Think Small Summary – Secrets to Accomplish Big Goals

Author: Owain Service, Rory Gallagher

Synopsis
Think Small (2017) is a self-help book based on the ways one can achieve big goals in their life whether the goals are personal or professional. The book is divided into several chapters that discuss setting goals, making plans, strengthening your commitments, rewarding yourself, sharing your goals with others, and personal feedback.
think small
Source: amazon.com

Detailed Summary of Think Small

Both the authors, Owain Service and Rory Gallagher, are in the managing position at the Behavioural Insights Team and have worked with the Government. Working with the behavior insight team has allowed them to observe human behavior and know how humans react in certain situations and toward certain stimuli.

In this book, Think Small, Owain Service and Rory Gallagher provide a detailed guide that will enable you to achieve your goals, whatever they are related to. The book will teach you to plan your goals and the fuel you need to carry on while striving for them.

If you have the right way, motivation, perseverance, and commitment will eventually lead you to the end. If you have formed and identified an ambition and understand its true meaning and purpose, it will reinvigorate you. This will give you the internal desire you require to go through your journey and achieve exceptional results.

The guide takes you from the first step, setting goals, and walks you through the journey. It focuses on important aspects so that you do not neglect the importance of every step and do not get distracted.

So, if you have some vague goals in your mind that you want to achieve in the next few weeks and months but do not have any idea how you will get there. This book will help you sketch the steps you need to follow to realize those goals and dreams.

It will bring your focus toward the small details you usually forget while you are chasing the bigger things in life. According to the authors, all of these smaller things play their role in helping us achieve our goals.

Think Small Summary Key Points

What strategy do you adopt to turn your dreams into reality? What you should do to achieve something worthy in your life? Behaviorists believe that small changes toward your goals and actions leads you to big changes.

You must have big goals and ambitions as I do. But how can you accomplish them? Because staying consistent is really hard. I strived for years to reach my goals. But do you know how you will get everything in your life? Simply by setting goals, sticking to them, do strive by using behavioral insights. Moreover, if you have bad habits such as procrastination, you must break them first.

This way, you can make your routine and work more effectively to overcome all the obstacles which come your way. The following key points will highlight how to make goals and achieve them.

You might like to read Tribal Leadership Summary to learn strategies to build a thriving organization.

Plan your Goals

Most of the time, we have goals in our minds, and we set out to achieve them. We plan the journey we will need to follow. However, much of the time, we do not think about the goal in our minds.

Owain Service and Rory Gallagher advise their readers to take a moment and focus on the goal. What have they decided to achieve, why do they want to achieve it, how will these goals affect their lives, what are their expectations from that specific goal and journey, and why specifically have they chosen that goal? This will give them a clearer perspective and prepare them for the steps they must follow to achieve those goals.

Plan the Necessary steps toward your Wins

The next step is realizing the demands of your goals. For example, if your goal is to write one short fiction story every day, how much time will it take?

Can you do it all together in the evening after work?

Or maybe you will like to form a rough sketch in the morning when you have the maximum energy and time and put it into writing in the evening?

It all depends on your time, efficiency, and the smart and hard work you are willing to put in.

So plan everything beforehand, including the things that could go wrong. Zig Ziglar emphasizes the importance of planning: “If you pay that price daily by planning and preparing and working to become the right kind of person, then you can legitimately expect to have all that life has to offer.” So take the time out to plan because if you are not taking the time out to plan for your success, you are planning to fail.

Discipline and Commitment

When you have thought about a goal and planned everything you needed to plan, you need to get to work Commitment and discipline are the tools that will make you show up and fight hard for the things that matter even when you feel low Discipline is what gets you from one place to the other.

As a person trying to improve, you can never blame the environment or the circumstances. Instead, you can ensure that you work hard, stay consistent with or without motivation and generate results. Even during times of distress and loss. You need the discipline to generate consistent ideas and work hard. 

Take Feedback from the Right People

Feedback is important and every step. Not only after you have achieved your goal. You can take feedback at each step of the journey: while setting goals, making plans, and implementing different methods. The authors advise their readers only to take personal feedback.

This means taking feedback from people who value your goals and know your passions. Taking feedback from everyone will only leave you confused and may steer you in the wrong direction.

Think Small Summary Quotes

“Small details matter a lot more than you might think. To achieve big, you’ll need to think small.” –Owain Service & Rory Gallagher

“We dream about a big house in the country, without realizing that the longer commute may make us less happy overall.” –Owain Service & Rory Gallagher

Think Small Summary Review

As busy human beings living in the twenty-first century, we tend to feel overwhelmed by the number of tasks that we have to complete every day. While we may not be able to reduce the things that need to be done, we can hone our skills to perform them efficiently by planning and staying committed.

Think Small is a book that will make you a goal-oriented and more productive person. Give this book a read when you have several tasks but do not know how to start working. Worth your time!

To Whom I Would Recommend Think Small Summary

  • To the fifteen-year-old girl in her room who has big ideas and wants to achieve so much but does not know where to start.
  • The twenty-two-year-old university student is overwhelmed daily by the number of tasks.
  • And to everyone looking for a solid action plan, they can implement to achieve goals.

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