The Magic of Thinking Big - Chapter 04

Train yourself to see possibilities even in seemingly untenable situations. Ask yourself, "what is this good for? What are the possibilities? Who might benefit? How?"

Create for yourself a concrete, desirable future vision that draws you in and makes you see opportunity where most people only see despair.

Visualize and articulate the promise.

Dr. Schwartz gives us several examples to illustrate this point, chief among them being the customer lifetime value. Salespeople often look down on customers who make smaller purchases because we're all chasing the big ticket items for which we'll receive monster profits. But we forget that most customers buy from us repeatedly, possibly spending more and more with each visit. But if we annoy them when they make that first small purchase, they may never return, effectively depriving us of thousands of rands worth of income.

It's not their fault. They deserve the best service, no matter how little money they spend, and they know it.

It's our fault. We can't think beyond our commissions for this month. and because of this, we cost ourselves even more possible commissions in the future.

As a practical exercise, Dr. Schwartz suggests that you practice adding value to things. When you walk into a room, ask yourself, "what can I do to ads value to this room, or this business, etc.?"

Do the same for people. Ask yourself, "what can I do to add value to my friends, colleagues, family, etc.? What can I do to help them become more effective?"

Practice adding value to yourself.

Ask, "What can I do to make myself more valuable?"

Instead of only being concerned with what you will personally benefit, rather add value and become so indispensable that they can't live without you.

Whatever you're about to do, ask yourself, is it really important? Don't get yourself worked up over petty matters that can be avoided.