This document provides tips and strategies for positive thinking and developing confidence. It emphasizes believing in yourself and your abilities. Some key points include thinking about your strengths and comparing yourself favorably to successful people, focusing on solutions rather than excuses, managing your environment by spending time with positive people, and presenting yourself professionally to others through your appearance and demeanor. The overall message is that your mindset, beliefs, and surroundings influence how you see yourself and impact your potential for success.
3. Think Positive
Think success, don’t think failure
Think, “I’ll win,” not “I’ll probably lose”
Think, “I’m equal to the best,” not “I’m outclassed”
Think “I can do it,” never “I can’t”
Master thought “I will succeed” dominate your thinking process
4. Believe In “I”
Remind yourself regularly that you are better than
you think you are
Success does not require a super-intellect
Success isn’t based on luck
. Never—yes, never—sell yourself short
5. Believe Big
The size of your success is determined by the size of your belief
Think big goals and win big success
7. CURE YOURSELF OF EXCUSITIS, THE FAILURE DISEASE
“But My Health Isn’t Good.”
Refuse to talk about your health
Refuse to worry about your health
Be genuinely grateful that your health is as good as it is
Remind yourself often, “It’s better to wear out than rust out”
8. “But You’ve Got to Have Brains to Succeed.”
Never underestimate your own intelligence, and never
overestimate the intelligence of others
Don’t sell yourself short
My attitudes are more important
Use your mind to create and develop ideas, to find new and
better ways to do things
9. “It’s No Use. I’m Too Old (or Too Young).”
Think, “I’m still young,” not “I’m already old”
Compute productive time you have left
Life is actually longer than most people think!
Invest future time in doing what you really want to do
Instead think, “I’m going to start now, my best years
are ahead of me”
10. “But My Case Is Different; I Attract Bad Luck
Accept the law of cause and effect
Not luck but preparation, planning, and success-producing
thinking preceded his good fortune
Don’t be a wishful thinker
Don’t waste your mental muscles dreaming of an effortless way
to win success
Don’t count on luck for promotions, victories, the good things
in life
Luck simply isn’t designed to deliver these good things
12. Is it “only in your mind” ?
“Most fear is psychological.”
“Worry, tension, embarrassment, panic all stem from
mismanaged, negative imagination.”
The old adage “it’s only in your mind” seems to be
saying that fear isn’t real, but fear is real and it can do a
lot of damage.
13. Fear: Success enemy #1:
This chapter is all about how you can build your confidence and destroy fear before
fear robs you of potential for success in your life. After all, fear can:
stop people from capitalizing on opportunity
close your mouth when you want to speak
wear down physical vitality
make people sick
shorten the life span
Fear prevents people from getting what they want and deserve.
14. So How Do You Destroy Fear?
Think about what have you missed out on because of your Fear?
You build and develop your confidence to destroy fear.
He talks about how the navy, during World War II, made sure all of its recruits knew how to
swim or learned how.
• Non-swimming recruits were placed in swimming
classes where they were put through different
exercises.
• One exercise in particular required these recruits
to jump off a diving board into 8 feet of water.
• In some cases, the recruits were pushed off the
diving board.
“The result: fear defeated. Action cures fear.”
15. How to Build Confidence:
This particular chapter of The Magic of Thinking Big ends with Schwartz giving specific things
that can be done to build your confidence.
1. Deposit only positive thoughts in your memory bank. In our daily lives most of us face a
lot of unpleasant, embarrassing, and discouraging situations but instead of taking them to
heart and dwelling on them, we should do what confident people do: not give it another
thought.
2. Withdraw only positive thoughts from your memory bank. Only allow your mind to recall
the positive thoughts from your memory bank. Simply shut down your mind if you can only
think about the negative thing about a situation.
3. Do what is right. Doing the right thing keeps the conscience satisfied and this builds self-
confidence. When we do something that we know is wrong, two things happen. We feel guilty
and it eats away our confidence and when others find out, they lose confidence in us.
17. To Think Confidently, Act Confidently
In order to feel confident, act the way you want to feel. Here are five confidence building
exercises given in The Magic of Thinking Big.
• Be a front seater. Notice how most people fill up the back of the church, classroom, etc?
Sitting up front builds confidence so practice it.
• Practice making eye contact. The eyes say a lot about us and we can’t help but wonder
about someone that won’t look you in the eye.
• Walk 25 percent faster. Average people have the “average” walk. The super confident walk
faster than average and it tells the world “I’ve got someplace important to go, something
important to do and I will succeed at what I will do fifteen minutes from now.”
• Practice speaking up. The more you speak up the more you add to your confidence. Speak
up at meetings, conference, etc and don’t worry about looking foolish.
• Smile Big. Try this little test. Smile big and try to feel defeated at the same time. You won’t
be able to do it. A real smile not only cures your own ill feeling, it melts away the opposition
of others.
19. Where success is concerned, people are not measured in pounds, college degrees, or
family background; they are always measured by the size of their thinking.
20. Ask yourself, “What is my greatest weakness?”.
Probably the greatest is Self-depreciation.
21. Exercise to measure your true size
Determine your 5 chief assets. Invite an objective friend or an intelligent person who
will give you an honest opinion. [Examples of assets frequently listed are:-
education, experience, technical skills, appearance, well-adjusted home life,
personality, initiative]
Next, under each asset, write the name of three persons you know who have
achieved large success but who do not have this asset to as great a s degree as
you.
22. When you are done with this exercise, you will find you have outranked many
successful people on at least one asset.
There is only one conclusion that you are bigger than you think. So fit your thinking to
your true size. “Think as big as you really are! Never, never, never sell yourself short!”
23. Misconception about thinking big!
We do not think in words and phrases. Rather we think only in pictures/images.
If you convey a group of people that, “I’m sorry to report we have failed”. Now people
only see defeat and disappointment that the word, “failed” conveys.
Instead if you would have conveyed that, “Here’s a new approach that I think will
work.”, they would feel encouraged, and be ready to try again.
24. 4 ways to develop big thinker’s vocabulary
Use big, positive, cheerful words and phrases to describe how you feel.
Use bright, cheerful, favorable words and phrases to describe other people.
Use positive language to encourage others.
Use positive words to outline plans to others.
25. See what can be done. Not just what it is
Look at things not as they are, but as they can be. Visualization adds value to
everything. A big thinker always visualizes what can be done in the future. He isn't
stuck with the present.
26. Develop your power to see what can be, not just what is
Practice adding value to things.
Practice adding value to people.
Practice adding value to yourself.
27. What does it take to make a good speech?
Don't move around and don't use your hands.
Don't let the audience see you use your notes.
Make it feel a burning desire for other people to hear your speech.
Be sure your tie is straight.
Speak loud, but not too loud.
28. Method to curb quarrels?
Most importantly,
Before complaining or reprimanding someone, just ask yourself, “Is it really
important?”. In most cases, it isn't and you avoid conflict.
29. Procedures to help yourself think about trivialities:
Keep your eyes focused on the big objective.
Ask "Is it really important?", before becoming negatively excited.
Don't fall into the triviality trap. In making speeches, solving problems, counseling
employees, think of those things that really matter, things that make the difference.
30. Remember! It pays in every way to think big!
Don't sell yourself short. Concentrate on your assets.
Use words that promise victory; hope, happiness, pleasure. Avoid words that create
unpleasant images of failure, defeat & grief.
Stretch your vision: See what can be, not just what is.
Get the big view of your job. Think, really think your present job is important.
Think above trivial things. Focus your attention on big objectives.
32. What is creative thinking??
Creative thinking is finding new, improved ways to do anything.
to develop and strengthen our creative thinking ability
Step one: Believe it can be done.
When you believe, your mind find ways to do it
Believing paves the way for creative solutions
Your mind will create a way if you let it
33. Step 2 -Eliminate the word impossible from
your thinking
traditional thinker's mind is paralyzed.
Three ways to fight traditional thinking –
Become receptive to ideas
Be an experimental person
Be progressive, not regressive
34. How to start your day creatively
Ask yourself how can I do better?
Just before starting your day ask yourself –
How can I do a better job today?
What can I do to encourage my employees?
What special favour can I do for my customers?
How can I improve my personal efficiency?
35. Capacity is a state of mind
In business , home , community try these
two steps –
1. accept the opportunity to do more
take on a new responsibility as a
compliment
2. concentrate on "How can I do more?"
36. Output expansion
Progressive business management asks "What can we do to expand output?“
Why not ask yourself, 'What can I do to expand my output?“
Your mind will creatively show you how.
Big people monopolize the listening
Small people monopolize the talking
37. 3 stage program to strengthen your
creativity through asking
and listening:
1. Encourage others to talk to people like
you when you encourage them to talk
to you.
2. Test your own views in the form of
questions. Let other people help you
smooth and polish your ideas.
3. Concentrate on what the other person
says. Listening means letting what's said
penetrate your mind.
38. How to stimulate your mind in your daily life
To get mental stimulation incorporate into your pattern of life-
1. Join and meet regularly with at least one professional group that provides
stimulation in your own occupational area
Rub shoulders-and minds-with other success-oriented people.
Stimulation from others is excellent mind food.
2. Join and participate in at least one group outside your occupational interests
Association with people who have different job interests helps you to see the big
picture
39. Harnessing and developing your ideas
Use these three ways to harness and develop your ideas –
1. Don't let ideas escape. Write them down.
Carry a note- book or some small cards with you
2. Next, review your ideas. File these ideas in an active me
so long as the idea has any promise, keep it.
3. Cultivate and fertilize your idea. Now make your idea grow.
Think about it. Tie the idea to related ideas.
put it to work for yourself, your job, your future
41. Your Appearance Talks !
Your appearance talks to
you. It builds up your
confidence.
The appearance also talks
to others to make them say
that this is an important,
intelligent, prosperous and
dependable person.
43. How To Sell Yourself To Yourself ?
Give yourself a pep talk several times
a day
Sell yourself to yourself
Remind yourself that you are a very
important person
44. How Should I Think ?
Is this the
way an
important
person thinks
?
When I
worry
When I
have an
idea
When I
loose my
temper
When I
read
46. What makes the mind think the way it does ?
• The mind is what the mind is fed.
• The mind reflects what its environment feeds it.
• Environment shapes us, makes us think the way we do.
47. Reconditioning yourself for success
Develop a defense against people who want to convince you that you can’t do it.
Be sure you are in the flock that thinks right.
Don’t let negative thinkers pull you down to their level.
Cling to the people who think progressively.
48. Seek advice from people who know
• It is a myth that successful people are inaccessible.
• But are not ready to spend time offering advice to
anybody who isn’t sincere in seeking that.
• Go first class in when you have questions.
49. Influence of off the job life
The person with a constructive off the-job life nearly always is more successful than
the person who lives in a dull, dreary home situation.
Make your off the job interesting by trying to
• Circulate in new groups and enlarge your social orbit.
• Selecting friends who have views different from yours.
• Selecting friends who stand above petty, unimportant things
50. Throw thought poison out
of your environment. Avoid
gossip. Talk about people,
but stay on the positive
side.