“As long as you’re going to be thinking anyway, think big.” A famous quote from the billionaire real estate tycoon and the 45th president of the United States. Whether you like Trump or you don’t, it doesn’t matter. The key is that when you choose to think big, you start to attract big things into your life.
One of the most important characteristics that separate successful people from the unsuccessful is their thinking.
Successful people always choose to think big. They dream big. They imagine themselves playing it big.
When you are looking for a job and you get the chance to work at Google and another small, not-so-famous company, which one will you go for?
Most people prefer to go for big companies like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, etc. The reason is that these companies are known for their visions. They have big dreams of changing the world.
And people are naturally attracted to big thinkers.
You’d rather watch a sports game in the final rather than the qualification match, right?
Like what Marianne Williamson wrote in her book, A Return to Love:
“Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do.”
When you think big, you will start to make decisions and take action that brings you big results.
And life is short my friend, if you are going to make it, you might as well make it big.
Most people are conditioned to think small because of what they have been told and experienced in life. They tried to go big but failed. They tried to pursue their big dreams, but their parents, teachers, and friends told them to be realistic.
When you are still a child, your parents told you that you can’t do this and you can’t do that. When you raised your hand and asked a question in class, you get ridiculed when the question sounded a little silly.
All these experiences and what others have told you made you into someone who doesn’t dare to think big and dream big.
The good news is that you’re an adult right now. And you can take control of your own thinking. You can choose to think big or to shrink. You’re the one to decide on how you want to live your life.
So if you are going to think big, here are 7 ways that can help you expand your mindset and make you a big thinker.
1. Visualize the possibilities
Your thinking starts with your imagination. And since you are going to be thinking anyway, you might as well just think big.
Imagine and visualize the positive possibilities. Think about all the good things that can happen to you.
Stop letting your fear of success or the fear of failure stop you. Instead, choose to dream about the possibilities that life can offer.
Everything is possible. Like what Napoleon Hill said in his classic success book, Think and Grow Rich:
“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”
When he was 9-year old, he can’t speak fluently like other kids, causing teachers to believe that he was a slow learner. He was expelled from school for his rebellious nature and his father thought that he was a complete failure.
However, Albert Einstein proved them all wrong. Einstein was one of the most important and successful scientists in history. He developed the theory of General Relativity and won the Nobel Prize.
Albert Einstein was an important figure when it comes to thinking about the possibilities and using your imagination. Here’s what he said:
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. Logic will get you from A to B, but imagination will take you everywhere.”
In 1919, Walt Disney was fired by the newspaper editor and was told that he lacked creativity. Disney, the aspiring cartoonist pressed on with his dream and continued to dream about the possibility. Eventually, he created Mickey Mouse and Disneyland. And the rest was history.
Hence, keep your eyes on the rewards and the possibilities. Spend time thinking and imagining all the great things that can happen to you and your life.
This is the fundamental key to thinking big.
2. Expand your perspective through reading
Another great way you can transform yourself into a big thinker is to read more.
We’re often confined by our own knowledge. For example, you have no idea what a place will look like until you have read about it, heard about it, or visited the place yourself.
And reading is one of the easiest methods that can transform your thinking.
Oprah Winfrey, the successful and billionaire media mogul once called reading “her personal path to freedom”. She even created her own book club by recommending books to read to her followers.
“Books allowed me to see a world beyond the front porch of my grandmother’s shotgun house,” said Oprah.
You will never know how much more you can achieve until you read a book about all the possibilities.
Perhaps, you may think that a blogger can only earn a part-time income until you read about an article saying that there are bloggers who earned 6 to 7 figures income per month.
And that completely changes your thinking and shifts your beliefs about what is possible as a blogger.
This is why it is extremely important to read.
The more you read, the more knowledge you gain and the better you can expand your view.
This is why I read every day. I used to read about 2 books a month. But this year, I have committed to reading 4 books a month. A book per week. This is to expand my thinking and also to maintain my motivation.
Want to know what books to read? Check out my recommendation of success books here.
3. Enlarge your dreams by networking with other successful people
Like I said above, you can expand your thinking through reading or by gaining experience. And when you network with other successful people who are doing much better than yourself, you are expanding your thinking.
If you have a million dollars cash in the bank, you may think that you are rich. But what if one day, you visit a friend, and his house’s door alone cost $1 million to create?
This is the exact experience that Tony Robbins went through. He wrote the experience in his best-selling book, Awaken The Giant Within:
“I’ll never forget the first time I met architect and hotel magnate Chris Hemmeter. Becky and I had the privilege of being among the first people to be invited to visit Chris’s new home, along with his family, in Hawaii—a $70 million residence that is beyond verbal description. The front door alone cost $1 million to create.
While your rules may say, “That’s an incredible waste of money,” it was also an unbelievably expanding experience of what is possible in terms of business or economic growth.
Suddenly, my $4 million Castle was put in perspective. It barely covered the cost of his front door and marble stairway! Certainly, there was room in my life for thinking bigger, pushing limits, imagining the unimaginable.”
Therefore, when you network and make friends with other successful people who are doing much better than you, you will be surprised by how much more you can achieve in your life.
When you talk to people who think big, you will expand your thinking and encourage yourself to think bigger too.
4. 10X your thinking
If you want to think big, you must 10X your thinking. What is your income goal? 10X that goal. What kind of success are you looking for? You need 10X the results you want.
Many people are living far below their expectations because they think small. They don’t have big dreams.
You see, when you have a big dream and you put in the action, you will be doing much better than most ordinary people who think small or who don’t even dare to dream.
The thing is that most people have been conditioned to play it safe and small. They have no idea that they are thinking small. And this is why when it comes to thinking, setting your goals, and achieving success, you must 10X them.
One thing you have to understand is that thinking 10 times bigger doesn’t mean that you will have to work 10 times harder.
When you elevate your thinking and make your goal bigger, it means you will have to implement a different strategy. You need a more creative approach to achieve what you want.
For instance, the strategy of earning $10,000 a month is totally different from the strategy you need to earn $100,000 a month.
Plus, you also don’t want to set a goal that you don’t believe you can achieve. When you don’t believe that your goal is possible, you will self-sabotage and procrastinate on it.
Learn how to set and achieve your goals, check out my guide…
Hence, 10X your goals and targets. If your goals don’t scare you, probably, you are not thinking big enough.
5. Get rid of your limitation
In order to think big, you must get rid of your limitations. Stop putting a roadblock that stops you from thinking big.
Most people are chained by roadblocks such as they think that they don’t have the time, they don’t have the money, they don’t have the skills or knowledge, etc.
The problem is that what you want to achieve is in the future, but you are gauging your ability based on your current situation. And you must not think it this way.
Yes, you may be poor right now and you may not have many successes in your life now, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t be successful.
Thus, don’t let these limitations stop you. Instead, choose to think beyond these limitations. After all, your limits are just temporary.
If you think that you are poor and you don’t have the money, it doesn’t mean that you will stay poor forever. The situation is just temporary and you can change the situation.
If you think that you don’t have the skill or you are not good enough, you can always commit to learning and improving.
The key to thinking big is to NOT let your limitation stops your thinking.
If you want to know what kind of dream life you want to live, just ask yourself this 100 million dollars question:
“What will I do if I have $100 million dollars cash in the bank?”
When you think it this way, you take the restriction out of your thinking.
What will you do if you have all the money in the world? What goal will you pursue if you can learn anything and become good at it? What will you do if you have the time and money to achieve whatever you want?
When you take the limits out of your thinking, you will begin to think big.
6. Think long-term
People think small because they are thinking short-term. When you think short-term, you basically limit yourself to what you can achieve.
Bill Gates, one of the richest men in the world once said:
“Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.”
Success will never come to you overnight. You need to think long-term in order to think big.
When you think long-term, you will outdo the competitor. Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon is truly someone who is obsessed with the future.
And to help achieve his mission of fostering long-term thinking, Bezos started a project to build a 10,000 years clock. You can read more about the project here.
You have to understand that every big success comes from small achievements. Every master was once a beginner.
This is why to think big, you must go long-term.
Long-termed thinking takes you out of your comfort zone. It attracts bigger opportunities and makes you grow.
Recommended reading:
How to Think Long-Term: 7 Tips to Foster Your Long-Term Thinking
7. Be curious to explore, dream, and discover
Here’s a famous quote that I like a lot from Mark Twain:
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
The above inspiring quote said it wisely. You have nothing to be afraid of. So just throw off the bowlines and sail away from your safe harbor.
Dare to explore, dream and discover.
You must always be curious to explore, discover, and dream. What if you have the potential to live your dream life but you choose to play it small all this while?
You will never know what you are capable of until you do it.
When Arnold Schwarzenegger pursued his dream in the bodybuilding industry, people told him it was impossible. But he did it.
After he succeeds in his bodybuilding career, he wanted to become a famous Hollywood actor. Again, people told him that his body was too bulky, his accent was awkward, and his name was too difficult to pronounce.
But Schwarzenegger ignored them all and chose to continue to dream the impossible and pursue what he wanted. Eventually, he proved them all wrong.
According to Arnold and his 6 Rules to Success, he said he loved it when someone says that no one has ever done it before because if he did it, he will be the first one to do it.
Therefore, ignore the naysayers. Don’t listen to people who tell you that it is impossible or it can’t be done.
You must maintain your desire and keep your drive high. More importantly, always be curious to learn, explore, and discover.
And when it comes to thinking, choose to think big. That’s how you can attract big success in your life.
Conclusion
Your ability to think big and to stick to your thinking is one of the most important factors that will determine your success in life.
People who choose to dream small and play it safe will never achieve great success in life.
Hence, choose to think big, my friend. Choose to play it big.
One of the most respected and big thinkers is none other than Steve Jobs, the man who wants to put a dent in the universe. Read his quote below and start thinking big:
“Start small, think big. Don’t worry about too many things at once. Take a handful of simple things to begin with, and then progress to more complex ones. Think about not just tomorrow, but the future. Put a ding in the universe.”
[…] 7 Ways How to Think Big to Achieve Big Success in Life […]
This content is very rich and helpful.
Many thanks to the creator of the content.
Loved this blog post. I write about mindset also and found this extremely informative and inspirational. ‘Think big’ was the reminder I needed. Too often I fall into the trap of putting limitations on my goals and it isn’t an enjoyable way to live.
Hey George, great to know you like this post… 🙂
[…] are often confined by their knowledge. If you want to think big, expanding your thinking is key. A great way to do this is through reading. For example, say you believe trade careers […]