The Magic of Thinking Big - Chapter 10

Getting things done - getting results - is the main thing that separates big thinkers from everybody else. Thinking positive has its place, but it can't make you successful unless you take action. After you've thought the thought, talked the talk, you have to walk the walk. Nothing happens otherwise.

The gist of this chapter reminds me of a passage I wrote some time ago entitled, "You either make excuses for the thing you want or against the thing you want." Making excuses for the thing you want inspires you to action. It gives you reasons to push forward. It reminds you of your bigger purpose and helps you think of creative ways to achieve the result you want. You build empowering habits.

On the other hand, making excuses against the thing you want fills you with excuses and negative thinking. You don't move closer to the things you want.

Think of ways to accomplish your goal, instead of thinking why you can't. Once you make the decision, then providence moves too. You can't affordable to wait for conditions to be perfect. They will never be perfect. All you have to do is decide what you want to achieve. Figure out what you need to do to get the result you want. And then do what is required, not what is comfortable. Do what is required.

No matter how perfect you think your plan is, there will always be unexpected things showing up to derail you. So expect obstacles along your path. Life is full of risks. Learn to work with them.

Somebody said the size of your bank account is determined by the size of problems you can solve. All businesses are based on solving problems. You solve a problem for a client, the client pays you. You solve small problems, you get paid little money. You solve big problems, you get paid big money.

Dr. Schwartz advises that you use action to cure fear and gain confidence. The more you delay, the more you allow fear to creep in. With action, the fear fades away.

The author gives a technique to get things done even when we don't feel like it. It's as simple as this: do the thing, even if it feels like you're only just pretending. The act of doing will give rise to the feeling. You don't have to wait until you feel like doing it before you start doing it; you just have to start doing it and the felling will catch up with you as you proceed. This method has been modified into the 5-minute method. Just convince yourself that you will work on this task for 5 minutes, and then quit. But what ends up happening is that before 5 minutes is over, the feeling and inspiration kicks in and you want to do more.

So the trick is to just get started. The longer you postpone action, the more difficult it becomes.