Think little goals and expect little achievements. Think big

The words of David Joseph Schwartz, “Think little goals and expect little achievements. Think big goals and win big success,” blaze like a torch to all who hunger for greatness. In them lies a law of the spirit: that the measure of a person’s destiny is set first in the vision they dare to hold. To think small is to chain oneself before the race has begun; to think boldly is to throw open the gates of possibility and summon strength one never knew was there. The world answers not merely to effort, but to the size of the dream that drives the effort.

The ancients themselves honored this truth. The builders of the pyramids, the architects of Rome, the voyagers who crossed unknown seas—they did not set out with “little goals.” They sought the impossible, and in seeking it, they drew forth powers from their people, from their own souls, that lesser aims would never have awakened. To declare a great goal is to summon the heroic spirit within. For the size of one’s goal does not only measure the achievement—it shapes the person who strives toward it.

Consider the story of John F. Kennedy, who in 1961 proclaimed that America would send a man to the moon before the decade was done. At that moment, no such feat was within reach. Many doubted, many scoffed. Yet the audacity of the big goal ignited a generation of scientists, engineers, and dreamers. The space program did not only win the race to the moon; it transformed technology, inspired humanity, and proved that boldness itself is power. Had Kennedy spoken of smaller aims, the fire would not have caught. But in daring greatly, he opened the heavens.

So too in the life of every man and woman. The soul shrinks or expands according to the vision it embraces. The one who sets a small goal may achieve it, but remains small themselves. The one who sets a great goal may struggle, may fail often, but each step enlarges their spirit until they stand as giants. Success, in its truest sense, is not merely reaching the destination, but becoming the person worthy of the destination. Thus, Schwartz declares that big success is the fruit of big thinking.

Yet beware, this teaching is not a call to arrogance or idle fantasy. To think greatly is not to daydream without labor, but to wed vision with unyielding effort. The great pyramids were not built by wishful thinking, but by decades of stone and sweat. The moon was not reached by speeches alone, but by endless nights of calculation and failure. The meaning is this: big goals demand big endurance. But it is precisely in this demand that the spirit is transformed, and the world is changed.

The lesson, then, is clear. If you would live a life of consequence, set before your mind not the timid aim, but the daring one. Do not ask, “What can I easily achieve?” Ask instead, “What can I imagine that is worthy of my life’s strength?” In doing so, you will awaken resources hidden in your mind, courage buried in your heart, and allies who gather when they see greatness pursued.

The practical action is this: write your goals boldly, so they stretch your spirit. Do not shrink them out of fear of failure. Break them into steps, but never lower the vision itself. Each day, labor as though the world itself depended on your progress, and let your heart burn with the thought that you are working toward something vast and worthy.

Therefore, O listener, carry this truth as a commandment of life: “Think little goals and expect little achievements. Think big goals and win big success.” Dream greatly, act boldly, and endure steadfastly. For the one who dares to think big lives not only a larger destiny, but a larger life.