As A Man Thinketh
Assessment by Akinrinlewo Adepeju Mariam (Nigeria)
1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the books?
The main crux of this book is the power of positive thinking. It is to pass across to the reader that s/he is the shaper of his/her life. The seeds of our thoughts can make or mar our lives and destiny. The author buttresses this fact by saying that whatever behavior a man might exhibit, such behavior is a direct output of his thought. Therefore, if a man engages in bad thought, he exhibits bad behavior; on the other hand, if he engages in good thought, good behavior will be exhibited. The engagement of rightful thinking can ascend man into glory and success, while that of wrongful thinking can sink him into an unending well of failure. I also gathered from this book that our thoughts accentuate what become of us. By nursing the right thoughts, our circumstances change for the best. The author points to the reader that all bad thoughts should be expunged from our minds and we should give the good thoughts some space to grow. As human, we should cease from seeing our milk glass half-empty but half-full. We should not see ourselves as mediocre, but always as an excellent being. This is because whatever a man sets his mind to achieve, given the right resources, he does. The author also posits that the thoughts we breed in our minds manifest greatly in and on our body and health. Having good thoughts all the time brings smiles to our face, while bad thoughts give us wrinkles. When we are optimistic about everything, our bodies glow with love and tranquility, while pessimistic thoughts weaken the body organs which degenerate to illness. The author also stresses that we should endeavor to be a visionary person. We should never allow anything to kill our dreams in life. We should always think big and positive and have the belief that everything will come out best for us.
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.
a. Controlling one’s temper.
This idea is very important to me and I read it over and over again. I cannot say categorically that I have eighty percent control over my temper. I get angry at the slightest provocation. But I’m quite happy that after reading and learning from this book that my temper can make or mar my success, I have started overlooking provoking things. I have started developing the habit of walking away instead of venting my anger.
b. Nurturing my minds on how to think positively.
This idea is what I have decided to form a habit of. Many at times, I allowed my thoughts to derail from positive to negative. I tend to think too much on the negative side of life, I ask myself questions like “what if?” But this book has challenged me to always nurture my mind with positive thoughts all the time. Whatever I think manifest in my life. In as much as I would not like any negative thing in my life, I will be steadfast in thinking positively as from now.
c. Being a visionary and purpose-driven person.
This idea is absolutely important to me. The best thing that can happen to a man is to be visionary and focused in life. Like I said elsewhere in this assessment, I have always seen myself as a visionary person. I have set a goal for myself: where I want to be at a particular age and what I want to achieve within that range. I assess myself from time to time to check if am still on course or not.
d. Always maintaining good thought because of our health and body.
This idea is also important because I have learnt the inter-relatedness of my thought and my health. Prior to getting this book, I never knew there is a connection between the two.
e. Our character being the output of our thoughts.
This idea is one of the most important to me. It is now I know that whatever I think inside of me gets manifested in my outward behavior. That means I have to be more careful in nurturing good thoughts in my mind because I can now see how delicate it is to allow bad thoughts to roam in my mind.
f. Maintaining a calm spirit and thought.
Maintaining a calm spirit and thought is another idea which I have gained from this book. The peacefulness of our spirit goes hand in hand with that of our thought. When our spirit is calm, our thoughts will be clear and positive. I intend taking things with levity now. To have control over my spirit and thoughts from now on, I will always make sure I don’t overload my mind with worries and unnecessary things of the world. I will take and deal with one thing at a time.
g. Our thoughts exhibit our spirituality.
My thought goes a long way in my spirituality. Inwardly, I tend to pray at all times. I have come to notice that whenever my mind drifts, I tend to commune with God to intervene. My thoughts have an alignment with the way God sees me and how people around me see me too. I will work more on this to have a balance between how I think personally and how I commune with my creator.
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?
As a matter of fact, this book has come my way at a time when I need it most. I have been experiencing clinical disorders of recent, just being in a state of helplessness and mood swings without even realizing it. But after reading through this book, I have started developing positive thoughts, calmness of the spirit and mind and the ability to expunge bad thoughts from my mind. I am of the absolute belief that all the ideas gained from this book will help shape my life for the best and also it will make me a better person in my academic, my marriage, career and my society at large. It is going to have effect on my relationships with people around me, my attitude, diligence at work and my spirituality.
As a wife and mother, I will work more on my temper and always be optimistic. I tend to lose my temper too much even at the home front, but I will put more effort in controlling that and always be calm in all I do from now on. An agitated mind breeds and accommodates diseases. From what we are told by the author, our thought has a great effect on our body and mind. Therefore, I will heed to the warning and also preach the worthiness of being calm in thought and spirit in order to have good health.
Being privileged to be social worker, I intend sharing all that I have learnt from this book with everyone I come in contact with. I will counsel them on how they can train themselves in thinking positively and being focused in all they do.
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 are important to you.
“As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.”
This quote caught my attention because I have never really sat down to see the implication of my thought on my being. But after coming in contact with this book, my perception towards life has changed. I can now feel the impact of thinking positively.
“Only by much searching and mining are gold and diamonds obtained.”
I have always known that good and beautiful things don’t lie around. One has got to search and search. If one wants to succeed in life, one needs lot of soul-searching and perseverance. We cannot climb the ladder of success in a hurry, but by taking one step at a time.
“He that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocked, it shall be opened.”
This is a biblical analogy that I have always believed in. When we do not seek for knowledge, we don’t get it on a platter of gold. We have to put in all our very best in the pursuit of success.
“Circumstances do not make a man, it reveals him to himself.”
This caught my attention because I now understand why I need to be prepared always. I have always believed that any circumstance I found ourselves is just by sheer luck, but now I can see that circumstances present themselves so we can make use of the opportunity.
“Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves.”
Being a social worker, I have come across different set of people. I have noticed that people seek and pray to change their situations in life but they are rather unwilling to change themselves. But I found this rather ironic. This is because it’s only when you change yourselves that you start noticing change in your situation.
“Thought crystallizes into habit and habit solidifies into circumstances.”
Whatever a man desires, he should see his mind in achieving it. I am a testimony to this fact. Right from when I was young, I have always nursed the dream of becoming a scholar someday. I put in all my best to my academic and I have realized that because of the dream I have nursed, I always get spurred to aspire higher. And I always believe that with the beautiful vision I have envisioned, then I will realize my dream someday soon.
“There is no progress, no achievement with sacrifice.”
I have always known that sacrifice is a must to achieve success. There are so many distractions in the world, and if one does not close his/her eyes to some things, one will get unnecessarily carried away with the tides of life. As a person, I do sacrifice so many things in the pursuit of my dream. When people of my age worry about the latest fashion in town, I worry about getting the latest book by an author.
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 do not agree to an extent with the following statement, ‘The sole and supreme use of suffering is to purify, to burn out all that is useless and impure. Suffering ceases for him who is pure’. Suffering is not even supposed to inflict a pure person. I see it as life being unfair when a good person suffers.
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?
None.
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 rate the following questions on a scale of 1-10. Ten is good and one is poor.
A. How interesting was it to read? 10
B. How helpful were the contents? 10
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? 10
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Assessment by Akinrinlewo Adepeju Mariam (Nigeria)
1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
In this book, the author is talking about how man can succeed through hard work and having a bright vision about his life. He talks on human endeavor using the metaphor of a Seagull. He opines that we should seek to know ourselves, our abilities, irrespective of the circumstances or people around us. We should not allow people to talk us out of our dreams in life. In chapter one, the author buttresses the act of identifying ones purpose in life, forming the right attitude towards actualizing it, suppressing the fear of failure and making up our mind at succeeding and develop the desire to move to greater heights. In chapter two, we should desire to learn, practice and strive to understand more of the perfect principles of life. We must submit to the right tutelage and form right attitude to life. Lastly in chapter three, we should learn to give back to the society that bred us. After reaching the peak of our career, we should impart the knowledge to the younger generation.
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.
In the course of reading this book, the following ideas sprang up in my mind. These ideas are important to me because I believe they can help mould me into becoming the person and personality I want to be.
a. Always listen to one’s innermost self.
This is a very good idea I learnt in the book. Circumstances and people around us can influence the kind of decisions we take. But the only person who I can actually believe in is myself. I should listen to what my mind tells me and decipher between the truth and the false. I have always allowed friends to dictate what I do, but the moment I learnt that I can actually trust no one, was the day I broke free from peer influence. I applied my logical sense to things and honourably bear the brunt should it go wrong. I take responsibility for my mistakes.
b. Never allow fear to control or limit our desire.
Fear is the greatest enemy of man. If anyone wants to conquer the world, then such person should have the will to suppress fear and act with all confidence from within. When there is fear, there is limitation to the level of success one can attain.
c. Boredom, fear and anger are the things that shorten a man’s life.
If we can stick to things that make us happy, then long life can be achieved. These three things are the major causal factor of premature death. When a person is bored, inhabits fear and nurses a level of anger towards life, then such person is knocking violently at death’s door. However, man carries these three elements around. Joblessness, bad attitude can give one these three things. Personally, as an unemployed graduate in my country, there are times when all these three elements will be manifested in my behavior. Despite the fact that I know that these can result to depression and having high blood pressure, there are times I still fall victim to them. But with what I have learnt in this book, I will always make myself happy no matter the circumstance.
d. The most important thing in life is to reach out and touch perfection in whatever we love to do.
One of the happiest times in life is when one reaches the zenith of his/her career. There is nothing more desirable than deriving joy in whatever we do. Man should against all odds attain perfection in whatever she sets her mind to do. Though, we cannot have a utopia state, but we should do our best to achieve excellence in all we do.
e. As a leader, we must demonstrate love and be willing to give back to the society.
After attaining our desire in life, we should be willing to give back to the society that produced us. We must learn that selfless service to humanity is the best work of life. Hoarding knowledge or being selfish should not be the kind of behavior that we would imbibe. No matter our level in the outside world, we should always remember the son of whom we are.
f. We must come out of our shells and have the belief that we can do anything we set our minds to do. I always believe in the saying that ‘I can do it by myself’. We should develop the ‘I can do it’ attitude, this helps a lot. Inferiority complex is a major determinant in man’s failure. When we conquer this complex and have confidence in ourselves, then we can achieve anything we set our mind on. I personally understand the importance of positive attitude and I have placed such a strong emphasis on it for myself.
g. Learn to understand who you really are and begin to practice it.
Think it and achieve it. Our success is a reflection of how big our imagination is. When we know ourselves, our abilities and capabilities, then we are half-way to being successful in life. Practice brings about perfection. If you see yourself triumphing, then laughter awaits you. A person who has already developed a pessimistic attitude does not usually succeed.
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?
As a research consultant in the area of HIV/AIDS and Reproductive Health, I am sometimes assigned supervisory roles; I will imbibe the habit of motivating and bringing out the best in my team members, because their success is mine too. From the knowledge gained in this book, I believe that success is a journey and that it takes the right attitude and principle to get there. As John Maxwell says, ‘ Success is knowing ones purpose in life, growing to reach one’s maximum potential and sowing seeds that benefits others’ . Therefore, no matter how long we live and what we decide to do in life, as long as we have the right attitude towards it, we will never exhaust our ability to grow towards our potentials or run out of opportunities.
I have learned that my thought can transport my body to places unimaginable. Therefore, I will have to erase what I was, to become what I desire to be. From now on, I will look at the good sides of people around me and overlook their bad sides, because that is what the nature of love teaches and I will try to make them see their own good sides too.
While on field, I wouldn’t hoard knowledge, but be more willing to impart it on the other team members. As a leader, I will be eager to demonstrate, influence, suggest, guide and motivate my team members more than before.
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 are important to you.
“No more challenges, no more failure. A man dies the day he stops trying. As human beings, we need constant challenges in life to keep us going. Failure challenges a man to seek a better way.”
“We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill. We can be free! We can learn to fly! Excelling at what one does is a personal thing. It’s a personal decision for one to desire to be more knowledgeable in whatever he/she chooses. Knowledge they say is light. With the desire to be expunged from darkness (ignorance), then one is on the way to achieving excellence.”
“We choose our next world from what we learnt in this one.”
Learn nothing and the next world is the same as this one, all the same limitations and lead weights to overcome. We choose what we aim at becoming from the things we do today. If one decides to waste his/her life today by just being idle, craving after the unnecessary things of the world, then the future is not guaranteed.
“To fly as fast as thought, to anywhere that is, you must begin by knowing that you have already arrived.”
We must be optimistic in everything we do in life. Having bad feelings towards anything sets a barrier in achieving such feat. We should always set our mind on the success lane.
“It always works, when you know what you are doing.”
Efforts and determination brings about success in what a man does. When a person knows what he/she is doing, and puts all his/her effort into it and avoids distractions as much as possible, then victory is assured.
“Break the chains of thought, and you break the chains of your body too. A liberated thought is a precursor to freedom from physical boundaries and limitations.”
“The only true law is that which leads to freedom.”
No one should be a prisoner in a free world. What I’m saying is that the government should tilt towards making the world a better place to inhabit. Fundamental human rights should be respected and encroachment on anyone’s space should be totally frowned at. And also, fundamental rights should also be respected.
“Any number is a limit and perfection doesn’t have limits.”
We should strive to be perfect in all we do. We should never allow anything to form a barricade between us and perfection. No matter how many times we fail at something, we should never relent.
“The gull sees farthest who flies highest.”
This means that the higher we seek knowledge, the more knowledgeable we are or become. We should not think like the mediocre when we want to achieve success.
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 clearly understood everything I read in the book and I agree with everything written by the author.
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 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.
No.
Please rate the following questions on a scale of 1-10. 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