Tuesday, July 10, 2012
10:07 AM
In
front of our office, the highway is under a major construction project. It
began in 2009 and is projected to end in 2014. It is currently the largest construction project in the state of
Florida. The project includes widening
and reconstructing the lanes, new ramps, sound barriers and more. It is a big
project in every way; big noise, big strategy, big equipment and big plans. The
master plan study began in 1994 and went through years of preparation before
the project started in 2009. It required
big thinking to start and still does in order to continue.
Are
you Thinking Big about your life,
your success and your team?
Leaders
think big. My daughter and I were at a
stop light watching as the construction crew used this huge equipment to move
the concrete. She said, "it's all
so big." I said it is, but they are planning big improvements so they have
to think big and plan big. She said “Oh
yeah that’s true.” She is eight years old, so she doesn’t question big thinking.
It just makes sense to her that in order to get something big done, you must
think big. Kids are great at this as they think all the time. Ask a young child to think about where they
want to go and what they want to do you will get some big ideas most of the time.
If you aren’t thinking big, now is your time. You can develop big picture thinking. How? Here are a few tips we use here at Team National.
ü Start with the
words you choose. Choose carefully. Use big, positive, cheerful words for
everything. Use positive words for
answering questions, for sharing a solution to a problem, for explaining a
situation, to describe someone or something.
Positive words need to be part of your everyday language. For example, if someone asks how you are
doing? How you respond affects you and them. If you say "Great", you
and others feel better. If you say "Fine" or "Ok" it brings
the mood down. I was overwhelmed with
work one day and a staff member asked how I was. I said "Overwhelmed"
and you know what I felt more overwhelmed saying it out loud. Today, my answer
is "Great."Why? Because overall I am great and any negative response
doesn't help anyone, so I choose my words carefully.
ü Dream big dreams
and share with others. Allow your mind to wander, to visualize the
possibilities if there were no barriers to your dream. Dreaming opens your big picture thinking in a
hurry. Kids again can teach us adults a
lot here. Ask a child to help you think
of big ideas for a vacation and they will come up with some whoppers. Why? They
assume everything is possible. Try
assuming that in all areas of life.
Often times leaders do what others think is impossible because they were
thinking big.
ü Spend time with
other big thinkers. Some of my best growth
over the years is because of the people I surround myself with in all areas of
my life. Your friends influence you
either positively or negatively. Choose your time wisely. In TN, attend all of the National & Local
events, be involved in weekly meetings, trainings, be around the leaders every
chance you get!
ü Fuel your faith,
starve your fear. Fear can squash big
thinking. Faith can help it
blossom. Have faith in yourself, in
others, in your product, in your company and in your success. Andy Andrews talks about faith & fear in
his book “Traveler’s Gift” he says, “Faith or fear is the expectation of an
event that hasn’t come to pass or the belief in something that cannot be
seen. A man of fear lives always on the
edge of insanity. A man of faith lives in perpetual reward.”
Thinking
Big is a big part of why Team National is celebrating 15 years in
business. We continue to think big, try
new things and improve our membership.
It’s a journey we enjoy and will continue because it allows us to help
people all over the United States every day.
You too can think big. A great
resource to help you on your path to big thinking and to take your business to
a new level is "The Magic of Thinking Big" by David Schwartz. It is an excellent book with easy to apply
skills & information.
Start
today and see the difference in your life.