The Magic of Thinking Big

(Originally published on my newsletter — here are previous ones)

I just finished The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz: What a great personal development book. Please find my notes — which I typed on my phone during my walks — below.

Here are some impressions from my recent Survival Run 2017 (more pics and videos here). As always, it was a hard, but a great endurance and willpower exercise:

(Pole position. Think BIG. Downside is, I went too fast on the first 1–2 km for which I paid the price later. The experience from a mindset perspective was totally worth it.)

(Always run with a smile. Wonderful spring weather conditions.)

Today’s idea

Think BIG

Today’s recommendations

• Are an introvert? Check out his TED talk: The power of introverts
• Twitter.com was purchased for $7500 in the early days. Don’t let the unavailability of domain names stop you. I recommend HugeDomains to find affordable domains for purchase. That’s where I purchased zenfriend.com in 2014.

The Magic of Thinking Big — David J. Schwartz

• “I’m going to live until I die, and I’m not going to get life and death confused. While I’m on this earth I’m going to live. Why be only half alive. Every minute a person spends worrying about dying is just one minite that fellow might as well been dead.” — David J. Schwartz
• “The right attitude and one arm will beat the wrong attitude and two arms every time.”
• Initiative (!!!) People with initiative get ahead, those without don’t
• Refuse to talk about your health if you have an ailment
• Never be a complainer
• Refuse to worry about your health
• “3 out of every 4 hospital beds are occupied by people who have EII — emotionally induced illness.” — Dr. Schindler in How to live 365 days a year
• Diabetes is a physical condition, but the biggest, but the biggest damage results from having a negative attitude about it. Worry about it, and you may have real trouble.
• Positive diabetic: “Sure it is an inconvenience. But so is shaving. But I’m not going to think myself to bed. When I take those shots, I just praise the guys who discovered insulin!”
• We underestimate our own brain power. We overstimate the other fellows brain power. Because of that, many people sell themselves short.
• Sell your abilities (!) and earn more
• Concentrate on your assets, discover your superior talents (!)
• Interest and enthusiasm are more important than brain power. It is the critical factor even in fields like science.
• The thinking that guides your intelligence is much more important than how much intelligence you have. Not even a PhD can override this basic success principle
• Who is valuable: People who can solve problems, who can think up ideas, people who can dream, and then develop the dream into a practical application. Fact memorizers are not valuable. Idea people are!
• It’s not how many brains you got. It’s how you use your brain that counts.
• Remind yourself daily: “My attitudes are more important than my intelligence.”
• Practice positive attitudes. See the reasons why you CAN do it and not why you CAN’T.
• Develop an “I’m winning” attitude
• Put your intelligence to creative, positive use.
• Don’t be a wishful thinker. Success comes through cause and effect. You need to create the causes to succeed!
• All confidence is acquired & developed. No one is born with confidence!
• Action cures fear. Indecision & postponement fertilize fear (!!!)
• Is hope enough? Why not take action to support your hope.F
• How to climb the job ladder: Let 2–3 of your close business friends know that you might consider an offer from another business, assuming of course it’s substantially better than your present job. It’s 10 times easier for a man to get another job, than it is for someone unemployed to connect. It’s always good to have an offer or two up your sleeve.
• When we face tough problems, we stay in the mud until we take action. Hope is a start. But hope needs action to win victories!
• When you experience fear the next time, ask yourself: What kind of action can I take to conquer my fear?
• Action cures depression
• Examples or fears and cures: Embarrassement because of personal appearance (= improve your appearance, go to a barber shop or beauty salon, shine your shoes etc.); Fear of losing an important customer (= work doubly hard to give better service, correct anything where a customer might have lost confidence in you); Fear of failing an exam (= convert worry-time into study-time); Fear if things totally beyond your control (= turn your attention to help to relieve the fear of others, pray); Fear of being physically hurt like a planecrash (= switch your attention to something totally different, go to a movie); Fear of what other people may think or say (= Make sure what you plan to do is right, then do it. No one ever does anything worthwhile for which he is not critizised!); Fear of making an investment (= analyse all factors, then be decisive, and stick with it. Trust your own judgement); Fear of people (= Put them in proper perspective. Remember: the other person is just a human being pretty much like yourself).
• How to cure fear: 1) Isolate it. Pinn down exactly what you are afraid of. 2) Take action. Remember: there is some kind of action for any kind of fear (!!!)
• Hesitation only enlarges & magnifies fear. Take action promptly & be decisive (!)
• Manage your memory bank. Only deposit positive, encouraging thoughts. Contemplate good & pleasant thoughts the way to work etc. This boosts confidence. It gives you the “I feel good” feeling.
• Before you sleep, recall pleasant thoughts and count your blessings.
• Psychological consultant: “You know, there would be no need for my services if people just did one thing: destroy their negative thoughts before those thoughts become mental monsters!” (…) “Most individuals I’m trying to help are operating their own private museum of metal horror.”
• Bury unpleasant thoughts and memories before they become mental monsters!
• A person can make a mental monster out of almost ANY unpleasant happening.
• Remember these two short sentences, next time someone declares (verbal) war on you: “Underneath he’s probably a very nice guy. Must folks are!”
• Motions (action!) are the precursor of emotions. You can’t control the latter directly. But you can choose your actions.
• If you want to think confident, act confident.
• Act the way you want to feel.
• Look at things not as they ARE, but what they CAN be. Don’t sell a rotten farm. Sell a horseback recreatiom center that can br built out of the old farm.
• When you feel like taking negative action, ask yourself: Is it REALLY important? That question works magic in building a finer home situation. It works at the office as well.
• If you believe something is impossible, your mind will find ways why it is. If you make an effort to believe it IS possible, your mind will start working to find creative solutions
• Think “What if?” or “That’s an interesting idea, tell me more about it”. It fertilizes creative thinking
• Ask “HOW can I do it better?” and not “Can I do it better?”. Successful people know they can.
• Ask “What do you think of this suggestion?” Get RAW MATERIAL for your decision making by asking questions, listening and involving others. This will hugely improve your decision making.
• The 60 sec Me Commercial — selling myself to myself 3 times per day
• Upgrade your thinking: Think like important people think
• Go first class! For everything that you think, say, do (and buy)
• Rule for buying clothes: Buy half as many, but twice as good clothes
• Don’t let small thinking people hold you back
• Get plenty of psychological sunshine. Circulate in new groups of people, discover new and stimulating things to do.
• Avoid gossip: Talk about people, but stay on the positive side.
• Watch your body and facial expressions. They communicate more thank you think.
• To activate others, you must first activate yourself
• To make others enthusiastic, you must first be enthusiastic yourself
• To get enthusiastic, learn more about the thing you are not enthusiastic about = “dig into it deeper”-technique
• How to develop enthusiasm toward other people: Use the “Dig into it deeper”-technique: Find out all you can about another person, what she does, his family, her background, his passions, his ideas and ambitions.
• How to develop enthusiasm toward a new city: Resolve to dig into the new community, learn all you can about it, mix with the people, make yourself think and feel like a community citizen from the very first day.
• In everythin you do: Life it up! Enthusiasm (or lack of it), shows through in everything you do and say.
• Life up your handshake. Make your handshake say: I’m glad to know you, I’m glad to see you again.
• Life up your smile. Smile with your eyes. Show your teeth. When you smile, smile!
• Life up your thank you. Make your thank you mean something. Express “thank you VERY much”
• Life up your talk.
• Color your words with sincere feelings
• Believe what you say. Say it with life.
• Say out-loud with force and vigor: I feel GREAT today! Make yourself alive all over.
• Broadcast good news. Good news develops enthusiasm.
• No one ever accomplished anything — win a friend, build a business etc. — by broadcasting bad news.
• Self-test: Whenever you leave a person, ask yourself: Does that person honestly feel better because she has talked with me?
• Spread good news when meeting people (e.g. sales prospects): “I met one of your good friends last week. He told me to say hello!”, “Since I’ve been here last, big things have happened: 350'000 new babies were born last month. And more babies means more business for both of us.”
• A successful CEO of a large bank answers the phone like this: “Good morning. It’s a wonderful world. May I sell you some money today?”
• Good news gets good results. Broadcast it.
• Grow the “You are important!” attitude. Everyone (!) want to feel important.
• Every human, each life, is important
• Share praise with your subordinates
• Ask yourself every day: What can I do today to make my wife and family happy?
• Give surprise gifts. It’s thoughtfulness that counts. It doesn’t need to be something fancy or expensive
• Example family time schedule: 7:30–8:30pm play 100% with kids, 8:30–10:30pm work, 10:30–11:30pm conversation with wife + full Sunday
• Want to make money? The put service first!
• The person who says he wants to be poor, usually suffers from a guilt complex, or a feeling of inadequacy. He’s like the youngster who feels he cannot make A’s in school, or make the football team, so he pretends he doesn’t want to make A’s or play football.
• When you have a “money first” attitude, you forget that money can’t be harvested unless they plant the seeds that grow the money. And the seed of money is service.
• “Put service first” is an attitude that creates wealth
• Example: Gas station serviceman who cleans windshield from INSIDE, because he noticed it was dusty.
• Always give more service than expected. Your customers will remember it. Extra service plants money seeds, which will pay off later.
• You don’t get a raise on the promise of better performance. You get a raise only by _demonstrating_ better performance.
• You can’t harvest money unless you plant the seeds that grow money. And the seed of money is service.
• The waitress who concentrates on providing the best possible service, doesn’t need to worry about tips. They’ll be there.
• Each little “extra something” you do is a money seed.
• Plant service, harvest money.
• Ask yourself every day: How can I give more than is expected of me? Then apply the answers. Put service first, and money takes care of itself.
• Success depends on the support of other people. You need co-workers, partners, customers!
• “Think right towards people”
• Take the initiative in building friendships. Make the first move.
• If you follow the rule of letting the other person build the foundation for friendship, you may not have many friends.
• It’s a mark of real leadership to take the lead to get to know people.
• Next time you are in a large group, observe something very significant: the most important person present is the one person most active in introducing himself.
• It’s always a big person who walks up to you, offers you his hand and says: “Hello, I’m Jack”
• Talk to strangers
• When you make a pleasant remark to a stranger, you make him feel one degree better. This makes you feel better, and helps you relax. It’s like warming up your automobile on a cold morning. It helps you.
• 6 ways to win friends by excercising just a little initiative:
• 1) Introduce yourself to others at every possible opportunity. Everywhere.
• 2) Be sure the other person get’s your name straight.
• 3) Be sure you can pronounce the other persons name the way she pronounces it
• 4) Write down the other persons name, and be mighty sure you have it spelled correctly. If possible, get his address and phone number also.
• 5) Drop a personal note or make a phone call to the new friends you feel you want to know better
• 6) Say pleasant things to strangers. It warms you up.
• Don’t wait for the other person. Take the initiative yourself. Be like the successful. Go out of your way to meet people. Don’t be afraid to be unusual.
• If you expect perfection from others:
• 1) Recognize the fact that no person is perfect. All humans have and make mistakes. That’s what makes them human.
• 2) Recognize the fact that the other felow has the right to be different. Never play God about anything. Never dislike people because their habits are different than your own, or because they prefer different closhes, religiok or automobiles. You might not approve those things, but you must. Ot dislike him.
• 3) Don’t be a reformer. Put a little more “Live and let live” into your philosophy. Most people intensely dislike being told “You’re wrong”. You have a right to your own opinion, but sometimes it’s better to keep it to yourself.
• Imagine how dull it would be if everyone was alike and perfect.
• No person is all good. No person is all bad.
• One thought, positive or negative, set’s iut a whole chain reaction of similar thoughts.
• To make the switch from negative to positive, you need just one positive thought. The chain reaction will take care of the rest.
• Watch out for negativity and make an effort to avoid it.
• “I like, really like the guy I’m selling to” — Successful insurance salesman
• Other sales people pretend to like their clients, but they are faking it. Not even a dog would believe them. You can feel it.
• How? “I always find some things I like about the other person. His job or something in his past for example. Then before I meet him, I go over my list of reasons why I like him.”
• “Because I like him, pretty soon, he likes me as well.”
• Customers should be treated as they are guests in my home
• The big cause of stress is negative feeings toward other people. So think positive toward people, and discover how wonderful, really wonderful this world is.
• How you think when you lose determins how long it will be until you win.
• There really is, as the saying goes, plenty of room at the top
• You need to be a person who gets things done. Action is the most important ingredient of success.
• You also need co-workers who get things done
• Cross bridges when you come to them
• Find solutions to difficulties as they arise. Don’t wait for perfect conditions, else you never take action.
• Action feeds strenghth and confidence. Inaction feeds fear and frustration.
• To fight fear, act. To increase fear, wait.
• It’s not the jump that creates fear, it’s the waiting _before_ the jump.
• Got stage fright? Get out there and start talking. Get the camera rolling. Inaction leads to fear. Action cures is.
• That’s why placebos work. The act of swallowing a pill cures the fear for the patient. He is able to relax, which leads to self-healing.
• Take Massive Action!
• How to write: Just sit down and start moving the pen. Just draw or write something. Get warmed up. Get in motion.
• Or: just sit down and start writing. Action cures resistance
• Nothing starts itself. You need to sit down and start. Action leads to action.
• The only way to start is to start. Drinking an extra coffee or doing an extra round around the block doesn’t help. You need to start.
• Mechanical action is a great hack. Just do it mechanically. Pick up the phone, dial the number and do it, like a robot.
• Mechanical action defeats dread
• People who get things done in this world don’t wait for the spirit to move them. They move the spirit.
• Pen and paper are a great hack. Whenever you need to think, write it down. This sharpens your mind.
• “Now” is the magic word of success. “Tomorrow”, “Someday” often means “never”.
• “Do we want to save or not. If we do, let’s start now!” “We don’t save because we think we can’t. Let’s start thinking that we can!”
• Don’t save what’s left after spending. Spend what is left after saving.
• “Spending money on savings” makes as much fun as “Spending it for random stuff”
• “Do or die” principle
• “Can do” principle
• “Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.” — Benjamin Franklin
• Think “Now!”
• Build a “Speak up” habit. Always contribute something. Each time you speak up, you strenghten yourself
• Build an “Initiative” habit:
• 1) Be a crusador: If you believe something ought to be done, pick up the ball and run! Often crusades start with one person, but often they quickly gain support.
• 2) Be a volunteer: Get those special assignments and display your abilities
• 10 out of 10 leaders are activationists. They do stuff, get shit done. The fellows who stay on the sidelines don’t accomplish anything, and don’t lead because nobody follows them.
• Please place confidence into the fellow who acts. They naturally assume that he knows what he is doing, and follow him.
• Do what you fear, and fear disappears.
• If you fall, always get up again. It doesn’t matter how often you fall, as long as you get up again.
• Learn something from each setback.
• Do post-mortems. Try to find out why you failed and try to identify improvements.
• “My blindness will actually be an asset in my career.” — Mr. Williams
• “Have the courage to face your faults.” And then take action to improve them.
• Being self-critical is constructive.
• View your mistakes as “Here is another way to make me a bigger winner.”
• Blaming others is destructive. You gain absolutely nothing from proving that someone else is wrong
• If you lose, learn!
• Always see the opportinities to grow bigger, and stop blaming luck.
• A lot of would-be writers simply aren’t serious about wanting to write. These writes are looking for a shortcut, but there isn’t one.
• But: Plain persistance isn’t enough either. You need to experiment, try different approaches. If you just keep doing the same things, you don’t improve.
• Edison conducted thousands of experiments before he invented the electric lightbulb
• Persistance blended with experimentation guarantees success!
• Don’t beat your head against the wall. If you are not getting results, try a new approach!
• Tell yourself: “There is a way”, “There is a way to solve this problem”
• It’s believing that there is a way which is important
• Marriages can only be saved if at least one partner believes that it is possible to win back happiness
• An alcoholic can only heal if he believes that he can solve it.
• That’s why so many businesses fail in the first five years. When the first real problems hit, they stop believing.
• A problem or difficulty becomes unsolvable only when you think it is unsolvable. Attract solutions by believing solutions are possible. Refuse to let yourself say or think that it’s impossible.
• Back off and start afresh: If we stay too close to a problem, we can’t see new solutions or approaches.
• Take weekend vacations, work on your garden. That’s when new solutions often appear.
• When you hit a wall, back off and get mentally refreshed. Get outside and take a break. No problem was ever solved by sitting at your desk for too long.
• There is a good side in every situation. Find it. See the good side and whip discouragement
• Use goals to help you grow
• Every bit of human progress, were first visualized before they became realities
• A goal is an objective, a purpose. A goal is more than a dream. It’s a dream being acted upon.
• Without goals, individuals just wander through life. They stumble along, never knowing where they are going, so they never get anywhere.
• Goals are as essential to success as air is to life. No one ever stumbles into success without a goal.
• The important thing is not where you were or where you are, but where you want to get.
• We can and should plan at least 10 years ahead.
• You must form an image now of the person you want to be 10 years from now, if you are to become that image.
• Most important lesson in career planning: Before you start out, know where you want to go.
• You are, in a sense, a business unit. Your talents, skills and abilities are your products. You want to develop your products so they command the highest possible price:
• 1) Visualize your future in three different departments: Work, home and social
• 2) Demand of yourself clear, precise answers to these questions: What do I want to accomplish with my life? What do I want to be? What does it take to satisfy me?
• 10 years planning guide checklist (see Chapter 13, bookmark in Audible)
• Always get a plan or a blueprint of what you want to do. Else you will have a shitty dog-house.
• The most important qualification for an executive: The sheer desire to get ahead.
• Become obsessed by your goals. This will give you the needed energy.
• Surrender to your goal, really surrender. Let yourself be guided by your unconscious mind, to fulfulill your purpose.
• “A man is not doing much, until the cause he works for, possesses all there is of him.” — John Wannamaker
• Desire, when harnessed, is power
• When we face the day with a plan, we get things done. Especially important on weekends and vacation days
• Set goals to get things done
• The quickest way to die is to retire and do nothing
• No medicine in the world is as powerful in bringing about a long life as is the desire to do something
• Get to your goals one step at a time: Every big accomplishment is a series of little accomplishments
• When having to march 140 miles, just think about the next mile. Lets get to that bridge. Lets get to this village to spend the night.
• When writing a book, don’t think about the next chapter or the next page. Think about the next paragraph and write it.
• How to quit smoking: Resolve to not smoke for one hour. When the hour is up, repeat.
• Important question: Will this help me where I want to go? If no, back off. If yes, press ahead.
• Create a 30 day improvement guide (Chapter 13, see Audible bookmark)
• Prepare to take detours when faced with obstacles
• If one road is blocked, take a different one
• Always have a Plan B and Plan C, for the case something unforseen happens
• We must invest in ourselves
• Profit only comes from one source: investment
• 4 Leadership Principles:
• 1) Trade minds with the people you want to influence (= get into someone elses shoes and view it his or her way)
• 2) Think: “What is the human way to handle this?”
• 3) Think progress. Believe in progress. Push for progress.
• 4) Take time out to confer with yourself and develop your supreme thinking power
• Practicing these rules produces results. Putting them to use in everyday situations takes the mystery out of that gold-plated word “Leadership”
• Whoever is under a man’s power, is under his protection, too.
• Be human.
• Dictotorship and “people as machine” approaches don’t work.
• Anybody can hire a man. The test of leadership is how one handles the firing.
• How to fix problems without hurting anyones feelings:
• 1) Talk to him privately
• 2) Praise the things she is doing well
• 3) Point out the one thing he can do better, and I help him find a way
• 4) I praise her again on her good points
• Ask yourself: What is the human way to handle this?
• Idea: “The Inspiring Teacher School” (only allowing great and inspiring teachers to stay. Rigorous quality management. Part ways the human way with the rest.)
• Test: What kind of world would this world be, if everyone in it were just like me.
• What kind of company/family/organization would this company/family/organization be, if everyone in it were just like me.
• The main job of the leader is: Thinking
• The best preparation for leadership is: Thinking
• Get 30–60 minutes of uninterrupted solitude every day, to think. All great leaders do it.
• How to think BIG in times of adversity:
• 1) When little people try to drive you down: Think BIG
• 2) You win when you refuse to fight petty people. Fighting little people reduces you to their size. Stay BIG
• 3) Expect to be sniped at. It’s proof that you’re growing
• 4) Remind yourself that snipers are psychologically sick. Be BIG, feel sorry for them.
• 5) When that “I haven’t got what it takes” feeling creeps up on you: Think BIG
• 6) If you think you are weak, you are. If you think you are strong, you are!
• 7) Look important. It helps you think important.
• 8) Concentrate on your assets. Build a “Sell yourself to yourself” commercial and use it. Learn to supercharge yourself. Know your positive self.
• 9) Put other people in proper perspective. The other person is just another human being. So why be afraid of her.
• 10) Think BIG enough to see how good you really are
• 11) When an argument or quarrel seems inevitable: Think BIG
• 12) Ask yourself: “Honestly now, is this important enough to argue about?”
• 13) You never gain anything from an argument. But you always lose something.
• 14) When you feel defeated: Think BIG
• 15) It is not possible to achieve large success without hardships and setbacks
• 16) Regard the setback as a lesson. Research it. Use it to prepell you forward. Salvage something from every setback
• 17) Success = Persistance + Experimentation
• 18) Back off and start afresh with a new approach
• 19) Think BIG enough to see that defeat is a state of mind, nothing more
• 20) When romance starts to slip: Think BIG
• 21) Concentrate on the biggest qualities of the person you want to love you
• 22) Put little things where they belong: In second place
• 23) Do something special for your mate, and do it often
• 24) When you feel your progress on the job is slowing down: Think BIG
• 25) Higher status, higher pay come from one thing: Increasing the quality and quantity of your output.
• 26) Think “I can do better”. Nothing in this world is being done as well as it could be.
• 27) Put service first, then money takes care of itself
• “A wise man will be master of his mind. A fool will be its slave.” — Publillius Sirus

My purpose in life is to learn, to grow, and to feel useful. This is why I am an entrepreneur. This is why I love books. And also, this is why I love sharing my experiences. Join my journey!