Do You Really Need to Think Big for Success?

Do you get tired of hearing people tell you that thinking big is necessary to create big results? Unfortunately, this advice seems to be everywhere. The stories of Walt Disney, Oprah Winfrey and others are offered as examples.

Those and other highly successful people started with little more than a big thought. They had an idea about what they wanted to create. In many of these examples, there are fewer resources in the beginning. Money is limited or not present at all. Nevertheless, a big idea, hard work and relentless vision got the ball rolling.
Eventually, the result was a massive success, sometimes on a global level.

Keep those stories in mind. Then ask yourself, "Do I really need to think big to be a success?"  Let's try to answer that question.

What Happens When You Think Small and Fail?

Thinking small never suited anyone except for the "good enough" crowd. It doesn't make much sense to think small when thinking big requires no more effort. Even so, we'll play devil's advocate here. Let's look at what happens when a person thinks safe and small and fails.

Imagine someone who wants to start his own company. He has an idea that he can buy and sell books and make a profit. So he begins in his garage. The competition is local bookstores because even though he built an online presence, the Internet is in its infancy.

He fails to make a significant income. Fighting established brick-and-mortar bookstores doesn't work out. At this rate, he will have to close his business soon enough.
If that were the end of the story, he would have to abandon his small idea altogether. That's what happens when you aim for a small result. If you don't reach it, you haven't achieved much.

Jeff Bezos Succeeded Spectacularly with Big Thinking

Most of the story we just covered relates to the beginning of what would eventually become Amazon. The difference is that Jeff Bezos didn't think small when he started a brick-and-mortar bookstore from his garage.
He began by dreaming big.

He read a report that predicted businesses on the Internet would enjoy annual growth of 2,300% from one year to the next. He kept that big idea in his mind. When he suffered short setbacks, it didn't stop him.

He always thought big instead of small. Had he been a small thinker, he could've thrown in the towel plenty of times. But instead, Amazon is a household name and a trillion-dollar company.

It's your choice. You don't have to think big. You can undoubtedly think small and still achieve success in your life. If you think small and fail, that could be the end of your plans. On the other hand, success and even failure can deliver impressive results when you think big.