00:00Welcome to The Explainer. Today we are diving deep into a classic, David Schwartz's The Magic of Thinking Big.
00:07We're going to break down one simple but seriously profound idea. The size of your success?
00:13Well, it's determined by the size of your thinking.
00:16It all kind of starts with this number, five times.
00:19Now, this number represents a huge gap in achievement that, you know, you see everywhere.
00:24One person earns five times more, they achieve five times more, they live five times bigger
00:29than the person sitting right next to them.
00:31So what is it? What's the one thing that creates this massive difference?
00:36Is it just raw intelligence? Is it about working harder?
00:39Maybe they got a better territory or just better luck? What's the deal?
00:45To figure that out, let me tell you a quick story about a guy named Harry.
00:49See, Harry was a salesman, and he was pulling in $60,000 a year.
00:53The average rep in his company? Just $12,000.
00:56His boss dug into the records. Was Harry five times smarter? Nope.
01:01Was he working five times harder? Actually, no. He took more time off.
01:05The only real measurable difference was that Harry thought five times bigger. That was it.
01:11And that right there is the diagnosis for why most of us don't achieve what we're really capable of.
01:17We're all products of the thinking that's around us.
01:19And, as Schwartz points out, a whole lot of that thinking is small. It's negative.
01:25And it feels like it's designed to pull us down.
01:27I mean, we hear this stuff all the time, right?
01:30This idea that there's just no more room at the top.
01:33That all the good leadership spots are taken.
01:35So the thinking goes, eh, you should probably just be content to be one of the little guys.
01:40And then there's this one.
01:41That ambition is somehow corrupting.
01:43That to succeed, you gotta sell your soul, you have to sacrifice your family, your values.
01:48But, you know, as Schwartz says, the truth is that every single step forward actually pays you a dividend.
01:54And maybe the most dangerous one of all is this idea of fatalism.
01:58This is the kind of thinking that just tells you to give up.
02:01Forget about the nicer house, the better life.
02:03Your destiny is totally out of your hands, so you might as well just lie down and wait.
02:07It is a perfect recipe for mediocrity.
02:09So, okay, if that's the disease, what's the cure?
02:13Well, it starts with this really powerful metaphor.
02:16Your belief system, it acts like a thermostat.
02:18It literally regulates everything you accomplish.
02:21Where you set that thermostat, that determines just how high you can go.
02:25Let's get really clear on the definition of belief here.
02:28This is not some passive wishing.
02:30No, it's an active, I'm positive, I can attitude.
02:34This is the engine that creates the power, the skill, and the energy you need.
02:38See, when you truly, genuinely believe you can do it, your mind immediately gets to work figuring out how.
02:45And here's where the rubber meets the road.
02:48Wishful thinking is totally passive.
02:50You can't just wish a mountain away, right?
02:52But true belief, that generates the how-to.
02:56It is the force that actually lets you start moving that mountain one piece at a time.
03:01So picture this.
03:02Inside your mind, there's a thought factory.
03:04And it's run by two foremen, Mr. Triumph and Mr. Defeat.
03:07Give them just the slightest signal and they get right to work.
03:10Tell yourself, you know what, today's a fine day.
03:13And boom, Mr. Triumph starts manufacturing all the reasons to prove it.
03:17But tell yourself, it's no use and Mr. Defeat will show you exactly why you're doomed to fail.
03:22The only smart thing to do here?
03:24Fire Mr. Defeat.
03:25You just don't need him.
03:26But of course, there's a complication.
03:29A major obstacle that we all face.
03:32Schwartz has a great name for it.
03:34Excusitis.
03:35The failure disease.
03:35It's that habit of making excuses for why we haven't, why we don't, why we can't, and why we aren't.
03:42And you'll recognize these immediately.
03:45Excusitis, it comes in four common strains.
03:47You've got health excusitis, intelligence excusitis, age excusitis, and luck excusitis.
03:53Every single failure has this disease in an advanced form.
03:56And most average people, well, they have at least a mild case.
04:00The cure for all forms of this disease is a total shift in mindset.
04:04There's this great saying that goes, the right attitude and one arm will beat the wrong attitude and two arms
04:09every time.
04:10And that holds true in, well, every part of life.
04:13Your circumstances are never the real barrier.
04:16Your attitude about them is.
04:18Okay, so now for the action plan.
04:20Let's build a practical toolkit and go from just understanding the problem to actively rewiring your brain to think bigger.
04:27Look, to think confidently, you have to act confidently.
04:31Here are five simple physical things you can do every single day.
04:35Sit in the front, because there is nothing inconspicuous about success.
04:38Make eye contact.
04:40It communicates honesty.
04:41Try walking 25% faster.
04:44It tells the world you've got somewhere important to be.
04:46Speak up in every meeting to break that cycle of silence.
04:49And smile big, because you literally can't feel defeated while you're showing off a huge, genuine smile.
04:56Your words create your reality.
04:58It's true.
04:59We think in pictures, not words.
05:01So when you say problem, you create this mental image of a wall.
05:05But when you say challenge, you create an image of a fun climb.
05:08Big thinkers, they specialize in creating these positive, forward-looking mental pictures for themselves and for everyone around them.
05:15So what's the final outcome of all this?
05:18The prognosis is pretty simple.
05:19It's a life lived on a bigger scale.
05:21By changing the size of your thinking, you change the size of your happiness, your income, your overall satisfaction, the
05:28whole shebang.
05:29Ultimately, the core idea is this.
05:32Your background, your education, your physical appearance.
05:35None of that stuff matters nearly as much as the scale of your thoughts.
05:40And it really all comes down to this.
05:42Life is too short to be little.
05:44You've got a limited time on this earth.
05:46So why would you spend it thinking and acting in a small way?
05:50Why sell yourself short when you're capable of so much more?
05:53So we're back to that belief thermostat.
05:56Your life is going to expand to meet the setting you give it.
05:59The call to action couldn't be clearer.
06:01Reach up and consciously adjust your thermostat forward.
06:05Which leaves us with just one final, very personal question.
06:09The limits, you see, they aren't external.
06:11They're the ones you place on yourself.
06:13So the real question you have to answer is, how big will you allow yourself to be?
06:18What do you do?
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