Title The Magic of Thinking Big
Author David J Schwartz
Year Published 1959
Kind of Book self-help/Mindset
How strongly I recommend it 6/10
My Impressions A good ol' fashioned self-help book. The language is pretty dated and hokey, but it get the points across. Nothing revolutionary here, but good solid content nonetheless.
Date Read Jan 2019
Practical Takeaways
Think big (and you'll live big)
Believe, really believe you can move mountains
Think victory and succeed
Respect the leader. Learn from him. Observe him.
Don't worship your idols
Believe you can surpass you idols
Have faith in yourself
Fire Mr. Defeat. Use Mr. Triumph 100 per cent of the time. When any thought enters your mind ask Mr. Triumph to go to work for you
Join the select group of people who get what they want from life
Believe you can success
Think success don't think failure
Think 'I'll win' don't think 'I'll probably lose'
Remind yourself regularly that you are better than you think you are
Never sell yourself short
Think big goals
Ask yourself why some people are successful and others aren't
Study two of the most successful and unsuccessful people you know
Make successful action habitual
Cure yourself of excusitis
Live until you die
Refuse to talk about your poor health (talking about bad health is like putting fertilizer on weeds. It bores people. It makes you seem self-centered and old maidish.)
Be genuinely grateful that your health is as good as it is
Don't fill your brain with facts you can look up in two minutes-Albert Einstein
Switch from thinking you are old to thinking you are still young (most men work until 70)
Ask people for their suggestions (everyone loves giving advice)
Stop thinking 'I should have started years ago' instead think 'I'm going to start now, my best years are ahead of me'
Use the mantra 'action cures fear'
Ask yourself "What kind of action can I take to conquer my fear?"
Steps to cure fear and win confidence
Isolate your fear ie. Figure out exactly what you're afraid of
Take action
Be decisive
Recall positive experiences for your memory bank
Avoid doing anything that will cause you to ask yourself 'will I get caught?'
(for handshakes) clasp the other person's hand warmly, look directly at them and say 'I'm very glad to know you'
Be a front seater ie make it a rule to sit as close to the front as you can
Practice making eye contact
Walk 25 percent faster
Be the ice breaker
Consider joining you local toastmaster's club
Only put positive thoughts in you memory bank
Practice doing what your conscience tells you is right
Get your friends and other people around you to tell you what they believe your 5 chief assets are
Use big, positive, cheerful words and phrases to describe how you feel when someone asks "How are you today?" (eg. Just wonderful thanks)
Speak well of people who are absent from the conversation
Compliment people on their appearance, their work, their achievements, and their families
Give customers friendly courteous service
Ask "What can I do to make myself more valuable today?"
Before complaining ask 'is it really important?'
Believe it can be done
Eliminate the word 'impossible' from your thinking and speaking vocabularies
Think of something you've been wanting to do but felt you couldn't. Now, make a list of reasons why you can do it
Be receptive to ideas
Break up fixed routines
Ask "How can I do better?"
Increase the quantity of your output
Concentrate on 'How can I do more?"
Spend more time requesting advice than giving it
Listen to your customer's feedback
Test your views in others in the form of questions eg. "What do you think of the idea of…"
Let what others say penetrate your mind
Join and meet regularly with at least one professional group in your area of work
Join and participate in at least one group outside your occupational interests
Don't let ideas escape. Write them down
Read anything you can find which is in any way akin to your idea
Think that you are important
Look important
Never leave home without feeling certain you look like the kind of person you want to be
Dress right. You can't afford not to.-American Institute of Men's and Boy's Wear
Look at yourself through your superior's eyes
Look important (it will help you think important)
Dress up for an important exam. Have your suit pressed. Shine your shoes
Look sharp (you will think sharp)
Respect your appearance
Pay twice as much and buy half as many
Look your best (you will think and act your best)
Think your work is important
Ask yourself 'Am I worth in every respect of being imitated?"
Give yourself a pep talk several times a day
Think like important people think
Ask yourself 'What would an important person do if they had this idea?"
Ask yourself "Would an important person worry about this?"
Ask yourself "Do I look like someone who has maximum self-respect?"
Ask yourself "would an important person get mad about this?"
Avoid petty individuals
Chose companions with big ideas
Have close contact with ambitious people
Don't laugh at big ideas
Let negative thinking people slide off your back like water on a duck's back
Be careful about your source of advice
Go first class when you have questions
Select friends who have different views from your own
Be friends with people with potential
Guard your psychological environment
Call 'gossip' 'thought-poison'
Don't spread rumors
Don't encourage others to bring rumors to you
Do start conversations with "Don't tell anybody…"
Only say positive things about people when they are not present
Become enthusiastic in order to make others enthusiastic
If you don't like something dig deeper into it
Learn more about the things you are not enthusiastic about
Learn all you can about the place you move to
When you shake hands shake ie do it with enthusiasm
Smile with your eyes
Life up your thank yous
Show a few teeth when you smile
Put vitality into your speaking
Make your 'how are you?' sound really interested
Be the bearer of good news (not bad)
Make a habit of only speaking favorably about the weather
Whenever you leave a person ask yourself 'Does, that person honestly feel better because he has talked with me?'
Make little people feel like big people
Make people feel important
Let others know you appreciate what they do for you
Never let people feel that they are taken for granted
Give honest personalized compliments
Call people by their names
Spell people's names correctly
Pronounce people's names correctly
Pass praise down to your subordinates
Ask yourself 'what can I do today to make my family happy?'
Reserve Sundays for your family
Always give people more than they expect
Remember people's names-Lyndon B Johnson (10 point success formula)
Be comfortable to be around ie be an old-shoe, old-hat kind of individual-Lyndon B Johnson (10 point success formula)
Don't let things ruffle you-Lyndon B Johnson (10 point success formula)
Don't act like you know it all-Lyndon B Johnson (10 point success formula)
Be interesting in conversation-Lyndon B Johnson (10 point success formula)
Heal misunderstandings between yourself and others-Lyndon B Johnson (10 point success formula)
Practice liking people until you do so genuinely-Lyndon B Johnson (10 point success formula)
Congratulate others on their achievements-Lyndon B Johnson (10 point success formula)
Take the initiative to build friendships
Introduce yourself to people at every possible opportunity
Go out of your way to meet people
Don't be a reformer ie. Put a little more "live-and-let-live" into your philosophy
Like the guy your selling to (if you like him he will like you)
Find reasons to like the guy you're selling to
Find reasons to like people (if you like him he will more likely like you)
Treat customers like guests in your home
Don't be a conversation hog
Let the other person do most of the talking
Don't berate yourself when something doesn't go your way
Act on your ideas
Cross bridges when you come to them
Don't wait for conditions to be perfect before acting
Meet problems and obstacles as they arise
To fight fear, act
Don't wait for the spirit to move you. Move the spirit
Jump right into the task before you can think about how unpleasant it will be
Perform post-mortem to find out why it happened
Salvage something from every set-back
Be objective ie put yourself in a glass tube and look at yourself as a disinterested third party would look at the situation
Have the courage to face your faults
Don't run away from inadequacies
If you lose, learn
Plan at least 10 years ahead
Form an image of the person you want to be 10 years from now
Know where you want to go
Do what you like to do (career)
Face the day with a plan
Set deadlines for yourself
Give yourself self imposed quotas
Set monthly quotas for accomplishment
Build 30day goals
Invest in your education
Go to school one night a week for life
Read one stimulating book each month
To get others to do what you want them to do, see things through their eyes
Ask yourself 'would they like this gift?' not 'would I like this gift?'
Ask yourself 'What would I think of my superior if he were dressed like me?'
(For giving criticism)
Talk to them privately
Praise them for what they've been doing well
Point out the one thing they could do better and help them find a way
Praise them again for their good points
Practice praising people
Have high standards in everything you do
Set aside at least 30minutes every day to be completely by yourself
Master your mind-Publilius Syrus
Big Ideas
Others see in us what we see in ourselves
Taking action cures fear
More people go after the mediocre than the best because they are afraid of failure
We receive the kind of treatment from others that we think we deserve
The more successful an individual the less inclined they will be to make excuses
If you like people they will be more likely to like you
If you dress sharp your thinking will be sharp
Everyone loves giving advice
Talking about your bad health bores people. It makes you seem self-centered and old maidish.
Looking important will make you feel important
Surprising Facts
A personnel selection executive told me that he receives 50 to 250 times as many applicants for jobs that pay $10,000 per year as for jobs that pay $50,000 a year.