Saturday, May 13, 2017

14 Magical Moments from "The Magic of Thinking Big" by David J Schwartz

"The Magic Of Thinking Bighas sold over 6 million copies, guides readers to set their goals high and think positively to achieve them. David gives a step-by-step guide on how to achieve what one wants by changing their thought patterns and thought habits. This book is a classic motivational and self-help book, which is similar to another motivational book - The Power of Positive Thinking

I, hereby, list down 14 Magical Moments that I witnessed in this awesome book. I know that I need to keep practicing these learning - day in and day out. These learning are worded and appended in a way that makes it easier for most of us to understand and absorb.

If you are interested in reading about such learning from other all time best selling books, you may click here.

So, here we go with our 14 Magical Moments from this book that influenced me immensely.

(1) Does success not demand a price? No, each step forward pays you a dividend. You pay a price if you do not pursue your passion.
[My Comments] : Yes, there is effort involved in striving towards your passion but the "intensity and hard work" as you put in your effort is tough only for the outsider. For you, it would be "bliss" as you pursue what you love. Do you lose on a few things? Yes, but they are nothing compared to the bliss and reward that you get when you chase your passion.

(2) There is lot of competition at the top? Will that be worthwhile to reach the top? Where is the competition? Competition is all at the bottom.
[My Comments] : At the top, you mostly stand alone. Forget about any competition at the top. Most of the competition is relegated to the bottom of the pyramid - because that is where most people are. So, do not worry about the competition. Just keep pursuing what you love. You are cosmically designed to chase your passion and pursue your dreams - and that is what you will always be the best at - in performance as well as in the level of satisfaction.
[Recommended Book --> Dream On]

(3) One must learn from our mentors, watch them, study them but need not worship them, I must leave the doors open to surpass them.
[My Comments] : Mentors can teach us much faster than our own experiences. They can give us a new perspective within minutes - something that may take us many years or even decades to gather. So, always keep your mind open to what your mentor is trying to say. But that is almost all about it. Your mentor may also be a human - with his or her own limitations and constraints. Your dream, your vision should never get dwarfed by your mentors. You may have a bigger purpose to fulfill in life. Keep your options open to dream and achieve higher than what your mentor is aiming it.

(4) I am going to live until i die. I am not going to get life and death confused.
[My Comments] : Death is certain - for everyone. Life is all about your experiences till that certainty manifests itself. How do you want your journey's experience to be? Do you want to really live your journey between birth and death or keep waiting and preparing for death everyday? Live, chase your dream, follow your heart, smile more, help and serve more, forgive more often, and let no one let you have a poor day in this journey.
[Recommended Book --> Happiness Unlimited]

(5) The thinking that guides your intelligence is much more important than your intelligence itself.
[My Comments] : Your action is important, but even more important is the intent behind the action. A seemingly wrong action may have the best intent behind it, and thus may be listed as a great deed
[Recommended Blog post --> Breaking Rules, Preserving Principles]


(6) Action is the only antidote to fear. Isolate your fear. Know exactly what you are afraid of, and then take immediate remedial action.
[My Comments] : Fear is defined as - False Evidence Appearing Real. There is always fear in the unknown - which is absolutely normal. The key is not to take a U Turn but know more about what you fear. The more you understand, the less you will fear. The more you ignore, your fear will keep increasing and coming back at you.
[Recommended Blog post --> 4 Sure Shot Ways to Remove Fear of Anything]

(7) Motions are the precursors of emotions. We can change our attitude by changing our physical action. e.g. Walking 25% faster can boost self confidence.
[My Comments] : It works both ways. Your actions are defined and driven by your thoughts, and if you have been thinking that how do you control your thoughts, then here it is. Force yourself into an action that you would want as the end result - and your thoughts would start following your action too !
[Recommended Blog post --> Your Thoughts can be changed with Daily Practice]

(8) If we think we cannot, our mind will generate excuses to support our thinking. If we think we can, our mind will generate ideas to support our decision. For sometime, just block the impossibility and let your mind generate ideas, You will realise you have much more potential than you ever thought.
[My Comments] : Think about the mess you are in right now, and your mind will support you with enough evidences to convince you that your life is much messier than you ever thought. It will prove it to you that there was no worst time in your life ever. Now, Stop here. Force a U turn in your thought pattern and tell your mind that it is not as messy. It is much better. Tell it that you just have a temporary challenge, and you can overcome that. You know that you have done it earlier as well. It is easy. Is it not? And then wait to observe the thought pattern. Your mind now just provides you enough evidences to prove that you are right, yet again. Now, it depends on us, what kind of evidences we are seeking from our mind. Our mind is our slave which works on the principle of GIGO (Garbage In Garbage Out). It will go down in the depth of history and zenith of future to provide you with whatever you are looking for. Take charge of your mind. Reverse the thought pattern whenever you are not liking it. You just need to reverse the direction. Acceleration is in auto mode. 
[Recommended Book --> Dream On]

(9) Eliminate the word "impossible" from your thinking, reading and speaking dictionary. This is a word for failures.
[My Comments] : The words that you speak - with others, and with yourself - are going to define your life. Yes, these are important because they ultimately feed your mind, and as we just discussed - our mind is a great slave. It just builds on whatever we feed it.

(10) Nothing grows in ice. If we let tradition freeze our mind, new ideas wont sprout. Be willing to challenge whats around you today if you want to lead in the future.
[My Comments] : There is nothing final or cast in stone. There is nothing which cannot be, or should not be changed - for the better. Never get close minded with your prior success. Unfortunately, in most cases, we would not even know that we have closed our mind.
[Recommended Book --> The Art of Thinking Clearly]

(11) Capacity is a state of mind. How much we can do, is how much we think we can.
[My Comments] : As with most things, it is nothing but our thinking, that turns out to be the only constraint in what we can achieve, or finally achieve. Our thinking pattern defines our direction and the size of thinking defines the speed at which we move towards our goals.

(12) Ideas are highly perishable. They need special handling and care.  Every day, numerous new ideas are born, only to die a natural death because they are not immediately penned down on paper. Memory is a weak slave when it comes to preserving new born ideas. 
[My Comments] : Always think on paper. Everyone has, at some stage of life, got amazing ideas. Unfortunately, most of them cannot even be recalled after a few minutes. These ideas are lost because they were not noted down immediately. Most ideas trickle in the morning times - just before you wake up. That is the time when you have the best connectivity with the cosmic world - and that is what feeds you with brilliant ideas. Keep a notepad and pen near your bed. Pounce on them and jot it down as soon as you have something in mind - before it vanishes yet again into the cosmic space.

(13) Action, action, action - That is the only way to implement ideas. Action removes fear.
[My Comments] : Strong, fearless, consistent action is the only way to knock down the walls of fear that have been built around you.

(14) Success requires heart and soul. Unless you quit what you are doing only to earn money and where you do not have your heart and soul, and follow your passion, you will never be successful, though you may be well paid and have a financially secure future.
[My Comments] : There is no profession worth doing other than your passion. Yes, learn to convert your passion into your profession. You will fall in love with your life and with yourself. 
[Recommended Book : From the Rat Race to Financial Freedom]
[Recommended Blog post : Two Different Lives]
[Recommended Blog post : Passion Vs Profession]

Hope these magical moments will help shape up your thought process to some extent and help you lead a better life.

Don't have time to read the entire book? 
Then, you can read the crux of some of the best selling books ever written.
If you are interested in reading about such learnings from other 'all time best selling books', you may click here.

Cheers

Manoj Arora
Life elevating books : 

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