and even your personality. You, therefore, need to recondition yourself for success by changing your future environment to a first-class one.

Make your attitudes your allies – your attitude says more than words can. It is a universal language that breaks all barriers. You do not need to hear any words to tell the kind of attitude someone has towards their customers for instance or other people they meet. This is because attitude affects the way they behave.

If you need to get your mojo back, ensure that your attitudes are working for you not against you. Negative views are usually just as a result of negative emotions.

Think right toward people – “success depends on the support of other people.” when you have understood and mastered that principle then you will be on the right track in how you treat people.

When you think right toward people, you do not treat them with contempt, and therefore you become likable to them. People who like you are more inclined to help you achieve your success.

Get the action habit – one of the most significant problems that people have is they are unable to get results. This is the reason why many people who are often qualified for top jobs do not get them. Because they are not results oriented.  Learn to act on ideas and follow through until you get the results.

How to turn defeat into victory – sometimes you will encounter some setbacks. David advises that you should “salvage something from every setback.” This means that you should not become too emotionally upset that you miss learning the lesson from the setback.

Learn and grow so that you will not find yourself in the same situation again or if it arises you will triumph through it with ease.

Use goals to help you grow – “nothing happens, no forward steps are taken, until a goal is established. Without goals individuals just wander through life. They stumble along never knowing where they are going, so they never get anywhere. “You should have clear and concise goals set out.

For them to really be your goals, you need to act on them. Achievement of goals is an excellent motivator that will always send you to the next target and the next one until you have grown.

How to think like a leader – “Achieving high-level success requires the support and the cooperation of others. And gaining this support and cooperation of others requires leadership ability. Success and the ability to lead others-that is, getting them to do things they wouldn’t do if they were not led-go hand in hand.” The four leadership principles that will help you are;

  • Trade minds with the people you want to influence
  • Think: what is the human way to handle this?
  • Think progress, believe in progress and push for progress.
  • Take time out to confer with yourself and develop your supreme thinking power.

What I Like About The Book

At the end of every chapter, the author gives a summary of some of the main ideas. This makes it easy to understand and go through the book. The book is also very well crafted, well detailed and easy to understand. It is actionable and life changing too.

Why You Should Read The Book

You should read this book if you have a problem thinking and feeling positive about yourself. If you feel stagnant at work or generally in life, this book will help to give you the kick you need to find your enthusiasm and motivation.

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