I’d like to issue a challenge: think bigger.
Probably the only regret I have about my own path in life is that it took me too long to give myself permission to ask big questions and treat big opportunities as possible. It doesn’t mean you’ll achieve everything, but there is a kind of transformation that happens when you open your mind to bigger ideas and questions than those you’ve been told are reasonable for your social group.
In one of the group discussions we’ve had with participants in the Praxis program, a guest speaker asked some questions about the business model of participant business partners. No one seemed to have given a whole lot of thought to things outside of their own area of work like, “How much net profit does the company make per customer?”, or, “How much does the owner make per deal?” Don’t let yourself get stuck in an employee mindset. Yes, you want to effectively handle your responsibilities, but that doesn’t mean you should only think about those responsibilities!
Think bigger. What would you do to set up a company to compete with your job? How would it be better and more profitable? Thinking seriously about these things can not only open your eyes to new possibilities but also make you better at overcoming problems in the present.
This principle applies to everything. If you’re not working for a company, think bigger in relation to your school work, your creative projects, or your relationships. How can you work harder? How can you get more results out of your efforts without having to rely on working harder? What can you learn from the study habits of your peers? Who’s doing a better job than you right now and how can you emulate them?
In a recent interview, basketball star Stephen Curry told the reporter that he practices dribbling the ball while wearing goggles that have blinking lights. He does this because he wants to improve his ability to play the game in an environment full of distractions. This is what thinking big looks like. It’s about going beyond what’s assigned to you by a teacher or coach and finding new ways to challenge yourself. Don’t be afraid to ask odd questions or try new things. Approaching the process of learning as an experiment is the key to thinking big.
There are endless examples, but the point is to break out of the narrow focus on your immediate tasks, skills, assumed career path, etc. and think about the bigger picture.
Do you want to follow orders or create your own path? The former requires little big picture thinking, while the latter can’t happen without it.
Study Activities
Learning Exercise:
- What would you do with $1 million? Be honest. Think long and hard. If the money were really in your bank account right now, what steps would you take? What if the money came with a directive like “Create as much value as possible”? or “Don’t spend it on gifts for others or material possessions for yourself”? Would that change your answer to the first question? If so, how? It’s easy to assume all the things we want to do in life would be a piece of cake if we just had access to more capital. But most of us don’t even know what we’d do if we had it! It’s an excellent exercise in self-knowledge to really plumb the depths and answer this hypothetical.
Questions for reflection & discussion:
- What makes a person a big thinker?
- What’s one thing great problem solvers have in common?
- Do you believe anything is possible? Why or why not?
- If you have a problem, how can you know if it’s unsolvable or not?
- Can problem-solving skills be improved?
- What are mental models and why are they important to big thinkers and great achievers?
- Explain in your own words one example of a mental model from the readings?
- What’s an example of a mental model you’ve observed in the thinking of others?
- Can you come up with your own mental model?
- How can you learn more about mental models?
- What is a mentor and why do mentors matter? What are some ways you can find mentors?