David John Oladejo – Assessments

As A Man Thinketh
Assessment by David John Oladejo (Nigeria)

1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?

The author of the book sequentially reveals in his ideas that whatever a man sees around him is the product of his thoughts. When a man decides to take good decisions without good steps, the author explains that the good decisions cannot stand to be because the owner of the good decisions has refused to take good steps which could have bring the decisions to reality. For instance, a man whose plan and aim is to have a peaceful marriage will only achieve it when he is practically peaceful to himself, the people around him and the environment. In other words, bad thoughts will strongly bring about bad actions. For instance a politician whose thought is to accrue billions of dollars to him or herself will never bring any development to the people whom he or she is ruling over. What such a politician will bring is poverty and squalor.

2. What were the seven ideas which were personally most important to you and why? List the 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) “Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results”
This idea is important to me because I have practice it, and it has worked for me. The above idea came to be when I was in a car as a bus conductor and as a street fighter. My thoughts were to see a rich woman, who will like to have me as her child. Before you know it a woman, I helped to move her goods from her former store to the store that she has just paid for came to me after rendering the service to her. And she compulsorily made it known to me that I should come and be living with her and I also agreed since that was the thought that I have being nursing in my heart and have also being putting it in actions by putting on attitudes that people can accommodate.

(ii) A man is not rightly conditioned until he is a happy, health, and prosperous being, and happiness, health, and prosperity are the result of a harmonious adjustment of the inner with the outer.”

This idea is important to me because it stands to depicts what the world is to human beings when all basic needs are all met.

(iii) “Lazy thoughts crystallize into habits of uncleanliness and dishonesty, which solidify into circumstances of foulness and beggary. Hateful and condemnatory thoughts crystallize into habits of accusation and violence.”

This idea is important because it has led most of my friends to disgraceful act.
This happens to a friend of mine who only believes in the law of a nature that is meant to be for a particular type of snake. The snake cannot move away from where it is, but yet it could get what to eat. And this friend of mine has been in his room for over three months. He could not sweep the rooms where he sleeps. All he does is to wait for anyone that wants to sweep before his room can be swept.

And this room of his could only be swept after he must have begged so many people. And anyone that refuses to help him sweeps his room, he will forever hate that person, accuse him or her for not being a good neighbor and at the end, this actions of his made him to exchange blows with those who refuses to assist him in sweeping his room and who also accuse him of being lazy.

(iv) “Pure thoughts crystallize into habits of temperance and self-control which solidify into circumstance of repose and peace: thoughts of courage, self-reliance, and decision crystallize I into manly habits, which solidify into circumstance of pleasantness and industry, which solidify into circumstance of pleasantness: gentleness, which and forgiving thoughts crystallize into habits of gentleness, which solidify into protective and preservative circumstance.”

This idea is important to me because it has enable me to work with great men and not only did it gives me the opportunity to work with them, it has also been used to form a defense against my adversaries. My ability to control myself in any given situation has enable me know the secrets of so many people. This happens when I worked with a man that knows nothing but anger. A day came when a guy from nowhere just came to me to tell me that I am stupid. And out of my consciousness, I started asking myself what is happening before the question came out of my mouth, the guy have landed a slap on my face. The next thing, I did was to held unto him as I retaliated back with six staric slaps that almost made him to lost his sight. He shouted after my retaliation and many people came to his rescue. And when he narrated what I did to him, they could not believe him. This was possible because I have never stage any quarrel with my boss who is “anger” by nature and with anybody in that environment and because I have always been taking things calm with everyone in that environment.

(v) Thoughts of malice, envy disappointment, despondency, rob the body of its health and grace.

This idea is important to me because it is also part of the things that has made so many people to keep away from their evergreen dreams. Anyone that envies can be easily distracted from his or her goal. Disappointment almost makes me to forget where I am heading to. This is because I wrote so many proposals that cost me thousands of naira and 96% of those organizations that I sent my proposal did not reply me. And this almost makes me to stop my humanitarian programs. It, did not stop at that, it make me to fall weak and sick. But the day I called myself by name, I picked up some money left with me to buy books that talk about how to write professional proposal. And since then, I have being preparing proposals that will catch the attentions of my targeted organizations. In anything you do in life, do not allow disappointment to make you weak and sick. See disappoint as a stepping stone to success.

(vi) “With those who have lived righteously, age is calm, peaceful and softly mellowed, like the setting sun.

The idea is important to me because it will enable me to direct my thoughts towards what is good in life. This idea reminds me of when I only think about God and his works. Then, I discovered that I was much younger than my age. And before I know it people started arguing about my age. Then my life was like that of a little child and I bothered no more about what to eat, but only how to work for God.

(vii). As he thinks, so he is, as he continues to think, so he remains.

The way you think shows forth when you speak and whenever you take any action.
I think it is possible for me to eradicate ignorance and before I know it, it has started reflecting in my discussion with each person I come across in each day. And, also find myself going to organizations that understand what ignorance can bring to human beings.

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?

This lessons or ideas will help me think well in any situation I find myself and not just only to think well, but to act well even when the situation at hand is not friendly. Whenever I come across situation that can worsen my thinking, I will start seeing the good things in that unfriendly situation.

This lesson will help me to create a better world when I effectively emphasize the important of good thoughts in each human daily lives to everyone around me. Not even to everyone that loves me, but to every human being. That is any existing problem can only be solved through good thoughts and good actions.

4. Quotes: Are there any statements which the author makes that particularly got your attention? If so, please quote them and comment as to why they were so important to you.

(I) A strong man cannot help a weaker unless that weaker is willing to be helped, and even then the weak man must become strong himself, he must by his own efforts, develop the strength which he admires in another.”

This quote is important to me because it explains that one in most cases will find it easy to help a person who is in need when he or she wants the person that comes to his or her rescue to help. It once happened to me, than was when I was being force to go to school. It got to a point that the people forcing me were discouraged because of my attitude towards them. It was after they stopped pestering me that I decided to go back to school.

(ii) He who lives constantly in the conception of noble and lofty thoughts, who dwell upon all that is pure and unselfish, will, as surely as surely as the sun reaches it zenith and the moon is full, become wise and noble in character, and rise into position of influence and blessedness.

This quote is important to me because it sheds more light to what unselfishness can bring to man.

(iii) The human is made or unmade by himself, in the armoury of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself;

This quote is important to me because most things that human being sees around them is the product of their thoughts. What I am today is the product of the thoughts that I had then.

5. Is there anything in the book that you do not understand or that are on unclear about, or ideas which you degree with and, if so, why?

No

6. Did the book contain exercises for the readers 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 like to comment on that was not covered in the previous question? If so please comment.

No

Please rate the following question on a scale from 1-10. Ten is good and one is poor.

A. How interesting was it to read? 10
B. How helpful was the content? 10
C. How easy was it to understand? 8
D. Would you recommend to others? 10
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 10

 

 

Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Assessment by David John Oladejo (Nigeria)

1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?

The author of the book is trying to explain that success can only be achieved when a person stands to discover what is hidden in gold. That is, what made gold to be gold. He made it known that if any man will achieve anything in life, some cultural and social limitations must be broken. He further explains that for one to discover the hidden treasures of life he or she must be ready to face denial and criticism which as times goes on will metamorphose into greatness. For what is deviance today may not be deviance tomorrow. He emphasize that the conceive crown and throne of each individual will come to be when every chains of limitations are broken.

2. What were the seven ideas which were personally most important to you and why? List the 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). We can lift ourselves out of ignorance
This means that we can discover the yet to be discovered things when we break the shackles that brings us irrelevant thoughts and actions. For instance, the ability to consistently seek knowledge through reading and learning will systematically unveil a different means of becoming great in life when all the knowledge acquired is been used to unveil and develop a particular discovery. I am what I am today because I discovered that farming as a profession is a good thing that I have learned enough during my stay with my parents. And that the next thing that I need to do next is to find my way into dangerous car parks to see how the life their looks like. There, I learned how to overcome so many problems of life because while I was in the car park, there was no house for me to sleep. But what I did was to join those I met there to sleep under bridges, filling stations and inside abandoned cars and buses. My experience in the car parks changed my thinking because I discover that most boys and girls in the car parks did not want to be there at first, but they moved there because of what I will call polygamous marriage problems. My stay in the car parks further enables me to think fast and always being at alert for any unplanned events. There I also learn how to sleep even with my eyes open and with my brain working. My experience in the car parks has thought me how to adapt to any spiritual and physical situations of life.

(ii) We can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill.

This means that we can discover our ability and uniqueness when we look beyond our environment, separate ourselves from discouragement, discouragers, mockers and anger. This happened to me when I was in the car parks. The environment there was not friendly. You know when you are not used to smoking drinking and flirting you stand to feel lonely in those aspects of behavior. And if care is not taken you will find yourself doing what they are doing just for you to be fully seen as a true associate. But mine was not like that instead of me joining them; I made them to know the dangers that lie ahead of a man who refuses to stop his smoking habit, and the habit of excessive alcohols. Before, I know it some of them started preferring me and not did they only prefer me, they also started limiting the rate at which they smoke and drink alcohols. Car parks in my country, it is a place where only strong hearted men and women who are spiritually and physically strong men and women can stay to sell their goods and services. Even if you don’t look for trouble, trouble will look for you. And that was where I discovered that I have that ability to persuade people to my way of thinking. It was not only by words of mouth, but by actions. They came to realize that those things they do under the influence of alcohol, I did do it better than them without smoking and drinking alcohols.

(iii) There is more to life than eating, fighting or power in the flock.

This explains that in each environment that we all find ourselves or belong to, there are greater things in it than material things that we may all aim to acquire. Seeing my attitude in the cark parks by different people, they discover that I am a different person. Matter that makes other thugs like me to get angry was always a thing that makes me smile. Instead of me to stage a fight, I always stage a flight by playfully telling them that the car parks they see today may tomorrow disappear into thin air. And this made one of them to ask me a question. What will happen to us, if the car parks don’t longer exist? And I answered by saying that we will all look for another means of survival. I further stressed that I think it is a good thing if we can all begin to think for another means of survival. Some said that the country will be in trouble, if those who will excise the cark parks refuse to get us another means at which we can earn our livings. And the rumor of our discussions spread and this made 40% of us to learned driving, gather the little money they had to go and establish the former trade they have learned before coming to the car parks instead of us just being a load carrier, iron rod shapers and bus conductors. I earlier stated that, instead of me to stage a fight, I always try to stage a flight. Before you know it a man that owns a book shop walked up to me to ask if I will like to work for him in his bookshop as a sales assistant. I answered by telling him that I will be grateful to work with him if he can pay me the exact amount that I did earn at the end of the month. He agreed to pay me the amount I did earn and I work for him for nine months before another woman that sees that I don’t believe in fighting, smoking, drinking of alcohols and in the act of disturbing goods sellers like most of my colleague will do also invited me to be the sales manager of her cosmetics store. Dear readers, if I were to be the fighting, angry and disturbing type, I don’t think those opportunities that came to me then would have come. And I wouldn’t have touched those lives that I touch, then.

(iv) Our purpose for living is to find that perfection and show it forth.

The ability for one to aim high even when the world thinks that it’s too much of you is a commending attributes that all man must possess. The act of consistently discovering a good method of finding solutions to problems of life is never enough, until when you are able to use different ways to improve that method that you have discover. Perfection comes when you continuously improve what you have or what you have discovered. My ability to make peace when there is a quarrel or fight has consistently placed me on awards that I had never expect to have in my life. This happened in the year, 2008 when I was given an award in my department. It reads thus: Most Behaved Male Student..

(v) Because any number is a limit, and perfection doesn’t have limits

This means that your perfection must not only be for you only, but for those you will also help to discover their ability which will also lead them to perfection. For instance, when I started writing proposals it was not an easy thing. But when I took my time to master it, I did not only enjoy it alone! What I do is to teach anyone who wants me to help him or her to write proposals, how to write it. And the more I teach them the better I acquire the deep knowledge for proposal writing. A man is never perfect until he share his gotten knowledge with the world.

(vi) Break the chain of your thought and you break the chains of your body, too

This implies that a man must be able to control his thought. That is one should be able to think possibilities and not impossibilities. When a man is able to create good pictures in his imagination, the message of the created pictures will get to every parts of the body and before you know it, those pictures will be display for everyone to see that is when the person takes the right steps. In the year 2007 I started seeing myself setting up a Theatre N.G.O. and it came to be.

(vii) Don’t believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show is limitations

This stands to inform all human beings that, the things around you may want to pull you down. Such as: superstitions, hatred, conflicts and hunger. By looking at the aforementioned things you will discover that you will continue to be at a spot till when your time on earth will lapse without you achieving anything good. For instance, there was a day a friend of mine made it known to me that he will not allow me to stage a play that I was rehearsing because I did not partake in a time wasting programme. I did not allow his ranting to demoralize me. I continued with the rehearsal and let me tell you the stage play was staged for audience consumption despites all his threats. If I had stopped the rehearsal to listen to him the play wouldn’t have been staged! Determination is the right key to success. Don’t allow your eyes to stop you from getting to your destiny. Be focused.

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 ideas or lessons in this book will further enable me to know that my existence in this life is for a purpose and that my purpose in life must be perfectly felt by me, my contemporaries, and the yet to be conceived generations.
It will perfectly enable me to strongly eliminate spiritual and physical ignorance from my life, family, friends, community, town, states and nations by relating with individuals and corporate organizations that knows what Ignorance can bring to people who are not thoroughly sensitize.
As an individual this ideas or lessons will further equip me to aim at perfection even when the hurricane of life stands to threatens it.

4. Quotes: Are there any statements which the author makes that particularly got your attention? If so, please quote them and comment as to why they were so important to you.

(i) fear and anger are the reasons that makes a seagull’s life so short

This quote is important to me because it stands to emphasize two deadly things that have shortened the lives of many people. The fear of one not been able to pay his or her debt may make him or her to commit suicide. Anger can also made people to lose their lives. For instance, a man who is always angry, one day stood up to beat his wife and while he was beating her the woman died in the process and when the laws takes it tolls on him, he was also sentenced to death by hanging. Anger can also make a man to kill himself when he is excessively angry with himself just because a particular situation did not favor him.

(ii) It always works, when you know what you are doing

The “important of this quote is very unique to me because it stands to say that any good thing that I lay my hands upon will stand to be when I handle it with care, package it well and present it well to the people that are I wanted to present it to in a different way.
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(iii) You have to practice and see the real gull, the good in every one of them, and to help them see it themselves

It means that, I must learn to discover only good things in people instead of me discovering their bad attitude and when I discover goods things in people, I should help them to improve on that good thing that is in them by allowing them to know the good things that they possess.

5. Is there anything in the book that you do not understand or that are on unclear about, or ideas which you degree with and, if so, why?

No.

6. Did the book contain exercises for the readers 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 like to comment on that was not covered in the previous question? If so please comment.

No

Please Rate the following question on a scale from 1-10. Ten is good and one is poor.
A How interesting was it to read? 10
B How helpful was the content? 10
C How easy was it to understand? 9
D Would you recommend to others? 10
E What is the overall rating you would give it? 10

 

 

Psycho-Cybernetics
Assessment by David John Oladejo (Nigiera)

1. What is the main ideal that the author is trying to convey in the book?

The author is trying to make it known to all the reader of this book that whatever you are doing strongly depends on the ‘self’. That is who you think you are. He farther discussed that each events that appears in our daily activities, especially bad events- we must not allow it to dictate bad feelings to us. That is, one should be able to control his or her emotions at every given events.

He also gave a comprehensive definition of what the word success means in the real sense. He explains that no man should overestimate himself or herself, and neither should he or she underestimate himself or herself. He said we should learn to be ourselves, rather than showing pretence.

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. Go over in your mind, all the various questions that you are likely to be asked!

It is important to me because, it further emphasize that we must always prepare for Job interviews, and for every other interviews. In other words, it is not only for job interviews, interviews only, but for every activity that we are into.

ii. When you activate successful action patterns out of the past you also reactivate the feeling tone, or “winning feeling” which accompanied them.
This is important to me because the act of remembering past success always gingers me for the next risk that I may want to take.

iii. Deal with other people as if they were human beings.

The importance of this is strongly affirmed in my daily life, whenever, I help people to achieve their aims and objective, consciously and unconsciously, I will find people doing the same thing to me.

iv. The person with adequate self-esteem doesn’t feel hostile toward others.

This is important to me because, it has further enabled me to change the behaviors of others from bad to good and from failure to success.

v. “Men are disturbed,” said the sage, “not by things that happen, but by their opinion of the things that happen.”

This is important to me, because most human being problems are not really problems, but is their opinion towards the events on ground that makes them to see solutions as problems. I have a friend that almost kills herself because she could not pay her school fees at the specified weeks published by the university authorities. She acted that way because she thinks that are friends will make jokes out of her inability to pay her school fees. Now she has paid the school fees graduated, but the accumulated stress she put herself through when she hasn’t paid the school fees is still reflecting in her life. She has used a temporal problem to produce lasting problems.

vi. We should not concentrate on undesirable feeling.

This is important to me because it has kills the dreams of many people. For example, when you are supposed to get a contract that worth five million naira, you then begin to have the feeling that what if, i…..if they reduce it to two million naira, what if they refuse to give me the contract? Before you know it people like that will no longer submit proposals for such a contract because they have allowed undesirable feelings to come into their plans.

vii. Let us not be too proud to accept help from others.

This is important to me because, many proud people around me has lost their destiny helpers all in the name of I am better than you. The above quotes reminds me of a woman, who totally lost her job because she did not know that the messenger in the company where she works can help her to speak to the managing director of the company as to withdraw the sack letter given to her by the managing director. When the messenger heard about the sack letter given to the woman, he went to this woman concerned. He said, I will plead with the M.D on your behalf. The woman looked at the messenger from his head down to his toes and she said: “You help me to speak to the M.D when the director in my unit cannot even try it. I don’t even know what you think you are. Imagine! Messenger like you, will go to the managing director to plead on my behalf. That will come to be when you become the human resource manager of this company. Thank You! She forever lost the well paid job because she thinks she is better than the messenger; not knowing that the messenger is one of the shareholders of the company.”

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 will help me to create a better world, because they stands to illustrate what is really disturbing the existence of man (a man and a woman). For example, it will help to reduce wrong opinions which can go a long way to jeopardize the future of each nations of the world. Most time when the leaders of a particular country comes up with plans that will impoverish the citizen and the citizens decides to go to streets to protest, the leaders always have this wrong opinions that the citizen wants to dethrone them – of which their protests only stands to tell the leaders to stop plans that will impoverish them. I’ve heard about leaders that committed suicide because they were betrayed. Suicide is never the solution to any problems of life, but it is an act of creating more problems. We should all know that when a door is shut, there is always a lot of ways to create doors where doors cannot be shut. When a palm tree refuses to produce palm wine there is always a billion of palm tree that are ready to produce palm wine.

The ideas will further help human beings to know that each slave is as important as a king. No matter how great you’re, you must always remember to look down and ask for solutions to problems from those who are under you- no matter how low their rank may be. Each individual has his own solution to the problems of others, but he may not have total solution to his own problems God could have decided to create only Adam, but he decided not to do so because he know that two is ever better than one. This generation must learn to eliminate pride from their way of life, if they want the generation to be saved. There is always a difference between competition and pride. Competition is meant to exhibit advancement and not pride. The rivalry in the world has its origin from competition to pride. And as we all know pride brings destructions. The terrorism of a thing that is facing the world, it’s a form of pride that emanates from a fundamental problem of use and dump.

4. Quotes: are there any statement which the author make that particular got your attention? If so, please quote them and comment as to why they were important to you.

“Let people know when you like them.”

This quote is important to me because it tends to help individual to have sense of belonging when you tell them, how much you like them! And it has helped a lot of people to conquer shyness and hostility. Telling a person that you like him or her will probably make him or her to smile and laugh.

It is a sign and a means of forgetting about ones problem. It also gives a sense of security. I know mad men who regain their senses because a lady said to them. I like you. Telling people that you like them is also a therapeutic means of solving emotional problems that he or she may be going through. It has healed many sickness and pains. It shows that you admire and care for the person.

“When you experience that winning feeling, your internal machinery is set for success.”

This quote is important to me because it is a very strong weapon that has enable me to move on in life. The ability of each individual to have the winning feeling will catapult the person into greatness. Your ability to win when you are yet to get to the winning realm is an experience that prepares you for the success of tomorrow.

“Looking forward, bring us new life and more life.”

This is important to me because our sense of achieving greater things is always at alert when we continuously look forward towards a particular, goal before us. And our preparation towards the future gives us sense of existence and agility. When you don’t look forward towards your goal, but to your past failures it is always easy for us to be much older than our age. It does not only eradicate old age, but it makes everything around us new and preferable.

“It does required constant watchfulness and practice until the new behavior pattern is thoroughly learned.”

This quote is important to me because everyone in life must learn to cultivate good behaviors as long as he or she sees the dawn of each day provided by nature. In other words, when one is watchful, the watchfulness will enable the person to sift out issues of life that are not desirable. To stop anger, you need a thorough watchfulness towards what you can use to eliminate anger whenever it comes to your way. It takes consistent watchfulness to eliminate bad behaviors and to build up good ones. Bad behaviors are no always easy to eliminate, neither is also easy to build up good behavior. But with determination, the elimination of the bad behaviors can be made possible. So, it is to the act of building-up good behaviors.

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. The exercise has enabled me to develop a better way of attending to people and things. It has increased my focus and my listening ability. I now find it very easy to communicate with people with some increased percentage of attention. Now my means communication has increased. Now, I can communicate with my legs, head and with my nose

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? 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