CONTINUE TO THINK BIG!

CONTINUE TO THINK BIG!
By Tommy Franks

Did you know that Kinko’s started with very little money, but with a big thinker named Paul Orfalea? Today, they have over 1,000 centers worldwide. He started small, but thought BIG!

Mike Ilitch started small, but was a BIG thinker! With very little money, he started the Little Caesar's pizza chain. Have you heard of it lately?

What about Subway’s? The same type of thing occurred. Fred Deluca started Subway’s with very little money, but with BIG thoughts. He started out small and is finishing BIG!

Our thoughts determine our future. We all start out with tremendous dreams and aspirations, but as we travel along, sometimes our thinking gets smaller. Our minds begin to wonder and we eventually lose sight of our goals. We make such statements as: “Well, there is NOT anything I can do about it. Fate has dealt me a bad hand. I guess, I will just have to live with this sort of thing.”

What has really happened here? We have begun thinking small again. It takes energy or synergy to continue to “think BIG”. Sometimes, we think we lack experience, money, or education. We tend to play the “blame game”. Sometimes, we listen to a relative, friend, or neighbor who says, “I told you it couldn't be done. Why don’t you just play it safe and stick with what you are doing? Does it really matter if you're miserable in life?” Hello!

Since the beginning of time, people have had BIG dreams. Noel had a BIG dream. He built an ark to hold 100s of animals. Moses had a BIG dream…to successfully lead 3 million individuals out of Egypt to a better land. Solomon had a BIG dream…to build the most elaborate temple in the world…and he did. Mother Teresa had a BIG dream…to see little children and poverty stricken people fed a hot meal. Alfred Nobel had a BIG dream. He invented dynamite in 1866; however, he had BIGGER dreams and plans. He eventually acquired over 350 patents for his inventions. But Nobel wanted his legacy and ideas to continue after his death. What could he do? He decided to give away most of his fortune…in order to promote peace for mankind. This was always close to his heart. Today, we have the Nobel Peace Prize and the Nobel Foundation.

In 1900, not too many people actually thought that we would one day fly airplanes, jets, or rockets. The Wright brothers did. In 1963, not too many people thought that we would ever go to the moon. President Kennedy did. In 1975, not too many people thought that the majority of homes would one day have powerful computers! Bill Gates did. Why did these individuals think this way? They enlarged their thinking.

Unadventurous and conformist thinking offer very little hope to those who think BIG or dare say, “It can be done!” We must have “hope”. We must believe, especially in ourselves. We must dare to think “outside of the box”…beyond “small”. Examine the
possibilities. Regardless of our situation, we can always expand our thinking. We can look beyond “small” at the BIG picture. We can continue to believe in ourselves…even when others may not.

Therefore, our dilemma is NOT that we don’t think. We do. Our quandary is: We tend to think too small! Most of our major inventions were created by someone who did not “follow the crowd”. He/she thought “outside the box”.

As we continue our journey with positive attitudes, we will attract others to us. As we continue to believe in ourselves as well as other people, our thinking will grow. Continue to be persistent. Never give up. Never quit. “Continue to Think BIG!”