Most of us want to think and act bigger, but we don’t always know how. Stock image sites tell us that "dreaming big" means climbing a hill, looking out over the land and throwing our arms up in the air.

If only it was that simple.

It’s not simply a case of clicking our fingers and elevating our ambition and actions. Dreaming bigger starts with a few exercises that lead to a new way of thinking. Practising this consistently turns it into a habit. Once you’re in the habit of dreaming bigger, and taking action to match, there’s no stopping you.

Here are 36 ways to think and act bigger:

  1. Make audacious requests and play the rejection game
  2. Don’t do anything that someone else could do
  3. Visualize your biggest dreams coming true
  4. Try to be more weird, not less weird
  5. Be intentional about your networking
  6. Name your two versions and always be the best one
  7. Be less responsive to everyone
  8. Do things that make you feel uncomfortable
  9. Remind yourself of your mortality
  10. Care more about being exceptional than being liked
  11. Hang out with people who also think big
  12. Remember the easiest road has the least to offer
  13. Recognise limiting beliefs and old thought patterns
  14. Don’t mistake something feeling right for it simply feeling familiar
  15. Embrace the unknown instead of being scared of it
  16. Move to a new place and immerse yourself in a new way of living
  17. Let go of some of your goals and repurpose the energy into fewer
  18. Understand what triggers you so it doesn’t hold you back
  19. Stop consuming television, commentary and other media
  20. Maintain a high energy state with the entrepreneurs energy score
  21. Read the books that billionaires read
  22. Recognise when you’re going after what someone else has
  23. Create more blank space in your calendar
  24. Know what really drives you to act
  25. Aim to be the least interesting person in the room
  26. Decide what you’re not going to care about
  27. Never go back to where former versions of you hung out
  28. Journal about who you are and what you want
  29. Raise your standards in every area
  30. Run some dreaming bigger thought experiments
  31. Identify and let go of what you’re holding onto
  32. Ask, “What am I capable of?”
  33. Consciously select your conversation topics
  34. Journal about what’s in the gap between who you are and who you want to be
  35. Get over imposter syndrome
  36. Run the last day on earth test

Which of these do you already do, and which could be worth a try? Select a few that resonate, commit to action and see what kind of difference they make.