The tag line of “The Think Big Manifesto” is “Think you can’t change your life (and the world)? Think again.” That is a pretty good summary about what the book is all about, although the focus is more about changing the world than your life. The book focuses on challenging you to think big about life and what you can achieve. It challenges you to think about ways you can make a difference in the world.
What I Didn’t Like
I picked up this book expecting to read a book focused on, well, thinking big. While the book talks about that, it seems to be more focused on the idea of changing the world, rather than the act of thinking big. In other words the advice on thinking big is very focused on changing the world, not on how to think big. For example, Port writes,
“Small thoughts are not reality…. You are more than you think. You can do more with your own life and you can have an impact on the larger world outside you – your family, your community, your country, our global village.”
Great advice, and very true, but not what I was expecting from the title. Instead it seems to focus more on the fact that you should think big (which I knew), rather than on HOW to think big (which I want to get better at).
Another thing I do not like is the constant “I” focus. Perhaps the purpose of a manifesto is to share more from an “I” focus, however I found it difficult at times because the “I” focus seems to take away from helping the reader.
One more thing that I don’t like is that the book seems to be a little fluffy. For example, Port writes,
“Failure is nothing. It will happen. We will transcend it.”
While I think it is great to say that failure will happen, the idea of simply “transcending it” is a little whimsical. I would have preferred a more detailed look at how we can learn from failure, how to THINK BIG in spite of failure, and HOW to move beyond failure.
What I Did Like
There are, however, many things that I liked about the book. First of all, I really like the fact that Port focuses on making a difference in the world. The book focuses on changing the world, and the fact that every person can make a difference in the world. I like that he addresses how the thing that holds most people back from changing the world is how they think. We think small and therefore we act small.
Secondly, I like that the book moves beyond the common definitions of success: a better job, more money, and more things. Instead it looks at contribution and making the difference as being the true measure of success. Port writes,
“If you’re not happy now, you’re not going to be happy when you have more money, purchase your dream home, or whatever goal you may have.”
Another thing I like is that Port shares many examples of other people who are thinking big. While some of the examples are surprising and may seem out of place, they serve to demonstrate the power to make a difference even in what others might consider the “mundane” things of life.
The second part of the book really makes up for some of the short comings in the first half. One of my favorite sections of the book is his section on collaboration. I tend to be the type of person who just gets things done myself. I have not collaborated very often. Learning from this section means I need to be open to more forms of collaboration. Port writes,
“True collaboration is a give-and-take. True partnerships are founded in equality. Equality does not equal sameness. We don’t all bring the same skills or resources to the table, but we all bring something and we all need something….. . This kind of collaboration is possible only when we are very secure, win-win, without measuring who won more. Can we allow ourselves to be happy if we get what we want, even though others get more of what they want? It’s not at our expense.”
Conclusions
So is “The Think Big Manifesto” worth reading? Yes it is. Certainly there are many things that could be improved, and I don’t think it lives up to its title; however, there is a lot of good that you can get from reading the book. I learned things and was inspired – both things that I really appreciate in a book. If you pick up this book realize you are getting a book about changing the world more than you are about thinking big. Thinking big is just the method that allows for the world to be changed.
To give you a deeper flavor for the book I’ll leave with some of the quotes that I found inspiring:
“Inspiring others to think big is perhaps the single most important act of any one individual thinking big.”
“Know that we reach only what we aim for, so there is no choice but to aim high if we are to succeed.”
“Think: ‘Why not me?’ instead of ‘Why me?’”
“The truth is that big thinking is always, always [always, always, always] worth the expenditure of energy.”
“People will be excited about what you do only if you are excited about it. People will believe in you and what you do only if you believe.”
“The more uncomfortable you are, the more challenged you are.”
“Small thinking has the power to suck in everything around it. To influence and sway small thoughts, big thinking must first exert twice the strength to achieve a fraction of the same force.”
Review by:
Danny Gamache
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