Book Synopsis: The magic of thinking big | 5 Key takeaways
The magic of thinking big is one of best seller books written in the self-help genre. It is penned down by David J. Schwartz. It was first published in 1957. The whole book revolves around the idea of building belief and attitude which determines your goals and success. It further concept of setting goals, personality building. Let’s dive into five major resonating ideas and my highlights :
1.Why thinking big?
“People do not fail because they think big and fail. But people fail because they think too small and they achieve it.”
Sandeep Maheshwari
In life, having a big picture, a vision that is greater than you, thinking big, and striving for it is the greatest human potential. David Schwartz:
“Case history after case history proved that the size of bank accounts, the size of happiness accounts, and the size of one’s general satisfaction account is dependent on the size of one’s thinking. There is magic in thinking big.”
“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.”
“Amazingly perceptive minds like Shakespeare, who observed, “There is nothing either good or bad except that thinking makes it so.”
2. Mr. Triumph Vs Mr. defeat:
The root cause of your every action is the thought. You cannot even imagine anything, consider any object without
An image formed in your head prior. There is always thinking before action. So What if you think victory instead of failure, progress instead of the gap.
David Schwartz explains it in the following terms of two kinds of thought going in your mind:
“Your mind is a “thought factory.” It’s a busy factory, producing countless thoughts in one day. Production in your thought factory is under the charge of two foremen, one of whom we will call Mr. Triumph and the other Mr. Defeat. Mr. Triumph is in charge of manufacturing positive thoughts. He specializes in producing reasons why you can, why you’re qualified, why you will. The other foreman, Mr. Defeat, produces negative, deprecating thoughts. He is your expert in developing reasons why you can’t, why you’re weak, why you’re inadequate. His specialty is the”why you will fail a chain of thoughts.
Both Mr. Triumph and Mr. Defeat are intensely obedient. They snap to attention immediately. All you need do to signal either foreman is to give the slightest mental beck and call. If the signal is positive, Mr. Triumph will step forward and go to work. Likewise, a negative signal brings Mr. Defeat forward. To see how these two foremen work for you, try this example. Tell yourself, “Today is a lousy day.” This signals Mr. Defeat into action, and he manufactures some facts to prove you are right. He suggests to you that it’s too hot or it’s too cold, business will be bad today, sales will drop, other people will be on edge, you may get sick, your wife will be in a fussy mood. Mr. Defeat is tremendously efficient. In just a few moments he’s got you sold. It is a bad day. Before you know it, it is a heck of a bad day. But tell yourself, “Today is a fine day,” and Mr. Triumph is signaled forward to act. He tells you, “This is a wonderful day. The weather is refreshing.
It’s good to be alive. Today you can catch up on some of your work.” And then it is a good day. In like fashion Mr. Defeat can show you why you can’t sell.”
3.How to think and dream creatively:
Creating new stuff is the biggest power of humanity. From all the major scientific discoveries to incredible pieces of art. All are the result of the creativity of some of the greatest of all times people. David Schwartz :
“Creative thinking is new and improved ways to do anything. Any type of success hinges upon ways to do better.”
Creativity is not about creating a perfect piece of art. It is just about creating what is coming out of your soul.”
How to improve creativity?
“Here are suggestions to help you develop creative power through belief:
- Eliminate the word impossible from your thinking and speaking vocabulary.
- ‘Think of something special you’ve been wanting to do but felt, You couldn’t.
Nothing grows 10 ice. If we let tradition freeze our minds, new ideas can’t sprout. Make this test sometime soon. Traditional thinking is personal enemy number one for the person, who is interested in a creative personal success program. Traditional thinking freezes your mind, blocks your progress, and prevents you from developing creative power. Here are three ways to fight it:
- Become receptive to ideas.
- Be an experimental person.
- Be progressive, not regressive”
4. Listen more, Speak less:
(From Chapter 4)
Become a valuable person. How? Give yourself enough value. One of the greatest indications of an important person is: He gives you the courage to communicate. He loves listening and less prone to sell your ideas. Another aspect is you question your every single belief, decision, and idea. Because learning starts with questioning. David Schwartz:
“In hundreds of interviews with people at all levels. I’ve made this discovery: The bigger the person, the more apt he is to encourage you to talk; the smaller the person, the more apt he is to preach to you. Big people monopolize the liste1ting. Small people monopolize the talking.
Note this also: Top-level leaders in all walks of life spend- much more time requesting advice than they do in giving it.
Don’t, of course, expect other people to give you ready-made solutions. That’s not the primary reason for asking and listening. Ideas of others help to spark your ideas, so your mind is more creative.
Try this three-stage program to strengthen your creativity by asking and listening:
1.Encourage others to talk. In personal conversation or group meetings, draw out people with little urges, such as “Tell me about your experience.
2.Test your own views in the form of questions.
3.Concentrate on what the other person says.”
5. But you have got to have brains to succeed:
In our lives, we fall into the trap of comparison. Comparison with others includes feeling superior to you or feeling inferior to you.
Both of them are deep valleys. If you feel superior that is complete foolishness. Because in whatever terms you are regarding others ahead of yourself. They are always relative and are false. So do not waste energy on this.
“Just enough sense to stick with something-a chore, task, project-until, it’s completed pays off much better than idle intelligence. Even if idle intelligence is of genius caliber. For stackability is 95 percent of ability.”
Instead, focus on thinking and knowledge.
“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!”
“Knowledge is power when you use it constructively. Closely allied to intelligence exclusives is some incorrect thinking about knowledge.
We often hear that knowledge is power. But this statement is only a half-truth. Knowledge is only potential power. Knowledge is power only when put to use and then only when the use made of it is constructive.”
Do not stuff your mind with stupid kind of information which is regarded as knowledge. Instead focus on creativity, understanding, and growth.
“The story is told that the great scientist Einstein was once asked how many feet are in a mile. Einstein’s reply was: “I don’t know; Why should I fill my brain with facts I can find in two minutes in any standard reference book?” Einstein taught us a big lesson. He felt it was more important to use your mind to think than to use it as a warehouse for facts.”
Originally published at https://theobstacleguy.com on January 13, 2021.
