Thinking Big

Let a bigger future change the way you see yourself—and the way you act today.

Some people tell me they do not want big goals because failing to reach them makes them feel inadequate.

I want to offer a different way to use a goal. What if its purpose is to stretch your mind, strengthen your belief, and help you become someone you have not been before?

Thinking big asks us to think beyond our current circumstances. It is how we create something that does not exist yet.

What is impossible right now may be possible later. Practicing belief in that possibility is a skill.

Think so much better that it becomes different

Thinking big is not simply thinking about making your current life a little better. It means thinking so much bigger that the future looks different.

In a business, that might mean imagining ten times the business you have now. Instead of focusing only on the next small increase, you ask what kind of business that would be and who you would become to create it.

You do not have to limit your imagination to what your past has already demonstrated.

I have practiced this with weight, drinking, and creating money. In each area, I had to believe in a possibility before I had all the evidence for it.

The more you practice believing something that is not yet true, the stronger that skill becomes.

Be willing to challenge your current identity

A client wanted to grow her business from $300,000 to $1 million. I told her that what got her to the first result would not get her to the next one.

She could not simply improve everything she was already doing. She needed to move from being a solopreneur to being the owner of a business that was bigger than her.

That meant letting go of an identity built around the skills that had made her successful.

Our brains like the certainty of repeating what we know. When we set a goal beyond that familiarity, our current identity feels threatened.

That can be uncomfortable. It is also part of growth.

I encourage you to be willing to give up who you are now for who you want to become. You can do that with care and compassion. I take care of myself and enjoy time off while still asking more of my mind.

I am not rushing toward a future where life will finally become good. I am expanding what is possible in the life I am living.

Give a big dream more time

I did not set my $100 million goal for the following week, month, or year. I gave it ten years.

A very short timeline would have pulled me into pressure and constant questions about how. A longer timeline let me begin enjoying the growth and anticipation.

Distinguish a lifetime dream, a 25-year dream, or a ten-year dream from a one-year goal.

A one-year goal tends to direct you toward tactics. How many clients? What price? What needs to happen this month?

A longer-term dream lets you ask who you will be. What will that identity be like? How can you begin thinking from that place?

Both kinds of thinking matter. But many people only work with short-term goals and never give themselves the opportunity for a goal that shakes their identity.

Let the bigger goal put today's failure in perspective

When you are thinking from a larger future, a short-term failure does not have to become an enormous problem.

Compared with a small goal, the setback may look significant. Compared with your ten-year dream, it may be something you will look back on with a wink.

That perspective makes it easier to keep going.

Changing how you see yourself also changes the way you approach the daily work. When you are thinking from a higher level, you can execute the smaller tasks without making each one a verdict on your future.

Your current life is the effect of prior thinking. It does not have to become proof that your future cannot be different.

Enjoy the future in this moment

There is a difference between believing in a big future and daydreaming that it would be nice.

Fantasy can come with a low-grade disappointment that it will never happen. What I want you to practice is believing, feeling, and acting from the possibility now.

If you believed in your future accomplishment, how would you feel today? How would you behave?

You probably would not be as hurried or upset about every small problem. You would have a place to hang your confidence.

This does not mean trading the present for the future. Your future exists in your mind right now. You can be present while thinking about it and enjoying it.

Think of anticipating a vacation you know you will take. That anticipation is part of the experience. You do not have to wait until you arrive to enjoy it.

The same is available with your dream.

Use creativity instead of only asking for directions

Thinking small can mean following a path someone has already taken. Thinking big asks you to create a path.

You reach for new ideas and new sources of information. You stretch your mind rather than making small improvements to the same familiar thoughts.

Following a formula successfully can build some confidence. Creating your own pathway builds confidence in your ability to generate ideas, make decisions, and believe.

That skill is something you can take with you. You are less dependent on the world giving you evidence before you move.

You matter. Your life matters. You can decide deliberately what you want to create with it.

Keep taking massive action

Massive action means taking action until you get the result you want.

It does not mean being frantic, working excessive hours, or stressing yourself out. It means you continue.

It may take longer than you expected. You may need to experiment, make an educated guess, and try something that does not work.

Then you learn and try again.

Belief is what supports that persistence. We quit when we stop believing the dream is possible.

Can you keep believing in your ten-year goal when today's evidence seems to contradict it? Can you practice thinking big while taking the smaller actions of everyday life?

As you do, you develop strength, confidence, and power. The goal matters, but so does the person you become while pursuing it.

Give yourself that opportunity. Think beyond what is already here, and practice living from that bigger part of yourself today.