Has anyone ever told you, or have you thought to yourself, that maybe you are not setting your sights high enough? The problem with that is that there will always be someone who is selling more, making more, or just being more impactful. I just read the new book by Jeffrey Hayzlett called, “Think Big, Act Bigger” and I was surprisingly inspired by his take on how we can push ourselves to higher levels.

Here are my favorite 3 takeaways:

1. Be a little irrational: According to the many famous executives that have shared their stories in the book, being sane and rational does not get you to a big goal. Sometimes you have to be far out there to pull people along to where you want them to go. It is called irrational leadership, and it creates necessary tension and results. Keeping the status quo is obviously not thinking big. I love it!

2. Kill the squirrel: Yes, it is about focusing on what is important. The distractions are the demise of getting bigger. Why are we doing the things we are doing day in and day out? Unless our activities are truly focused, there is no way we can efficiently get bigger (and perhaps never get bigger, period). In the book, Hayzlett shares a simple inverted triangle system to help with organizing tasks. One of the biggest issues in business today is that there is too much to do in a finite amount of time. And when we spend time on tasks at the expense of our growth, it is infinitely unfair to everyone. We have to get control of our time, and focus our efforts. The inverted triangle system is logical, visual, and an easy method that you can follow daily. A certain level of distractedness is common among business owners with so much on their plates, but it can get to a point where it is hindering your growth.

3. Fear of failure is at the heart of failure: “If I don’t step out, I can’t fail.” We all know this intuitively, but as Hayzlett says, when no one is willing to act, no one fails, but no one wins either. NO ONE WINS. Not just you, but your whole company is at risk. And although celebrating failure may not be a healthy idea, we can’t afford to wish it away. Everyone is not a winner, but if we don’t at least try something big, essentially we fail.

We all need a push from time to time. This book may give you something to think about and act on! Are you ready to think big and act bigger?