Dourwe Bernard – Assessments – International Institute for Global Leadership

As a Man Thinketh
Assessment by Dourwe Bernard (Rwanda)

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

The main idea of James Allen in his book As a Man Thinketh is that thought is fundamental in the life of man. All our life depend essentially of our though. Our character, our health, our body, our achievement of life are determined by our thought. How we face circumstances depends of our though. If we think positively we shall succeed in our life but if we think negatively, we shall fail.

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. Our character is the reflection of our thought

There is relationship among our thought and our character. Our thought shapes our characters. Through it we give the orientation to our life. That is why we are responsibly of what we are and what we want to do. By our thought we make ourselves what we want. By it we can become wise master of our life. If we want to be powerful, we need to think deeply. Often in my life I think that I am the result of my family education and my society. But today I must know that all my being is determined by myself.

ii. Our though determine our action in circumstances

The answer that we give to the different circumstances of our life depend mostly of our thoughts. The author considers man like a garden. It is the master garden of his mind. The fruit coming from this garden is the result of taking care of it. To think well it is taking care of this garden and the fruit is good. But to deny or to refuse to think well gives the bad fruit. The circumstance not determine our thought, they reveal what we are. But it is our thought which gives the form to the circumstances because there are occasions to manifest how our thought is. Man becomes a rightful master of himself when he is able to lead his life in all circumstances. I have again efforts to make in order to dominate circumstances because I thought that they influence my live and that I am unable to fight against them.

iii. Our health and our body express our thought

There is relationship among our though and our body and heath. By thinking positively, our body fell good and we have a good health. We feel youthfulness and beauty. By thinking negatively, our “body sinks rapidly into disease and decay.” “Strong, pure, and happy thoughts build up the body in vigor and grace.” If we want to protect our body, to be in peace and in happiness we need to have positive thought. But if we have bad thought, we will destroy our body. Same the expression of our face is the reflection of our thought. I am finding the way of happiness with God, my neighbor and with myself. By now I know that this way depends of my choice illuminated by my thought. I must ameliorate the quality of my thought.

iv. Our thought orients our purpose

Our thought has a power in the accomplishment of our purpose. Bad thought conducts us to failure, unhappiness and loss. But good thought conducts us to succeed, happiness. We need to make efforts after efforts. Step by step we need to persevere, to go on. We must never be discouraged in case of failure. We need to try again if we want to realize our purpose. We must go far away of bad thought because they can cause our failure. I am called to find good skill to have a good thought. I must review my purpose and take good decisions.

v. Our achievements are fruits of our thought

All what we achieve and we fail are the results of our thought. Often we think that others are liable of what happen to us. Yet it is not the case. We must assume our acts. None will do for us what we are supposed to do. “A strong man cannot help a weaker unless that weaker is willing to be helped, and even the weak man must become strong of himself.” To succeed, it is necessary to think before acting. We need to make sacrifice if we want to achieve our goal because the success is the result of efforts and strong thinking with method. When I visit my pass I realize that I have my responsibility in my different failures.

vi. The necessary of good vision and good ideal

Who has a good vision and a noble ideal will realize them one day. It is necessary to have a dream, ideal and ambitions because who don’t dream can realize nothing. All things begin by the desire, the dream, the ambition, the projection. It is after that we can realize our dreams. A man who has dream can progress and lift up his challenges but weak man thinks that all what happens result of chance, luck and fortune. Yet all what happen are fruits of our efforts. Vision and ideal build our life. I am called to be ambitious and to take measure to realize my dream and my ideal.

vii. The necessary of serenity

James Allen advises us the serenity. It is the secret of big men. We need a training of serenity if we want to dominate of body and emotions. Thought help us to control our character to be serine and calm. Serenity is always positive for us. It help us to be wise and to go deeply in our thought. It is a power and gold. I saw that in our society, bigger men are prototype of serenity. To be a leader, I need to practice serenity.

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 the author tried to show us, the thought is capital in the human life. We cannot achieve our goals without thinking. The thought helps us to be better in our life and to face different challenges that we encounter in our daily life. Because of our thought we are not animal and not thing. That is why it is very important for us to act at the light of our thought. We cannot lead our neighbor as we dominate animals. We need to think deeply before acting. I am called to think deeply with method and I must help also my neighbor to think in all circumstances, to take pleasure of living by the light of positive thought.

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 problem is that some of us were never taught how to think in a way that will produce the effects we desire. Concentrated thinking is the great secret that separates the winners from the whiners.”

“The ignorance is one the most obstacle of our life. If we want to be better we must fight against ignorance. We need to learn skill which can help us to think deeply in other to go further. It is that way which can make us different of other and we can be winners.”

This “knowing” allows us to set bigger goals, dream bigger dreams and feel good about ourselves when that goal is attained.

It is always an advantage for us to think. Trough it we can set our goal. We can realize our dreams. We can surpass ourselves. We can shape our character. We can dominate circumstances. We can have a good heath and a good body. We can be happy and glad. We can reach the perfection. We can be a good leader. That is why it very important to think deeply and with method.

“Only by much searching and mining, are gold and diamonds obtained, and man can find every truth connected with his being, if he will dig deep into the mine of his soul; and that he is the maker of his character, the molder of his life, and the builder of his destiny.”

To achieve our objective, we need to work hard, to make effort without be tired. What we are, what we have depend absolutely of us. None else is responsibly of our life, of our choice. We are not allowed to accuse the destiny and external fact as sources of our disgrace. By our thought we make ourselves what we want.

“Good thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bad fruit.”

Our acts are fruits of our though. Good thought is in our advantage. It gives us to rejoice of salary of our realization. But bad thought damages our life. That is why we must always be positive in our life if we want to live in peace with ourselves and with our neighbor.

“Circumstance does not make the man; it reveals him to himself.”

We are not determined by circumstances and the power of the nature. What is external to us gives us to express ourselves. We have the potentiality by our thought to dominate circumstances and to be winners not whiners. There are not circumstances which shape us. It is us we give form and color that we want to circumstances in function of our thought.

“All that a person achieves and all that a person fails to achieve is the direct result thinking.”

To have a good achievement is to have a good thought. To have a bad achievement is to have a bad thought. We must control our thought before acting if we want to succeed.

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 agree with the author about the necessary of thought in all things that human being is called to do. But I disagree that all things depend absolutely of though. We have circumstances that are more difficult than our potentiality. The human being is also influenced by passions, sex drive and emotions. We are body and mind. The body has his need which are different of need of our mind. So we cannot only define man as a thought. To present man only as thought it is to be idealist and to forget that the reality is different of idea.

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?

This book contains exercises for the reader to complete. As a reader, I am called to make effort to start to orient all my live with deeply thoughts. What I have already do is not enough. I must find a good method to think better in order to have a good result in my achievement. I will try to be more serene and more calm. I shall try my best to illuminate all my act by a good thought.

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 would like to comment the relationship of body and mind. The author seems to be more positive about the power of thought. But I think that we cannot neglect to place of body in our act of thinking. Our body can be a limit to our pure and holy desire to find perfection through our mind. We are not only mind. We are not spirit. We are human being. In our nature we are weak. We want to fly, to go further but our body exerts to us the power of attraction. We must take it in consideration. We must not ignore also our spiritual life and make like that all depends always of us. Our will can be different to the will of God in our life. Our will can be good but our weakness of our body can prevent the realization of our desire.

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

A. How interesting was it to read? 9
B. How helpful were the contents? 9
C. How easy was it to understand? 10
D. Would you recommend it to others? 10
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 9.5

Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Assessment by Dourwe Bernard (Rwanda)

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

The main idea of Richard Bach in his book Jonathan Livingston Seagull is the invitation of his reader to try his best to do more than what others have the habit to do. A man most not only search in his live to live like others. He must find the perfection. To do it, he has in front on him a lot of challenges that he ought to succeed. One of this challenge it to go against the current and to try to surpass oneself.

i. The desire to don’t contempt of the habit

The first movement which characterizes the different experiences of Jonathan was the desire to do more than to eat. He wanted to fly. All things begin by the desire. With it, we can start a new experience. Often we say that “who want can”. In my life, most of thing that I do, have started with the desire to do them. For example, I have the desire to be a good leader that it why I find the occasion to attempt the Class of leadership.

ii. Take the risk to think and to do more than often

If we contempt us to do as every day and every one, we cannot go fare. It is also the experience of Jonathan. He took the risk to do something new. And because of it, he started a new experience that his group never did before. I have also initiated something new in my family and my different groups. For example, I created group online in social media to gather my classmates and my family.

iii. Accept the humiliation and the consequences of our choose

Because Jonathan started a new experience, he has been banished of the group. We thought that he would has been congratulate after the decision of the Assembly fortunately he has been ashamed and put out of the group. I experienced the humiliation after trying to bring something news in our society. Sometime jalousies of men had been obstacles to our achievement. But we must also go on without be discouraged.

iv. Find the best, perfection and excellence

The different experience of Jonathan can be summarized in this idea. He made all his efforts to find the perfection. He said “the most important thing in living was to reach out and touch perfection in that they most loved to do, and that was to fly”. To achieve that perfection, it is necessary to practice, to be guided. That is why Jonathan needed an instructor to discover his potentiality and to surpass his limits. When I see my life, I realize that I have many challenges to reach at the perfection. I hope that I will be able.

v. Find the freedom

The freedom is essential to achieve the purpose. The lack of freedom was the true obstacle of the flock of Jonathan. They were jailed in the custom and tradition. None society can progress without freedom. Without it, it is not possible to think and to do better. Jonathan exceeded when I took the decision to be free despite of the loneliness. “You have the freedom to be yourself, your true self, here and now, and nothing can stand in your way. It is the Law of the Great Gull, the Law that Is.” I realized the joy of be free. With freedom I am able to do what I want but it is still a challenge.

vi. Add the love in our perfection

Chiang, the instructor of Jonathan given to him the advice “keep working on love”. The perfection is not enough without love. We need to add love in all what we are doing. It is because Jonathan learned to love that he discovery his vocation of being instructor and he took the decision to return on earth, next to his relatives. We cannot not build our society if we are not full of love. It is the love which give us the motivation to be always more better and to do something for God and for our neighbor. I experimented that love is a power which give me to exceed myself and to be better.

vii. Try to share with others what we know and what we can

All our knowledge are not for ourselves only. After leaning of his instructor, Jonathan himself started to teach others. We must not be selfish. We must share with others the fruit of our experiences and discoveries. That was always the motivation of Jonathan. He wanted to share with others. “Every hour Jonathan was there at the side of each of his students, demonstrating, suggesting, pressuring, guiding”. The finality of my learning cannot be for myself only. I must do something for my neighbor. I experienced the joy of helping others to grow and to be better.

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 be very important for me in my personal life and in helping me to create a better world. Like the society of Jonathan, we use to be in a closed society. We take the habit to do always like others. But like Jonathan, I am called to come out of the custom and tradition because the development, the improvement need to do more than often. It is necessary to take some risk if we want to surpass ourselves. It is because Jonathan took the risk that he become the best of all. What the others think about us is not the most important. The most important will be for me to do what I really want to be. I must surpass myself to achieve my will. I must find the perfection in what I am supposed to do. “Perfection doesn’t have limits”. It must be my new challenge. By what I am learning, I am call also to share with other. I have the duty to contribute to the freedom of human being. I must bring something new in my society.

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.

“Most gulls don’t bother to learn more than the simplest facts of flight- how to get from shore to food and back again.”

This quote expresses the main characteristic of the majority of the society. Most of us are not making the effort to find more than to satisfy our primary needs as to eat, to drink, to reproduce. Yet we are calling to find the perfection.

“How much more there is now to living! Instead of our drab slogging forth and back to the fishing boats, there’s a reason to life! We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellences and intelligence and skill. We can be free! We can learn to fly!”

To do always the same thing is not enough. We have the potentiality to find what is better for our life. He ought to start a new experience which can help us to perform our being. We have never do enough. What is necessary it to try something new, to have a new reason to life. All the higher discovery all over the world had be initiated by those who wanted to go further.

“We choose our next world through what we learn in this one. Learn nothing, and the next world is the same as this one, all the same limitations and lead weights to overcome.”

Our future depends deeply of our daily chooses. We are what we want to be. If we make efforts we will be sure to change and to grow. But if we don’t make effort, we will still be like how we are now. The key of succeed is in our hand. No one will change us if we don’t agree. That is why we need to learn always by our own efforts.

“Heaven is not a place, and it is not a time. Heaven is being perfect.”

Often we have some idea of heaven. We think that it is a place of happiness and perfection where there is not suffering and that we are not able to reach there by ourselves. But the author taught us that Heaven is not a place but it is to be perfect. It means that it is a permanent finding of perfection. And perfection doesn’t have limits.

“You must begin by knowing that you have already arrived.”

This quote can be considered as a source of motivation to start. The most difficult in learning it is to start. So all thing begin by the thought. It is always necessary to have motivations before initiating a project and to be positive and decided.
“Till you can fly the past and the future. And then you will be ready to begin the most difficult, the most powerful, the most fun of all. You will be ready to fly up and know the meaning of kindness and of love.”

The perfection needs kindness and love. The perfection for itself is not enough. We need to add love and kindness. There are like power which give us to surpass ourselves and to go further. With them, we can take pleasure to learn more. Perfect without kindness and love can make us rigid and insensitive.

“If our friendship depends on thing like space and time, then when we finally overcome space and time, we’ve destroyed our own brotherhood.”

This quote is a big taught about friendship. Friendship cannot depends of time and space. Otherwise it is not a friendship. A friendship deals with eternity.

“Each of us is in truth an idea of the Great Gull, an unlimited idea of freedom.”

The main characteristic of freedom is to be unlimited. We are also unlimited that is why we can be perfect. We can always surpass ourselves. We must take freedom like most of the important value of our life if we want to be better. With freedom we can do what we want.

“You have the freedom to be yourself, your true self, here and now, and nothing can stand in your way.”

No one and nothing can be obstacles of our achievement if we are decided. All depends of us. We are calling to pass the tradition, the conformism to find the authenticity of our being. We must break the habit to try something new. To do it, it is to express our freedom.

“Don’t believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show is limitation. Look with your understanding, find out what you already know, and you’ll see the way to fly.”

Our senses are sources of mistake. We must pay attention to them. The true knowledge are not depending of them but of thought. It is thanks to it that we can achieve perfection.

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

The history of Jonathan manifests the conflict about traditionalists and progressives. Jonathan choose to be progressive and disobeys the law of Flock. Can we be encouraged to disobey the law of society because we want to achieve our dreams? Is it not necessary to take in consideration those we haven’t the will to progress? Can we form a society for those who are finding perfection? How can we live together with traditionalists and progressives? I think that it is necessary to conciliate the two parts. Our desire to learn must not break the social order. That is why it is good to be wise in order to bring something new without create disorder or conflicts.

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 exercises for the reader to complete. The author uses images of gull to express human reality. One of the exercises will be to adapt the language to our human reality. That is why we cannot take word by word. The most important is to have the different ideas that Richard Bach tried to express through the history of Jonathan Livingston Seagull. The subtitle of this book expresses it well: “To the real Jonathan Seagull, who lives within us all.”

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.

in his book, all things are like depending only of us. But according to me, there are some elements to take also in consideration, especially about the Heaven and the Faith. “Heaven is not a place, and it is not a time. Heaven is being perfect.” “Forget about faith.” These quotes seem to deny the place of God in the process of learn. We must make efforts to learn, it is true. But to deny the place of Heaven and of faith it is to try to be our own God. Yet we know that all societies are based to their beliefs.

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

A. How interesting was it to read? 8
B. How helpful were the contents? 8
C. How easy was it to understand? 8
D. Would you recommend it to others? 9
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 8

PsychoCybernetics
Assessment by Dourwe Bernard (Rwanda)

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

Dr Maxwell Maltz in his book Psycho-Cybernetics demonstrates the impact of our self-image in our life. According to him, a positive self-image makes us improve ourselves to succeed and a negative self-image doesn’t allow us to be better and makes us fail. Through many examples coming from his own experiences as physician and experiences of others colleagues he tries to convince us to have positive self-image if we want to succeed and to get more living out of life. He gives us a practical program for building a better life through principles of positive self-growth.

On his book, Dr Maxwell develops many ideas. Among them those one seems to be more important for me:

i. The self-image as a key to a better life

The self-image is the image that we have about ourselves. We can look us positively or negatively. What we think about us has influence in our attitude and personality and our behavior. When we accept our self-image we can be better but when we refuse or we are ashamed of us, it becomes difficult to us to improve ourselves. There is close relationship between our self-image and our personality and behavior. If we want to have a better life, we must change our self-image through positive thought and experiences. I realized already in my life. I experimented that I succeeded many challenges because I saw me able to succeed them.

ii. De-hypnotization of ourself from false beliefs

Experiences show that we are influenced by the manner that we consider ourselves in this world. Often we leave us take by the false considerations. We are hypnotized by external situation and by our ideas. Yet we are able to change our vision of the world. That is why Dr Max proposes us to get freedom about false images coming from our beliefs. It is what he calls de-shypnotization. To achieve it we need to make effort to free ourselves of false beliefs. These false beliefs have negative impacts in our live. They lead us to failure.

iii. The power of imagination

Our acts are influenced by our thought. Before we start to do something, at first we think about. Imagination has a power. It is a process of mental practice. We must have a clear mental image if we want to succeed. To have it means to have a good imagination. A good imagination influences our physic, our behavior and our attitudes. If we have positive imagination, we will be also positive in our life but if we have negative imagination we will fail in what we do. I experimented that most of my acts are the expression of my imagination.

iv. The power of rational thinking

According to Dr. Maxwell, rational thinking is the control knob by which you can tune out negative and inappropriate beliefs. By using rational thinking to challenge our false beliefs, we pull our automatic mechanism back on course. Our acts are determined by our thought. A rational thinking give us to face the different challenges that occurs in our life. We are like we think about ourselves. If someone thinks rationally and positively, he has chances to succeed and to solve difficulties which happen to him. A deeply and rational thinking are always an advantage for me. Trough it I have answer to my preoccupations and I solve them well.

v. Acquisition of habit of happiness

What all us are searching in the life is to be happy. Our happiness must not be only for some time. If we take our happiness as our goal, we can have opportunity to achieve it. We must ask ourselves at every time: what I want? What is my dream? What can I do to achieve my goal? My life has no sense without happiness. More I’m happy more I make experience of love and good relationship with my neighbor.

vi. Ingredients of success

The success is defined as “the satisfactory accomplishment of a goal sought for.” It always brings happiness to our life. To success is not the magical act. It results of our thought, our imagination. If we have a good mental picture of ourselves and the universe we can succeed by achieving our goal. Our successes no depend at first of our external consideration but they depend of the conception that we have about ourselves and about the reality. To achieve our goal, we need to have a SMART plan: Specific, Measurable, Action-oriented, Realistic, Time-conscious. There is not success without organization and without taking in consideration the reality. We need also to give challenges to ourselves. Our success or our failure depends of us. I realized that my different successes give me happiness yet my failure made me sad. So I need to acquire traits of success: Sense of direction, Understanding, Courage, Charity, Esteem, Self-Confidence and Self-Acceptance.

vii. The self-confidence growing

Our attitude, our behavior, our thought and our daily challenges are influenced by our self-confidence. With it, we can face all difficulties and obstacles that we encounter in our life. But without the self-confidence we cannot be able to change our negative self-image and the consequence will be the failure. With it we can always be on the road of the success. A leader is characterized by the self-confidence. We cannot help others to be self-confidence if we are not the first who practice it. That is why the CRAFT process can help us to grow in self-confidence: Cancel old, negative data that we have into our mind; Replace it with new, positive data, Affirm your new self-image, Focus on an image of success, Train yourself in your new attitudes and behavior. As we saw, positive thought brinks us to act positively and negative thought brinks us to act negatively. If I say myself that I can, and that I’m convince that I can, I will be able to succeed. But if I say that I cannot, even if I’m able I will fail. So growing in self-confidence it is growing in success. It is very necessary to challenge any negative habits and replace them with new, positive habits.

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 developed in this book help me to improve myself by taking in consideration the influence that I have of myself. If I want to be positive, happy, to succeed I must absolutely be positive in my thought. I ought to think deeply by using rational thinking, by dehypnotizing myself of false images that I have about me and the reality. I discovered with Dr. Maxwell that the key of my success and my happiness is inside my hand. I must justly learn how to use it well in order to achieve my goal. As a leader I must encourage and help others to change negative self-images, negatives thoughts to positive self-images and positives thoughts. It’s a challenge and we are able to face it and to succeed because we can, we have the potentiality.

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.

“I learned more from my failures than from my successes.”

Often, we see negatively our failures. Yet they are school of succeed. With them we learn more and they give us to have new experiences which can help us to avoid failing again.

“The building of an adequate self-image is something that should continue throughout a lifetime.”

For Maxwell, it is always a challenge to acquire a positive self-image. Until the end of our life, we need to improve ourselves. No one has done enough. That is why it is always necessary to consider our life as a school without end. The experience of every days have something to teach us.

“You must have a clear mental picture of the correct thing before you can do it successfully.”

Our capability of thinking makes us different of all elements of the nature. That is why we need to use our thought in everything. When we think before acting it leads us to the way of success. So it very important for us to think about all things if we want to achieve our goal.

“If you always do what you have done, you will always get what you have always got.”

There is not improvement without the desire and the decision to change. With the habit we cannot grow, we cannot bring something new. A leader is someone who takes the risk to bring changing, newness, new thing.

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?

In many point I agree with Dr. Maxwell but I’m not totally agreed about the surgeon method. According to me, it is not necessary to modify our body to have a good image. What we must do is to accept our self-image.

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?

This book contains exercises to complete. As the author said it is not enough to have knowledge or to read. The most important thing to do is to practice. It’s good to have information but is better to use this information. So, through exercise of meditation about the picture of ourselves, the mental picture, I took the occasion to enter in my own life, my soul in order to think deeply about myself, my situation in the world. After that I discovered that I have many challenges to achieve if I want to succeed and to fulfill my dreams. I really appreciated that exercise because often I’m in the world full of noises. But trough the experience of silence of the meditation, I could understand myself, feel myself and take some decision to improve myself in order to change bad elements concerning my self-picture and to build a new positive image of myself.

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 really like the method of Dr Maxwell to express his thought. He takes in consideration different experiences coming from his as physicians and from his colleagues. He takes also in consideration the spiritual aspects of our life. He is convinced that the human being is a composed being who is able to face his challenges and to succeed. He leads us on the road of happiness.

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

Keys to Success: The 17 principles of personal achievement.
Assessment by Dourwe Bernard (Rwanda)

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

Napoleon Hillsin his book Keys to Success gives to us the main principles that we need to succeed in our life. That principles are seventeen: Definition of purpose, Mastermind alliance, Attractive personality, Applied faith, Extra mile, Personal initiative, Positive Mental Attitude (PMA), Enthusiasm, Self-discipline, Accurate thought, Controlled attention, Teamwork, Learning from adversity and defeat, Creative vision, Sound health, Budgeting of time and money, and Using of Cosmic habit force. According to Napoleon Hills, all these seventeen principles putting together open us the way of success. They are essential principles that can spur our efforts, steel our dreams come true.

Among the seventeen principles developed by Hill, principles which represent the main ideas of his book, I have been personally marked by these seven ideas:

i. Definiteness of purpose

According to Hill, the definiteness of purpose must be our first task. Before starting something, a project, I ought to ask myself: what I want? Am I able to achieve my project? Do I have necessaries resources? How would I organize my work? Who can help me to achieve it? How many times I need? The answer of these questions are already the beginning of my success. Without a definiteness purpose, I cannot go fare. Success starts with the definiteness of purpose. I realized that when I have a definiteness purpose, I know where I am going and it becomes easy to me to evaluate what I have already done and what I need again to do.

ii. Positive Mental Attitude

The second main idea is to have a Positive Mental Attitude (PMA). It is the capability to be always positive in all circumstances. It allows us to face all challenges that we will encounter in our work or project. It gives us the necessary energy to go before. With PMA, we can say: Because I want, I’m able and I can. A positive mental attitude calls success. A negative mental attitude calls failure and defeat. There is not place of failure in my life. When I think today about my successes and my failure, I realize that the mental attitude that I had have influenced my result. Now I will make efforts to always have a PMA because I want to succeed in my life.

iii. Applied faith

Faith is among the most important principles of success. There is not success without faith. We need to trust on God, to trust to others and to trust on us. We are relationship’s beings. This relation is expressed by our faith. By the faith we take awareness that our life not depends only of us. We are the gift of God. It is Him who gives us all wealth. In my life, faith is as light. It gives me to follow the good way and to be attentive to the voice of God and to make the good choice in order to have a good decision. So I will increase my faith to be a winner.

iv. Attractive personality

The quality of my personality is very important if I want to succeed. A good personality attracts people next to us but a bad personality draws away people fare of us. So, if I want to succeed I must cultivate traits of a good personality: positive mental attitude, flexibility, humility, kindness, sincerity, tolerance, sense of humor, habit of smiling, versatility, emotional control, courtesy, etc. When I see my relationship, I discover that I like to be with people of good personality. This is mutual.

v. Self-discipline

With self-disciple, I’m called to take care of myself, my mind, my personality, my emotions, my thought, my body, my health, my time, my money, my relationship, my project, etc. It allows me to organize all my activities without mixing them and without confusion. All must be ordered, planned, organized. It is always an advantage for me to be disciplined. When I am in disorder, I cannot do something interesting.

vi. Mastermind alliance

I cannot succeed alone. I need a mastermind alliance composed by people who can help me to achieve my dream. With them, I must work in team because success does not come without the cooperation of others. I realized that I learned more when I shared ideas with someone. Now I am encouraged to build a mastermind alliance and to work with my partners.

vii. Going extra mile

There is not success without going extra mile. We always have a benefit when we go extra mile. It is the law of compensation. So it is our advantage to go extra mile because we gain favorable attention. Hills expresses well with the extra mile formula: Q1+Q2+MA= C (Q1 is the quality of service rendered; Q2 is the quantity of service rendered; MA is the mental attitude in which it is rendered; and C is our compassion). By going extra mile, we take initiative and we manifest our enthusiasm and determination. By going extra mile, I learn more than others and I build my personality, my sense of abnegation and sacrifice for the good of others. Now I am motivated to do more.

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?

After reading this book, I realize that I am increasing my personality. Now I have a new vision of the world, a vision of winners. I am calling to be always positive through positive mental attitude. I am calling to learning from my defeats, to form a mastermind alliance, to organize myself well by a good discipline of my time, my money, my personality, etc. I am calling to increase my faith to God and in what I do. All that are not only for myself but as a leader I must help people to search and to find the way of success because I cannot succeed alone. My success will depend of what I give to others. This is not regard only the present but also the next generation because I am calling to be a bridge builder of the present and the future generations.

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.

“Definiteness purpose is the starting point of all achievement.”

If we want to achieve our dream or our goal, we need at first to start to definite our purpose. We must know where we want to go and what we need to arrive to the destination.

“Only by finding your own burning desire will you achieve success.”

Success can be realize if only we have a burning desire. It is the burning desire which gives us to be enthusiasm, motivate, personal initiative, imagination, and going extra mile. With it, we can try and retry when we fail until that we succeed. With it, we can drive out the fear of failure and all negative mental attitudes.

“The faith is the essence of every great achievement.”

Everyone who wants to achieve his dream or to realize his goal ought to add the faith to his burning desire. They are going together and they allow us to fly far away.

“All plans, purposes, and achievements are created by thought.”

The thought is a power. More we think deeply, more we can realize our goal. All that we are depends absolutely of the quality of our thought. If we think positively, we will have also a positive mental attitude which allows us to achieve our dream. But if we think superficially, we cannot go far because we cannot have a good result.

“We all must become bridge builders not only for the present generation but for generations yet unborn.”

We must always know that we are inheritors all generations before us and we must leave to generations after us an inheritance. We must not think only about us but we must think about future generations. For instance, today we are benefactors of the thought of Hills Napoleon because he thought about generation after him. So we must not be selfish.

“If your habits are positive, the seeds that they plant will be too.”

Habits influence deeply our acts. A good habit produces a good result but a bad habit gives a bad result. Because habit becomes a part of our life, we must do our best to take the habit of positive mental attitude and the habit of good thought and we will have the habit of success.

“Whatever your mind can conceive and believe, your mind can achieve.”

All achievement starts by our thoughts. We must believe that we can realize what we thought and what we want. Without faith to ourself we cannot achieve our goal. We must be self-confident, optimist, enthusiast, determined, and deep thinker.

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?

Napoleon Hills used a clear, a simple and an understanding language. He took more examples of is personal experiences to make well understand his ideas. So for me all are clear.

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?

Hills on his book, Keys of success didn’t give expressly exercises. But he gives some recommendations to practice if we want to success. For example, to have a PMA he asked to read the lesson about PMA one a week for six months in order to get the habit of PMA. At the end of his book, he gives another exercise about the seventeen principles which consists to write the main point of our commitment about the seventeen principles that he developed. Through it we can evaluate what we have already done and what we have to do again.

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 really like the relationship that the Author established between the success, the faith, the personality, the mastermind and the body and mind health. All of them are going together. It means that our success is not only concerned with material or a financial. It is constituted together with social, spiritual, familial, material, economics etc. the wealth is good health, the feeling of welfare, the freedom face to fear and anxiety, peacefulness of the mind, exciting activity of our choice.

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

Success through a Positive Mental Attitude
Assessment by Dourwe Bernard (Rwanda)

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

The main idea that authors are trying to convey in the book is that through a positive mental attitude we can acquire good physical, mental and moral health, seek happiness, pursue wealth and reach for high goals or others objectives that do not violate the laws of God or the rights of their fellow men. With the right attitude, anyone can achieve his or her dreams. The fundamental ingredient for success is a positive mental attitude. Once you adopted it you will be able to achieve whatever you decide to.

i. How to motivate yourself

Success through A Positive Mental Attitude is truly a motivator book. After reading it, I got reason to be always positive and to look the World differently in order to act actively. To be motivated I must be always hopeful because “hope is the magic ingredient in motivating yourself and others” Said the Authors.

ii. How to motivate others

Through this book of Napoleon and Clement, I realized that motivation not concerns me only. I am called to be a motivator of others as they are my motivators. I must help them to have confidence in themselves by words, suggestions and examples. After reading this book I have motivated some people who had negative mental attitude and someone who was discouraged.

iii. The secret of getting things done

Before reading Success through A Positive Mental Attitude, I thought that the best will be in the future. But now I know that the best is today. I must not waste my time by thinking that I will do the best tomorrow because now is the time to act. I must have always in my mind the self-starter and self-motivator “Do it Now!” For this reason, I ought to start by having the habit to act in little things.

iv. Learn to see

This book aware me that the world and the reality are not only what appear to our senses. Our invisible sight is most considerable than our visible sight. That is why it is indispensable to learn to see. There is always an opportunity everywhere but all depend of our faculty to see that opportunity then to act well. According to the Authors “The ability to see is much more than the physical process of taking light rays through the retina of the eye. It is the skill of interpreting what you see and applying that interpretation to your life and the life of others.” To learn to see, I must open my mind. Now I pay more attention to what happen around me.

v. You can change your world

Napoleon Hill and Clement Stone call me to not be a spectator in the world but an actor. It’s not necessary to be rich or to get a lot of wealth before acting to change the world. A little smile, a kind word, a small gesture can change the world. So now it is the time for me to act by building a new world through Positive mental attitude. I took a pleasure to give joy to someone through small actions in discretion.

vi. Your magnificent obsession

By magnificent obsession, I’m called to do something for others. My talents, my qualities, my abilities are not only for myself. I must not be selfish. I ought to take care of others. Magnificent obsession must be for me as a burning desire which gives me power to do something for others by going extra mile without expecting a payment, a recompense, a reward or commendation. “The more you share, the more you will have’’. That which we share with others will multiply and that which we withhold will diminish. I realized in my live the joy of giving myself for the goodness of others.

vii. Attraction of happiness

The happiness a good without price. It is a treasure to search every day of my life through a Positive Mental Attitude. But the true happiness comes when I make others happy. So the key of happiness resides in the sharing with others. “For the more you share, the more you will have. And if you share happiness with others, happiness will grow richer within you. But if you share misery and unhappiness, you will attract misery and unhappiness to yourself”. Personally I experimented the happiness through the happiness that I gave to my neighbor.

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 book has helped me to increase my Positive Mental Attitude. Now I try always to look the World positively and with enthusiasm. What I considered as obstacle now are seen as an opportunity to challenge myself. When I was reading this book, I helped a young man (an Immigrant) who was discouraged because he searched the job without getting it. Two day after giving him some advices in order to increase his Positive Mental Attitude, he called me to say me that he got a Job. I realized the goodness of reading this book. Now I try to help others to always have a positive mental attitude because it is the key of success.

4. Quotes: Are there any statements which the author made that particularly got your attention? If so, please quote them and comment as to why they were important to you.
“Greatness comes to those who develop a burning desire to achieve high goals.”

It’s always important to develop a burning desire. It’s among mains keys of success. To become a great person, we need to have burning desire.

“PMA is the essential ingredient in all success.”

There are not success without PMA. It’s like the oil of motor. Without oil, the motor cannot work. So, if I want to succeed it’s necessary for me to always have Positive Mental Attitude.

“The starting point of all achievement is definiteness of purpose with PMA.”

The definiteness of Purpose is the first thing to do if I want to achieve my dream. I must ask myself what I want to do? What is necessary to achieve my wish? How can I process? Who can help me? What time do I need? That questions shall help me to plan my definiteness of purpose in order to achieve my dream or my will.

“What the mind of man can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve with PMA.”

This statement is a good self-motivator which push me to face obstacles that can appear in my life. By it I must always be hopeful. The veritable obstacle which can occur in my life will be myself. So it’s a call to always have a Positive Mental Attitude.

“You can do it if you believe you can!”

The faith to myself is very important if I want to succeed. It opens many doors and it gives me to go very far. It’s a good self-motivator.

“The secret of getting done is to act the self-starter Do It Now.”

The self-Starter Do It Now gives me to pass from the theory to the practice. Often I’m full of theory without acting because I postpone at tomorrow. But now today is the good time to start.

“A positive mental attitude attracts wealth and a negative mental attitude repels it.”

Our attitude has always consequences in our life. A positive mental attitude is for our advantage and a negative mental attitude is for our disadvantage. So the good choice is to always have a positive mental attitude.

“Where there is nothing to lose by trying and everything to gain if successful, by all means try. Do It Now.”

Often we refuse to take a risk yet I can be in our favor. By this statement, I see that, I must not hesitate to try when I’m confronted in front of situations which ask me to try.
“The more you share, the more have.”

The paradox of sharing is that more you share more you have. Our generosity is always recompensed. So to have more, I ought to give more and there is always joy to give than to receive.

“There is very little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative.”

The attitude makes us different in front of all situation. Those one who has a positive mental attitude in front of obstacle says that he can. But those one who has a negative mental attitude in front of the same obstacle says he cannot. That is the big difference.

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 totally agree with thoughts of Authors of this book. Success depends of our Positive Mental Attitude.

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?

This book contains many exercises. With the Pilot at the end of some chapters, The Authors ask some questions. There are especially a chapter (Chapter 20) on with there are exercises of evaluating our own Positive Mental Attitude. I really like it because it gives me to evaluate if I have a positive or a negative mental attitude. My result encourage me to go forward.

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.

At the end of reading the book Success Through A Positive Mental Attitude, I really appreciate the method used by Authors to develop their ideas. They used several examples to share their thoughts and at the end of each chapter, they summarize the main point developed in the chapter. This method help us to get motivation through examples of others.

Rating of the following questions on a scale from 1 to 10. Ten is good and one is poor.

A. How interesting was it to read? 9
B. How helpful were the contents? 9
C. How easy was it to understand? 9
D. Would you recommend it to others? 9
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 9

How to Win Friends and Influence People
Assessment by Dourwe Bernard (Rwanda)

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

Dale Carnegie, on his book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” gives advises for building a good relationship among people. By concretes examples, he said what people like and dislike, what we must do and avoid in our friendship and relationship if we want to have people in our side. He gives us ways to make people like us, ways to win people to our way of thinking, and ways to change people without arousing resentment.

i. Don’t criticize, condemn or complain.

Dale Carnegie realized that human being dislikes to be criticized, condemned and complained. It is not easy for us to recognize our own fault. Often we thing that we are right and others are wrong. It is the others who must change. So, according to Dale, to build a good relationship we must avoid to criticize, to condemn and to complain. That attitudes of criticizing, condemning and complaining destroy the image of the other. We are called to understand people instead of condemning them.

ii. Be genuinely interested in other people

According to Dale Carnegie, the fact of being interested to people more than to interest people about us is a good way to have them in our side. People feel good when they discover that we are interested about them, their experiences, their ideas, and their philosophy. They open quickly their heart to share their point of view and what they have preciously. So, to be genuinely interested in other people give us easy to obtain our purpose.

iii. Be a good listener

To become a good conversationalist we ought to become a good listener. A good leader ought to listen more than to speak. People like to be listened. We must be patient. We ought to give our time to our interlocutors by listening them carefully. We must ask to them questions that they will enjoy to answer. “Encourage them to talk about themselves and their accomplishments,” said Dale Carnegie.

iv. Avoid give orders

People dislike to receive orders. They fell harmed through orders. That is why Dale Carnegie proposes another way to ask a service. It is to offer suggestion or to ask a question more than to give direct orders. It will boost others’ confidence and allow them to learn quickly from their mistakes or to accomplish the service. “It encourages cooperation instead of rebellion” said Carnegie.

v. Praise others peoples

According to Dale Carnegie, people like to receive praise and admiration. They feel in confidence. They are motivated, excited and happy. With the praises, they can give more and they can challenge and improve their limits and failures. “Everybody likes a compliment,” said Lincoln.

vi. Recognize our own fault

A good way to be a good leader is to recognize our own fault when we want to correct someone. With it, the other person will easy understand and correct his error. It will understand that the way of perfection passes by the acceptance of our humanity. It is a good way to build a good relationship with our collaborators. It is a sign of humility and honesty. We are still in the way of perfection but not yet perfect.

vii. Give honest and sincere appreciation

A good way to have people in our side is to give honest and sincere appreciation without lying and hypocrisy. With honest and sincere appreciation, the other person gives his best to realize his mission. He felt confident, secure and encouraged. He can go to the extra mile. He can takes more initiatives, and give more suggestions.

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 shared by Dale Carnegie on this book are helpful for me in my daily life and to create a better world. Most of our relationships are marked by conflicts. Often we thought that we are powerful by giving orders, by domination, manipulations, and flatteries, criticizes, nagging, etc. But Dale Carnegie proposes us a new way of thinking and building our relationship. He invites me to be honest, sincere, lovely, humble, courteous, respectful, and comprehensive in my relationship. These traits are helpful to build a new world where we feel all together as brethren and friends without conflicts and dominations. A peaceful world must be built in friendship. We need to be patient to change mentality but it is possible to succeed.

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.

“A great man shows his greatness”, said Carlyle, “by the way he treats little men.”

Our greatness is expressed through the way we treat little men. It is a call to be humble. We are not great because of our critics, our condemnation or our complaining but we are great according to our humility, our patient, our kindness. I’m called to always have respect with my collaborators.

“You can make more friends in two months by being interested in them, than in two years by making them interested in you.”

The fact to be interested to people is an easy way to have them in our side. By being interested to people they will give us their time and open to us their heart easily without be afraid. I realized in my own experience that the way of being interested by people creates a feeling of security and confidence.

“The desire for a feeling of importance is one of the chief distinguishing differences between mankind and the animals.”

People like to feel important. We must show to our collaborators, relatives, and friends that they are important for us. We must do to them what we want that they do to us and they will love us more. I experienced that when I’m somewhere without having something to do I feel inutility but when I have a service to accomplish I feel valorized and important.

“The only way on earth to influence other people is to talk about what they want and show them how to get it.”

According to Dale Carnegie, we can only influence people by being interested to them, to their needs and by giving to them the ways to obtain what they want. The leader is not working for his own interest but for the interest of others. Through his devotion and his sacrifice for others he has an influence in them. To become genuinely interested in other people make us a good leader.

“Your smile is a messenger of your good will. Your smile brightens the lives of all who see it.”

The smile is a good way to enter in relationship with someone. People are marked by our smile. A smile gives confident and security to people who come to us. It is a sign of our kindness, and happiness. He helps us to face difficulties and to take the life with a positive mental attitude. It breaks walls of division and conflicts.

“A drop of honey catches more flies than a gallon of gall.”

The friendship bring to us many advantages. When we convince a person that we are searching his welfare through our kindness, it becomes very easy for him to cooperate with us. So he will help us to achieve our goal. We must always be kind, sympathetic and sincere by beginning in a friendly way. People like to be appreciative but dislike to be criticized. We love more people who say us what we want to understand.

“Rudeness is the cancer that devours love.”
If we want to build a good relationship with our partners, we must avoid rudeness. We must always be patient, courteous, and understandable. The love is based in tolerance, sacrifice and abnegation. It is a secret of success in love. Often rudeness is like a gate which blocks our access to the other.

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 agree with the author of this book. But I realize that some principles are not always easy to practice. It is easy for example to criticize, to give orders, to condemn, to interest people to us, to speak more than to listen. So it is for me a challenge to fulfill.

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 didn’t contain explicitly exercises for the reader to complete. But at the end of the book, Dale Carnegie gave a questionnaire of ten questions for men and ten questions for women coming from an article of Emmet Crozier “Why Marriages go wrong,” published on June, 1933 in the American Magazine.

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 really appreciate the way Dale Carnegie used to express his ideas. He used many examples and at the end of each item, he gave the principle and at the end of each part he made a summary of the different principles. It allow us the easily remember the principle.

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

A. How interesting was it to read? 9
B. How helpful were the contents? 9
C. How easy was it to understand? 8
D. Would you recommend it to others? 10
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 9

Awaken the Giant Within
Assessment by Dourwe Bernard (Rwanda)

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

In his book Awaken the Giant Within, Anthony Robbins gives keys of empowerment. He gives skills to take immediate control of our mental, emotional, physical and financial destiny, to awake and to use the unlimited power that lies sleeping within us all. To give us a key in positive change of our life. Anthony said “I’ve written this book to challenge you to awaken the giant power of decision and to claim the birthright of unlimited power, radiant vitality, and joyous passion that is yours!” He added “I wrote this book to be an action guide- a textbook for increasing the quality of your life and the amount of enjoyment that you can pull from it.”

i. Decisions: the pathway to power

Anthony taught us the power of decision in changing our world, our habits, our feelings, our values, our identity, our rules, our life, our beliefs, etc. our decisions shape our destiny, our being and our actions. “If you truly decide to you can almost anything” “Know that it’s your decisions, and not your conditions, that determine your destiny” said Anthony. It’s through the decisions taken that we can succeed in our life. We must stay committed to our decisions. During the reading of this book, I make an experience of taking decisions. With the pandemic of Covid, I took more weight than often. I used to say that I didn’t have time for the sport. But when I decided to reduce my weight after taking the decision one month I lost 4 kg. So decision is a power.

ii. The force that shapes our life (pain and pleasure)

All our life is shaped by the fear of pain and the desire of pleasure. We avoid things which can cause us fear and we search for things which can give us pleasure. According to Robbins “The secret of success is learning how to use pain and pleasure instead of having pain and pleasure use you. If you do that, you’re in control of your life. If you don’t, life controls you”. I experienced that most of the time I want to be in my comfort zone by avoiding all that can cause me pain. Yet the secret of success is to have the master of my life like that pain and pleasure are under my control.

iii. The power of questions

Questions are essentials in our life. They help us to be situated in the world. They determine our thoughts, everything we do, from our abilities to our relationship. “If we want to change the quality of our lives, we should change our habitual questions” said Robbins. We should ask quality questions if we want a quality life. I experienced that my relationships are influenced by the way I ask questions to my interlocutors. To ask myself existential questions help me to make good choices.

iv. The power of beliefs

All our choices are determined by our beliefs. We are led by true and false beliefs. We ought to deeply think about them. According to Anthony “Our beliefs are like unquestioned commands, telling us how things are, what’s possible and what’s impossible, what we can and cannot do. They shape every action, every thought, and every feeling that we experience.” If we want to change our life, we need to have core and empowering beliefs. I personally realized that my daily life is determined by my beliefs, most of my choices are oriented by my faith and the beliefs received in my family and my society. Today with the critical thought I try to discern what is true and what is false. There are some beliefs without answers. One of my new challenges will be to select the good beliefs to shape my opinion and my life philosophy.

v. The emotional mastery

We are masters of our emotions. We can control them because we are the source of our emotions. “You can feel any way you choose at any moment in time” said Robbins. We are influenced by action signals and emotions of power. We should master our emotions if we want to master our destiny. Thanks to the lecturing of Robbins, now I pay more attention to my emotions. I’m in the good way of mastering my emotions.

vi. Identity: the key to expansion

The consideration of our identity determines our relationship and the acceptance of ourselves. We shape our destiny according to how we consider ourselves. “Who am I?” Is a fundamental question we should ask to know our identity. “If we decide to think, feel, and act as the kind of person we want to be, we will become that person. We won’t just be behaving “like” that person; we will be that person.” said Anthony. So it is very important to us to determine ourselves what we want to be and to take decisions to be what we want. I’m what I want. My choices, my destiny, my dreams, my struggles, my personality are the result of myself. Today I cannot accuse someone of being responsible for my identity.

vii. Life values

Our daily choices and our struggles are determined by our life values. According to Robbins “Values guide our every decision and, therefore, our destiny/” The knowledge of our true values helps us to avoid pain. Through the assignment proposed by Robbins, I realized that my choices and my consideration of human beings are influenced by the value of human dignity.

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 shared by Anthony Robbins are more useful in my daily personal life and they help me to create a better world. It helps to take action, to have strong beliefs, to master our emotion, time, decision, values, money, mental, thought. He gives me a new way to see things and life. To be a man of action. To be a good leader.

With the lesson learned now I can have a good idea of people beliefs, people values, people rules, people references, people vocabulary, people identities, etc. I can lead people with more experiences shared by Anthony. “There are ideas and strategies in this book to help you produce specific, measurable, long-lasting changes in yourself an others,” said Anthony Robbins.

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.

“We all have a sleeping giant within us. Each of us has a talent, a gift, our own bit of genius just waiting to be tapped.”

Often we think that some people are luckier than another because of their wealth, talents, knowledge, abilities, social condition, etc. According to Anthony, all of us have a talent, a gift, a wealth. We need only to explore and to exploit them. This book is a good help to achieve our dreams by awakening the giant within us.

“In life, lots of people know what to do, but few people actually do what they know. Knowing is not enough! You must take action.”

The most important thing in our life is not our knowledge, our thoughts, our words. The most important thing is our action. We ought to take action. Our actions make us different from each other. The leader is someone who takes action to build a new world.

“Know that it’s your decisions, and not your conditions, that determine your destiny.”

Our destiny is not the fruit of the hazard. Our destiny is in our hand. We are the builder of our destiny through the decisions we take, through the choices we make. We are responsible for what we are.

“The most powerful way to shape our lives is to get ourselves to take action.”

We cannot change our life only with good words, good intentions, good desires, and good thoughts. To change and to shape our lives we ought to be men and women of action. It’s by effort that we become what we want.

“Success truly is the result of good judgment. Good judgment is the result of experience, and experience is often the result of bad judgment.”

Success comes from a lot of positives and negatives experiences we made. There is no success without failure experiences. Success is not a gift without experiences. It is the end of experiences through trying and failure. So we need to be always positive in case of failure. It’s not on one day that the world has been made.

“Questions determine everything you do in life, from your abilities to your relationships to your income.”

Questions are very important in our life. They help us to be situated inside the world. They give us a key of answer to our preoccupation, our interrogations, our experiences, our doubts, our feelings, our wishes, etc. That is why we also ought to ask questions to ourselves and to others.

“You can feel any way you choose at any moment in time.”

Our feelings depend on us. We are not conditioned by our environment or by others. They are states of our mind. We have the power of controlling them.

“Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible- the foundation for all success in life.”

To have a definite goal is the beginning of success. We need to have a plan, a schedule, if we want to achieve our dreams, and purpose. In the way of success, a good methodology is indispensable.

“You have the power right now to control how you think, how you feel, and what you do.”

Our thoughts, our feelings, and our actions depend on us. The key to realize them according to our wish is in our hand. It is not another person who can change us without our agreement. We are the master of our life. We ought to take the decision and to take action in order to build our personality and to realize our dreams according to what we want ourselves.

“All behaviors can be changed by changing beliefs, values, rules, and identity.”

There are no unchangeable behaviors. There are no situations which condemn us forever. There is no irrevocable destiny. We always have choices to make in our life. Every day is a new beginning. We can shape our life according to what we want and desire. We are the master of our beliefs, values, rules, and identity. We are the result of what we want to be. If we want to be happy and successful the key to happiness and success is within us. So let’s assume our life according to our choice and our decision.

“Even small decisions and small actions, consistently made, have far- reaching consequences.”
There are not negligible decisions and actions. We must always be aware of our daily life. The change that we want starts with small decisions and small actions. We need to be patient and consistent when we want to achieve our purpose. We always ought to have the focus on what we truly want in our 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?

This book is easily understandable. I totally agree with 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?

The book Awaken The Giant Within contains many exercises for the reader to complete. I completed some of them. They are helpful. The author through his book wants to involve the reader. The changing of our life that Anthony proposes to us needs our participation through the completion of different assignments he gave. There are exercises about pain and pleasure, empowering beliefs and disempowering beliefs, sub-modalities, feeling good, vocabulary used, impact of metaphors in our life, description of our feeling in the past, the present and the future, our life values, our emotions, our relationship, etc. They help me to make new decisions, to evaluate my life, to meditate about my existence, to make introspection, to change my way of thinking and to change my life.

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 liked the method used by Anthony to express his ideas. He uses many of his own life experiences as a coach, a father, an entrepreneur, a philanthropist to motivate his reader. By it he proves that acts speak louder than words. Reading the book through this method becomes enjoyable. He involves his reader to be active in the reading.

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

Maximum Achievement
Assessment by Dourwe Bernard (Rwanda)

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

In his book Maximum Achievement, Brian Tracy gives us strategies and skills that will unlock our hidden powers to succeed and happiness. Through several principles and life’s experiences, he gives us ideas, methods and techniques to feel happier, healthier, and more self-confident to be more positive, more focused, and more able to achieve our goals. “This book will show you how to improve your life, achieve your goals and realize your full potential for success and happiness,” said Brian Tracy.

i. The law of control

We feel positive about ourselves to the degree to which we feel we are in control of our life. How we think about our situation determines our feelings and our feelings determine our behavior.
The law of cause and effect: for every effect in our life there is a specific cause.
The law of belief: whatever we believe, with feeling becomes our reality.
The law of expectations: whatever we expect with confidence becomes our self-fulfilling prophecy.
The law of attraction: we invariably attract into our life people and situations in harmony with our dominant thoughts.
The law of correspondence: our outer world is a reflection of our inner world.
The law of mental equivalency: our thoughts, vividly imagined and repeated, charged with emotion, become our reality.
Those seven laws of mental mastery are very important for me because they open my mind to have a better understanding of my being and my relationships. They are keys to change my world and to involve myself more to build a new world where I’m more committed. I experienced that all of them go together. More I’m involved in them, the more positive I become.

ii. Ingredients of success

Brian in his book gives seven ingredients of success:
Peace of mind: the highest human good
Health and energy: normal and natural physical state
Loving relationship: relationships with the people we love and care about, and the people who love and care about us.
Financial freedom: to have enough money so that we don’t worry about it continually, as most people do.
Worthy goals and ideas: to be truly happy, we need a clear sense of direction.
Self-knowledge and self-awareness: inner happiness and outer achievement.
and Personal fulfillment: a feeling that we are becoming everything that we are capable of becoming.

Those seven ingredients of success are what I try to find in my daily life. With the development of Brian, I have more motivations and elements to prosecute and to realize my goals and to be happy.

iii. The goal-setting

There is no success without definite goals. Success and great achievement start with the burning desire. It allows us to rise above our fears and move forward over any obstacle. The good way to fulfill and to achieve our goal is to write it. “The more often you write your goals, the more rapidly they materialize.” “Goals that are not in writing are not goals at all. They are merely wishes and fantasies,” said Brian. Now I know more the importance of goal-setting in my way of success. By writing my goals I’m more committed and my ideas are more focused to my goals since the time I started to write them.

iv. Impact of emotions

Our emotions impact our life. Positive emotions make us happy, healthy, prosper, optimist, self-confident, self-reliant, self-controlled, free, responsible. But negative emotions make us unhappy, ill, frustrated, angry, jealous, pessimist, defeatist, aimless, fearful, unsure, and irresponsible. Our decisions and subsequent actions are based on emotion. Now I make all my efforts to have only positive emotions and to control and fight against negative emotions which are robbers’ emotions. I experienced the power of controlled emotions and I agree that negative emotions destroy my life while positive emotions make me happy and free.

v. Mastering of our relationships

We live in society. We are essentially relationship beings. We always need to improve our relations with our relatives, friends, colleagues, mates, etc. That is why mastering our relationships becomes a key to build a better world around us. Brian gives us skills and techniques to improve relationships with the world around. In our relationship we ought to learn to speak, to appreciate, to praise, to be agreeable, to admire, to accept, to forgive, to love. In my life, I realized that the more I give myself for others, the more I receive what I give. The quality of my relationships depend on the efforts I made.

vi. The power of forgiveness

All of us, we have been harmed in our life and in our own love. We have been hurt consciously or unconsciously since our childhood by our parents, relatives or friends. Our emotions have been robbed by fears, frustrations, anger, etc. Forgiving is the key to restart, to leave behind us all negative experiences and emotions which can be obstacles to our happiness. It is the key to freedom and happiness in our relationships.
I experienced that the more I forgive, the more I’m free and happy. I can express myself and go forward. But when I refuse to forgive it is me who feel angry and I develop negative emotions. I become unhappy. I start to complain, to criticize, and to condemn. So the way of my free and happy life passes by forgiveness.

vii. The power of love
All our life is led by love. “Much of what you do is done either to get love or to compensate for back of love, beginning in early childhood. The emotion of love exerts an enormous influence on your every choice and decision” said Brian Tracy. Our vocation is to love. Our dreams, goals, fights have no sense without love. Love can make impossible things become a reality. It can help us to achieve our goals and to be happy. Brian says “As you become more positive, optimistic and loving, you will naturally attract into your life more positive, optimistic and loving people.” So to love is always in our advantage. When I put love in what I do I’m more inspired and motivated. When I love someone I make more sacrifices for him or her with joy.

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 and lessons shared by Brian Tracy are very helpful for my daily personal life and in helping me to create a better world. Brian said “I know that when you begin practicing these principles in your life, you will experience successes you may never have dreamed possible before, and the more you use these ideas, the better they will work for you. Your future will become limited by your imagination.” He brought me new light to my life. He gave me new skills to build a better world of love, positivity, forgiveness, and success by achieving different goals of life.

As a leader, Brian helps me to have a better understanding of laws which lead our nature, our relationships, and human beings. With those principles, I have more tools to help people who need my assistance. By unlocking my life in the way of success and happiness, I shall be able to help my neighbor to unlock his/her own life for success and happiness. By being always positive I shall contaminate my neighbor with positivity.

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.

“If you do the right things in the right way, you’ll get the results you desire.”

The realization of our goals depends on the righteousness of our choices and actions. The right choices and right actions lead us to success. But wrong choices and wrong actions conduct us to failure. So the key of our successes or failures are in our hands.

“All great achievement begins with your deciding what it is you really want and then dedicating yourself wholeheartedly to attaining it.”

It is by our decision that we can change our life and realize our dreams and goals. We cannot succeed without our own commitment. What we want to be is only possible with our involvement. We are what we want.

“Everything that happens to you, everything you become and accomplish is determined by the way you think, by the way you use your mind.”
Our life is the result of our thoughts. If we think positively, we will live in happiness. If we think negatively we will live in unhappiness. Our outer world is the reflection of our inner world. Our actions are the result of our thoughts. So if we want a better world we ought to think deeply and positively and change our way of thinking.

“Every attitude, behavior, value, opinion, belief, and fear you have today has been learned.”

We are not predestined beings. What we are today is the result of our environments, society, and education. So we can change our way to life, our beliefs, our attitudes, our values, our behaviors. As they have been learned they can also be unlearned in order to learn a new way of living. It isn’t late for us to have a new beginning and to restart our life according to our dreams and goals.

“It is how you see yourself, how you talk about yourself and how you act now, in the present, that is creating your future.”

Our future is the result or the continuity of our present. We cannot have a future differently of our present if we still live, think, and act like now. If we want to have a better future, now is the time to have better thoughts and actions. Our present builds our future. Tomorrow is the continuity of today like today is the result of yesterday.

“If you want to be successful and happy, just make sure that your every thought and action are taking you in that direction.”

The secret of happiness and success is to always have the focus on what you truly want. All our thoughts, our actions, our behaviors, our attitudes, our hobbies, our beliefs must be oriented to the achievement of our dreams and goals. There is no time to waste with things, thoughts and actions which divert us from happiness and success.

“Love is the beginning and the end. Your purpose in life is to become a totally loving person.”

All our life consists of love and being loved. Our family, our mates, our friends, our colleagues, our collaborators are the subject and the object of our love. It is by loving others that we can receive love. Without love we cannot be happy. Without love we cannot achieve our goals and success. We have been created by love and to love. Everything will pass but the love will never pass.

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 really appreciate the different ideas developed by Brian Tracy. I understood his book very well and I agree with him. I write clearly and explain well his ideas.

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?

In his book Maximum Achievement, Brian Tracy gives many exercises, especially at the end of each chapter in order to unlock the great untapped reserves of potential that lie deep within us. I completed most of them and I found them more helpful. They help me to think deeply about my life, to make introspection, to ask myself about the sense of my life, my different goals, my injures, my emotions, my relationships with my relatives, my friends, my mates, my colleagues, to take more commitments in order to ameliorate positively my life and my relationship.

7. Was there anything you read in the book that you would like to comment on that was not covered in the previous questions? If so, please comment.

I don’t have something else to add which was not covered in the previous questions.

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

Creating Your Path Through Leadership
Assessment by Dourwe Bernard (Rwanda)

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

The Book Creating Your Path through Leadership, is a collection of articles written by graduates and board members of International Institute of Global Leadership. They share their experience as students of IIGL about the importance of leadership in their personal life and in their involvement in world transformation. The aim of this book is to motivate us to be good leaders involved in our community. This book gives basic elements to understand the role and purpose of leadership.

i. Beyond dreams and wishes: moving beyond goals to destiny.

Success starts with dreams and wishes but they are not enough for leaders who want to realize their goals and destiny. In fact, leaders are men and women of action. Good will without concrete signs is a pious dream without effect and impact on society. So if we want to transform our world we need to go beyond dreams and wishes. Even if we cannot realize all our wishes, it is always good to start and to make all our best to achieve our goal as possible. That idea shared by Hattie Opondo is very important for me because it is a call to me to be a man of action not only a man of words or a dreamer. It is day after day, step by step that I shall move beyond my destiny and transform my community. We are more appreciated by our act not by our words.

ii. Discovering your leadership potential

According to Noeline Kirabo, “Discovering your leadership potential is a journey, not a one time discovery. It is something you keep working on and unveiling with time”. It means that leadership is a journey without end and every day is a new occasion to learn, to discover, to grow, to develop our leadership potential. The path I took to be a leader will bring me in the unknown path. I must always be opened to learn something new to develop myself and to give to the world. I must “adopt the culture of lifelong learning” to be a leader who responds to the need of humanity because there are always new challenges which need new answers to save our world.

iii. Conscious decision making: a key to success

Among the multitude keys of success, a conscious decision making helps to be involved deeply in what we do and to have control of our life and of our acts. It makes us different from ordinary human beings of our society. It gives us to be responsible for our destiny. “If, instead, we make conscious decisions, we take charge of our destiny and our success is assured” said Osayi Ujumwa Lynda. Because I make conscious decisions, I assume my life and my choices. I’m the master of my life and I know where I’m going. I cannot accuse, condemn, and criticize another person to be responsible for my happiness or my unhappiness.

iv. Self-awareness: the key to leadership

A leader is someone responsible. He/she is characterized by self-awareness. He/she knows what he/she is searching and wants and he/she gives himself/herself means to achieve his/her dreams. He/she always makes it possible to succeed, to be happy, to be positive, and to be realistic. He/she has a focus on his/her dreams. He/she is self-confident, self-aware. He/she has self-control, self-esteem. I personally realized many transformations in my daily life thanks to lessons learned at IIGL. I become more positive, more optimistic, happier with the focus on my life purpose. Leadership gives me the key to change my life and the life of others.

v. Volunteering: a key to leadership

By becoming a leader, our life not only belongs to us. Through leadership we are involved in the transformation of the world. To transform our world asks us to give our time, our potential, our resources, our energies for the wellbeing of our neighbor. For this reason, a good leader is a volunteer who gives himself/herself for his/her community freely. His/her happiness is not what he/she gains but it is what he/she gives for the development and the positive change of his/her society and all people who benefit his/her service. “Leadership is all about planting a tree under whose shade we may never sit” said Ayoade Anthony. I understand this idea well in my own life. I consecrate myself to serve God through my neighbor without waiting for something as reward. My joy is to see others happy. It is a life sacrifice without price.

vi. See your life otherwise: things do not necessarily have to be like this

Often we don’t think deeply about our life condition. We search security in our relationships and our occupations. We think that we are more secure by having a job of others. But through the experiences of some people like Aloys Hakizimana who shared his life experience related to his job, I realized that a leader is a person who can create an opportunity everywhere. What is necessary is to be optimistic and to have opened-eyes. A leadership must not be defeated by failure. Failure is the way to success. The leader is able to transform the desperate situation to hope. That is why Aloys Hakizimana said “Things do not have to necessarily be as they are or as people think they have to be, as the condition allows the mind to think otherwise”. So by my thought I can transform my personal life and my community to a likeable and peaceful island. I have the power and the potential to change. My destiny is shaped by myself. It isn’t a result of chance but the result of hard work.

vii. Winning with words: the power of effective communication
Our relationships are built through communication. Good communication shapes a good relationship but bad communication destroys relationships. That is why the good use of words can help to win our relationship and to fulfill our purpose by creating a good and likeable harmony in our environment and in our world. Effective communication is a good help for that purpose. “Effective communication teaches us to show positive body language, consider the opinions of others, be confident in our ideas, think before we speak, and listen while a person is talking” said Ethelbert Obina Umeh. Through good communication, I have solved many conflicts. I know and experience that people like to listen to good words and I too I’m hurt when someone says bad words. So I always ought to think deeply before using a word to win my world and to transform my community. Words have power.

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 different ideas shared in the Edited IIGL Book, Creating Your Path Through Leadership, are very important for me in my daily personal life and in helping me to create a better world. Because I am interested in the lessons of leadership for my personal development, the experiences realized by my predecessors in the International Institute of Global Leadership are like a guide and light in my path to become a good leader. Because they did and they succeeded it is also possible for me to do and to succeed. Their experiences are a motivator for me to be a positive, a success, and happy man. They challenged many obstacles to realize their dreams. It is for me a challenge too.
Most of the graduated students of IIGL dedicate their life for the welfare of their neighbors, people who are in need and their community. It’s a call for me to consecrate my life for the welfare of my neighbor. It’s a call to have compassion for humanity and to be involved to transform my society and community. To be a leader is to be involved in the different issues of the society. Their examples and commitments to transform the world is a lesson to the leader that I want to be.

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.

“One book can change a mind; one mind can change the world.”

That statement shows the importance and the impact of reading in our personal life development and in the changing of the world. Through reading we can transform our life from a negative mental attitude to the positive mental attitude. That transformation will have the influence in our relationships. By this we will transform our environment and the world will benefit the result of our knowledge.

“Leaders are lifelong learners.” By: Noeline Kirabo
If we want to be leaders, we ought to always work, read, and make efforts to transform our life. With the leadership there is not an ending point. We are still life’s students. We must be humble, patient, curious, and perseverant in that path of leadership.

“A leader without values is a leader without morals.” By: Noeline Kirabo

Leadership in not a simple theory. It concerns a life transformation in positivity. It’s a life of convictions and values. Those values appear through our virtuous life and our daily choices of doing what is good and rejecting what is bad. A leader is a virtuous man or woman.

“To be the best in any field, you must learn from the best.” By: Ethelbert Obinna Umeh

It is always important to learn for others if we want to go ahead. Experiences realized by our predecessors can be a good diving board to jump further. To be a good leader, we need to land on the shoulders of giants.

“You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.” By: Eric Omari
The road to success is strewn with pitfalls. If we pay attention to all pitfalls we will waste a lot of our time on what is not necessary and at the end up diverting from our goal. To succeed and to achieve our goal we must focus only on what is necessary.

“You have within yourself all that is required to become the person you want to become. The choice is yours.” By: Solomon O’Chucks Nwokoro

We are responsible for what we are. We have the potential to achieve our dreams. All depends on us. If we want we can. No one other than us is responsible for our life choices. The key to achieve our dreams and goals is in our hands. We just ought to use it rightly.

“Setting a goal is not the main thing: it is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan.”

It is a good thing to set a goal but it isn’t enough. Setting a goal without taking a decision to realize it, is a dead letter. Setting a goal is the beginning of success but success is the end of a long process. It’s not enough to have will, we must act to realize our plan.

“We become a leader when we volunteer to show people that we care by our words and actions. We become a leader when we begin to sow without expecting the harvest. We become a leader by helping those who cannot repay us.” By: Ayoade Anthony

A leader is not working for himself. His satisfaction is to see others happy and realized. He is someone who gives his life for the wellbeing of others for free without waiting for a reward. He is someone sacrificed for a better world where all people feel like brothers and sisters.

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

The book is easily understandable. Ideas are clearly expressed with concrete examples and experiences of students and graduates of IIGL. It’s a good empowering book for all people interested in leadership.

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 doesn’t contain exercises for the reader to complete. It’s a sharing of different experiences of IIGL’s graduates and board members.

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.

There is nothing particular to add. I agree with the different authors of this book of IIGL.

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

Goals Setting 101. How to set and achieve a goal. By Gary Ryan Blair
Assessment by Dourwe Bernard (Rwanda)

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

Gary Ryan Blair in his book Goals Setting 101 gives keys and advice to set and achieve goals. He said “My purpose in writing this book was to put the cookies of understanding on the lower shelf, within reach of anyone at any age. This book is about achieving your goals, and we’re starting on the bunny ill.” So he offers to his reader goal setting methods to have a good way of thinking, planning, executing, managing, and celebrating our way to success.

The seven ideas which were personally most important for me

i. Know why Goal Setting is important

It is fundamental to know the importance of goal setting. It is impossible to succeed without goal setting. It has many advantages. It helps us to establish direction for our life, to identify results, to challenge us to grow, to improve our self-image, to give us confidence, to be specific. “It is the first positive, obvious step to success” said Gary Ryan.

In my own life, I realized that my successes are the result of good planning, organization, management of my time and resources. These ideas will help me to always take time to set my goals and to do my possible to realize them methodically.

ii. Make everything count

In our way of success, we ought to take all aspects of life in consideration. The success is the result of many things put together: thoughts, decisions, actions, time, relationships, sacrifices, commitments and opportunities.

Often I’m tempted to minimize any things. Yet in the way of success everything counts. It is a call to take in consideration everything because the success is the result of small things put together.

iii. Write down your goals.

It is very important to write down our goals. They gain credibility and clout when they are written. We can evaluate them, adjust them. They are like the compass which gives us orientation in our way of success.
I thought that it is enough to have my goals in my head and my heart. But today I see well the importance of writing goals. I always have efforts to make in order of giving importance and sense to my goals.

iv. Use SWOT analysis

In my journey of success, it is necessary for me to always take in consideration SWOT: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. All of them are good help to succeed. Knowing them can determine my thoughts and actions to set and realize my goals.
The knowledge of SWOT is indispensable for me. My strengths allow me to realize my objective. My weaknesses are challenges to improve. There are always opportunities around me. I ought to open my eyes to see them. And I always want to avoid threats. My success will depend on the combination of all those elements.

v. Focus! Focus! Focus!

In our journey of success, there are many things which can disturb us. That is why it is very important to always focus on the realization of our goals and life purpose. “Never stop thinking about your goal! A decision to achieve a goal is never made just once, it happens continuously.”

Often I left myself disturbed by what is not important then I fail in my way of success. To always focus on my goal, is a good help, a self-motivator to involve myself deeply in the way of success.

vi. Learn to manage fear and failure

The way of success is not without obstacles and difficulties. There are many things which can discourage us and disturb us. But we must learn how to concentrate. Gary Ryan proposes for that reason to have always discipline, pride, self-respect, self-confidence, and love of victory to fight against fear. I need to be humble to recognize and to accept my fears and failure.

My life is not a successful story all the time. I always ought to learn to manage my fears and my failure. They are proof of my limits. They can be a good help if I learn positively their importance in my life.

vii. Work economically

The way of success needs to have a good organization and planning of my time and my resources. “Maximum productivity is working economically. It is managing time and resources efficiently.” That is why it is good to think deeply about the management of my time and resources.

I realized that success is not a question of timing but a question of good management of time and resources. With small resources well organized I can do great things. All depend on a good goal setting. I ought to always improve my work economically.

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 are useful in my daily personal life and in helping me to create a better world. As a leader, Gary Ryan reminds me of my responsibility to lead my life in the way of success. The achievement of my goals depends at first and essentially on myself. My choices, my thoughts, my decisions, my actions must be always orientated in my goals achievement. To do it, I must absolutely set goals and always be focused on them without wasting time and be disturbed. By taking the way of success, I should positively influence my environment by creating a better world where I’m involved with my neighbor because my success cannot be only for myself. As the author said “My goal is simply to help you achieve yours, so let’s get busy and learn to master the fundamentals of goal setting.” My success will depend also on my commitment for the success of other people.

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

There are any statements which the author made that particularly got my attention.

“Achievements and accomplishments do not happen accidentally. They are the result of clearly defined goals acted upon until completion. Goals determine what you will or will not become or accomplish.”

It is indispensable for us to set goals if we want to succeed. Success depends on us. The key is in our hand. Our thoughts, decisions, choices, actions, involvements lead us in the way of success or far of it.

“Careful planning, thoughtful strategy, and faithful execution are the factors that lead to success. Success happens only when a clear, definable target has been established. Before taking action, you need a goal.”

Success is not a result of the chance. It is the result of planning, thoughtful strategy, and faithful execution. We ought to believe in ourselves, to be convinced of our goals and to be deeply involved in the realization of our goals.

“The difference between what one person and another achieves depends more on goal choices than on abilities. The profound differences between successful people and others are the goals they choose to pursue.”

We can have similar talents, intelligence, and abilities without the same realization because we have different goals. To succeed we need to set and choose goals which can be realized and we need to give us means to realize them.

“Everything Counts!” is a philosophy for living. Its meaning is simple, yet powerful: Every thought, decision, and action moves you closer to or further from your goals.”

Our every thought, decision, and action either moves us toward or away from our goal. Every moment offers an opportunity for advancement or retreat.

“What does a leader do? A leader leads! You have no choice but to lead yourself in the direction of your goals, no one else will do the job for you.”

The decision to take the road of success belongs to us. No one can be more involved for our success except ourselves. We can ask and benefit from the help of other people but all remain to us. As leaders, we must make good choices to win and to realize our goals.

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?

All ideas expressed by the Author are well understandable and clear. I agree with 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 contains exercises for the reader to complete. Gary Ryan organized his book in four chapters. At the end of each chapter there is an exercise. I completed them and I saw them very helpful to identify my goals, to identify my strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in the accomplishment of my goal, to determine traits and characteristics in what I like and dislike, and to identify and write my top ten goals.

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.

Gary Ryan Blair expressed well his thoughts. There is nothing especially to add as a comment. I like his ways of expressing his ideas. He said what is essentially to retain and practice.

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