What Thinking Big Actually Means
Written by Dave Bailey
Written by Dave Bailey, Jan 14, 2026
Why thinking 10x changes how founders allocate time, delegate, partner, and make decisions—and a practical exercise to apply it in 2026.
Last weekend I caught up with one of my closest friends who recently sold her company.
We were talking through an idea she had for a new business—an events concept that would run on weekends.
“I think I could easily make $100k in profit per weekend,” she said.
“You’re thinking too small,” I replied immediately. “What if you aimed to make $1M per weekend?”
She laughed at first, then paused. She realised I was serious.
We started to talk it through.
In her original plan, she’d run most of the event herself. It was something she knew exactly how to do.
But the bigger goal made it clear this wasn’t the best use of her time.
“Well, obviously I’d hire people to run the events for me,” she said. “But I’d need to market to 10–20x more people . . . and I honestly have no idea how to do that.”
So we brainstormed and within just a few minutes, she’d come up with an entirely new business model.
What if she partnered with someone perfectly aligned to the project—but with a massive audience?
And as it turned out, she already had a list of people she wanted to reach out to.
Partnering wasn’t something she’d ever done before. Her comfort zone was running events. But the bigger goal forced her to step outside of it.
Scale Goals Change Your Thinking
That’s the power of a real scale goal.
- It forces you to confront the true scaling challenge earlier.
- It clarifies what you should stop doing or delegate sooner.
- It unlocks better partners who only pay attention to bigger opportunities.
And whether you make the goal a target or not, you’re likely to make better decisions from that mindset.
Will she actually pursue it? Who knows. After a company sale, it’s often wise to let ideas sit for a while.
How to Set and Leverage a Scale Goal
If you’re looking to scale up this year, here’s an exercise for you:
Step 1: Take your current goal and multiply it by 10.
Treat it as a creative exercise. No one is going to know or care if you achieve it, so there’s no pressure.
Step 2: As you reflect on the bigger goal, ask yourself:
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What are you spending time on that suddenly makes no sense?
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Which projects suddenly become irrelevant?
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Who suddenly becomes a viable partner at that scale?
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What decisions become obvious if you take the goal seriously?
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What happens to your energy levels?
Most founders don’t avoid this exercise because 10x is impossible. They avoid it because 10x is impossible if they keep doing the same things they’re doing today.
And that’s the whole point.
Related Reading
- How to Stop Resenting People Asking for More
- Why Founders Struggle to Show Appreciation
- How Founders Lose Sight of What They Want
- Why Founders Are Reducing Their 1-1s
- Why CEOs Must Embrace The Impossible
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Originally published Jan 14, 2026, last updated Jul 19, 2026.
