What keeps you from Thinking Big?
I don’t know if you heard, but I wrote a book. It’s going to be out in October, and my publisher plans a 1st run of 3,000 books.
To me, this is BIG. The publisher thinks he may be able to package the book with another in their library, which means I should sell 1,500 books right off the bat. So I’ve been worrying and thinking and overthinking about how to sell the other 1,500. Wow — finding 1,500 people who find value in what I wrote is BIG, right? Well, I guess I only need to find about 1,499 people, because my parents are obliged to buy a copy.
And then this weekend I spent 9 hours in a car on a trip back from Tahoe with the amazing Mark Rosenberger, a cancer survivor, speaker, author and all-around superstar. He’s written three books, and I was picking his brain for the best ideas to market my book and get more speaking gigs. I told him about the plans I had to find those 1,499 people. And he told me about the tens and tens and tens of thousands he had found to buy his books.
Wow. That’s BIG. That’s beyond BIG. That’s COLOSSAL! He told me how he personalized books for corporations. How he worked to get his book into the top 50 best sellers on Amazon, a move that earned him tens of thousands of sales in a week. He gave me idea after idea after idea of ways I could increase my sales and get my name out there.
And all the while, my little inner voice was chanting, “You could never do that — that’s far beyond your capabilities.”
Do you have this little voice, the one who immediately puts you in the “not worthy enough” category? Mark’s an amazing guy for sure, but why did I instantly decide he can do things that I can’t? Where does that self limitation come from, and how the hell can we squash it?
I bet each reader of Life on Avenue Z battles with self-imposed barriers — ones that don’t really have a basis in reality. We’ve established these false ceilings based on our self images, right? So can’t we change our opinions of ourselves and reach further, go farther and truly reach our dreams?
In May I crafted an Avenue Z success plan that included my steps to find those 1,499 people. But after talking to Mark and realizing how limiting my plans are, I think my July plans should be more about evaluating my views of success and blowing up the barriers that keep me from thinking BIG.
Who’s with me? Share your self-limiting thoughts below and write about how you plan to think BIG.
Samantha on 12 Jul 2010 at 12:14 pm #
You always inspire me to think big! Just listen to yourself – the real you, not the annoying little road blocks. You are very right though. Why do we do that to ourselves? Who puts up the barriers? Let’s kick their butts – yer!
Jenny on 12 Jul 2010 at 12:52 pm #
People like you and mark are always so inspiring to me! I’m just hoping that I can start my small business by the end of the year. I will be small as there is a limit to how much cake I can make, and the whole idea of taking on employees is a whole different ballgame and I’m petrified of it!
Paul Anderson on 12 Jul 2010 at 1:23 pm #
Turn this into a fundraiser! 10 bucks to get in the door, then buy an autographed copy. Then sell raffle tickets with the prize being…another autographed copy.
Roy Moses on 12 Jul 2010 at 4:21 pm #
First, I’ll argue with your fifth graf; looking at your ongoing life endeavors and successes, I don’t believe that ANYTHING is beyond your capabilities.
Now, for some random ideas: urge your parents to give it as their annual Christmas gifts to friends, etc.
The NT J. Dept. has a display case out front with copies of books by faculty and exes — get yours in that case.
Get NT (to be followed by others) to adopt it as a supplemental text for marketing/PR courses. Ask Roy Busby for help; maybe a marketing/PR class could work up a sales campaign as a term project.
Look into teaching an on-line course in PR, marketing, etc. for one of these on-line universities. This could be the text.
Get Oprah to promote it — that would guarantee a second or third printing.
Get a group of like-minded friends/business associates together for a blue-sky brain storming session.
Etc., etc., etc.
Mel on 15 Jul 2010 at 9:24 am #
I guess rejection has made me fear “thinking BIG.” That, commingled with a bit of the unknown.
Perhaps I should keep trucking and work on an all-encompassing awareness of what I do and what I want to accomplish in the future?
Also, think of it as 1,498 books because you have a buyer RIGHT HERE!
Hal Hilliard on 01 Aug 2010 at 7:17 am #
We are all capable of doing outstanding things, but we’re paralyzed by the fear of making mistakes. As a result many of us don’t even try to reach our “crazy” goals.
Moses is right (he always is. LOL.). We have to look at our accomplishments and toot our own horn; nobody else will. If we’ve gotten this far, we can go further. Your path won’t be exactly like Mark’s, but you can certainly have comparable success. I fight the “not worthy enough” voices by having the courage to make mistakes.
Beth, one thing I suggest is deleting the word “new” from your tagline. You’re an experienced veteran now.
I really look forward to reading your book.