The Magic of Thinking Big

Was referred by a friend, read it and find it very interesting and useful. The concept in book is nothing new but it’s reinforcement of things you have learned over year or in your childhood ( from parents or grandparents), it’s just that we forget them in mad rush of our lives!

Really nice book..

I recommend if you’re interested in reading about a new way of thinking, understanding, and mindset change

"THE MAGIC OF THINKING BIG" by David J. SchwartzThis is my second-time reading this book (first time being in 1999, shortly after I joined the Amway bizand shortly before I joined the Air Force), and after these years I still find it to be one of the best self-help books I've ever read. True enough, a lot of the material that Dr. Schwartz teaches within is seemingly common sense that should be boneheadedly obvious....yet in this day & age, common sense really ain't so common, and it's all to easy to lose track of the principles & power of positive thinking when we're surrounded by so much toxic negativity in the worldRANDOM STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS (and noteworthy passages):--p. 2: "There is magic in thinking big. 'If Thinking Big accomplishes so much, why doesn’t everyone think that way?' I’ve been asked that question many times. Here, I believe, is the answer. All of us, more than we recognize, are products of the thinking around us. And much of this thinking is little, not big. All around you is an environment that is trying to tug you, trying to pull you down Second Class Street." Hear, hear! Negative Nancys, Dream Killers, Debbie Downers, and Oxygen Thieves! Or as Gabe Suarez terms 'em, "Rats, Shoemakers, and Lizards."--p. 3: "...there is at least 50 times as much competition for jobs on Second Class Street as for jobs on First Class Avenue. First Class Avenue, U.S.A., is a short, uncrowded street." A First Class travel junkie like me takes heart in this!"....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.'" I've witnessed this myself repeatedly, in school, the military, law enforcement, and contracting alike.--p. 4: "Start out with this thought of the great philosopher Disraeli: 'Life is too short to be little.'" Ah, if only the late great USC Professor and leadership guru Warren Bennis (G-d rest his soul and Fight On Forever) were still around to discuss that particular quote!--p. 12: "Currently, there is some talk of building a tunnel under the English Channel to connect England with the Continent. Whether this tunnel is ever built depends on whether responsible people believe it can be built." And yes, Dr. Schwartz (may you Rest In Peace), the Chunnel has long since become a reality.--p. 37: "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.""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." [author's original emphasis]--p. 39: "Ask yourself, 'Am I using my mental ability to make history, or am I using it merely to record history made by others?'" Wow, powerful stuff right there!!--p. 50: "Jot that down in your success rule book right now. Action cures fear." [author's original emphasis]--p. 131: "Pay twice as much and buy half as many." (Regarding wardrobe)--p. 154: "Let’s face it. Some folks, being jealous, want to make you feel embarrassed because you want to move upward.....It happens in the military service when a clique of negative-minded individuals poke fun at and try to humiliate the young soldier who wants to go to officers’ school.....You’ve seen it happen time and again in high schools when a group of lunkheads deride a classmate who has the good sense to make the most of his educational opportunities and come out with high grades. Sometimes—and all too sadly often—the bright student is jeered at until he reaches the conclusion that it isn’t smart to be intelligent." I can relate from personal experience!--p. 165: "Go first class in everything you do. You can’t afford to go any other way." Life's too short to live it as a cheapo!--p. 182: "People like to be called by name. It gives everyone a boost to be addressed by name. Two special things you must remember. Pronounce the name correctly, and spell it correctly. If you mispronounce or misspell someone’s name, that person feels that you feel he is unimportant." (Similar to what Dale Carnegie teaches in "How to Win Friends and Influence People")

After reading Tim Ferris 4-Hour Work Week, I was moved to action by Tim's comment that Prof Schwartz's Magic of Thinking Big is one of the best books he has ever read. That sealed my decision to buy this book. The book has its heart in the right place but falls short in the practice of the techniques Key takeaways,1. Think +ve outcome, Think I am better than I think and Think big goals - These mechanisms allow you to develop the power of belief.2. Never underestimate your intelligence and overestimate the intelligence of others. Attitudes are more important than intelligence. Focus on those qualities that make you a winner.3. Build Confidence: Action cures fear, pin down your fear and then take action. Practice depositing successful thoughts in your memory not negative ones. Recall +ve experiences during eating/before bed time. Count number of reasons to be happy. Also learn to smile till your teeth show, Speak up and Walk 25% faster.4. Join and meet regularly one Professional Group. Think how an important person would think about the same issue you are thinking about. Model after them.5. Go first class in everything you do.6. Praise is power. Invest the praise you receive from your superior. Pass praise down to boost team's performance. Think what can I do to make my wife and family happy every day. Random special acts go very well. Call people by name.7. Create a list as to why you should like them. Practice liking people until you learn to do so genuinely. Don't expect everyone to score 100% , that leads to disappointments. Don't tell people they are wrong. No person is all good and no person is all bad. The perfect just doesn't exist.8. Tune to Channel P (Positive) and not to your Channel N (negative). Let the other person talk.9. If you don't produce , you don't get where you want to go. One fine way to prevent a war of words is to take a long pause before answering.10. Think of goals across work, home, and social categories. Think of 10 years planning guide. All successful people I personally know seem to do a variation of this one. They have a written version of this and not a hazy picture. Track a 30 day improvement guide for all the improvements you want to make. The Seinfeld technique would be ideal.11. Think like a leader: Trade minds with people you want to influence. Think like a human. Think progress. Take time out to confer with yourself and develop your supreme thinking power.Overall good ideas for its time and enables a solid framework. I would have preferred more ideas around how to implement these things in a more practical manner.Your enraptured in the power of thinking big reader,Fred