Successful Reads

The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz is a classic self-help book that sets out to show how success is determined by the size of your thinking – and not the size of your brain.  But it does more than introduce the concepts – it demonstrates  how one can get more out of life and enjoy it more.  It teaches one to live big in all areas of life -  career, relationships, business, and finances by expecting more out of life.

David helps one determine which thought patterns are trapping us in a smaller existence.  One way he does that is by illustrating each “primary concept” with real-life examples that we can parallel with our own life and see if we can find a way to think bigger.

The book covers a lot of success principles – but coming in at only 188 pages it only briefly touches on many of those topics.  So if you are expecting to find details on how to implement every one of those principles of success you’re not going to find it in this book.  But if you look at it as a way to inventory the thought patterns you currently use in your life and discover those those thought patterns you could do better at than this book could be of great help to you.

But keep in mind that many books could, and have been, written on the theme of each chapter:

• Believe You Can Succeed and You Will
• Cure Yourself of Excusitis, The Failure Disease
• Build Confidence and Destroy Fear
• How to Think Big
• You Are What You Thin You Are
• Manage Your Environment: Go First Class
• Make Your Attitudes Your Allies
• Think Right Towards People
• Get the Action Habit
• How to Turn Defeat Into Victory
• Use Goals to Help You Grow
• How to Think Like a Leader

Originally published in 1959 there has been lots of material written on all of the topics covered so many people will find their isn’t anything really “new” here. But keep in mind that much of it was  fairly new then as the self-help industry was just starting to grow.

With those words of warning, I do have to say I enjoyed the book when I first read it over twenty years ago and I still enjoy reading it now and again to help me inventory those areas of my life that could be keeping me from achieving a higher level of success.

For example, today I read…

“You will discover that excusitis explains the difference between the person who is going places and the fellow who is barely holding his own.  You will find that the more successful the individual, the less included he is to make excuses.

But the fellow who has gone nowhere and has no plans for getting anywhere always has a bookful of reasons to explain why.  Persons with mediocre accomplishments are quick to explain why they haven’t, why they don’t, why they can’t, and why they aren’t.

Study the lives of successful people and you’ll discover this: all the excuses made by the mediocre fellow could be but aren’t made by the successful person.”

So I used that as an opportunity to inventory my own life and I found one excuse I have been using way to much lately is “lack of time.”  (I need to work on a plan to outsource more).

So what will you get out of this book?

If you are looking for some “new secret” that will catapult you to to success than you won’t find it here.

But if you are looking for some insight into your life and for tips you can use to level up your success than this book can help you do that. No doubt, if you’ll gain a new perspective each time you read it.

Naturally – the Magic of Thinking Big isn’t in the book – but it is within you.  This book will do nothing to improve your life if  you don’t look for the lessons and apply them to your own life.

Would you like to learn how to better communicate your ideas? Would you like to learn how to motivate others with your words?

Yes?

Well, you’re sure to find more than a few ideas on how to communicate more effectively in the book Words that Work: It’s Not What You Say, It’s What People Hear by Frank Luntz.

You see, Frank’s books goes to the core of how the words you use persuade. It contains useful information on how to best organize your words to enable your message to get across, how the meaning of words can change, and how carefully replacing just a single word can change many peoples view on a certain subject.

Dr. Frank Luntz recommends these rules to create more effective communication

1. Simplicty: Use small words.
2. Brevity: Use short sentences.
3. Credibility is as important as philosophy.
4. Consistency matters.
5. Novelty: Offer Something New.
6. Sound and texture matter.
7. Speak aspirationally.
8. Visualize.
9. Ask a question.
10. Provide context and explain relevance.

Not only does the book provide you with some rules of communication, but Words that Work is full of examples that demonstrate how simple words can make a huge difference in politics, business, and relationships.

You’ll find that many of those examples are taken from politics. But as you read, carefully looks at the examples and ask yourself what you can learn from it. Using these methods you’re sure to further your communication skills.

Trickery and Deceit?

No doubt, some people will say to avoid the book as these methods are a form of trickery and deceit.   If you are using words to sell snake oil, than the methods could easily become a form of trickery or deceit.  However, if you are using words to help sell noble ideas and values than how could they be?

So, increase your chances of success, focus on how to be understood, and learn skills to further your success. After all, the words you use can mean the difference between success and failure.