Total Rethink

20Never Be Afraid to Think Big – or to Think Young

“My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.”

—Abraham Lincoln

“Too often in life, something happens and we blame other people for us not being happy or satisfied or fulfilled. So the point is, we all have choices, and we make the choice to accept people or situations or not to accept situations.”

—Tom Brady

One of the big mistakes people make is not thinking big enough. We can all achieve far more than we believe we are capable of in all areas of our lives, particularly business, but we deliberately hold ourselves back, often for entirely illogical reasons. We are nearly always capable of solving all the problems that worry us, but we have to believe it before we can achieve it.

The use of Abraham Lincoln and Tom Brady's quotes at the beginning of this chapter is deliberate. Whether you are a New England Patriots fan or don't care for politicians you can't deny the accomplishments of these two men.

Abraham Lincoln overcame enormous obstacles, including being declared bankrupt, running for various public offices, and being defeated a record 10 times, 5 of which were runs for both the congress and senate before being elected president of the United States at 51 years of age. In those days, life expectancy was only 35, but Lincoln survived to thrive in ways that only his will and perseverance could have inspired.

Tom Brady was a seventh string quarterback at the beginning ...