The Magic Of Thinking Big - David J Schwartz

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THINKING IS DIFFICULT, THAT'S WHY MOST PEOPLE JUDGE
                         - INTELLIGENT INVESTOR

If you believe you can accomplish your goals, others will start supporting and believing you too:

Everyone has goals throughout their lives. These range from small tasks, like cleaning out the garage before the weekend, to life-changing achievements, like saving $20,000 in ten years.

When you are ready to start working toward your goals, you may wonder. How do I even begin?

The best approach to overcoming this scary question is simple; “Start believing yourself”. This means developing a mindset in which you feel 100 per cent capable of doing anything you set your mind to.

The more you believe in yourself, the more creative power is released. Believing in yourself also creates another great advantage: other people start believing in you too.

This is what a study by the McKinsey Foundation for Management Research found. They interviewed business, government, science and religious leaders to see what types of people they preferred to work with.

And what was the most desired trait in a candidate?

A sheer desire to get ahead – a trait which is contingent on how much a person believes in themselves.

This desire, or belief is what societal leaders associate with success. It is what keeps individuals motivated, regardless of any hurdles they encounter. This is a perfect quality in a candidate because it means they won’t give up.

Instead of memorizing facts, do what successful people do and sharpen your creative-thinking skills.

You might be familiar with the term “Knowledge Is Power,” which means that the more we know, the more we can do. This saying fails to distinguish between the two types of knowledge: 
Fact Memorization and Creative Thinking.

With Fact Memorization, you learn pieces of information and store them in the brain to be recalled later. But many of these remembered facts end up like old boxes in a garage: you have to work hard to access it when you need them.

Creative thinking, on the other hand, is focused on finding innovative solutions.

Fact memorization makes our brains rigid; creative thinking makes our brains adaptive and flexible.

One way you can help promote creative thinking is by diversifying your lifestyle.

For example, make sure you spend time with people who support you yet also challenge your beliefs and ideas openly. Or join a community group in an area outside your occupation.

If you are a car salesman, for example, you may find it interesting to join something as far removed from your line of work as a graphic design club.

This will bring new skills and – who knows – maybe allow you to eventually start designing advertisements for your company.

Eradicate all negative thoughts by thinking and acting positively, every day.

In today’s society, negativity is everywhere – from murders reported by the news to advertisements that try to make us feel fat or ugly. But it is not only the media being negative.

Even the people closest to us often spew “you-can’t-make-it-so-don’t-even-try” propaganda – for example, your best friends might start criticizing your dream of becoming president of a company.

After a while we get so used to negative thinking that it feels normal. Our negative thoughts work like mental monsters: the more we let them into our psyche, the stronger they become, until they completely overpower our positive thinking.

But the truth is that negative thinking isn’t normal or healthy. In fact, it is one of the main things that keeps people from becoming successful. This is why people who say “it can’t be done” are almost always unsuccessful or average.

Clearly, it is necessary to get rid of that negativity in order to achieve your dreams.

To do this, start thinking and acting positively every day. This will help you eradicate negativity by not giving it space to grow in your mind.

The best way you can do this is by writing yourself a pep talk that reads like an advertisement: a “sell-yourself-to-yourself” commercial in which you remind yourself of your best traits and of how they distinguish you from everyone else.

Say this “commercial” out loud in private at least once a day, and read it silently several times a day. Soon you will believe in yourself so much that the outside world’s negativity will deflect off you like rain off an umbrella.

For example, if you are a teacher and you recognize that you make your students laugh, remind yourself that this is what separates you from other teachers.

By recognizing this distinguishable trait, you are identifying yourself as an influential member of the faculty, which will boost your confidence and encourage you to contribute your best every day. 

No one is an island: success depends on the support of others, so treat everybody with respect.

Have you ever had a co-worker be mean to you for no reason?

Naturally, your first reaction would be to brand them as angry, or maybe even crazy.

However the fact is they are just like you – and chances are they are only reacting against you because they are being affected by something else going on in their lives.

Knowing this, you should still treat them as you would wish to be treated yourself: like an important individual.

If you treat everyone you know and encounter like they are important, you will notice eventually they will stop being mean to you and will start treating you the same way.

As you try and make your way to the top, these people will most likely be by your side. You will find their support, to be crucial for your own success.

Why? (Very Important point, remember this for the rest of your life)

Because it is rare for a single person to “Pull Themselves Up” to a higher-level job or position of success with no help. More commonly, you will be “lifted” by your equals and subordinates – the people around you.

So remember, at the end of the day, no one ever becomes a success on their own.

From the friends, you keep to the advice you take, ensure that your environment is of the highest quality.

You are probably familiar with the phrase “You Are What You Eat,” which implies you should follow a healthy diet if you wish to have a healthy body.

That same idea applies to your mentality: the way you think is influenced by what you see and hear. Your living space, your friends, what you read – all of these act as “MIND FOOD” and are instrumental in influencing your thought processes.

For example, prolonged association with people who gossip will make you more likely to gossip. Conversely, prolonged association with people who only speak positively of others will cause you to do the same.

Make no mistake: you are affected by the company you keep.

Therefore, in order to become successful, do what successful people do: create a high-quality environment for yourself.

Do this by making sure that your home, study area, work area, social circle and leisure time is all of the highest quality, meaning that they encourage you to grow as a person.

Also, be sure to surround yourself with the highest quality of friends – those who not only have their own ambitions but also believe in your ambitions and believe you are capable of achieving them.

Having this support system behind you will keep you motivated along the long, sometimes scary, path to success.

Destroy fear – the number one enemy of success – by building confidence.

The advice “Fear Is All In Your Head” is often given to help people overcome their hesitancy toward entering situations they are uncertain about.

The fact is that fear does exist. And it can become the number one enemy, preventing you from being successful in what you want to do.

A common fear is the fear of other people. This starts by forgetting that others are just like you. There are no “supermen” or “superwomen” – everyone is fundamentally the same as everyone else.

Nevertheless, this fear, if left unchecked, can have devastating effects on your success.

Regardless of what kind of fear you are facing, it needs to be known that all fears have the same antidote: CONFIDENCE.

Consider confidence to be an immune system protecting you against fear. The stronger your confidence, the less likely it is that fear will have a demoralizing effect on you.

What is one of the best ways to build confidence? Start acting confident – even if you do not feel it.

At first this will be difficult to sustain, but over time it will become natural. This is because you can manage your emotions by behaving the way you want to feel.

Try sitting in the front row during classes or presentations, making more eye contact with other people, and walking 25 per cent faster than usual.

These actions build confidence because they make you stand out from the crowd and cause you to increase your interactions with others – thereby strengthening your self-awareness.

Just remember that no one is born with confidence. At the end of the day, even the most confident people had to work for their confidence.

Reach your goals via two steps: devise a plan and, as you make progress, study all setbacks or mistakes you encounter along the way. 

If you are someone who knows what you want to do in life, 'Good Job'. However, on the path to success, that is the easiest part.

Goals are easy to generate but become pointless without action. And before taking action, you need a workable plan to make sure achieving your goal can become a reality.

A plan for success should describe the steps you need to take, how to take them, and when exactly you can expect to see results

Base your plan on the attitudes and techniques of successful people. Look at your idols and ask yourself, “How Did They Do It?”

Of course, even with the most rigorous plans, nothing ever goes 100 per cent as expected. When you encounter setbacks or delays, learn how to use these hiccups as opportunities to improve your chances of avoiding them in the future.

Doctors perform autopsies to better understand the cause of someone’s death, and the Civil Aviation Administration studies plane-crash sites to find out what went wrong.

This is because studying the cause of a problem or disaster teaches us how to avoid these things in the future.

And this is the same exact logic behind studying your setbacks.

After encountering a setback, never put your energy into discouraging or berating yourself. Only put your energy toward answering the question,

What can I do to make myself more deserving of the next opportunity?

So to reach your goals, first ensure that you have a workable plan. Remember, that no plan comes without its setbacks.

When they happen, analyse them – this way you are ensuring you continue forward on the path to success and you will be stronger than ever before.

I hope you loved reading this summary! 

Please Note: I have omitted many key points and examples from the book, if you have liked the summary I am sure you will love the book. 

Please go ahead and purchase the book and encourage the publishers. 

Here is the link The Magic Of Thinking Big (👈 LINK) 

Summary of Summary:

In order to become a success, the most important tool is self-belief.

Successful people are not overly talented or more deserving than other people – they are just more driven and more confident because of their self-belief.

These aspects lie within everyone, and once realized they make the path to success an accomplishable reality.

Listen more, talk less: Whether you are speaking with someone you have just met or with your childhood best friend, be sure to spend more time listening to what they have to say than talking about yourself.

In order to show others you care, you need to make sure your conversations focus around asking them questions and thinking carefully about their answers. The best questions to ask are the ones that challenge your beliefs or ideas, because they always lead to fruitful, engaging discussions.

Make it a habit to read regularly, it is food for your mind. The best part about being a community member of ‘Intelligent Investor’ reading is free and within your reach.

This is the 11^th best-selling book that we have summarised before you sleep decide to read 2 points randomly form any of the blogs. 

By doing this you will learn and update yourself regularly and this small habit will help you become a better person, change the old way of living and be more positive towards life over a period of time.

Dear Readers,

This blog is my personal attempt to help you.  If you find this article to be helpful, kindly share it with your near and dear ones.

I would be very glad to hear your feedback, in fact, it will motivate me to continue my journey of, Blog and Teach.

Thanks for reading, I hope you apply some or all the lessons learned and become a better person consistently.

All the best!! 👍👍👍

Cheers 🍹