by Jerry Dugan
I had lunch with a friend about a year ago. We discussed what we did for a living, and at the time I worked for a non-profit organization earning what I thought was a whopping salary of $32,500 a year. We also shared our goals and the challenges we faced in getting to the next level of our goals.
I sat and listened in awe as he described some of the following from his work as an operations director for an oil industry company:
- $8 million in receivables this month, but an additional $2 million in sales that are not yet billed
- It’s the unbilled sales that gives him the biggest challenge as he balances between a good ole boy way of doing business and the need to guarantee payment
- A staff of 20 people with a need to make some adjustments
- Relocating to a larger facility that required a $50,000 down payment, and having to move quickly to be able to handle more sales and manufacturing. He can ONLY write a check up to $10,000 without having to get approval from the corporate office.
The Key to Thinking Big: Whatever Your Dream May Be, Add a Zero
As I chomped down on my 1/3 pound Angus cheeseburger, it became apparently clear my vision wasn’t big enough for me to achieve my dreams. My perspective was small, and so my achievements to that point had been small. All day, every day, my friend thinks with a lot more zeroes at the end of everything. All things being equal between us, this was a glaring difference.
Money
If my friend needs something for his company, and it costs less than $10,000, he can simply cut a check for the company. As a budding author, blogger, podcaster, and speaker, I bootstrap everything. While my income is more than double what it was last year, I find myself begging my wife to allow a $40 microphone in the budget to expand my dream. It occurred to me of the possibility that I have bootstrapped for so long that I have allowed it to shrink my overall vision.
Bootstrapping is necessary when you’re starting out on a dream, and pursuit of a goal, and it is also necessary that we never allow that bootstrapping to shrink our mindset of the income we can produce. In short, bootstrap expenses, and keep thinking big on your expected and desired results.
Relationships
Through most days, I am thinking about how I can be better at my job, better at podcasting, better at being a husband, father, man, etc.
My friend considers what he can do every day to help the twenty people on his staff become better today than they were yesterday. He thinks about how many people to bring onto the team to increase the business’s revenue. His thoughts go beyond himself. He thinks in terms of teams and relationships.
If we want to think bigger, and achieve bigger we must think beyond ourselves and think with a team mindset.
How can you enrich the lives of people around you by unifying them into one larger vision? Thinking big.
Think Abundantly
I am saying that my scope and view needs to get larger. Success in your dreams requires thinking big. My dreams are waiting for me in that larger perspective. How can I grasp having abundance if I am not thinking and giving abundantly of myself? That is the example I learned from my friend. His perspective of finances, for example, was larger. His organizational perspective was larger. He thinks beyond himself on a professional level every day.
What would your “thinking big” dream look like if you added a zero to it? Comment and share below.
This post is updated from its original from TheRealJerryDugan.com.
Listen to BtR 004 – Life Begins at the End of Your Comfort Zone.
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