I borrowed “The Magic of Thinking Big” by David J. Schwartz, Ph.D (1959, 1965, Prentice Hall) from the library a couple of weeks ago.   Once I started reading it, I could not put it down.  Although the book contains some dated references (Edward R. Murrow, anyone?) due to the fact it came out over 40 years ago, it otherwise reads as though it was published now.  This says a lot about the content of this book - a motivational tool for anyone trying to make the most of herself and achieve personal success.  A couple of the more compelling chapters in the book include:

-Cure Yourself of Excusitis, The Failure Disease.  In this chapter, Schwartz describes how certain people suffer from “Excusitis,” claiming that such things as health, intelligence, luck, and age prevent them from taking action and achieving success.  Schwartz goes through each of these excuse categories, with anecdotes about real people, to show how these excuses are really smoke screens in people’s own heads that hold them back.  Schwartz notes that people at the top of their respective fields have superior attitudes and the drive to succeed.  Reading this chapter, I thought of at least a dozen friends and acquaintances who have the disease ”Excusitis.”  These people talk frequently about wanting to be their own boss, make more money, lose weight, get a girlfriend, etc., but they have a thousand and one excuses for not making the leap to achieve.  One friend claims that he wants to become a real estate investor, but says that he has no time to do any research or locate properties.  I know for a fact that this friend watches movies on DVD nonstop when he is not working at his regular 9-5 job.

 -Get the Action Habit.  In this chapter, Schwartz discusses how people who take action on their ideas achieve are far more successful than the passive people that talk a good game about their ideas but never implement them.  Schwartz points out one very insightful characteristic about passive people - that many of them postpone doing things because they want to wait until conditions are perfect to act.  Usually what happens is that the”perfect time” never comes or some other event occurs that makes the opportunity too late to act upon for these passivisits.  Schwartz profiles one person, Mr. C.D., a civil servant at the Customs Service who had become dissatisfied with the regular hours, confining work, low pay, and little opportunity for advancement.  Mr. C.D. realized he could use his customs expertise to start an importing business, but 10 years after he came up with the idea, was still working at the Customs Service.  According to Mr. C.D., he had to postpone his plans because of a new baby, recession, little capital, trade restrictions, etc.  As Schwartz points out in his book, there will never be a perfect time to act on an idea, and people like Mr. C.D. have to expect that obstacles and difficulties will happen with any venture.  Again, I can tick off a list of acquaintances who have never acted on their desires and wishes because they suffer from “analysis paralysis,”  analyzing an idea to death until they convince themselves that they shouldn’t act.  One friend is a yoga instructor who wants to start a yoga studio, but has yet to take any action, 15 years after she began dreaming about the idea. 

There are numerous other chapters that I will not summarize here, but suffice it to say that the book as a whole is not only sharp and insightful in its content, but also an entertaining read.  Schwartz peppers the book with anecdotes about his own experiences to prove his principles.  With the start of 2008 approaching, this might be a good source of new year resolutions.