Benjamin Disraeli served as Prime Minister of Great Britain two terms, leading the Conservative Party in the late 19th century. Though historians don’t rank Disraeli among the greatest Prime Ministers, he’s regarded by most to have been a successful and influential leader. He’s best remembered for his colorful political battles with William Gladstone, who led the Liberal Party. Many feel that Disraeli helped make the Conservative Party the most identified with the power and glory of the British Empire.
Though he was a writer like Winston Churchill, Disraeli was the only British Prime Minister to have been of Jewish birth. His other distinction was that he wrote novels—even while in the office of Prime Minister.
Disraeli was also recognized for his great oratory, and for his ability to make concise, substantive statements that revealed his underlying wisdom.
It seems to me that Disraeli’s quotation teaches us two important principles. The first principle is:
Great achievements begin as great thoughts
There has never been a great achievement that did not BEGIN as a great thought. Actions are always expressions of thoughts. Even the simplest of actions are preceded by thoughts. Certainly complex and GREAT ACHIEVEMENTS are preceded by them. In fact, we sometimes claim that an act was performed WITHOUT THINKING. We might say, ‘He should have thought before he said that.’ Or, ‘She should have thought before she did that.’ But the fact of the matter is that NO ACTS occur prior to thinking about them. What we would more accurately say would be, ‘He should have thought DIFFERENTLY before he said that.’ Or, ‘She should have thought DIFFERENTLY before she did that.’ But make no mistake about it, actions are preceded by thinking. Though the QUALITY of the thinking may vary.
But if there’s going to be a great achivement, rest assured it will be preceded by a great thought. No doubt this is why Stephen Covey in his landmark bestseller, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People said,
Begin with the end in mind.
That is, think about what you want as an OUTCOME before you START. That is, don’t BEGIN the work until you’ve thought about how you want the work to END. What do you want as a RESULT of what you’re about to do? What OBJECTIVE do you have for devoting time, energy, and resources to this endeavor? Because if you simply START without thinking through what you WANT—there’s bound to be disappointment down the road.
If you think FALSELY before you start, or you think INACCURATELY before you start, or you think SUPERFICIALLY before you start—it will sooner or later catch up with you. Great achievements begin as great thoughts. There’s just no way around it.
We cannot predict with certainty how things will turn out simply because we think about them IN ADVANCE. But FAILING to think about them IN ADVANCE is a virtual GUARANTEE we will be unable to predict the outcome. Thinking in advance provides a far better probability that we will accurately predict the outcome.
The second principle of the Disraeli quotation has a different kind of application. Not only do great achievements begin as great thoughts, but
Our thoughts either limit us or launch us
Our thoughts are not neutral. Our thoughts have potential to either hinder our progress, or set us free to soar. Our thoughts convince us that we should press on. Or our thoughts convince us that we should stay right where we are. Our thoughts in fact PAVE THE WAY for our actions. The great industrialist, Henry Ford clearly saw this. Which is why he said,
Whether you think you can or you think you can’t—you’re right.
He knew that what we tell ourselves has a huge impact on the outcome. If we think we can do something—there’s a good chance that we can. If we think we CANNOT do something—there’s a good chance that we can’t. He wasn’t talking about a self-directed pep talk. He was referring to CONFIDENCE that emerges from WHAT WE THINK and HOW WE THINK.
Of course, our thinking should not be misguided. Simply THINKING that you can be an Olympic skater will not make you one. Simply THINKING that you can win an Iron Man competition will not achieve the victory. But thinking you CANNOT ACHIEVE what you otherwise could, will increase the probability of failure. While thinking that you CAN ACHIEVE what you might, will increase the probability of success. There’s nothing like confidence to foster success. There’s nothing like apprehension to induce failure.
Whatever you want to become will require thinking. Whether you want to become a writer, speaker, attorney, accountant, physician, musician, athlete, teacher, filmmaker, chef, fisherman, farmer, engineer, or artist—you will need to do a lot of thinking in advance. The odds of becoming a good anything without thinking in that direction are nearly zero. No one becomes great without nurturing thoughts toward greatness.
So how do you nuture your mind with great thoughts? A few suggestions.
- Read great books
- Watch great films
- Listen to great podcasts
- Read, watch, and listen to good inteviews with great people
- Observe life and take notes
- Ask penetrating questions of intelligent people
- Ask deep questions about why things are as they are
- Ask deep questions about why things are not as they could be
- Learn to question answers as well as answer questions
- Honestly ask yourself why you believe what you believe
- Honestly ask yourself why you behave as you do
- Study successsful people and determine why they’re successful
- Spend time with intelligent people and learn from them
- Watch smart and successful people give TedTalks
- Take an online course and learn something useful
- Learn from those who know more than you do
That is,
Nurture your mind with great thoughts,
for you will never go any higher than you think.
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