As a Man Thinketh
Assessment by Alozie Stanley Uba (Nigeria)
1. What is the main idea the author is trying to convey in the book.
The author is trying to convey the idea about the power of thought, which I can reframe as the effect of possibility thinking. The book succinctly explained the power of the mind. The mind is the central processing unit of a man. It explained that men are the creators of what they are. The basic idea is of the book is that every man is the architect of his fortune and misfortune. It also conveyed that environments and laws does not make or mar a man, but the man’s view of the environment and laws. The decision a man made on an issue and circumstances are the determinants of what the man is and what he will become. Possibility thoughts brings about positive result and the end product is fulfillment, while impossibility thoughts brings failure, disappointment, envy, and hatred. Every situation and circumstance of life is basically a product of thoughts. Men are the makers of themselves, what goes in their minds determines what they become, because it influences their thought pattern. The mind is likened to a garden, something must grow there. If crops are planted, they will grow and give edible yields, and if crops are not planted, weeds and other unwanted plants will definitely grow by themselves and give their on yields which might not be pleasant to mankind.
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 are important to me because the really opened my eye to real life. They have the tendency to shape and re-shape lives if properly harnessed. I have also had some situations in my life where they played for and against me. They are important to me because I believe that with proper grip and application of them in my life will bring about the needed positive impact in my life and my community.
i. The human is a growth by law, and not a creation by artifice.
Cause and effect is as absolute and undeviating in the hidden realm of thought as in the world of visible and material things. A noble and Godlike character is not a thing of favor or chance, but is the natural result of continued effort in right thinking, the effect of long –cherished association with Godlike thought. Most times, we may leave our lives for God, favor and chance. This has got to the point that we neglect things we are supposed to do to better our lives. We tend to hide under religion and neglect our responsibilities. The thought that any unfruitful venture is due to the fact that God did not want it to succeed, he knows the best for us , has eaten deep in to our bones. Yes God knows everything, but there are things we need to do, he expects us to be pro-active to access the favor. This has affected me severally too. I have seen ugly situations in my life as my faith. Being so self-critical. Always seeing the successful ones as favored by God, or most times relate their success to their relatives and connection, family background, height and complexion, tribe, without considering their effort and thought pattern.
ii. Human minds may be likened to a garden
They may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected , it must and will bring forth something. This idea is conveying that the mind of man is like a farmland, whether crops are planted there or not, something must grow there and whatever grows there must yield it own seed or fruit according to its own kind.
If a man leaves thoughts to evolve in his mind by themselves, definitely they will manifest. By then, it will not be the man’s thoughts, because environmental influences and circumstances will influence the thought and the man will not have control of their thoughts, envy, disappointment, and all negative assumptions will set in. This happens when we refused to seek for what we want and takes the available. This happened to me when I finished my tertiary education, instead of going for professional training s that certify me in my discipline, I took a bank job that was available. The ripple effect now is that I lost that bank job and I do not want to take another bank job. Among my mates, it looks like am lagging behind right now, because they are now authorities in the field. This is because I refused to think rightly then. Had it been that I put my mind in action , I wouldn’t have accepted that negative thought that pushed me into the bank. Still regretting it.
iii. The man’s weakness and strength, purity and impurity is his, not another’s. it is important to know that the man is the author, master, of his failure and success. My dirtiness and cleanliness depends on me and not on another. Poverty and wealth are virtues standing separately in an opposite direction and waiting for who will marry them. It is the choice of every man have the right to choose the woman to marry, you live your own life with the one you chose, not anothers. Also as devious is allowed in marriages, so is it applied in life, you can devious weakness, poverty, lack, failure, and marry strength, wealth, abundance, success, happiness and joy. What ever a man achieved or failed to achieve, is a direct reflection of his thought pattern. The day a man stopped thinking, He stops growing and achieving. It is very simple. The level of a man’s thought determines his altitude in life. Every man is the owner of his life. A man’s condition can only be changed by him, a successful man cannot change an unsuccessful man, unless the later decide to accept change.
iv. There is no intelligent accomplishment, until thought is linked with purpose.
This is a very important idea in this book, and I align with the author. The people who have purpose in their life always have great accomplishment. Most times, I used to ask myself what is my purpose in life. Why I do the things I do, what do I stand to gain at the end of each venture I made? Sometimes I find out that some of my decisions always work in opposite direction with my purpose in life issues, thereby bringing about frustrations and failures. It is very true that they that have no central purpose in life fail freely to petty worries, fear, and troubles , which are indications of weakness and they leads to unhappiness and loss. Purpose is a thought. When a man have a conceive a legitimate purpose in his mind, He sets out priorities to accomplish them. A purposeful man works with aims and objectives, the purposeless man is always blown from one place and another. You see the curriculum vitae of a purposeless man ; He graduated from Electrical Electronics Engineering, worked in a commercial bank as a direct sales executive, then to an educational consulting firm as a business development officer, further to an NGO that does charity as a program officer. No consistency, no professionalism, no career, no accomplishment. A thought must be linked with purpose to give out accomplishment.
v. Dreamers are the saviors of the world.
As the visible world is sustained by the invisible, so are men sustained by beautiful visions of the dreamers. Every man is also a product of his dreams. A man is as big and small as his dreams. He who cherishes a beautiful vision , a lofty idea in his heart, will one day realized it. Dreams are desires, and to desire is to obtain, and to aspire is to acquire. The greatest of all men in the world are the greatest dreamers of all times. All greatest inventions are products of great dreams. All that man need to do is to cherish your vision and your ideas, all forces of nature will make them accomplished.
vi. Circumstance does not make a man , it reveals him to himself.
The idea here is that no condition or situation can exist as descending into vice and its attendant suffering apart from vicious inclinations, or ascending into virtue and it happiness without continued cultivation of virtuous aspirations. Therefore man is the author of his environment, lord and master of his thought, maker and shaper of himself and capable of shaping and reshaping his circumstances by continuously aspiring to get better. Aspiration is a thing of the mind. Every great and virtuous being today is a product of aspiration. The altitude we get to as a result of our level of aspiration. When unpleasant and unfriendly circumstances and environment appears to be stirring us in the face, Being the lord of our thought and understanding of the power of our thought, that is the right time to reshape our thought and visualize and paint the who and how we want to be. The ugly circumstances always reminds us that we can be better, may be there is one more step I need to take.
Each time I ran short of cash, the thought that I should have more money always spring up my mind, I begin to think of the next thing to do to improve my financial capacity. When I was working in a commercial bank, I found out that my salary was not really taking care of my bills, I had thought of a way to get an increase in my income. I took up a business development job in an educational consulting firm, I was making double of my salary in the bank every month without resigning from the bank that was over 70% increase in my income that changed the circumstance.
vii. The body is the servant of the mind.
The body responds to the command of the mind. The effect of thought on health and the body is a very important idea I found in the book. I agree with the fact that the body obeys the operation of the mind, whether they be deliberately chosen or automatically expressed. The thought of fear and failure always bring about fear and failure and weakness. I had a friend in the bank where I worked, one day he told me he was not coming to work, that he will tell our boss that he is seek, behold on that day , he was very seek, like very seek. I reminded him of his thought that he got what he bargained for. What transpired there, was that his body responded and obeyed his thought. The body is just the structure, is always constant, waiting for command.
3. How will these ideas or lessons help you in practical way , both in your daily personal life and in helping you to create a better world. If so how?
The ideas in this book are tools for purposeful living. Having understood the ideas and lessons as enumerated in this book, I believe that the application of the thought principles of this book will help me rebrand and transform myself for the better. I also believed that if am transformed, my world will change for good. Knowing now that I am a creator of circumstance, controlling my pattern of thought by adopting the principle of concentrated thinking and also being steadfast will help me to change myself and my world.
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 human is made or unmade by him or herself ; in the armory of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself; he also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy, strength and peace.”
This statement summarized the book for me, and it made me understand that my destiny is in my hands. It brought the knowing that by right choice and the true application of thought, I will ascend to divine perfection, but abuse and wrong application of thought, I will descend to low level of life. Reaching my potential depend on my thought pattern.
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 that I understand the book and the ideas there in, very well. I also believe that our characters is a picture of our thought; based on this fact, man is the maker and breaker of himself and also the creator of circumstances around him. But I think that there are circumstances and situations that are naturally created and there are some created by our immediate environment. These natural phenomenon cannot be changed automatically by man. This can be cleared better. Most times we have a very vibrant and positive thought in our minds, and we also applied the best principle we can to make the thought and goals come to manifestation, but environmental factors keep frustrating the effort. What do you do in such situations?
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 contained no exercises.
7. Was there anything you read in the book that you would like to comment on that was not covered in the previous question. If so, please comment.
The questions covered the entire 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? 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 Alozie Stanley Uba (Nigeria)
1. What is the main idea the author is trying to convey in the book?
The main idea the author is trying to convey in this book is that man the te maker of himself; As a man thinks, so he is or so he becomes. I can duplicate or reframe these ideas in different ways:
Man is only limited by his own thought and decisions
There are no limits to what a man can achieve, it is just determination
Circumstances and situations ca not stop one from reaching his goals, it’s only the man that is capable of stopping himself.
Human influences, laws, environmental conditions are not capable of stopping you to reach your altitude in life
Circumstances and situations helps man to identify and discover his limitations, and they are the catalyst that helps us to achieve our goals very fast.
Identifying who you are and knowing that you have no limitation is the beginning of perfection.
Consistency is the backbone of greatness and perfection; determination is the key to success. All these played in the life of the main character in this book.
Looking at the major character in this book; Jonathan was a normal seagull like every other seagull, He was not born with a different potentials than other seagulls. He decided to be abnormal by identifying their limitations. While others thought that nature was unfair to them, that they only live to eat as long as they can, and then die. He was thinking of a way out. He knew they have limitations, but he refused to allow his background to keep him on the ground. The normal seagulls compared themselves to birds and draw conclusion that they can’t do anything else other than to fly for food, eat till they die. The abnormal seagull was thinking out of the box; believing they can break their bounds. The laws of the gulls also assisted him. Making him an outcast was the best thing that happened to his high speed flying thought. Indeed it was a blessing in disguise.
What a man can achieve is in his thought, when you stop thinking, you will stop achieving.
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 are important to me because the book have helped me to identify them and find out that I lack them or proper application of them in my life ventures. They are important because I will apply them in all of my venture from henceforth. They are just the keys to success and perfection.
i. Man is the maker of himself and his circumstance.
The author in this book made me understand clearly that whatever be the circumstance surrounding any man is his own making. Man makes himself what he is by his own thought. You cannot be them or less than your thought. The seagulls made themselves and the circumstances, they saw themselves as ordinary birds that have low potentials than other birds. They looked at themselves critically and conclude that they can do nothing more than to fly for food, eat and die. This is all they have to do with their lives. They even went as far as making laws to stop any of the gulls that think otherwise. This is so crazy. They actually made themselves ordinary. My father died as the first king in my community, earlier in the family, when he was not a king, He used to tell us that very soon people will bow for him in reverence, that he will be a king. He made us understand he dreamt it and he believe it shall come to pass. Some years later, the state government created new autonomous communities and our community was created. There came the context for who becomes they king, my father was nominated alongside 14 others and a plebiscite was conducted and my father won and emerged as the EZE elect of my community as we call it. He was finally given certificate of recognition and staff of office by the state government. He became the first king in my community, the dream was achieved because he was revered as the number one citizen of my community. One of the contestants went to the law court to challenge his recognition, after ten years, my father also won the case in court. That dream was confirmed. He became who he wanted to be. His thought made him, so is Jonathan Livingston Seagull.
ii. There is no limit to what a man can achieve.
The major character in this book made us to understand and believe that whatever we desire, whatever the mind can conceive, can as well be achieved. All that is needed to conceive the thought is, work on yourself to do away with dream killers around and within you, then goals will be achieved. In the book, Jonathan had a goal of high speed flying, he was determined to pursue his goal, but forces worked against him to stop him, but he was not perturbed by those forces. At the very end he succeeded in achieving even more than his set goals. Most times, we create a limit to ourselves, As you can see from the book, Jonathan almost surrendered to the pressure, but he was able to overcome the pressure because the picture in his mind was so large that the pressure could not cover it.
iii. Circumstances and situations does not stop a man ,but helps him to discover and understand himself better.
This was explicitly proven in this book by the author. Jon had the burning desire to break new grounds as far as the seagulls kingdom is concerned. He understood also that it is only constant learning and practice that make his dreams come through. For this reason, He engaged himself into consistent practice and forget even the food to which seagulls believe they live for. He never believed that all there is to their existence is food. He had his parents and other seagull family try to stop him. They gave him every reasonable evidence to prove to him that seagulls only live to eat as much as they can and die. He also had other environmental and structural challenges. He was also sent out of the kingdom, and that singular act by the seagulls prompted him into achieving his goals of high speed flying. He was consistent and determined, he accepted the ugly situation and decided to change it.
iv. When you believe in yourself and stand out from the crowd, all forces of nature will begin to work for you.
This idea is evident in this book because, we saw that Jon was practicing to fly, and it was not making any different in the eyes of his parents and other seagulls. Despite his practice, he was not any way better than other seagulls that were not interested flying high altitude. His determination made the seagulls to cast him out of there mist. When he left them was when all other forces of nature roused and worked for him. He was able to see people that coached him, he did not know he will see them, and the practice became simple and easy for him.
v. Determination is the backbone of success, while consistency is the key to perfection.
Jonathan was determined to fly in high altitude that was why he never was in anyway perturbed by anything from any quarters. He was dogged in the fight from inception. Coupled with determination, I see consistency in him. He always want to attain greater height every new day. He got to the echelon of his vision because he was very consistent.
vi. There is love in perfection.
It was evident in this book that there is love in perfection. Jon was able to come back to train his people because he knew he has really learnt the skill to fly and he can transfer the skill. There is happiness in perfection when you know very well that you are good at something, especially when people around you think you can’t do it, you will definitely be exited to show them you can do it or that you have done it. Also what you are good at, it’s always interesting to teach others.
vii. Man creates his own limitations.
3. How will these ideas or lessons help you in practical way , both in your daily personal life and in helping you to create a better world. If so how?
These ideas , if adopted can help me in a very way to be able to harness my activities and channel my strength and focus to things that will have impact on me as a person and to my immediate environment. Knowing that I have no limit to what I can do, having the burning desire to break new grounds and live beyond my limitations and circumstances. Believing in myself and being consistent in the pursuit of my goals; all these have a great impact in the life of Jonathan, and I believe they can have the same impact in the life of any one that adopted them. Jon disciplined himself and learnt what he does not know, He was happy to let the seagulls family know that he has achieved, coupled with the fact that they do not believe they can go beyond flying for food. As his effort has proven it to him, he also want to prove to the seagulls that life and existence is beyond what they think.
Knowledge is like current, it does not stay in one place, it keeps moving. When you have a potential, you always want to show it. All the ideas and lessons from this book are in transit to influence people around me.
4. Quotes: Are there any statements which the author made that particularly got your attention. If so, please quote them and comment as to why they were important to you.
“You can go to any place and to time that you wish to go.”
This statement got my attention because it made me to know that what so ever I wish to achieve can be achieved. All that is needed is to decide. Deciding and thinking beyond my scope like Chang advised Jon to look towards perfection and nothing else. He made Jon conquer his fears and limited thoughts.
“Forget about Faith”
This is another statement that got my attention. This statement has cost humans a lot, it has deprived people of their happiness and achievements over time. Most times we tends to leave our destinies to faith. In as much as I believe that faith works, I also believe that faith also need a force to manifest. Sometimes, we refuse to learn, study and do the needful, hoping to achieve everything by faith. This happened to me when I was in school ,I have that faith that I do not fail exams, my faith was so strong that I could not give my mathematics course the attention it required, but when the result came out I realized that I should have studied very well and back it up with faith. Chang advised Jon to forget faith, that faith was not needed at that time, what was needed was understanding, which comes from learning.
“Don’t believe what your eyes are telling you. All they see is limitation, look with your understanding, find out what you already know, you will see they way to fly.”
This is a word of admonition and encouragement Jon gave to fletch. This statement can give anybody anything, take anybody to any length in life. I have come to the understanding that the eyes always see limitations. The eyes will always show you why you are going to fail if you try. It will show you the once that will mock you if you did not get it right. It will see only the things you did not do well, but understanding will always look for a way to do it better.
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 that I understand the book and the ideas there in, very well. I also believe that our character is a picture of our thought; based on this fact, man is the creator of circumstances around him.
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 contained no exercises.
7. Was there anything you read in the book that you would like to comment on that was not covered in the previous question. If so, please comment.
The questions covered the entire 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? 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