As a Man Thinketh
Assessment by Aderemi Adewoye (Nigeria)
1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
The summary of the author’s idea is that there is nothing that happens to Man by accident, whatever happens to Man is what he thinks in his heart. The author beliefs that Man has control over what happens to him and therefore, Man can intentionally Manage situation around him to work for him. It is also clear that from Man’s inaction situation can work the other way from him because he has refused to control his pattern of thinking. Good thought will bring to man good fortune while negative thought will bring to man negative fortune. It is therefore very safe to mention that Man is the architect of his own lives because Man determines whatever he wants to see when he can picture the event then he automatically commands the event to happen either positive or negative.
Man will experience his thought and this is in alignment with Mahatma Ghandi quote “ A Man is but the product of his thought. What he thinks, he becomes.”
2. What are the seven ideas which were personally most important to you and why? List these seven ideas followed by an explanation after each one as to why it was important to you. Use personal examples from your own life.
i. Human is a being of power, Intelligence and Love and also the Lord of his of his own thoughts. He holds the key to every situation that happens to him
As human being we cannot continue to retire to what we call fate, we have been deceived for so long to belief that we do not control what happens to us. Sometimes we belief what happens to us is created in the spiritual realm. There is huge assumption that destiny of each human has being created and hence what he only needs to do is sit back and watch what happens to him. This idea pushed forward by the writer has shown that humans are intelligent and are also a being that is filled with power who can determine the event of his lives either positive or negatives. If a man harbors in his hearth negatives thought then negatives and sorrow happen to him but if he harbors in his heart positive things then good things happen to him and bring him happiness.
No plant grows without a seed, therefore nothing that manifest to humans come without a seed and in this case the seed is his thought. For instance, I have witnessed this severally in my own life. When I finished my University education in Nigeria and I have to do the compulsory one year service in the country, I was busy thinking of what will happen to me if the Youth service commission posted me to far away North, about several kilometers to my state of origin. My mind was busy imaging this situation and when posting time came, I was posted to a very far away state.
My mind was preoccupied with this thought and yes, it happened to me. I filled up my thought with what I will call negative thought then but it eventually happened despite the fact that I never wanted to be posted to the North. Maybe it would have turn the other way round if I pictured and position my self in my mind to the state I wanted.
ii. Human can only find the truth that is related to his existence by intentionally searching his soul and minds. He will eventually discover that he is the molder of his destiny. Nothing happens to him by chance.
Nothing happens by chance to Humans, it is extremely very important for Man to search his soul and understand how his thought always craft what eventually happens to him.
Man can be a foolish or wise master of his situation if he understands this secret by reflecting on his life and understanding how his thought has impacted situation around him.
Reflecting on this idea, I remember some events in my career of close to 20 years. I have always know that when it is time for me to move from one organization to the other, It always happen close to my Birthday. I have changed job like 4 times and this always end up as a birthday gift. When I start attending interviews very close to my Birth Month I can almost tell you that I will get the job offer. This is the pattern in my close to 20 years career. I have taken my time to understand this and this has sunk into my consciousness.
iii. Man can determine what happens to him either positive or negative depending on how he cultivates and tends his thought. He is the Gardener of his soul.
This idea is very true, the thought of Man determines what eventually happens to him. I like the analogy used by the author when he was referring to Man as the Gardener of his soul. What happens to a Man is a function of what he has accepted in his soul, a function of what he cultivates. If a Man accept weeds to flourish in his mind which is compare to Farmland by the author then he will reap the negative reward. The existence of Man is not by chance, Man carefully craft out his circumstances by what he accept.
When I left my previous organization to join another organization, I said to my colleagues that I was coming back to the organization in another 5 years, I was not surprised when everything started working to bring this to reality. It came to a time that I built into my consciousness that I started imagining driving to the Plant daily when it was exactly 5 years. Secondly, I personally had a good experience of when I started looking for Job after my university days, I told myself and planted it into my minds that I was only going to sit at home for only one months after graduation. You know how it is difficult finding job in Nigeria. This eventually happened to me, I stayed at home for one month as this served as my annual leave like I called it and interestingly I started my career in February with a manufacturing company. The recruitment process took one month and the job came at a time when people were not expecting. As at the time I mentioned this to myself there was really no hope of getting a job but because I am the one that decide what happens to me by the virtue of my thinking I got the job at exactly the time I expected.
iv. Soul will attract what you loves and what you fear.
Every thought that a man allow to sink into his soul germinates and bring the outcome depending on the type of seed sown. It is the thought that thrives in man that brings the outcome that are manifested. What a man loves will happen to him and what he fears do too, depending on what is happening in his mind.
The author made it clear that a good thought will deliver good outcome and a negative thought will deliver good outcome. Once upon a time my mind was completely filled with thought and fear of failing a professional examination. This impacted the way I prepared for the examination and interestingly I ended up failing the examination. I decided to repeat the examination with a different mindset and I passed the second time I made another attempt because I saw myself passing the examination and this brought out the confidence in me. With this confidence I was able to faced the examination and the result came out very favorable.
v. Circumstances never make a man. Man determine the circumstances
Man determines his circumstances and his circumstances does not determine him. Most of the time we want to achieve an expected end but we do not want to do what is expected of us to enable us achieve the expected end. Different examples were given by the author of a rich man who wants to get rid of a certain disease but who was not ready to do what is expected of him – live an healthy lifestyle by doing away with probably some food.
I once decided to shed some weight and I was advised by medical expert on diet modification, deep inside me I was not ready to modify my diet but superficially I wanted to shed weight. I was busy looking for an easier method that will give the end result. I was gaining additional weight instead of shedding weight. I did not shed any weight until I have to get determined in my mind and heart that I was actually ready and immediately I decided to modify my diet and within 2 months I lost 10kg. It is therefore true that circumstances are man’s making
vi. Body respond to the mind as a servant.
The author idea is that the body is a servant to the mind and it only respond to the thought of Man. Therefore a Man that lives in fear of disease will have a sick body as what a Man fears happen to him. He also opined that clean thought is necessary for a clean habit and this impact Man’s health. The author has also tried to push that it does not mean that an aged person must look sick or has a wrinkled face. Everything is about thought pattern and the kind of thought that Man admit into his mind. Man therefore can determine to be happy depending on the type of thought he pushes into his mind.
vii. He who cherishes a beautiful vision, a lofty ideal in his heart will one day realize it.
Thought must be linked to purpose for a Man to accomplish something meaningful in his life. He must define what he wants to accomplish and he must ensure this is push into his mind as this is what can bring it to reality. The author opined that a Man with purpose will set out to accomplish his purpose especially when this is made a focal point in his heart. He will not need to wander about as he will concentrate and focus on delivering his purpose. One interesting thing about the idea is that Man can actually train himself – a weak man can become strong by working on his thought. What a Man achieve or do not achieve is a function of his thought.
Several years ago I had a dream of becoming a supply chain leader and I set up all to accomplish this purpose because this was in my heart – I was able to identify all the steps I need to take to accomplish this purpose and I am proud to say I am close to hitting the vision I set out for myself. If purpose is aligned to thought, all other things that would have led to distractions will not be allowed.
3. How will these ideas or lessons help you in a practical way, both in your daily personal life and in helping you to create a better world? If so how?
These ideas have made me to see that nothing happens to Man by accident, I have seen that I can decide and make up my mind to be happy by my thinking. It is now very evident to me that there is nothing call impossibility for Man as Man can achieve whatever he dreams and prioritizing via his thought. I am the architect of whatever happens to me and it is also evident that I can deliberately changed what I put into my mind and by implication I can determine my future.
4. Quotes: Are there any statements which the author made that particularly got your attention? If so, Please quote them and comment as to why they were important to you.
“Men do not attract that which they want but that which they are.”
This quote means that our thought dictate our circumstances and it is what we are made off. We can not wish that things happen by not pushing this into our mind and making sure this sinks and form part of us.
“The divinity that shape ourselves; its our very self.”
We are the architect of our own future, we shape our future, we change our situation no one else can help us. Even if someone offer to help, our situation will not change until we are ready to change our situation.
5. Is there anything in the book that you do not understand or are unclear about, or are there ideas which you disagree with and, if so, why?
No.
6. Did the book contain exercises for the reader to complete? If so, did you complete all of the exercises and did you find them useful?
The book does not contain any exercises
7. Was there anything you read in the book that you would like to comment on that was not covered in the previous questions? If so, please comment?
None.
Please note the following question on a scale from 1 to 10. Ten is good and one is poor.
A. How interesting was it to read? 9
B. How helpful were the contents? 8
C. How easy was it to understand? 8
D. Would you recommend it to others? 8
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 8
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Assessment by Aderemi Adewoye (Nigeria)
1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
The main idea the author was trying to convey in this book is that we should be able to determine our purpose in life. When this purpose is eventually found then we can live our best life by doing everything to achieve it irrespective of push back from people. The book also convey that there is really no limitation in life in term of us achieving a higher purpose. We can achieve whatever we want to achieve if we remove the limitations in our mind and heart. In addition to the two points I mentioned above, the book also show that journey into excellence will or might not be smooth ride, it is also filled with lot of challenges as we move along but if we are committed to the higher purpose we can achieve the outcome and the more we achieve little thing the more we have more determination to move on.
Furthermore, it is also very important that we find like minds who will encourage us as we move. We should look for people who share similar or higher purpose with us then get to learn from them and one should not be tired of learning over and over again. Generally the book is about a quest for excellence and a quest for daring to be different which means creating and breaking ones own record.
2. What are the seven ideas which were personally most important to you and why? List these seven ideas followed by an explanation after each one as to why it was important to you. Use personal examples from your own life.
i. You don’t need to look like others Jonathan Seagull determined to be different, he decided not to be like other Gulls in the community.
He was able to determine what he wants to become. He challenged himself by finding a big purpose for his life. He was able to see that life is not about flying to eat but pushing hard to achieve a big purpose. I have also discovered personally in my life that life is not about living to survive everyday then at a time die and go to the grave. It is very important that one should engage himself in determining the purpose of his being and work towards it without submitting to daily distractions that are always there to stop ones progress. I went through an exercise early part of my career to determine my purpose in life, since I did this I found out that I have reasons to live life at its best daily working towards my purpose and inspiring and impacting young men who also need to go through this journey in life. If I had not crafted the vision of where I am going to, life would have been so boring and living would have had no meaning.
ii. There will always be one reason why the world will not believe in your purpose it is left for you to have confidence in yourself and drive towards achieving the purpose.
The Norm does not mean you should not find your purpose. When you find it the world might not support you to achieve the purpose. It is entirely left for you to have faith and also have determination to do all you need to do to thrive and achieve your purpose. There is no limitation except the one you have created for yourselves.
iii. There is no finish line to excellence.
There is no place like heaven in this concept, Heaven is not a destination but it is place of perfection that one needs to drive towards. As you define where you are going and you achieve one milestone you need to keep working on yourselves. I continually work on myself to get better everyday as a good leader. I get feedback from people anytime I have opportunity to interact and I ensure I use the feedback daily to improve my being. I have grown in my leadership journey as a result of using this feedback on daily basis. There is no end to learning we need to keep learning and making sure we get better daily. I spend most of my time sitting with people that have gone through this phase in life and I also spend time reading books to enable me keep developing myself
iv. Challenges or rejection in life might be another opportunity that present itself in different way.
When Jonathan had found his purpose he ensure he was doing everything to achieve the purpose but challenges came his way and he was virtually rejected by everyone and at the end of the day he was banished from the community. He was disappointed but this gave him opportunity to me some other two Gulls that shared his vision and he was able to move and learn a lot from there. Birds of the same feather flocks together is a proverb that aligns with this principle. I had to leave some of my old friends to enable me get to where I am today. For them what I was doing was not sensible enough, I would have been in the same condition like these people but I decided to follow my purpose even though as at that time it made no sense to friends around me. I was lucky I found mentors and coach who has done what I needed to achieve and I was able to follow their path and this has gone a long way in getting me to this space today. I am continually working towards perfection and I keep challenging myself on daily basis to get better. Pace in my career today was the fact that I challenged myself to do things differently and this is making me to stand out all the time among my peers.
v. Give back to the society.
Jonathan learned and set records for the other seagull by being restless. He achieved several great feat and he decided to teach people of like minds who decided that life is not only about looking for fishes until they die and they are buried, He also use the opportunity he had to show some other seagull what lies ahead and how they could live a beautiful life. This is one of the reasons I personally provide a platform for the young ones today. I presently run a mentorship program for about 10 young ladies and Men where I helped them to add meanings to their life I also do coaching for young graduates working as trainee in the different organizations I have worked
vi. As you win in the race you discover you have capacity to do more.
Jonathan did a lot to practice and experiment and he failed severally but every small wins was an opportunity for him to aspire to do more. This is the way we should see the world, one should use every failure to challenge him selves. It will be tough like it was for Jonathan as he failed and failed severally with several wounds to show for it but he got inspiration from the fact that he achieved some small wins and this propelled him to do more despite push back from several people including his parent and community. I have made several attempts to create some additional streams of income. I failed in some of them but I got a little win in one or few and this has shown me that there is a window of opportunity to succeed. I have only learnt several ways not to do some of those things again and now I have some good understanding of what to do differently. That is the essence of life – there will be challenges but we should celebrate small wins and see that as an opportunity to move and achieve more. We should not see challenges as a dead weight that will weigh us down and make us forget our purpose in life. At a time in Joanthan’s life he discovered that with little effort he could now do more. Therefore, with more practice one will discover one has capacity to do more with little effort.
vii. The essence of being successful is to know how to be successful and use the opportunity to go back and teach people how to live a successful life.
Jonathan challenged himself and he was successful but he went back to teach others how to challenge themselves and be successful. He had several other students that he trained and challenged. This is the reasons I am doing my leadership mentorship for the young ones. I saw something that worked for me in life and I am convinced I need to impact the world with it.
3. How will these ideas or lessons help you in a practical way, both in your daily personal life and in helping you to create a better world? If so, how?
It is clear there is no destination for excellence and it means I need to keep learning and learning and work towards perfection. When I make progress towards excellence I also need to share my experience with others who also need to find purpose for their lives.
I am continually challenging myself to see what I can do and what I cannot do and with this I keep practicing to get me to where I have pictured as a temporary destination, as I keep making progress I will keep raising the bars of excellence and keep getting better on daily basis. I will have to make my life be a blessing to others by also challenging them to work towards perfection, I am not going to leave people the way I met them.
I have gotten deep knowledge of how determination can help one to be successful and I have seen that the only limitation is the one I set for myself. I am ready to deploy this more into my mentorship and coaching program for the young Ladies and Men in my network.
4. Quotes: Are there any statements which the author made that particularly got your attention? If so, Please quote them and comment as to why they were important to you.
“We choose our next world through what we learnt in this one.”
This is important to me because it is what propels us to victory, what we accept will determine the glory we shall see in the next phase of our lives. If take on the challenge heads on then we are bound to make additional wins as we progress in life.
“Heaven is not a place, and it is not a time. Heaven is being perfect.”
There is no finish line in the quest for excellence. As you surmount one mountain you need to surmount more additional ones. This is the concept of continuous improvement. There will never be a time that one will think that he has arrived. There is always opportunity to learn, unlearn and keep learning while progressing towards perfection. As you achieve on milestones or the other. You discover you have more strength for more and more.
“You must begin by knowing that you have already arrived.”
Picture the end from the beginning. Have the confidence that you will achieve whatever you picture and you shall get it. No matter the challenges you are going to face, the strength to win will only come when you have it clear in your mind that you have made it. You can never make it if you don’t have the assurance clear in your mind and heart that you have made it.
“Forget about Faith, you do not need faith to fly but you need needed to understand flying.”
This quote means we have work to do, we cannot assume that we just have faith then things we start coming into shape. No this is not possible, you need to stand up and learn how to do it. You need to be determined and decide to do all that it takes to get going. Learning and challenges make you develop additional muscles for the task.
5. Is there anything in the book that you do not understand or are unclear about, or are there ideas which you disagree with and, if so, why?
No.
6. Did the book contain exercises for the reader to complete? If so, did you complete all of the exercises and did you find them useful?
The book does not contain any exercises
7. Was there anything you read in the book that you would like to comment on that was not covered in the previous questions? If so, please comment.
None.
Please note the following question on a scale from 1 to 10. Ten is good and one is poor.
A. How interesting was it to read? 9
B. How helpful were the contents? 9
C. How easy was it to understand? 9
D. Would you recommend it to others? 10
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 9
Success through a Positive Mental Attitude
Assessment by Aderemi Adewoye (Nigeria)
1. What is the Main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
The main idea the author is trying to convey in this book is that we have 2 sides to a coin and these are Positive mental attitude and negative mental attitude. The author thought is very clear that Man has control over these two sides of the coins and can deliberately decide the side he wants to apply in every situation. The Positive mental attitude side of the coin will lead to prosperity and good lives and it will help the Man to achieve whatever he thinks he can achieve in life. This side of the coins will attract good health, successes and wealth while a negative mental attitude will repel these good things of life and will therefore lead to the following poor state of health and poverty. The author pushed the message in such a way that it is clear that Man can decide or apply whatever sides he wants and this was shown by different examples. The example of S.B Muller was clear enough to show a man who decides what he wants and go all the way for it by applying Positive mental attitude. This Positive mental attitude made him go through the odds and made him rich.
2. What are the seven ideas which were personally most important to you and why? List these seven ideas followed by an explanation after each one as to why it was important to you. Use personal examples from your own life.
i. Inspirational dissatisfaction
One of the ideas I picked from this book is the fact that Man can determine what he wants out of life by deliberately picking his choice. The concept of inspirational dissatisfaction is one thing I find very interesting. You cannot achieve what you want if you don’t develop deep aspiration backed up with actions. What you want is different from what you wish, the beginning of attraction of positive things such as success etc is by this first action which is inspirational dissatisfaction for negatives, this I can also call burning desire to achieve whatever you have called out. One of the examples that came to mind for me when it comes to developing inspirational dissatisfaction for failure will be when I took the position of Plant Manager I my previous organization. I heard of failure of several Plant Managers before me especially the fact that they were unable to Manage the size of the plant and things were going in between the cracks. I informed my team of my hatred for failure and how it is important that we win. It was surprising to see how things started coming together in the team and within the space of six months things changed for the better for the Plant with all performance measure turning around and coming within the targets. The different teams aligned with our position with everybody getting angry with the site initial Plant performance. With this hatred and the selection of the future goal and destination, every single person in the team started thinking about how to get to our agreed destination and yes we got it.
ii. PMA and NMA (Positive mental attitude or Negative mental attitude)
We can keep blaming the world except ourselves thereby using NMA which will repel all the good things of life from us, this was depicted by the example of the map of the world and the picture of a Man; this was summarized that if you figure the man right then the world can be changed. Therefore, it is about us and not about the world around us. I have therefore seen that we can continue to blame the world around us and we are left without achieving the success we are destined to achieve if we apply our PMA. One very good examples made in the book was also that of Ben that was being bullied by his colleagues but he was able to overcome then when he decided to use his PMA. I made effort to work in an organization as the site leads for several years but different ideas started coming into my mind on why this was difficult. Anytime I see these negatives ideas coming into my mind the more I started moving far away from achieving the objective of getting into the employment of this organization as a site lead, few months ago I decided to change my perspectives and I started using my Positive mental attitudes and this helped me in great deal to navigate the process of engagement. In fact, things started falling into places when I put my PMA on. The wood cutter and the home owner story caught my attention; the Man with the NMA lost the opportunity of seeing the money while the Man with PMA found it.
iii. Accurate thinking
Decision making should be based on different perspectives and not only one on straight line thinking. Most of the decision we take will come from what we have in our thought, experience and intuitions. Most important idea here for me is when we have to deal with other people either our family, colleagues or friends. Most time we always think everybody except us are always wrong most especially because we do not have consideration for other people in our act or thought. The idea of considering what the author call meeting of the minds is an important concept as most of the disagreements comes from the fact that communication challenge in terms of people understanding the message. Example of a Man that claim he was an atheist finally agreeing that he was never one because Dr. Fredrick was able to have a place to meet his mind and they both align on same thing.
iv. Auto Suggestion
One part of Positive mental attitude that caught my attention in this book is also the principle that as human we have the mind of our own and we can at any time determine what we want. This I have linked into the principle of auto suggestion that I picked from the book. As humans we can suggest and call out continuously what we want and this will go into our subconscious. The demonstration of the use of auto suggestion came to light with different examples but the one that caught my attention the most is the example of dying Ralph who was in the state of Coma for several hours with the doctor losing hope that he was going to live again but because he has already conditioned his mind that he was not going to die, He did not die. I had similar situation recently when I said to myself repeatedly that I was going to leave my previous organization and get a new job in an organization that I desire. I was repeating this daily and it came to pass. Therefore what a Man thinks and say repeatedly to himself will be manifested in his life.
v. Something More
If after thinking that one has done all that should be done without getting an expected result then one should consider the fact that there is something more that is yet to be done, this is what a Man with positive mindset will do. However a Man with negative mindset will give up on pursing his objectives or goals even when it just a little thing that needs to be done. A man with PMA will not accept defeat but he will check what is it more that he has not done to achieve his purpose. Examples of Thomas Edison made my day. Think of the Wright brothers who flew airplane, this was because they added something more and this is also similar to the Man that invented the telephone despite several attempts made by many. What he had to do was just to turn a screw that was already installed by people that made the attempt before him. I checked this idea with what I have done in the past, and I realized how I easily gave up in those things I wanted to do. I have seen that I applied negative mental attitude as I assumed I could not achieve my expected end. If I had pressed further, I would have achieved the goals.
vi. There is an opportunity in every challenge
It is good to have a problem. What is important is that one should have a positive mindset towards a challenge. The basis process of resolving challenges were called out in this book and his range from seeking divine intervention which for me it is an important factor. Other things which involve creating time to think about the challenge and solution are equally important.
Examples in the book such as Ward that ended up in prison but had positive mental attitude got into prison but made a decision to control his attitude which led him to have ah huge change that transformed his life. Thinking and looking out for opportunity in crisis time is important and this should be done with a positive mindset. I once had a challenge that made me to have to devout time to learn about certain trade which I was initially thinking will not be relevant to my career. During this challenge I had no other option than to go study and interestingly the subject I learnt became very handy for me in the new job that I got. If I had not taken it upon myself to learn, I would have been struggling in my current role. Let us also look at the challenges during Covid 19 lockdown in Nigeria, despite the fact that this was a pandemic, I think one can learn so many lessons and therefore tap into the opportunity that this challenge offer. For instance, e–commerce was a new opportunity that opened up during this crisis. Several Sales were made by the companies playing in this space and I saw many new entrant into this space.
vii. Getting things done
There are so many ideas flying all over the places but most time we procrastinate and due to this several things are left undone. I have read several books on leadership in the past without executing the learnings I have gotten from these books, what I see is that I pass away my time by reading but it added nothing to me because I never made effort to execute the new thing I learned. One of the ideas from the author is the principle that can be deployed to get things done and this look very simple; It is by Doing It Now
Several opportunities are lost by procrastination, a popular saying align with this idea of Do It Now; the best time to plant a tree was yesterday but another better opportunity is today. Things do not get done until it is done. I had a very tight schedule but I made up my mind to start this program and now I am doing it, I procrastinated for months but with one single step, it is becoming interesting as I have now connected it to the vision I have to become a transformational leader. Now is the time to do it as the opportunity might not just come again. I love the example given by the author of someone who had opportunity to visit the USA and was about to be stopped from seeing Washington due to an event that happened which was the loss of his wallet and passport, the reason was good enough not to have seen Washington but was not strong enough to stop him because he applied the Do It Now principle.
viii. How to Motivate Self and Others (Taking action)
Motivation will impact the way one think and take actions. The story about a cosmetic manufacturer brought out the fact that Hope is a motivating factor with the list of 10 basic motives which are Love, Sex, self preservation, fear, desire for Life and death etc and also the methodology used by Franklin also added some flavor which I also implemented for some weeks and hope to continue with this for the rest of the year with the mindset of developing my own chart and strategy. This book also made it clear that negative motives might not be entirely bad anyway as it can be used rightly to deliver the right outcome for a person thinking with positive mental attitude.
3. How will these ideas or lessons help you in a practical way, both in your daily personal life and in helping you to create a better world? If so, how?
Inspirational dissatisfaction: The first thing that move me to action is inspirational dissatisfaction, if I have not seen the need to make a change by getting angry at the situation then I will not have the right energy to do what it takes to achieve the right outcome. I can actually convert a failure to success.
PMA and NMA (Positive mental attitude or Negative mental attitude):
The right deployment of our mind using PMA will give to us whatever we desire. If a Man desire to be poor then let him use consistently NMA. Now I say to myself daily that things are getting better for me and interestingly this is given me the right energy to face the day.
Accurate thinking: Clearing the cobwebs in my thought is something that is very significant, the way we think is important but I have also seen that one dimensional thinking might not be right but one needs to think from multiple dimension. It is also important I do what I call meeting of the minds which will make me and my associate be on the same page and therefore achieve more
Auto Suggestion: This is something not new to me, I have seen this in practice in my life at different times. I will continue to say to myself what I want to see happening in my life.
Something More: There will always be something more to be done, giving up will never be a response from me going forward. I have to keep pushing on even when it seems I have not reached the expected end.
There is an opportunity in every challenge: Going forward, I need to start seeing challenges as an opportunity to learn. One need to learn. Most time we do not have patient to see this opportunity but going through this idea with examples I have seen indicates that it is important that I pick learnings from every challenges.
Getting things done: Do It Now! The journey of 1000 miles need to begin with a Single step, this is the summary of how this idea is going to help me. Past few weeks I have had to procrastinate about accomplishing several task but now I realized that what I need is to take a single step and when I make up my mind to start, I receive motivation to continue and accomplish the task
How to Motivate self and Others (Taking action): I am a Manager of people and this means I manage a lot of people which their result is a function of my level of performance. Knowing how to motivate people is critical to my success. I have seen that it is important to understand how to deploy the methodology taught by this book. Openly showing to people that I have confidence and Faith in them will make them give their best. I also learnt that living by example is another form of motivation for the people I am leading and this comes handy when I am doing this with PMA. I used this methodology now in my new role and this is already showing tremendous results.
4. Quotes: Are there any statements which the author made that particularly got your attention? If so, Please quote them and comment as to why they were important to you.
“You are a mind with a body.”
Human processes mystical power and can determine what we want.
“It takes only one idea followed by an action to succeed when other fails.”
Ideas without action is nothing and it will achieve nothing when it is not backed up by a force call action.
“So you got a problem, that is good.”
Challenges should not be seen as an end of life and it should not lead to me losing focus and hope. When I overcome one challenge it gives me the confidence to face the next one and the next one
5. Is there anything in the book that you do not understand or are unclear about, or are there ideas which you disagree with and, if so, why?
No.
6. Did the book contain exercises for the reader to complete? If so, did you complete all of the exercises and did you find them useful?
Yes, I did them all. Here are two examples:
One of the exercises in the book is the 17 principle analysis I have to do looking at which of these principles I am deploying in my journey of life. I checked these principles against how I do things and What I have done in the past. This exercise revealed areas where I am actually struggling when it comes to the principles and areas where I have mastered. Another exercise I found interesting is the Do It Now exercise which is about writing a letter of things I loved to do as I have accomplished them with positive mental attitude. This letter even though sounded insignificant at my first read but it helped me a lot to put into perspectives all the things I have postponed before. I have to now develop an action plan to ensure I accomplish those things.
7. Was there anything you read in the book that you would like to comment on that was not covered in the previous questions?
No.
Please rate the following questions on a scale from 1 to 10. Ten is good and one is poor.
A. How interesting was it to read? 9
B. How helpful were the contents? 9
C. How easy was it to understand? 9
D. Would you recommend it to others? 10
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 9