Self-Help · Success
The Magic of Thinking Big Summary
The size of your success is determined by the size of your belief, and the practical habits of thinking bigger can be learned, practiced, and installed like any other skill.
⏱ 7 min read
📖 David J. Schwartz · 1959
⭐ 4.6/5 · 20K+ ratings
📦 6M+ copies sold
The Magic of Thinking Big
By David J. Schwartz
Enduring Classic
📅 1959
⏳ 238 pages
📦 Buy on Amazon →
The One-Sentence Version
The size of your success is determined by the size of your belief, and the practical habits of thinking bigger can be learned, practiced, and installed like any other skill.
The Core Idea
David Schwartz wrote this book after observing a pattern in his years as a professor and business consultant: the people who achieved the most were not always the most talented or the hardest working. They were the ones who thought bigger. They expected more from themselves, they aimed at larger targets, and they interpreted setbacks differently. Schwartz's argument is that belief itself is a skill - one that can be developed through deliberate practice rather than left to chance or circumstance.
Believe it can be done. When you believe something can be done, your mind will find the ways to do it.
The book is not motivational fluff. Schwartz provides specific, concrete techniques for upgrading the quality of your thinking in practical situations - job interviews, negotiations, creative problem-solving, and daily goal-setting. His research showed that small thinkers consistently undersell themselves, make smaller bets, and unconsciously sabotage opportunities. Big thinkers, by contrast, build the kind of self-image that draws opportunities toward them and produces the energy to pursue them.
Key Takeaways
1
Excusitis is the failure disease - Schwartz coined this term for the habit of using excuses to explain away lack of progress - too old, too young, not educated enough, bad luck. He documents how small thinkers rely on excuses while big thinkers focus on what can be done with what they have. Curing excusitis is the first step toward bigger thinking.
2
Build a you-are-important environment - Your self-image is largely constructed by how others treat you and how you treat others. Schwartz argues that making people feel important - genuinely, not manipulatively - creates an environment that reflects importance back to you. Big thinkers build bigger networks because they invest in making others feel valued.
3
Think and dream creatively - One of Schwartz's most practical techniques is asking yourself how successful people would handle your current situation. Instead of asking what you can do, ask what the best version of you - or someone you admire - would do. This small shift breaks the ceiling on the options you consider.
4
Action cures fear - Schwartz addresses fear directly: the antidote is not thinking your way out of it but acting your way through it. Hesitation amplifies fear. Action shrinks it. He recommends a specific practice of acting on difficult things immediately rather than waiting until you feel ready, because readiness is a feeling that only arrives after action.
Managing Your Environment and Building Winning Habits
The second half of the book is where Schwartz gets most specific, with techniques for managing the people around you, structuring your environment to reinforce big thinking, and building the daily habits that compound into outsized results over time...
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