As a Man Thinketh
Assessment by Dereje Tadesse (Ethiopia)
1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to covey in the book?
The main idea of the author is basically about the significance of thought in human beings’ life. The book clearly shows how the way we think affects our overall character, health and body, purpose in life, ideas and achievements. It also reflects the relationship between our thoughts and the circumstances around us. The book reminds us of the power of our thoughts and its impact on the way we act and live our lives. Every success or failure, joy and sufferings, happiness and sorrows, etc are the outcome of our thoughts. When we think clearly with purpose, we harvest quality results and when our thoughts are so confused that we don’t have clarity in our minds, the kind of life we live becomes full of confusion and frustration.
The difference between happy and miserable people depends entirely on the pattern of their thinking. Those who are capable of thinking in a pattern that allows them to target their goal concentrate on those key issues and ignore what is not important to them. As a result, they achieve what they desire and enjoy the outcome of their action which is based on their thoughts. On the other hand, those who don’t filter the thoughts in their minds and try to process all kinds of garbage end up wasting their time and energy on useless (and harmful) thoughts and fail to achieve what they desire to have. As a result, they live in confusion, complaint and sorrow.
2. What were the seven ideas which were personally more 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. The effect of thought on our character
We are basically what we think. Our being is the reflection of the way we think and how good or bad we are is determined by the way we think. Every human being is made by his own choice of thinking right or wrong. We may be perfect or curse because of the application of our mind to think in some kind of pattern. It may not be realistic to imagine a person as an absolute perfection or complete disaster and the degree to which his or her behavior is manifested is the character of that individual. So, human beings can shape their character through thinking.
ii. The relationship between our thoughts and circumstances
Circumstances are the aggregate result of human thoughts and the more, we humans, do think clearly towards a better life, it is possible that the circumstances we live in become conducive. If we suffocate our thoughts with harmful thoughts of all kind, we end up contributing to the existence of unfavorable circumstances around us. So, in its totality, our circumstances are created by the way we use our mind to produce thoughts that shape our environment. We think to mould our character and our collective character forms our circumstances that affect the way we think and live. Therefore, our thoughts and the circumstances we surround ourselves with are highly interrelated affecting one another. That is why the origin of all actions, which is our thought, need to be good in order to make the world a better place to live in.
iii. How our body and health is affected by the way we think
Our mind is the master of our physical body and the body obeys the thoughts provided by mind without questioning. Disease and health depends on the thoughts and if the thoughts are sick, the body becomes sick and anxiety and impure thoughts negatively affect the way our nervous system functions. Clean habits are the result of clean thoughts and clean habits make us take, for example, clean food. With clean foods we stay healthy. If we want to protect our body, we need to protect our mind and take care of the way we produce thoughts.
iv. The importance of aligning our thought and purpose
We, as human beings, must have a purpose in life. A person without a purpose is like a ship sailing without destination. A person without purpose in life tries to live life to arrive at nowhere except exhaustion, fear, frustration and hopelessness. Such move ends in a painful death ultimately just like the ship without destination sinks in the middle of an ocean. Hence, we need to gear our thought to achieve our purpose in life. Clarity and direction of our thought is fundamental to accomplishment of our purpose.
v. How what we think determines our achievements
Our achievements are the direct result of our efforts and the effort we put into actions can only bear fruit if supported by clear thinking. Our thought convinces our being to exert some amount of effort to achieve our goals and we achieve to the extent of our effort. We should not blame others for our failures. It is up to us to have solid thoughts that lead us to the attainment of our goals. Higher level of though can enable us ensure higher level of achievement and vice verse. We cannot achieve our targets with spontaneous actions that are not backed by straight thoughts of mind.
vi. How our thoughts affect our vision
Vision is the bigger picture of what is desired as an ideal situation seemingly far from being achieved. If we don’t start working on what we aspire to achieve today, there will not be a chance to get there at all. In order to do that, one has to think clearly about that vision (ideal situation) in the first place. The thought of the vision we may have needs to be crystal clear and the path to arrive at the desired vision should be paved in our mind. Therefore, our though and vision are highly related to one another. Our thought is the source and origin of our vision and ideal.
vii. Serenity is the fruit of clear thought
Serenity is human calmness and calmness is a sign of knowledge and experience of the fact that human being itself is the result of his thoughts. Humans become calm when they fully understand their environment and adapt to it in such a way that one helps the other in a positive way. Serenity and clarity of thought go hand in hand as one needs the other to manifest itself.
3. How will these ideas or lessons help you in a practical way, both in your daily life and in helping you to create a better world? If so, how?
The very concept that human beings are the result of their thoughts is instrumental in expressing the power of thought on our life style, character molding and achieving goals and purposes. In order to know what we want to achieve in terms of personal goal and environmental situations, we need to think clear on how to handle issues that pave the way to success. Thoughts by individual minds together shape our circumstances. The efficiency with which we can attain our vision depends on the favorable or unfavorable nature of circumstances around us. The inception of every human action is made within the mind and the product is our thoughts. Our success or failure, in personal life or otherwise, fully depends on our thoughts. Thus, we need to wisely use our mind to concentrate on useful thoughts that help us progress in what we do in life.
4. Quotes: Are there any statements which the author made that particularly got your attention? If so, comment on as to why they were important to you.
“Humans are the master of thought, the molder of character, and the maker and shaper of condition, environment and destiny.”
Thoughts create who we are and we are the managers of those thoughts that create our being as humans. Through our thoughts, we shape our character, influence our environment and destiny. Fortunately, we humans can manage the thought itself to make our life fulfilled and the world a better place to live in.
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?
While I truly believe that our thoughts are the source of our success or failure in life, I feel that further discussion is lacking in relation to treating different kinds of circumstances, especially societal circumstances and other natural circumstances, separately. My argument is based on the fact that it is quite different to change natural circumstances or find mechanisms to adapt to them when they become barriers to our mission on the way to achieving our vision. However, changing circumstances related to human thoughts that are against our beliefs are not quite east to handle and need to be handled differently.
6. Did the book contain exercises for the reader complete? If so, did you complete all of the exercises and did you find them helpful?
There weren’t any exercises 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?
When we think alone, it takes a lot of effort to change our environment in our favor. I think building a team of like-minded group of human beings is one of the ways to effectively influence the circumstances around us.
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? 9
D. Would you recommend it to others? 10
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 10
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Assessment by Dereje Tadesse (Ethiopia)
1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to covey in the book?
The core idea of the book revolves around the need to think big, focus on the goal to be achieved and work hard to do it well above the standard. Ordinary way of doing things may not enable us achieve extra ordinary results; it just makes us one of the average performers. In order to excel in our life, we must learn new ways of doing things, apply these new techniques for enhanced efficiency, continue exercising with passion and believe that our goal is achievable regardless of what other people think about it.
One can learn anything as long as s/he loves progress in life. As you keep on learning, new goals are set without limitation in the quest for perfection. One level of success leads to the desire to aim for another, yet advanced, level of goal. Once that kind of mindset is developed, we will have no limit to strive for a better result. If we are confident and determined to live a meaningful life, continuous learning and exercise becomes our culture of exploring new areas and standards of setting goals and achieving them.
On the contrary, if we think that we cannot do some of the things that we naturally aspire to do, there is no way we to attain them. The main reason for this is that we were already defeated the moment we thought that doing such things is impossible for us. It is important to realize that even if we fail while we try to do something of a higher standard, we learn not to fail again from our failure itself.
2. What were the seven ideas which were personally more 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.
Although the book is full of important ideas, the seven most important ideas to me are the following:
i. Never give up in life because life is too short and should be used to the fullest.
Whether we like it or not, we live for a limited number of years and only about half of that period is active. So, it worth trying the best out of those active years of our life to enjoy and fulfill our purpose in life. We should keep on learning new things, apply what we have learned into practice and achieve our aspired goals. We must also nurture the winning mentality within us and never give up when we come across temporary challenges of any kind.
ii. Practice leads to perfection and perfection doesn’t have a limit.
If we believe we can do something, it is highly likely that we can do it. However, we cannot be winners by mere wish unless we put some effort to excel in what we do. We can perform to the level of excellence only if we practice what is to be done. Many people wish to be one of the most successful people but fail to reach there because they fail to endure the challenges to be fought. Nothing good can happen to us unless we sacrifice in some way. When we practice what we do consistently, we become good at it from time to time on the way to perfection. Perfection is endless and we can always improve on what we do.
iii. Believe in your capacity to exceed the limits.
Limits are manmade and should not be taken as a fixed point to arrive at. You can set a higher limit as opposed to the already set standards in life. One need to believe that known records can always be broken through learning and exercising in everyday life. You can achieve a new level of excellence only if you believe that you can do it. Once you believe you can exceed the limits, work on it to achieve a higher level of excellence in what you do. Most importantly, don’t be discouraged by the comments from low performing crowds.
iv. Try to transfer your success to the benefit of those in need.
Share your experience with others so that the community at large is changed for a better. When you exceed the limit and achieve excellence, there are for sure many people being inspired by your performance and follow your foot steps in life. That means, you set a higher standard for others around you and that leads to better use of resources made available by Mother Nature or by the economy of the world we live in.
v. Borden, fear and anger shorten ones life.
All the negative human emotions have the power of destroying human positive feelings and energy prohibiting them from trying to improve their life standards and ultimately enjoy life. These emotions (Borden, fear and anger) are negative energies that hinder the potential of people from performing well and excelling in life. Therefore, avoiding these negative energies and focusing on building positive thoughts within ourselves is crucial to ensure higher level of performance.
vi. You cannot finish learning; as soon as you complete one lesson, there is another school to attend.
Although amazing human advancements have been witnessed in modern world, science is far from explaining the entire secret of nature. That fact is an evidence for the existence of limitless undiscovered facts and ways of managing resources in the world. To that end, continuous learning is not an option for mankind; it is rather a means of existence for the generation to come. It should be noted that, no matter where we stand in the level education or experience, there are a lot to learn as long as we are alive.
vii. Your thoughts are more than who you are.
Thought is a leader of action in the sense that we perform to the extent of what we think and understand. We act on what we know and what we know is gained through the learning process which is done in the factory of our mind. Learning and understanding itself is not the end, it is a means by which we arrive at our goal. In general, our actions are led by our thoughts and that is why we say our thoughts are more than who we pretend we are.
3. How will these ideas or lessons help you in a practical way, both in your daily life and in helping you to create a better world? If so, how?
In today’s competitive world, those who believe in learning and deliver what is expected of them with effectiveness and efficiency survive. Human need is increasing from time to time and satisfying these needs require better products and services in the business world. It is imperative that one cannot address new market demands with the old style of business operation. Therefore, engaging in new thoughts, creating and application of new technologies as well as introducing new approach of marketing and customer service are on top of today’s business agenda all over the world. That is why exceeding the limits and excelling in our areas of expertise is the only way of survival.
Lessons learned from the book are very relevant to what I do in my career at the moment. As a consultant and trainer, I learn every time I am preparing myself and delivering training sessions to every audience and whenever advising various managers and leaders. I continuously learn through reading, asking questions and observing how businesses operate. On the other hand, I keep on learning from other people, my environment and the community I live in. In all the cases, I try to exercise on the good lessons I learn and focus on what is more important to me in life. Furthermore, I always try to engage in jobs that I like doing rather than what people generally believe is more profitable and rewarding.
4. Quotes: Are there any statements which the author made that particularly got your attention? If so, comment on as to why they were important to you.
“There is a reason to life! We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill.”
Ignorance is a serious barrier for excellence in any business and in life. Learning, on the contrary, is a light for bright future. Through learning we attain excellence to success and success is measured in terms of our purpose in life.
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?
While thinking differently and devoting our life career for excellence, the fact that we still act, to some extent, as a normal creature cannot be ignored. For example, for the Jonathan Livingston Seagull, love for flying alone cannot keep it alive unless some of its time is devoted to finding food and feeding itself. Balancing basic necessity and striving for a better life is important. I have not read anything about the time when Jonathan Livingston seagull was collecting food to survive on.
6. Did the book contain exercises for the reader complete? If so, did you complete all of the exercises and did you find them helpful?
There weren’t any exercises 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 think the concept of living by example for the generation to come has not been discussed enough in the above six questions. If we excel in our career and life, we, as individuals, are not only enjoying the better life we have achieved but also setting a higher standard for next generation. By living such a purposeful life, we naturally become leaders in our respective communities shouldering more responsibilities.
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? 7
D. Would you recommend it to others? 9
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 8