Think Deep. Start Small. Be Consistent. Grow Big.
I remembered some years ago when I first read the book, “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill, I loved most of the ideas that were shared in the book. Some of the ideas helped shape my early life.
The book also opened up my mind and made me search for more inspiration and success books to read. Ever since then, I have read several inspirational and success books, some of which include:
- Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter
- The Law of Success by Napoleon Hill
- The Cashflow Quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter
- Guide to Investing by Robert Kiyosaki
- Why Ask Why by John Mason
- Why We Want You to Be Rich by Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki
And some other good books…
- Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman
- The Art and Skill of Successful Negotiation by John Ilich
Reading good books is one of my key secrets to success. The more I read, the more I learn and the more I think better.
Think Deep
There are no limitations to the mind except those we acknowledge.
How much of your time do you set aside in a day, week, month or year to critically or creatively think of new ways of doing things, new ways of exploring some opportunities or new ways of solving problems?
I have noticed that the world honours and would continue to honour men who think deep. And some men of great success and ambitions in today’s world have set aside a special time that’s dedicated to thinking deep.
Let us look at some of them or read what they had to say about thinking deep:
Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours. — John Locke
Warren Buffett estimates that he spends 80 per cent of his working day reading and thinking.
I insist on a lot of time being spent, almost every day, to just sit and think. That is very uncommon in American business. I read and think. So I do more reading and thinking, and make less impulse decisions than most people in business. I do it because I like this kind of life. — Warren Buffett
AOL CEO, Tim Armstrong, for instance, makes his executives spend 10 per cent of their day, or four hours per week, just thinking.
Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn, schedules two hours of uninterrupted thinking time per day.
Bill Gates is famous for taking a week off twice a year just to reflect deeply. Family, friends and Microsoft employees were banned from his retreat. (Requires subscription)
Brian Scudamore, founder and CEO of O2E (Ordinary to Exceptional) Brands, sets aside all of his Monday for thinking.
Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Co-Creator of The Feast, has a “think week”, which consisted of a lot of yoga, meditation, reading, and eating.
Stefan Sagmeister takes a year off every seven years for his sabbatical.
Thinking is free and can be done by anyone at any time. However, not everyone schedules or map out a special time for critical or creative thinking. Am I confusing you with this thinking and critical or creative thinking talk? Now let me explain…
Thinking is the mental process, the act and the ability to produce thoughts. It is our normal regular thinking. Whereas critical or creative thinking is “thinking about thinking.”
Creative thinking is divergent, critical thinking is convergent; whereas creative thinking tries to create something new, critical thinking seeks to assess worth or validity in something that exists; whereas creative thinking is carried on by violating accepted principles, critical thinking is carried on by applying accepted principles. Although creative and critical thinking may very well be different sides of the same coin they are not identical (Beyer, 1987, p.35).
Furthermore, do not confuse thinking with worrying. Thinking produces a progressive positive energy while worrying produces a regressive negative energy. For example, you can think of ways to solve a problem (positive energy) or worry about it (negative energy).
Here are some quotes to help you differentiate between thinking and worrying:
Don’t dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energies on moving forward toward finding the answer. — Denis Waitley
Thinking works its way through problems to conclusions and decisions, worry leaves you in a state of tensely suspended animation. — H.B. Walker
Do not worry about the size of a project. Think of a large project as doing the dishes — one dish at a time gets it done. — Byron Pulsifer
Start Small
The way to do really big things seems to be to start with deceptively small things.
Thinking deep and coming up with some great plans does not necessarily mean you must start big. Most of the wealthy and most successful people around the world thought big but they started small.
You don’t have to be great to start anything you care about. But you have to start right now if you want to be great at some point in your life. The decision to start now is the most important step you can ever take to be the best and achieve greatness in what you want to do.
Some started from using their homes as offices, some started from their dormitory rooms, some started with borrowed money while some started with nothing but their thoughts.
Think deep and think big once in a while, but do not wait until you have all the resources before getting started. Start small with the little you have.
Be Consistent
Keep on keeping on, no matter how hard the going may be.
Let’s assume you have thought deep and started small, you need to be consistent with your plans and efforts.
For you to be consistently consistent, you need to understand your goals, you need to posses the 4 Ds’ (Drive, Determination, Discipline and Dedication) and you need to be hungry for success. It is at this “consistency” stage that those who would grow small would be separated from those who would grow big, irrespective of how deep they both thought or how they got started.
Grow Big
Both poverty and riches are the offspring of thought.
To grow big is an accumulation of small steps. Small steps of failures mixed with small steps of success. Small steps of disappointments mixed with small steps of favour. All small steps mixing together to form one BIG step.
There’s no successful man who never had some setbacks, some failures and some disappointments in life. To them, those were part of the learning processes or the building blocks to becoming successful. Besides, the world is not interested in what you had or will have to pass through, or the circumstances you had or would have to encounter, but in how successful you are or would become. The result is what they are interested in and that is what matters the most.
My Story
In March 2015, I had an accident that broke both the tibia and fibula of my right leg and the bones tore out through my skin. For the next one year, I had two surgeries and went through some severe pains, discomforts, stress and disappointments. Some persons say I now limp in my movements because of it but for me, I think I limp majestically.
However, if I fail to achieve a great success or fail to grow BIG in life, do you think having a leg break is enough excuse for failing?
Success requires no explanations. Failure permits no alibis.
There are persons who were born blind, lame, deaf or dumb and who grew up to achieve huge success in life. There’s no excuse if you want to succeed in life.
So, take some time off to think deep, start small with the little resources you have, be consistent in your efforts and grow big in life.
Originally published on JerryIhejirika.com.
If you loved this article, feel free to share it on social media and hit the love button below.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — -
Jerry Ihejirika is the owner of JerryIhejirika.com and creator of Jerry Ihejirika Career School. He teaches project managers how to discover their dream career path or get their dream job in the world of project management. You can get his FREE e-book titled, “6 Steps to Your Career Development in Project Management.”
