The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz

Look to emulate the models for success from studying successful people (and conversely avoid the habits of unsuccessful people).

Think big goals and win big success.”Ĭhapter 2: Cure Yourself of Excusitis, the Failure Disease Think little goals and expect little achievements.

“The size of your success is determined by the size of your belief.

“Those who convert opportunity into reward will be those wise people who learn how to think themselves into success.”.

As a result, their performance will earn them petty rewards, petty happiness.”

“In the boom period ahead, most people will continue to worry, to be afraid, to crawl through life feeling unimportant, unappreciated, not able to do what they want to do.

“Belief is the thermostat that regulates what we accomplish in life.”.“The how-to-do-it always comes to the person who believes he can do it.”.If you don’t believe it possible to climb high or achieve great things, your behavior will remain that of the average person.Not many people believe that they can move mountains. “Believe, really believe, you can move a mountain, and you can. The New Testament of the Bible, Matthew 17:20 - Faith can move mountains.Pros: Timeless ideas about attitude, action and personal responsibility are presented plainly and effectively.Ĭons: Prose is old-fashioned and message might seem stale if you are familiar with more contemporary books from the genre.Ĭhapter 1: Believe You Can Succeed and You Will Schwartz’s book remains a worthwhile read despite the abundance of newer and flashier offerings in the genre.

If the contents of the book sometimes seem stale, this is less a fault of the author and more a consequence of the wealth of self-help books published in the wake of books like “The Magic of Thinking Big.” The book’s prose is old-fashioned, but the contents and underlying message of the book remain timely as ever. Action and initiative are praised as the positive side-effects of positive and big thinking. Another discusses the positive and negative influences of our environment and advocates for creating a “first-class” existence for ourselves. One early chapter focuses on the bad habit of making excuses for ourselves. The author finds ways to come at this message from different angles over the course of thirteen chapters. The key message of the book is one of belief and attitude: “The size of your success is determined by the size of your belief. Schwartz (1959) is a classic in the self-help genre and one of the best-selling books of all time with over 6 million copies sold.

The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz