Revisiting The Magic of Thinking Big

What does a book published over sixty years have to teach us about building wealth? The answer is plenty.

Today I’m going to go over three key insights from David Schwartz’s The Magic of Thinking Big that, if implemented, will help you attain financial freedom in a bigger way than you previously imagined.

Although the book isn’t specifically about getting rich or growing wealth, the principles are incredibly applicable to this key area.

Principle One: Create confidence in yourself.

“Action cures fear.” Let me repeat that—action cures fear.

Be the person who sits in the front, speak up first in the meeting, understand that you have value. Schwartz says, “confidence is acquired, developed—no one is born with confidence.”

That means we can all work to develop confidence. Have the confidence that your thinking big is a reality—when you believe it, you are closer to bringing it to pass.

Here’s an example: Believe that you will be rich, and you’ll be rich. Why? Because you believe with confidence and that means you are a person who takes ACTION and if you take action, you’ll generate ideas to act upon that will take you where you want to be.

If you simply say “I want to be rich, or I deserve to be rich” that will generate nothing. But if you believe you WILL be rich, that will give you the confidence to take the steps necessary to bring it about.

Speaking of action, this brings us to the second principle.

Principle Two: Act on your ideas

Schwartz goes into depth explaining those who take action and those who sit around waiting. Don’t be someone who sits around. Remember that ACTION CURES FEAR. Take action. Be a person of action.

How to do this? Start by acting on your ideas.

Don’t let your ideas escape. Write them down—according to Schwartz, lots of ideas are born each day but they die quickly because they aren’t nailed to paper. Write them down. Review them. Cultivate them. Fertilize them.

Bring them to life and THEN ACT ON THEM.

Schwartz says, “People who get things done in this world don’t wait for the spirit to move them. They move the spirit.” BOOM—that’s how it’s done. Here’s an example—always wanted to have a have a robust savings account? What to have some money to invest but never seem to have any left over at the end of the month.

“NOW is the magic word of success. Not tomorrow, or later, or next month, but NOW.”

Save now. Right now. Stop waiting until the end of the month or the next pay period. Put $100 in your savings account right this moment—pause your reading of this blog and go do it. Now, just think, if you make it a habit to put that $100 in every month for the next five years and you invest it in an account that generates 12 % interest.

--as a side note, see the book The 12% Solution by David Alan Carter for a straight-forward technique to make, on average, 12% a year on your investments--

If you do that for five years, just $100 month, you’d have over $7,700 saved up. Compare that to what you have now. All it takes is an idea, and acting on that idea. Schwartz says “thinking in terms of NOW gets things accomplished.”

Speaking of getting things accomplished, that brings us to principle three.

Principle Three: Set goals to help with growth

“Without goals we cannot grow.”

“A goal is more than a dream; it’s a dream being acted upon.”

“Goals are as essential to success as air is to life.”

These are just a few of the quotes from David Schwartz in the book, but it rings true in our lives. If we have no goals, we can be sure we will meet them.

Set some financial goals. Set goals short term and long term. How about a 3-year financial goal? How about 10 years? Where do you want to be for retirement? What is your financial goal in your life?

And don’t shy away from making BIG goals—that’s what this book is all about: the magic of thinking big. You want to be a millionaire? Okay, let’s make that happen. Let’s set some goals to get you on the path to build that kind of wealth.

After all, you can’t start on a journey without knowing your destination. You can’t start down the road of financial freedom without knowing what that looks like, specifically. In the words of Schwartz, “No one accomplishes more than he sets out to accomplish. So, visualize a big future.

These three principles, Create Confidence in Yourself, Act on your Ideas, and Set Goals to help with Growth are major takeaways from the book. Even if you don’t read the book but just implement these three practices, you’ll come away with better and bigger successes than ever imagined.

I also discuss aspects of Schwartz's book in my own book, The Seed Tree: Money Management and Wealth Building Lessons for Teens--available now as an ebook and paperback. Thanks for reading and be sure to subscribe to the blog for more topics that will change your wealth and your life.

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