The Magic Of Thinking Big

“[…] success is determined not so much by the size of one’s brain as it is by the size of one’s thinking.”

If people imagine that they’ll likely get typical results from their efforts, those are the results they’ll get. If, though, they dare to imagine much more impressive results, then that’s what they’re likely to get. How people think about the future tends to generate that type of future for them; the outcomes are limited, not by circumstance, but by what one believes is possible. This is David Schwartz’s fundamental thesis.

“The basic principles and concepts supporting The Magic of Thinking Big come from the highest-pedigree sources, the very finest and biggest-thinking minds yet to live on planet Earth. Minds like 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’; minds like Milton, who in Paradise Lost wrote, ‘The mind is its own place and in itself can make a heaven of hell or a hell of heaven.’ Amazingly perceptive minds like Shakespeare, who observed, ‘There is nothing either good or bad except that thinking makes it so.’”

Schwartz writes how his ideas have been around for thousands of years, and how many great historical figures have espoused them. Schwartz isn’t making up his theories out of nothing, but instead picks up on a history of beliefs and carries them forward for the modern age. Schwartz gives recent examples that he feels show how and why they work.

“You can’t wish yourself into an executive suite. Nor can you wish yourself into a five-bedroom, three-bath house or the high-income brackets. You can’t wish yourself into a position of leadership. But you can move a mountain with belief. You can win success by believing you can succeed. There is nothing magical or mystical about the power of belief. Belief works this way. Belief, the ‘I’m-positive-I-can’ attitude, generates the power, skill, and energy needed to do. When you believe I-can-do-it, the how-to-do-it develops.”

Schwartz makes a distinction between hoping for an achievement and knowing that it can be achieved. Merely yearning for a result that seems impossible won’t accomplish anything. He argues instead that the belief in success kickstarts the process of moving toward it. Energy will be expended, and the desired outcome won’t appear without effort, but that process can be an inspiring and satisfying journey in its own right, topped off by a big win at the end.