Alex Rascanu delivered the "Think Like the Successful" presentation on March 19, 2014 at the Learning Enrichment Foundation. More details about it: http://www.alexrascanu.com/think-like-the-successful/

1. THINK LIKE THE SUCCESSFUL:
CHANGE YOUR THINKING,
CHANGE YOUR LIFE.
Alex Rascanu
Digital Strategist & Social Entrepreneur
www.AlexRascanu.com
alex@alexrascanu.com l @alexrascanu

2. WHAT IS SUCCESS?

3. Success is knowing your
purpose in life.
They say that there are two great days in a person’s
life: the day that they are born and the day they
discover why. Highly successful people have
discovered why.

4. Let’s Discover How to Think Like the Successful
• Why and how to change your thinking
• Three practical tips:
1. Nurture BIG PICTURE thinking
2. Apply FOCUSED thinking
3. Practice UNSELFISH thinking

5. WHY AND HOW TO
CHANGE YOUR THINKING

6. Why You Should Change Your Thinking:
1. Changed thinking is not automatic
2. Changed thinking is difficult
3. Changed thinking is worth the investment
“Thinking is hard work; that’s why so few do it.” (Albert Einstein)
“More gold has been mined from the thoughts of man than
has ever been taken from the earth.” (Napoleon Hill)

7. How to Become a Better Thinker:
1. Seek good input (books, tapes, magazines, in-person meetings)
2. Spend time with the right people
3. Choose to think good thoughts (be positive and plan)
4. Act on your good thoughts
5. Allow your emotions of success create other
good thoughts
6. Repeat the process of good thinking
“I can give you a six-word formula for success: Think things
through - then follow through.” (WW1 pilot Eddie Rickenbacker)

8. Get into the Right Place to Think:
1. Look for a place to think (park, bathroom)
2. Write down your thoughts
3. Stretch your thoughts (among others)
4. Share your idea (with influencers and those most affected)
5. Take action
“Learning to write is learning to think. You don’t
know anything clearly unless you can state it in
writing.” (US senator S. I. Hayakawa)

9. “The right thought
plus the right people
in the right environment
at the right time
for the right reason
= the Right Result” (John C. Maxwell)

10. TIP #1: NURTURE YOUR
BIG PICTURE THINKING

11. “Where success is concerned, people are not
measured in inches, or pounds of college
degrees, or family background; they are
measured by the size of their thinking.”
(David Schwartz, author)

12. • Learn continually
• Listen carefully
• Are mindful of the big picture
“Many an object is not seen, though it falls within the range
of our visual ray, because it does not fall within the range of
our intellectual ray.” (Henry David Thoreau)
• Live completely
“The value of life lies not in the length of days, but in the
use we make of them; a man may live long yet may life
very little.” (French essayist Michel Eyquem de Montaigne)
Big Picture Thinkers:

13. Why Become a Big Picture Thinker?
1. Allows you to lead
2. Keeps you on target
“He that is everywhere is nowhere.” (Thomas Fuller)
3. Lets you see what others see
4. Keeps you from being caught up in the mundane
5. Helps you get to uncharted territory

14. How to Become a Big Picture Thinker?
1. Don’t aim for certainty (be comfortable dealing with diverse ideas)
2. Learn from every experience
3. Gather insights from a variety of people
4. Give yourself permission to change the status quo

15. TIP #2: APPLY FOCUSED THINKING

16. “He did each thing as if he did nothing else.”
(spoken of novelist Charles Dickens)
“Knowledge is power only if a man knows
what facts are not to bother about.”
(sociologist Robert Lynd)

17. What Focused Thinking Can Do For You:
1. It brings energy and power toward your desired goal
2. It gives ideas time to develop
3. It takes you to the next level
“The immature mind hops from one thing to another;
the mature mind seeks to follow through.” (author Harry A. Overstreet)

18. Where Should You Focus?
1. Set your dream (in line with your life’s purpose)
2. Discover your gifts
3. Set your priorities
4. Act on your dream

19. How to Stay Focused:
1. Remove distractions
2. Set time aside for focused thinking
Switching from task to task can cost you 40% efficiency.
3. Keep important things in front of you
4. Deliver on your goals
5. Measure your progress

20. What You’ll Need to Give Up:
1. You can’t know everyone
2. You can’t do everything
3. You can’t go everywhere
4. You can’t be well-rounded
Focus on the 1% of things that matter and give you the
highest return.

21. TIP #3: PRACTICE UNSELFISH THINKING

22. “We cannot hold a torch to another’s
path without brightening our own.”
(Ben Sweetland, author)

23. Benefits of Unselfish Thinking:
1. Brings personal fulfillment
“Getters don’t generally get happiness; givers get it.” (Charles H. Burr)
2. Adds value to others
“He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often and loved
much; who has enjoyed the trust of pure women, the respect of intelligent
men and the love of little children, who has filled his niche and
accomplished his task; who has left the world better than he found it,
whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul; who
has never lacked appreciation for earth’s beauty or failed to express it,
who has always looked for the best in others and given them the best he
had, whose life was an inspiration, whose memory a benediction.” (author
Bessie Anderson Stanley)

24. 3. Encourages other
virtues (e.g. gratitude, love, respect,
patience, discipline)
4. Increases quality of life
“There is no life as empty as
self-centered life. There is no
life as centered as self-empty
life.” (John C. Maxwell)
5. Makes you part of
something greater than
yourself

25. How to Experience the Satisfaction of Unselfish Giving:
1. Put others first
2. Place yourself in situations where people have
needs
3. Give quietly or anonymously
4. Invest in people intentionally
5. Continually check your motives

26. Today We’ve Looked At:
- Why and how to change your thinking
- Three practical tips:
1. Nurture BIG PICTURE thinking
2. Apply FOCUSED thinking
3. Practice UNSELFISH thinking

27. THANK YOU!
Alex Rascanu
Digital Strategist & Social Entrepreneur
www.AlexRascanu.com
alex@alexrascanu.com l @alexrascanu

28. Main source &
recommended reading:
“How Successful People Think”
by John C. Maxwell