A magnetic recording medium is made of a thin film medium that includes magnetic grains. At least one of a magnetization density of the magnetic grains, a crystalline anisotropy field of the magnetic grains, a thickness of the recording medium, an average diameter of the magnetic grains, and a surface packing fraction of the recording medium are selected so that resulting magneto-static fields both decrease thermal switching of individual magnetic grains and enhance collective switching of a group of magnetic grains in response to a switching magnetic field.