251 – Are You Thinking Big?

Hi James!
Wow–this has been on my mind a lot lately. I have recently gone in the opposite direction, so maybe I need to hear this.

My rationale is that I have a hard time getting myself to “buy in” to thinking HUGE, so I don’t think I am fully invested in those goals. I have scaled it back to things that I see as achievable from where I’m at right now. I am looking to for a series of “wins” to build upon each other like a snowball. And for each “win” my expectation of what my business can become, grows.

I am curious to know your thoughts on this!

Thanks!
Amy

James!
an Inspiring video. thank you.

One of my major goals is to raise my personal standards, so that the self-belief is powerful enough to equal my vision. I realized recently that we don’t need to do complicated things to achieve that. A person may go to the places that exhibit incredible quality, harmony, precision, meet those who have created those results, see them in action (even to see great bridges, railway stations, precise railway tracks, simple, powerful skyscrapers, airports like Barajas in Madrid). and just listen to himself or herself. The immense pleasure you feel when surrounded by purposeful actions, when you actually see the strong, harmonious results, feel the deep admiration for a job well done, changes you internally.
It is the idea you talked about, the benchmarking.

I read Amy’s comment with understanding, I also had to scale down my goals in the past, because I simply did not believe in myself.

But, I just can’t live without being surrounded by the best, beacuse then you give the best to others too.
Three seminars are on the line, two in December, on starts in January, one major project, and most of all, many many new people ..!

Thank you, best wishes

Hey James, great post. I am all about being positive and thinking big, but as you know better than anyone, that only manifests itself if you work your ass off! I am doing my best to think big and work hard and would LOVE to be able to support my family on just my income. The ultimate dream would be to create passive income so that I am not one of those dads that miss out on being a significant part of their child’s upbringing. I love my work and would not want to stop, but if I could get it down to 20 hours a week through automated systems and VAs, I would be psyched. I’ll keep on truckin’ and keep on being inspired by you. Cheers!

Great video James – definitely thought provoking.

It is interesting that a few replies mention personal development. If you are thinking big in terms of your business I think it is equally important to think big in terms of your self development including awareness, consciousness and creativity.

Most people’s physical reality is constrained to their (limited) 5 senses and their thoughts, and therefore goals, ambitions and notions of what is possible, is constrained by their mind. David Lynch describes this constraint: “If you have a golf ball sized consciousness, when you read a book you’ll have a golf ball sized understanding, when you look out, a golf ball sized awareness, and when you wake up in the morning, a golf ball sized wakefulness”. If you can expand your consciousness/mind then when you read a book, listen to a podcast, take part in some training or engage in some conversation you will have a better understanding and awareness.

Like David Lynch I am a advocate of Transcendental Meditation as a way of expanding consciousness and this one practice alone improved my business substantially. I am sure other forms of meditation and practices can have similar effects and a lot of successful entrepreneurs will reference some sort of meditative activity as a contributory factor in their success. By working on yourself, your thoughts and awareness you will naturally start to think bigger as your notion of what is possible changes, your self belief increasing in line with this, and you have more creativity to make these bigger thoughts a reality.

Apologies if the above sounds too much like some hippy, new-age bullshit, there is some science behind Transcendental Meditation and other practices like it. To get more specific:

Ryan Judd – A lot of people consider working their asses off solely in terms of their business. You’ve got to do the same in terms of your own self development. I know this is hard when you have dependents, meditating does not pay the bills!

Martyna – I agree. There is an energy you can tap into when you surround yourself with good people.

Tim – Get back to the TM! I drop out every now and again. I find going to some sort of group meditation or back to a teacher is a good way to get back into it.

James – keep doing what you do.

Business wise I am thinking much bigger for 2014 which I put down to a clearer, more focused mind which can take in some of the lessons and wisdom imparted by James and others. It seems the trend to equate business performance in terms of 5, 6 or 7 figures which seems pretty vague, and possibly unhelpful, to me. My goal is to keep my team happy, growing my businesses and doubling my personal net worth.