As A Man Thinketh
Assessment by Afanda Galega (Cameroon)
1. What is the main idea that the writer is trying to convey in the book?
The book conveys to us the fact that we are the results of our thought; as we think in our hearts, so shall we be. Our thought shape who we are and circumstances help portray us on the outside. Man is made or unmade by the kinds of thoughts he habours. Pure and noble thoughts make a joyful and noble person while ignoble thoughts make a miserable person.
We learn that man is the master of his thoughts, the molder of character and the maker and shaper of condition, environment and destiny. The book briefly explains how a man literally is the product of his thoughts and his character being the sum of what he thinks within. It describes the relationship that our thoughts have with the other aspects of our lives.
It describes the correlation between thought and our character, the effects of our thoughts on circumstances, health and body, purpose, achievements, vision and ideals and serenity. Through these explanations, we are made to understand that even a man with very weak thought can make himself stronger by patiently and carefully training his thought and gearing them towards positive thinking.
We are completely and wholly a product of what we think and never what the environment or circumstances makes us. The environment or circumstances only make us to show who we really are and since we are the master, we can always use them positively to become what we are in our hearts.
2. What were 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 is important to you?
Below are seven of the many ideas that I got from the book which are useful to me:
Positive thinking; this book tells us that nothing happens in a man’s life by chance but because he secretly habours it. We cannot deny the fact that when you harbor positive thoughts you are bound to happy and vice versa. From these ideas, I now understand that thinking negatively will only lead to chaos. So for me to be able to succeed in life and be happy, I need to embark strictly on positive thinking.
Self confidence; when you lack self confidence, it means you don‘t believe in yourself and if you don’t believe in yourself, you cannot make others believe in you. To be able to harbor your thoughts, you must first of all have this virtue (Self confidence) if not, you will not be able to harness your thoughts, character and environment to unfold the way you want.
Having a good vision and ideals; we have learnt that dreamers are the saviors of the world. When you stop dreaming, you stop living. Anyone with lofty ideals and beautiful vision will one day realize it. But if you have none, then you have nothing to realize.
Being serene; this is the calmness of the mind. It lies in the bosom of wisdom and only comes as a result of long and patient effort in self control. Until man learns to govern himself and how to adapt himself to others, he will not be serene. We need serenity to be able to inspire others and to be able to handling situations wisely.
Thoughts and Achievement; what we achieve and what we fail to achieve in life is a direct result of our own thoughts. Anyone who conquers his weakness has pushed away all selfish thoughts and is free. He is able to rise and conquer just because he has lifted his thoughts.
Being purposeful; we learn from the book that until thought is like with purpose, there will be no intelligent accomplishment. But if you lack purpose in life, how do you link these two? You must have a purpose in life to be able attain self fulfillment. Until we keep away aimlessness and weakness and begin to think with purpose, only then can we begin to recognize failure as one of the pathways to attainment.
We do not attract what we Desire, but what we are; we learnt that what comes to us is as a result of carefully nurtured thoughts in our hearts. It is important for us to keep on improving our selves to create results and outcomes that are reflecting what we are. If we stop working towards improvements, then we shall sink deep in to the doldrums of negativity.
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, why?
Ideas or lessons learnt can only be helpful if put into practice. The lessons/ideas I have enumerated here have greatly inspired me and I now understand a lot of things about the human life which I didn’t know before. Now I know that I am the master of my thoughts and the way I think, that is what I will be. I think that I will henceforth strife to think positive and harness my thoughts towards this so as to attain the level that I want in life.
I have to become a serene human being through a positive mental attitude so as to inspire others and contribute to my society. I have to learn to harness my thoughts towards positive achievement and to use my environment as a pathway to my attainment. All of this boils down to one thing: that I must be purposeful in life and have a focus that will spur me towards spiritual and self-fulfilling growth.
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?
“As a man thinketh in his heart, so he is”;
COMMENT: This phrase is important to me because it has made me to understand that whatever I am or will be is as a result of my mental state. If I am an achiever mentally, I will always be successful and vice versa.
The soul attracts what which it secretly harbors, that which it loves and also that which it fears.
COMMENT: I’ve learnt that what comes to a man is as a result of his thinking. If I love something, it will be attracted to me and if I am afraid of something, same thing will happen.
Not what he wished and prays for does a man get, but what he justly earns.
COMMENT: The things that come to a man are simply the things that he truly deserves. No matter how hard we pray and wish for something we do not truly deserve, it will never be attracted to us.
Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results; bad thoughts and actions can never produce good results.
COMMENT: If you think positively, you will never get negative results, that is to say: you can not plant corn and harvest beans.
“Be not impatient in delay, but wait as one who understands; when spirit rises and commands, the gods are ready to obey”
COMMENT: When we exercise patience and understanding, we are sure to achieve provided our thought are harnessed in the right direction.
He who conquers doubt and fear has conquered failure.
COMMENT: Until one is able to clear all doubts from his mind and overcome his fears, that is the only time when he has conquered failure.
If you would perfect your body, guard your mind
COMMENT: If you want to have good health, nurture it in your mind; for we all know that everything a man is starts from there.
5. Is there any thing in the book that you do not understand or are unclear about, or are their 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 helpful?
No
7. Was there anything you read in the book that you would like to comment on that was not covered in previous questions? If so, please comment
No
Please Rate the following Questions on scale from 1 to 10. Ten is good and one is Poor
A. How interesting was it to read? 9
B. How helpful were its contents? 9
C. How easy was it to understand? 8
D. Would you recommend it to others? 9
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 9
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Assessment by Afanda Galega (Cameroon)
1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
Jonathan Living Stone Seagull is the story of a seagull that believed in his independence and challenged all the myths surrounding all birds of his kind. Seagulls are made to understand that flying is just to search for food, but this particular seagull did not accept this because he wanted to make a difference amongst his folks. He had the desire and passion to fly to higher heights and discover himself as a bird with great talents. He had a dream of become a great bird in the sky with his flying skills and that flying was life in itself and not just a means of surviving and searching for food.
He makes us understand how this gull spent his days learning to fly faster and better just to stick to his dream and to improve on his skills and talents. He believed deep down him that he could do it and developed a lot of love and passion for this dream that he trained against all odds to realize this dream of his.
The author uses flight as a metaphor for attaining different levels of success in life. This story makes us to understand we can attain great success in life even if our goals and aspirations are contrary to those of everyone around us. The story teaches us that through the metaphor of flight, we can achieve our goals and aspirations if we follow our dreams.
When we have a dream that we cherish so much and keep to this dream despite all odds, we are certainly going to achieve it. We should learn to wave away distractions and remain focused on the path that lies ahead of us leading to the realization of what we want. When we stop seeing distractions as problems in our lives but as challenges to help us attain our goals, then we must have discovered the secret to success.
In life the challenges will always be there; be them in the form of culture, traditions, economic, family ties, etc. we need to keep looking forward and remain focused. We should know that what is important is what we believe and want to achieve and not what others think about what we believe.
2. What were 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.
The seven ideas personally important to me are:-
Dreams and aspirations: This is a very power tool in life. When you stop dreaming, you stop living. It inspires me to always remember that I have to keep dreaming and aspire for greater things every day of my life until the day I will die.
Passion: when you have a strong feeling towards something, you will make sure that you follow it no matter what. When we make our dreams our passion, we will be unstoppable.
Self confidence: Even when we have the most lofty dreams and lack self confidence, we are likely to abandon this dream on the way and give up.
Focus: When we remain focused on what we like and enjoy doing, we will soar someday.
Continue learning: We only stop learning when we die and only a fool thinks that he knows everything. When we accept corrections and accept that we do not know everything, we are going to learn continuously and move higher and higher every day.
Mentoring: there is nothing as interesting and fulfilling as mentoring others. We have to impart into others what we have learned so as to be fulfilled.
Never quit: There is no place for quitters in life. If you are a quitter, you will never achieve anything in life.
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?
The lessons learnt from this book will help to believe in my dreams and remain steadfast in whatever thing I am doing to achieve my goals. I now know that to be able soar in life, I need to stand against all obstacles, all barriers and all distractions and to believe that I am a winner and I will always win. I now realize what great potentials I have within me and how to achieve these potentials. The lesson will help me to start looking at life in a different way and to remain in the path that I have chosen for myself, no matter what.
I have learned to:
* Keep to my dreams and aspirations for they are my real possessions
* Have love for whatever thing I am doing for with it, I can attain any level I want.
* Believe in myself because the real me lies within me
* Remain focused in what I know is right and the sky will be my limit
* Continue learning new things so that they can shape and restructure my aspirations
* Mentor others believe knowledge is only useful when shared
* Remain on course and never quit because quitters never win.
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.
Yes, there are a number of quotes made by the author to invite the attention of readers, and these are:
You will begin to touch heaven, Jonathan, in the moment that you touch perfect speed. And that isn’t flying a thousand miles an hour, or a million, or flying at the speed of light. Because any number is a limit and perfection doesn’t have limits. Perfect speed, my son, is being there: t encourages us to continue our struggles for limitless achievements.
COMMENT: This quotation is teaching us that we should continue strive for perfection because perfection is limitless. The more we try the more we move ahead
The gull sees farthest who flies highest;
COMMENT: In life, we should see even beyond the people we see as icons or points we think are the limits, because there is no limit as far as I am concerned.
The only true law is that which leads to freedom. I think it is important that enforcement of law is to ensure freedom. If the freedom is confined as the outcome of some law, that is not law but dictatorship.
Each of us in truth is a Great Gull, an unlimited idea of freedom, and precision flying is a step towards expressing our real nature. Everything that limits us, we must put aside.
COMMENT: Every individual has great potentials and being focused and steadfast in what we believe in and like doing is a step towards expressing your true nature.
Live and love your life’s passion:
COMMENT: When we are passionate about something, we keep it close to our hearts and protect it jealously. Keep your goals and aspiration the same way.
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 helpful?
The book itself did not contain any exercises for the reader but however, these questions are a good way of assessing what the reader gathered from the book.
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.
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? 8
B. How helpful were the contents? 9
C. How easy was it to understand? 9
D. Would you recommend it to others? 8
E. What is the overall rating you would give it. 8
Psycho-Cybernetics 2000
Assessment by Afanda Galega (Cameroon)
1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
The main idea that this book ‘Psycho-Cybernetics 2000’ seeks to explain is how success could be obtained through a positive mental attitude. The book draws inspiration from some examples and the histories of some personalities who used the greatest machine ever created: “Mind’ to achieve a positive self image. The book is an aid to all who are willing to move on and live a fulfilling life on earth. It gives a guide on how man can convert his creative thinking, talent, knowledge, personality, and Physical energy in to success, wealth and happiness.
This book gives a guide as to where the road to achievement begins the mental tools for attacking success, keys to the achievement of wealth. The writer discusses and highlights CRAFT and SEED as great tools for personal growth. CRAFT can be described as the main tools for building self-esteem using the conscious and subconscious minds. SEED on the other hand is a tool that we can us to adjust to, practice and adapt to new habits. He equally talks about SUCCESS: Sense of direction, understanding courage, sense of direction, charity, self-confidence and self-acceptance as one of the tools for self development.
2. What were 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 is important to you?
The entire book is a body of knowledge that is personally important to me and anyone who is willing to go on board the train to success and wealth. It would be very difficult for me to select just seven of these ideas that are most important to me but for the purpose of this course, I will try to limit myself to seven
Be motivated – the book likens motivation to fire, which unless you continue to add fuel it will go out. It can be defined as the driving force by which humans achieve their goals, in other words, it is “what drives you” to behave in a certain way or to take a particular action. This idea is very important to me because I now know that with a positive mental attitude, and focusing my mind on what I have conceived and driven by the zeal to succeed, I will always make it. The book equally gives me some basic motives like: love, fear, sex, desire for material wealth, self preservation, just to name a few, which I can work on. I now understand clearly that motivation is a two is a two way sword where I motivate others and they too motivate me. So it is important to know what motivates you and others and make sure that I work towards it to keep me going.
Stress; private enemy number one – Stress is the physical and mental response of the body to demands made upon it. It is the result of our reaction to both outside and inside events, not necessarily the events themselves. I have turned to realize that when you are tense or anxious, you turn to approach problem solving with the left brain which is not suitable for problem solving. When you turn to use the left brain in problem solving, it only results in frustration and increases your stress. It has gone ahead to give the solution to stress; relation. Until be able to deal with our stress in a positive way, it will always slow us down in the process of building a positive self image. Until you look at stress as a habit you can change, you will always be overcome by it. SEEDS is a good way to diffuse anxiety.
Setting goals the SMART way – goal setting is a motivational technique based on the concept that the practice of setting specific goals enhances performance, and that setting difficult goals results in higher performance than setting easier goals. This concept is very important to me because it will help me to know how to set achievable goals for myself based on: Specific, Measurable, Action-oriented, Realistic and Time-conscious – SMART. I now know that to achieve my goals, I have to ignore programming that prevents me from setting goals, determine an approached to goal setting and to approach goals as a process and not as a place to be.
Molding personality for success – A good personality is one which enables you to deal appropriately with the environment and its realities and also to reach your goals. We must take time to build our personality based on the feedback we get from ourselves and from others. We should have courage and act boldly in the things we do and should be honest with ourselves. When faced with oppositions, we should always consider them as necessary tools to help us forge ahead more strongly than we were before. Listen to feedback from others; it is very important to listen to criticisms and accept mistakes so as to correct them and remain on course to success and wealth. Until we are able to realize our mistakes and take measures to correct them, we will never succeed as we will not believe in ourselves.
Positive thinking – until we are able to ask ourselves challenging question, we are bound to remain with the negative thoughts that inhibits progress. Be should be able to think that we can challenge all false beliefs and accept that we can come out of those beliefs and make it to success and wealth. We have to programme our minds to answer the questions of whether it is a mistake or not for us to have our world build on these false beliefs and whether we can come out of them until this is done, we would not be able to adopt a rational and logical thinking patterns.
Programming your success mechanism – this has taught me that anyone who aspires to be successful, needs to switch over “old tapes rhetoric” by developing a strong mental attitude. For instance, there was a time when I will provide my family with everything material and monetary but they were still not happy because I was not spending much time with them. Their behavior had a very big impact on my output at my job site. When I started spending more time with them, I realized that they were happier now and my output equally increased. Had I not shifted my behavior patterns, I would still be facing the problem of low performance.
How to avoid failure – the book has taught me that to avoid failure, on must erase the ingredients of the old stories so as to avoid crunching into frustration, emptiness, aggressiveness… An objective and complete self-assessment is a key step to deter those issues that are major cause of the failure. Many people nowadays implement this technique to better assess themselves and others in other to avoid failure. Even the Bible tells us that the old has gone and the new has come; yesterday was but a dream but tomorrow a vision which we must focus on and make sure that we get to 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?
Knowledge is the greatest weapon every individual will want to have. I think that with the whole wealth of knowledge one has acquired from this book, I am certain that I can master myself now and will use the right mental, intellectual and social tools to turn around my life and the lives of other people towards success and wealth. At this point courage, perseverance, patience, self discipline and self-reliance are the watch words and the ingredients with which I have to live my life. Success is sure and the limit is beyond the sky.
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?
“The winner is the man or woman who does not personalize poor results. Such a person can be disappointed without feeling like a failure” Terry Paulson, page 7.
This quote is important to me because it teaches me that poor results don’t mean that you can not turn things around again. That it is just another condition to help steer you back on track.
“You are responsible for the thoughts you have in your head at any given time. You have the capacity to think whatever you choose, and virtually all your self-defeating attitudes and behaviors originate in the way you choose to think” Wayne Dyer, page 41.
This quote tells me that I am the product of my own thinking and no one can make me who I am except with my consent.
“We are not on earth to live up to someone else’s expectations. To make our unique contributions to the world, we each need to prize our individual worth and pursue our dreams” page 233
This is just to tell us that we live according to our own designs and not by what other people expect from us.
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?
The book was is wonderful and I think I will be reading it as many times as I get the chance.
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 helpful?
The book had a lot of exercise and I did my utmost best to complete all the 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.
The book was a whole book.
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? 8
B. How helpful were the contents? 8
C. How easy was it to understand? 8
D. Would you recommend it to others? 9
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 8
Success Through Positive Mental Attitude
Assessment by Afanda Galega (Cameroon)
1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
Napoleon Hills is trying to help us to become conscious of the greatest machine ever, which is the human mind. This machine is capable of being used positively or negatively depending on how the user decides to use it. When we use it positively, we are said to have a Positive Mental Attitude – PMA and the reward here is success. Failure comes as a result of using the mind negative; Negative mental Attitude – NMA. This is just to tell us that we can be who want to be if we decide so. Our success or failure depends sorely on us and if we decide to turn things around for us, all is possible; just put the mind to work for you towards that direction and that is it. These ideas are illustrated in the book with many examples of people who turned their lives around with a PMA like; S.B Fuller, Tom Dempsey, just to name a few.
This is to explain to us that we are only limited by what we believe. There is nothing like unachievable or impossible in life. However, if we set our mind to believe in that this is impossible, we can’t achieve it no matter what.
2. What were 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.
The first idea that really thrills me in this book is that of responding to the secret of getting things done. This has just exposed the attitude I had before of conceiving many great ideas but never putting any of them in to practice on the premise that there were no resources or no one to support me. I now realize that even with the slightest means and a PMA I can always get a break through with every great idea that I have. I just need to believe that I can do it and put all the things that need to be done in place and start and sooner or later, I will reach the destination.
Another thing that is very important to me in this book is the fact that wealth can be acquired on a modest salary. I used to say that I will never get married until I have a bank account with at least a million FCFA in it. But guess what, I am already married with one kid and another on the way, yet I don’t have this amount of money saved anywhere. How did this happen? I just came to realize that when the time came for me to get married, I did not even think about the monetary aspect but of the happiness of living together as husband and wife. I do not earn a lucrative salary, but I am able to take care of my home, my wife, my child, and other relatives who stay with me. And we still have some security for rainy days and we are very happy. So it all depends on your definition of wealth.
The idea of motivating yourself and others is also very important to me. We must have hope (the “Magic ingredient”) in whatever thing we are doing. Hope increases the desire of achieving what we desire. Because of hope, we subconsciously react to the inner urge that induces action when environmental suggestions and self suggestions cause the release of the subconscious mind. These might be various types or degrees of motivation. And we must remember that our every act is the result of our motives. I am so thrilled by the motives given as those that inspire human action.
Do you have a problem? What an idea!!! As you solve and challenge an adversity, that is how you climb the ladder of success. This goes on to explain how to resolve the most difficult adversities you may have. This is by: asking for divine guidance, set a thinking pattern for the purpose of resolving the problem, state, analyze and define the problem, think of how to turn this adversary into equal or greater benefit and continue to search for answers that can work. Whao!!! What a way of tackling a problem.
When you discover that you are a mind with a body, it will bring you physical, mental and moral health, happiness and wealth; success in your chosen field; and even the means to affect, use, control, or harmonize with powers known and unknown to you. You should always endeavour to explore the powers of your mind. It is clear in this book that self-suggestion is the is the agency of control through which individuals may voluntarily feed their minds with thoughts of creative nature or by neglect, permit thoughts of a destructive nature to find their way into the rich garden of the mind.
For a man to be successful he has to awaken the sleeping giant in him and realize the fact that he is the most important living person. You are mind with a body and have the powers to affect, use and control everything in your life. Man is made up of two invisible gigantic powers the conscious and the subconscious minds; which if they work in harmony, they can do wonders for the individual. You just have to name what you want to have and think with a PMA and you are going to have 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?
For you to change anything which you are part of, you will first of all need to change yourself. Charity begins at home, they say.
The great ideas gathered from this book and some sited above will have a great impact on me. First of all, I have realized that I am a mind with a body and not the other way round. This alone is the starting point for success. I now know that if I desire something and believe in it, I just need to plant into my subconscious mind the PMA and direct my thoughts towards achieving this desire and it shall all be mind.
I use to look at problems or adversary as a factor that stops me from achieving my goals. But from today hence, I see adversary as the path way to success and a necessary tool to help me succeed. Adversary will only help me to increase my positive mental attitude because I know that without these adversaries, I will not be able to pave my way to success.
I do not have time for wishful thinking any more. In the past I use to imagine how I will feel if I had a certain amount of money and never really did anything to truly get this money. No more of this. I will hence forth set my desires and direct my mind on how to get this desire and continue to poke into the subconscious mind for answers until I get them. The greatest weapon I have to use to overcome all challenges in life is a Positive Mental Attitude.
My success in everything I do now depends on my mind and I am aware that I have the power to control this mind to work for me and not me working for it. I now know that when I set it right, it will produce positive results and vice versa. I will never stop feeding my mind with the right so as to fight and defeat the NMA once and for all and become a successful man.
I am able to face life squarely and confidently because I look at wrong attitudes as opportunities for me to become positive in thinking. I look them in the face each time and tell them I am ready for you and immediately start looking for opportunities to turn them to my advantage. I use the most important asset that I have which is the mind.
4. Quotes: Are there brief quotes from the book which really got your attention? If so, please list and comment on them.
“We are poor – not because of God”
This quote tells us clearly that we were created with all the enable tools to make us rich and successful and we are the once who have chosen to be poor. We do not have the desire to become rich and successful and we resign to the circumstances in which we find ourselves and continue to waste the magic machine – the mind – which God gave us for free to use in achieving success and attract riches.
Character is something that is caught, not taught”.
Your build or conceive who you are and no one can force you to be who you are. Like they usually say; “no one can make you inferior without your consent”. If you want to have a good character, you build it in you mind and work towards it and the reverse also holds true.
“Whatever a mind can conceive, and believe, it can achieve with PMA”.
The greatest asset a man possesses is the mind which can give him anything he desires. He only needs to create the picture of what he wants in his mind and entertain no iota of doubt about its reality. The mind can be used to concentrate upon a given desire until that desire becomes a burning desire which hastens its realization. The mind works with PMA when positive thoughts, words or pictures, are consciously repeated frequently, and emotionally.
“Character is something that is caught, not taught”. – Arthur Burger.
No amount if teaching can do a man any good if he is not willing to learn. Character is built from a willing mind; it can’t be forced on someone. A person will become good if he wants to be good. A person will be bad if he wants to be bad no matter how long he is coached.
“like poles repel and unlike poles attract”.
Our personality will help us to move along with others. If we shape our personality positively, we will move along very well with others no matter their personality and character.
5. Is there anything in the book that you do not understand? If so, please list and comment on them.
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 helpful?
The book contains exercises for readers to complete and I did my best to answer them to the best of my ability.
7. Was there anything you read in the book that you would like to comment on that was not covered in the precious question? If so please comment.
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? 8
B. How helpful were the contents? 9
C. How easy was it to understand? 8
D. Would you recommend it to other? 8
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 8
Keys to Success
Assessment by Afanda Galega (Cameroon)
1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
The main idea this book is trying to convey to us is that definite purpose in everything we do shall lead us to success provided we harmonize this together with the other sixteen. Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievements. If you lack this in your life, it shall be very difficult for you to be focused in life and you will just be fumbling around without aiming at a particular thing in life.
It goes ahead to show to us that to achieve something in life, you must conceive and define it to the letter before you can be able to pursue it. There are many times in life when one just keeps wishing for things to happen without trying to make it happen. But the lesson here is that you don’t wish for things to happen but you must make things to happen if you really want them to happen.
2. What were 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.
The idea that was the greatest importance to me is that of definiteness of purpose. This idea is so important to me because I at first did not usually define a particular goal that I want to achieve not to talk of setting out the plan of how to achieve it. This idea has inspired and enlightened me so much such that I now understand that until the purpose is defined and step put in place for its achievement, it will never be achieved. I had never defined exactly what I wanted in life not to talk about setting out the grounds rules on how to achieve it. Now I have learned that to succeed is to be passionate about what you want and to do everything possible to achieve it.
Another idea that is most important to me is how to budget my time and money. After reading this book, I noticed that most often we do not spend our money the way we should talk less of our time. I now know that when it comes to these to things, you are either a doer or a drifter. Wherever you fall now is not a problem but I have learnt to be a doer and I am positive that with the concepts in this book, I am going to spend my time and money well to achieve my goals.
I now know the areas where I can make a difference in the use of my time in my life. These include my occupation, mental habits, relationships, health, religion, and most importantly my spare time. I understand that my spare time is time to free my mind from work and focus on myself as well as my family; in fact, it is a time for me to take stock of my life and to be myself. This is the time for me to bring myself closer to my goals and the methods of achieving them.
The third idea is to assemble an attractive personality. A pleasant personality is a well molded one and must adhere to the twenty five different aspects discussed in this book. This actually is not a new concept to me per say but just that I was not fully exploiting the aspects and keeping them consistent. I have come to realize that maintain an attractive personality, these aspects should be part and parcel of me. I have analyzed my personality thoroughly and areas that had displeasing traits, I am doing my best to straighten them. I strong am on the path of improving my personality and it shall continue to grow day by day.
Another idea very important to me in this book is building a positive mental attitude which is the most important principle of the science of success. Your mental attitude is the only thing over which you have complete control and if you do not exercise this control and direct it positively by using PMA, you are bound to embrace a NMA and this is going to be your doom. To succeed, you must clear your mind of any influence which does not support a PMA and close the doors on your mind on all failures from the past. If you can take total control of your life and direct all its efforts towards a positive mental attitude, you are sure you are moving on the right path to success. I have taken the decision to recognize the power of my mind, seize this power and harness it towards my goals until I am able to join the 2 percent club.
Thinking accurately is another idea that makes sense to me after reading this masterpiece. All man’s plans, purposes and achievements are created by his thoughts. When applied accurately, thinking is very crucial to your desire for success but you should also recognize that exercising it is a moral duty you owe to other people in the society. Thinking accurately means harnessing your thoughts to a worthy definite purpose. I have learned that to be an accurate thinking, you must be able to separate facts from opinions, fictions, unproven hypothesis and hearsay; and these facts most be grouped into important and unimportant. Until you are able to make this distinction, then you are not an accurate thinker.
Like they always say, health is wealth, which is why the issue of maintaining sound health is important to me in the book. People turn to neglect their health and endanger themselves for no just course. To have good health starts from your mindset and if the mind is not directed towards that, then you will not be able to achieve success. It has made me to understand that I am a mind-body and this mind-body is at one with nature. To have good health, you mind, body and nature must be moving in one rhythm each influencing each other. Fears and anxiety produces unharmonious restlessness in your mind that leads to serious mental maladjustments that produces its counterpart in the body in the form of serious diseases and even death. You must replace fear with understanding and faith; that is the lesson I learned.
Enforced self discipline is another idea that has really caught my attention as I read through this book. Taking total control of you mind is important for you to achieve success meanwhile self discipline is the process that ties this all these efforts together for you. To achieve self discipline, you must make some progress with the other principles. Self discipline is about controlling your emotions and until you are able to do this, it will be difficult harness the other principles.
Another principle that I cherish so much after reading this book is that of creating personal initiative. This is going to enable me to see beyond my nose and to challenge myself with big goals.
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/principles are very challenging and act as an eye-opener to me. It is already helping me to develop a purpose in life and guiding me on how to achieve it using the principles that have been discussed in the text. The principles are now the ingredients that spice my life and I am doing my possible best to live by them and to make a difference in my life and wherever I go.
Now that I am putting these principles into practice bit by bit, I am already seeing how my life is changing for the better. I am not relenting as my leg is already on the accelerator and there is not going to be a limit for me whatsoever. My life now is shaping itself positively and all fears and anxiety have been pushed away and I see only one thing ahead of me; success, thanks to the principles I learned from this text.
As a manager by training/profession and working in that capacity, I am already integrating the concepts/principles that I have learned in my work life and it is already making a difference. I have already gained a lot of respect and admiration from my colleagues because of the way I handle situations and how I solve problems. With a PMA and the ability to control my emotions, other subordinates are already asking me where I learned these skills from. Thanks to this text, I am a new creature and everything seems new to me; even the way I think.
Being a leader in other groups other than at my job site, I have already started imparting some of these principles to the members and helping them to see how they can put them into practice for their personal development and for the growth of the group. It is working like magic and very soon, IIGL shall see what I am talking about when we shall introduce this group to you.
As a leader, I have so many young people that look up to me for inspiration. Living by these principles, I have set myself as a good example for them to follow to better their own lives and that of the community in which all of us live. I also share with them the things I have learned and challenge them to discover their potentials, believe in them and they will be successful. This way, I am positive that together we can make an impact in the world we live in today.
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.
“Whatever your mind can conceive and believe, your mind can achieve”. This statement made to understand that I am what I feel I am in my mind and achievement can only come when you are able to use your mind to become who you are.
“Success attracts success while failure attracts more failure”. I now understand why people often fail. This is simply because they do nothing when failure knocks on their doors. Failure then comes in and settles with them and then attracting more failure leading to misery. But on the contrary, the more you strive for success, the more equipped you shall be to achieve it.
“Until you begin to render more service than you are already being paid for you are not entitled to any more pay”. This has hit me like a sledge hammer because I was at the same output level like I was before yet I was always soliciting for more reward. I now understand that, for me to get this extra pay, I must do something above what I am doing now. This also goes to all the other aspects of my life as I now know that for me to move from point of my life to another; I must render more service to myself than I am already doing.
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?
Everything I read was clear to me.
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 helpful?
There were no exercises per say but more of self evaluation and stuff like that. I actually did take some time out to respond sincerely to these evaluations and found them to be very helpful to me.
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.
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? 8
D. Would you recommend it to others? 10
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 98%
The New Dynamics of Winning
Assessment by Afanda Galega (Cameroon)
1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
The author is trying to help us realize that we can always be achievers in life based on the effort we make and how we can live our lives like champions. He uses some breakthroughs in sports psychology to demonstrate to us how we can learn and use characteristics of sports to be successful in business. This inspiring program isolates the mental traits and self-management skills of world-class winners in a mandatory training session for success which every individual can adopt and utilize for his personal success both in his personal life and in business.
2. What were 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.
You can be your own worst enemy or your best friend. By this, the author makes us to understand that we hold the key to our own success or failure. If we want to succeed, we have all it takes within us to help us achieve this. on the other hand, if we do not tap into our pool of talents and believe in ourselves and put all the mechanisms in us to help us succeed, we shall be a failure. Success depends on your ability to combine physical or technical skill with mental process in a stressful environment with discipline and hard work
Nobody else is going to take you fishing. Many times in life, I have turned to depend solely on other people for my food, clothing, education, etc. Most often, when these people are unable to provide this for one reason or the other, I turn to fold my arms and give up, saying that “times are really hard”. But after reading this I realize that no one will take me fishing but myself. That everyone has to work for what he/she wants and put in all that it takes to achieve his goals, if not we shall continue to wait for someone to take us fishing which might never happen or might have to take a longer time than we would have loved.
Desire plus action equals motivation. What makes a champion is the desire to succeed. Until we have the desire to succeed and a muster all the courage and all mental and physical skills together, we get motivated. When we are motivated, we can then be able to achieve all that we set out to do like real champions. We therefore have to combine our desire with the necessary actions to be motivated to achieve what we set our minds to achieving.
Learn to watch your watch. Both achievers and non-achievers have the same time on their watches. If you want to succeed, you need to make sure that you manage your time effectively. We need to make the most out of our time by planning our day. We should learn to say no to activities for which we have no time, no talent or no interest in them. Until we are able to do this, we shall continue to waste the little time we have and not do something important with the little time we have.
We should not be afraid to devote a considerable amount of time to a problem that requires a great deal of time. Most often we give up on problems just after a few tries with the assumption that it is beyond us or we can’t solve it. By so doing, most often we forget that our success depends on our ability to solve these problems. When we solve one problem, we move one step further into achieving our set goals. The greater the time we spend in solving a problem, the greater the reward. But when we give up on a problem, we stand the risk of meeting the same problem sometimes in the future.
Winners dwell on the rewards of success. Losers focus on the penalties of failure. This is to make us understand that what we want is what we get. If one tends to focus on failure other than success he will eventually fail but if he focuses on success he will succeed. When we stay focused, no matter for how long, we shall eventually get it. we should not focus on failures or continue to ask ourselves questions that can not lead us to success. We should try to always visualize the effects of our success so that it spurs is to success.
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?
The lesson has helped me learn how to come up with new dynamics of winning. It has helped me develop a winning spirit that i need in my daily life. it has equally taught me that achievement starts as a strong desire to succeed. This means that for me to become successful, my goals should be backed by a strong desire to succeed. This should be immediately accompanied by the action. This means setting into motion all the activities that will take me to the finish line. When i am able to do this, I will surely be motivated to succeed.
These and other quotations cited in here all shall help me to remain focused on my plans. I now understand that even though problems and obstacles will always stand on my way, I need to remain focused on my track to success. I need to keep going and to focus more on the rewards of my success rather than looking at what is trying to sway me away from the route to success.
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.
Being a champion means thinking like a champion.
By this the author is trying to make us understand that before you become anything in life, you must begin by visualizing what or who you want to be in your mind. The image must be very vivid on you mind that you can always take it along with you every where you go. This will make you to continuously think about it and that is how the desire to get it will grow. I now think along these lines and believe that anything I set my mind to, I shall achieve it.
I think I could; I think I may; I think I should; I think I might; I think I will; I think I better think more still.
I have learned that this is the procrastinator’s motto. the only way to achieve anything is to get to action and not continue thinking. From this I have learned that thinking only waste your time, but thinking with action will get me there.
Life is a continuous learning process.
What I have learned from this is that we should stop thinking that we know more than everyone just because we have something they don’t. to become successful and remain at that level, we must accept the fact that we keep learning everyday of our lives till the day we die.
The values that you live by are going to shape the future for you and those around you.
This is very important to me in the sense that I have to always choose virtues over vices in this world. The virtues we live by will always make us happier than the vices which we live by.
Champions are born; losers are unmade
From this I have learned to always believe in my internal values and not what the environment offers.
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 helpful?
Yes it did contain some exercises which I have already completed. They were actually helpful in my understanding the subject matter of this great book.
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.
The idea that the author portrayed about learning from others made me to start thinking about some issues. He states that for one to be able to learn something you must be able to respect the person passing the lesson to you. This has often not been the case in my life as most often I looked at a teacher just as a mere human being who is trying to earn a living or even at my job site, I look at managers just in the same light. Some times, when they want to help me by acting like a coach, I always look at them from that perspective of trying to earn a living and not respecting them as such.
From this, I understand that to be able to learn from someone, you must respect the individual, his values and his beliefs. You can not have a role model who you do not respect; can you? I guess not.
Please Rate the following Questions on scale from 1 to 10. Ten is good and one is Poor
A. How interesting was it to read? 9
B. How helpful were its contents? 9
C. How easy was it to understand? 8
D. Would you recommend it to others? 9
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 9
How to Win Friends and Influence People
Assessment by Afanda Galega (Cameroon)
1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
The main ideas the author give us in this book the skills to handle people with, how to interact with them and even how to treat them so as to make them do things they would otherwise not have loved to do. Isn’t this amazing? This book is an eye opener for everybody who wants to improve on their effective communication skills and the ability to deal with people better. It makes you understand that when dealing with human beings, you should know that you are not dealing with creatures of logic but creatures of emotions, bristling with prejudices and motivated by pride. This is just to emphasize the fact human being are rational beings packed with emotions and are motivated by their thoughts and believes.
2. What were 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.
All the ideas given in this book are all wonderful and it will be difficult for one to choose only seven as is required by IIGL. But to the sake of this course I will try to narrow them down to seven as discussed below;
The first idea that strikes my mind in this book is that about criticism where he describes it as futile because it put a person on the defensive and usually makes him strive to justify himself. In the end it only wounds the person’s pride, hurt his sense of importance and arouse resentment. This is very important to me because I work in a company where I have other people working under me and I lead them. I have realized that most often their performance was never at the optimum just because I was criticizing them instead of encouraging them. Now I know that for them to be motivated to work, I need to give genuine appreciation and to appreciate them for good work rather than criticizing their mistakes. The big lesson here is: don’t criticize, condemn or complain.
The next idea that I will like to talk about from this book is to see the good of others rather than looking only at the negative aspect. I have learned to speak positively of others at any chance I have, because every human being desires to be important. Selflessness is another great virtue that attracts people to us as referenced by Dale Carnegie. I now know that to make others interested in me, I need to lead them with things that are useful to them instead. When you work with people from their own perspective and make them know that they are useful, it makes it easier for them to trust and respect you.
Another very important thing learned is the facts that we should be aware of the magic contained in a name and realize that this single item is wholly and completely owned by the person with whom we are dealing and nobody else. We should always try to mention the name of the other person at the slightest opportunity and this always makes the person understand that you are a true friend. When you mention someone’s name in a croud or in a group, the person automatically know that you take interest in him and that is what makes him to know that you genuinely want to be with them.
This other idea couldn’t go with my noticing it: To be a good conversationalist, be an attentive listener. To be interesting, be interested. Here, the author says the best way to be seen as being a good conversationalist is to genuinely listen to others. Actually, before now, I’ve always found this part to be easy but after I started working with a large group or team, it became very impossible-so I thought- to listen that much as you need to always talk to correct mistakes and all that. All of this I did without knowing that wisdom lies instead in listening than talking as you gather all the facts from the members of your team and consolidate them for the good of the team.
He goes ahead to make us understand that the easiest way to a person’s heart is to talk about thinks that he/she treasures most. The key technique here is to translate what you hear into talking about what interests the person you are talking. Listen to things they are interested in that you know something about and then follow that point as a train of conversation. Make the other person important by talking to others about them and they will listen to you for hours. If you want to build a real bond with someone, make it clear how important that person is to you and do it in a manner that the sincerity of the feeling comes across.
He goes ahead to draw my attention to the fact that we are in the era of dramatization and merely stating the truth isn’t enough. You have to dramatize by making things look visually real. If you have a great idea, think of how to incorporate it into the story relating it to a human experience and tell the story as you are trying to tell your idea. If you can’t get your ideas and motivational speeches to work, throw down a direct challenge. The one major factor that motivates people is the work itself. If the work is exciting and interesting, the worker looks forward to doing it and is motivated to do a good job.
Admitting one’s own mistakes – even when one hasn’t corrected them – can help convince somebody to change his behavior. If you are trying to advise someone on an issue, one way to make the advice more effective is to talk of your own problems with that same situation. For example, if you want to talk to someone to get out of debt, use your debt problem as a point of reference and make him see that you too had faced that kind of problem and worked your way out of it. Also telling people genuinely that you are sorry and that you are ready to make amends will always cause them to like you.
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?
The principles of human relationship discussed in this book are timeless and remarkable on effective communication. After reading this masterpiece, my approach towards others have completely changed; even the way I look at people and handle conversations is completely different from how I used to do before. I have equally come to terms with the fact that to be able to win friends and influence people, these principles must be practiced everyday and notes should be taken about the progress made. I will forever remain grateful for IIGL for making in possible for me to read this book. This has been an invaluable asset you gave me.
Before, I used to isolate myself from people and snob at anyone who tried to come close to me or make friends with me. I always thought that when you are intelligent, people will always turn to like you but that was not the case. I didn’t understand why until I read this book. This book has completely changed my perception about others and my approach to everyone has changed drastically. I can assure you that I am already putting these principles into my daily life and I am seeing the fruits. I now have more friends that I could think of and everyone wants to be close to me now. What a book!
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.
“God himself, Sir, does not propose to judge man until the end of his days” by Dr. Johnson This statement is particularly important to me because it made me to understand that instead of condemning people, we should try to understand them. We should always try to understand what they do and this will breed tolerance, kindness and sympathy.
“A great man shows his greatness by the way he treats little men” by Carlyle
Most often we think that because we belong to a certain class or hold a certain position in society we have to look down on those who are not privileged. But this statement disproves that believe and make us understand that instead a great man is instead seen in the way he deals with those who are below him.
Show respect for the other person’s opinion. Never say “you are wrong”
This is important to me because it make me understand that it is not good to argue with people or your adversary. Instead, I should be able to use some diplomacy so as not to stir them up.
“By fighting you never get enough, but by yielding you get more than you expected”
This statement makes me understand that there is no point trying to justify yourself when you are wrong because it will not help your relationship. It is better to sincerely and genuinely admit when wrong and make the other person know that you are willing to make amends. This way you avoid the negative image you build on the other person’s mind about you and they will look at you as someone who is sincere.
“Every man I meet is my superior in some way. In that, I learn of them.
The point here is that one should always try to figure out the other person’s good points, forget flattery and give sincere appreciation. This is a great lesson for me because I work with a team and I need to us this to spur the team to better performance.
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?
I think I understand all the principles in this piece of work by Dale Carnegie and I must confess it is a real masterpiece.
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 helpful?
There weren’t any exercises in this book for the reader to complete
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.
I don’t think so.
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? 10
D. Would you recommend it to others? 10
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 9.5
Giant Steps
Assessment by Afanda Galega (Cameroon)
1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
In this book, the author, Anthony Robbins seeks to inspire the reader to channel all his energy to measurable results. This he can achieve by consistently taking simple actions that will help him accomplish all his goals. He goes into details of every step or area of life where small consistent changes can be made to get the required results. His main aim is to inspire and motivate the readers to know that they are who they make themselves and do not need to be or to pretend to be another person to make a big difference in their lives.
2. What were 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. If you want the deepest fulfillment, decide what your highest values are and commit to live by this decision. This is a great idea that challenges all human beings because most often we live by illusion and we do not even know that we want in life actually. Like for example, when I was growing up with friends in my village, we used to say I will like to be a doctor, a lawyer, and all that just because we have seen one of these persons come around and shows up. Whenever even knew which subjects to concentrate on that will help us achieve this goal, but we only envied these guys for who they were. Some of us even graduated from high school and went to the universities just because there was someone to sponsor you or your friends are also going. You even take a particular field of study only because friends have chosen same. But today, things are not the same. Now I know better; like until 2006 that I decided to study business administration, I have Mustered all my efforts and put all that I have into this career path and I am still pursuing it. This decision was taken on my own without any influence from anyone but myself. That is why this idea is particularly important to me.
ii. Ask questions that will uplift your spirit and push you along the path of human excellence. Most often, we are afraid to ask questions, be it in class, at home, with friends, etc. Most importantly, we are usually afraid to ask ourselves questions. Like this idea holds it, until we are able to ask ourselves questions that will uplift our spirits and spur us forward, we will never achieve excellence. Why are people succeeding? under these same conditions and I am not; why is it that I cannot be an Interpreter or a lawyer or a doctor? The kinds of questions we ask will create misery or magic, indignation or inspiration. When we auto-criticize ourselves, we are helping to steer ourselves towards our goals and values.
iii. The secret to living is giving. This idea is very important to me because, most often, I used to ask what has A or B done for me and I never ever cared what I have done for them. I use to feel very angry for others for not giving me this or that until I read this book and discovered that giving is the richest emotion one can ever feel. Now I feel more satisfied when I am at the giving end and very uncomfortable when I am at the receiving end. This has really given me a sense of fulfillment which I have never felt before. What an enriching idea this is. I have even come to realize that givers never lack as there are many times that I have sacrificed my last franc, only to discover that I have more than what I gave out the next minute. This is really a great idea.
iv. One of the secrets of success is commitment to gradual, consistent improvements. This idea aroused my curiosity and helped me to understand a common adage: “to be a man is not a day’s job”. This is exactly the idea; enhance you performance gradually in certain key areas and success will be yours soonest. When faced with an obstacle or a challenge in our chosen field, we often give-up and say this was not my destiny. We switch to something else which we do know little or nothing about and before long, we are quitting again to start another which will end in the same way. All along, we do not think about improving our skills or performance in some key areas that will help us achieve what we want; which if we did, we would have discovered that our career was moving in the right direction.
v. Words can produce illness, words can kill. Once we use certain words to describe something, we create a corresponding emotion. The kinds of words we use determines the kind of emotion that will be created in us or in those the words were meant for. When we are careful with words and use only those that will create positive emotions, we shall be moving our efforts towards the right direction. Wrong words can kill as well as they can cause illness. A good example with me is that I always tell myself those headaches never an illness for me and each time I feel like I have one, I just go and play soccer or go and do jogging and that will be the end of it. This only illustrates this idea; had it been I accepted that headache is an illness; my immune system would have also accepted that this condition is more than it and it would have been weighing me down.
vi. The most important way to ensure success in a relationship is to communicate clearly up front. Communication in relationships has always been a very important tool in every relationship. Failure to communicate with each other will always lead to conflicts and problems that could have otherwise been avoided if communication was flowing well. If we make our partner or friends know what we like and dislike up front, it serves us the trouble of making
up. Most of the time we feel bad about something and we do not make our partner or friend aware of this until when he does that thing then we begin to yell at him. Whereas, had it been we had made them aware of this, they wouldn’t have hurt us at all. This is a great idea to put into practice.
vii. The mark of a true champion is consistency. To be fulfilled, we need to be consistent in our achievements. No one wants to be joyous just once or to be at the peak of his performance only once. This idea catches me of guard as many times I have achieved something and instead of trying to achieve more, I sit back on my laurels and say I am a success and after a short time, that moment is gone and I am still wanting. So now I know how to establish consistency; it is all based on my habit. Knowing what to do is not enough; you must do what you know. This is great.
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?
Life is a learning process that never ends until we’re dead. Same as Giant Steps are ideas that will never cease to inspire people as long as they are alive. The ideas learnt in this book are the tools I will use. Henceforth in my life and I will equally teach others to use these ideas to make a difference in their lives too. Just the way the book is structured already gives me the opportunity to take one a day and try to improve on the areas where I am lacking in my life. When this is done, I will already be a role model to others who will try to follow what I do and this will automatically be shaping the way everyone around me thinks or behaves and before long, the entire community will feel the impact.
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.
There are many quotes/statements in this book that inspire me and Remind/motivate me to remember to the lessons learned in this book and to focus on my goals and values. Some of them are stated here below:
– The secret to living is giving
– All communication is either a loving response or a cry for help
– Optimists see failure as learning experiences;
– Rather than feeling trapped, use your pain as your strongest ally;
– Those who succeed turn to make decisions rapidly;
– Your sense of personal well-being and enrichment lays the foundation for every other achievement in your life;
– Having a powerful enough why will provide you with the necessary how;
– Pain can be your friend if you use it effectively;
– Great leaders are rarely “realistic” by other People’s standards. They are, however, accurate and intelligent;
– Decision making is nothing but values clarification;
– Trying to achieve the pleasure of success without risking the pain of rejection would never work;
– Surmounting difficulty is the crucible that forms character;
This list can go on and on. The statements carry loads of meaning in themselves and remind me of my goals, aspirations and to remain consistent in everything that I do. They equally remind me of the commitment I made to better my life after reading this book by keeping me focused all the time on what is important and useful.
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?
None. This book is written in the simplest language and the vocabulary used is just perfect for my understanding.
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 helpful?
Yes the book contains some exercises, which I completed some and is still working on some. The exercises are so useful and I am completing them as I am applying some of the principles learned in this book. I really enjoy doing these exercises; very inspiring 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.
Nothing in particular.
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