Gideon Nyabwari – Assessments – International Institute for Global Leadership

As a Man Thinketh
Assessment by Gideon Nyabwari (Kenya)

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

The author states that our brain or mind is a crucial part in our decision making, it’s the power house where good or bad things are manufactured and processed, our behavior reflects on what has been cooking in our mind, what we see is the outcome of our mind in practical. Our mind is the engine that drives us, because there is nothing we can do without thinking, you think and act as per your thoughts, we define a person by the character he portrays which is the outcome of his thinking, your action reflect exactly who you are, the mind directs you what to do but we can control it be learning to be critical thinkers.

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. We are the makers of ourselves.

Through our thinking through our action, we make or destroy our destiny, we have the power to make ourselves, so we do not have any reason to blame others on our failure, we are given equal opportunity in this world it’s up to us to see how good we can use it everything we need we can achieve them through patience, hardworking and honesty, it might not be instant but at the end we will achieve it.

ii. What we think makes us what we are.

We cannot be different from what we think, if you think you are a failure so do you, but if you think you are successful then you are some people, think negatively and the result is negative in their lives, there is power in our words, they have live, during creation God spoke the words and they came into being, so if we confess that we are successful indeed we will be successful, sometime we create failure in our thinking and it becomes a reality, you believe in yourself and you achieve it, we need to be conscious on what we think, before you speak anything digest it, is it worthy to say it? Will it improve the situation at hand?, will it affect others, positively or negatively, then decide to speak out or keep silent.

iii. We hold the key to every situation and contain within themselves that transforming and regenerative agency by which they may make themselves what they will
when we are born in this world.

We meet different people in our stage of maturity, we have dreams together, aspiration and our heart desire, we feel confident towards life, it doesn’t mean there is no obstacles, the obstacles makes us strong, sometime we blame others because of not achieving what we want, we put more trust to people who at on point or the other fails us and disappointment follows, if we could do it our own way then we could be more happy, but we keep that sad moments, that my relatives didn’t support me, if it wasn’t for my friend to mess up I could be somehow far, but not remembering that we are the makers of our own life, young people join groups for crime and turn to be criminals, it is a choice, some choose a good path and becomes responsible citizens, this is about what you want to be, you can avoid peer pressure and be alone for the good of you, you can decide to do things different from your peers, because there is no photocopy of yourself, you are the original you.

iv. Our mind is like a garden.

We can cultivate our garden or allow it run wild, whether cultivated or neglected it must and will bring forth. What we feed our mind matters a lot if we feed it with abusive language we become abusive in the society, the kind of books we ready makes our mind grow, either positive or negative, like a garden you cultivate to get maximum product also our mind can give us maximum production if we feed it with the right stuff of information, those people we see doing crime that is what they have planted in their mind, our children imitates us through action, if you feed their brain good morals we will have good citizens in future, what they watch should be a concern to parents, who they associate with especially in the early age should be our concern and guide them properly.
Any behavior we see, is a result of a long term thinking, we plant crops and they take a period of time to grow, constantly we irrigate them in order to have a great harvest even our mind can give us the best if we nurture it.

v. We are where we are by the law of our being, it’s our choice to be where we are.

We are not like trees or non-existence objects, we can make decisions that can affect our lives positively or negatively, we can move we can think and we can make a decision with our live, we decide to be poor or rich, if we dream big our dreams will be accomplished.

vi. We are the sole author of our condition.

Human beings tend to blame people for their failed condition, if it wasn’t my uncle who didn’t educate me, I could be a doctor, forgetting that we are the sole author of our lives, we need to be more proactive in our life to achieve what we want without blaming anybody, it’s yours not ours.

vii. The body is a servant of the mind

It obeys the operation of the mind, whether they are deliberately chosen or automatically expressed. This is evident our mind directs what our body will do, you think and act, you think and move, even bad thoughts comes from the mind and we see the action somebody takes a gun and shot out because that is what the mind directs him, we can also see good outcome of the mind, being supportive and doing charity work to assist less privileged in the society. So our mind is to be nurture very well for the best outcome.

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 is the best because it gives us the tips on how to deal with our mind and how to get the best outcome from it without blaming anybody.

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 soul attracts that which it secretly harbors, that which it loves and also that which it fears.”

We are attracted with what we love most and keep it in our heart, so we need to be more alert on what we attract in our soul and life.

“Circumstances does not make a man, it reveal him to himself.”

This is evident especially when a man is at his weakest point and when he is in power, our leaders when they ask for votes to get power they are kind and have good plans to the citizens but once elected that is when you see the true devil, the true him, he will never care our bother about service delivery to the community.

“The so called saint who does not was his body is not a saint.”
Action speak loud than words, the action you give out is exactly who you are people can speak good can promise a lot but their action tells if they are genuine or fake.

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 well stated and clear it’s well understood too.

6. Did the book contain exercise for the reader to complete? If so, did you complete all the exercises and did you find them helpful?

The book speaks a lot about our mind, it is a life time book, that our mind is like a garden to be cultivated, it is a long term exercise because like a garden it needs time to plough, plant irrigate weed and before harvesting we have gone through a certain process, so the book is a life guideline to our mind and outcome.

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.

The book is well covered and understood.

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

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

Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Assessment by Gideon Nyabwari (Kenya)

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

The main idea the author is conveying in the book Jonathan Livingston Seagull is that we can do whatever we want to do without fear and achieve it, it won’t be easy but at the end we will see the outcome/result, through the book we can see the struggle the he went through to learn new skills of flying higher and higher, and at the end of it he achieved new skills, this book is not about Seagull, but about our lives, sometimes we do not push ourselves to the limit, and that is why we fail, but if we can do the extra ordinary we will tap our desire and be happy, usually we join groups that do not support our dreams, and they keep on plucking our feathers, instead of going forward we make backward steps until we give up.

i. Listen to people who encourage you but not the once who discourage you.

“Why is it so hard to be like the rest of the flock.”

This n was a discouragement not to do what you want but be like others, in life we are unique in our own ways and we cannot be like others, when we hear people discouraging us without any good reason we are supposed to cut the link of such people and keep the fire burning towards our dreams, in our daily life, we encounter different challenges but we don’t quit, we figure out how best we can do it, in my areas of profession as a mechanic, we face daily challenges but we don’t give up, a client brings a car with default which is not easy to comprehend it can take even more than a week to understand the problem, but we don’t discourage each other that it cannot be fixed at the end once you fix it, there is that feeling of accomplishment, you feel good, you feel that you have conquered the world. So giving up is not a solution but try and try until something good happens.

ii. You can’t eat a glide.

Don’t you forget that the reason you fly is to eat food. Through experience of the current world, people don’t like what they do but because of money or to put food on the table they do it, when you do something you love it is a satisfaction in your heart and you give out the best in you but when you are pushed because of your need, then you won’t do it perfectly, I have trained young people who are drop out but have the passion on cars, and they have tremendously excelled unlike those who are pushed to do it, because they need to make ends meet.

iii. Set your own record/ be unique.

All this successful people we have in the world, they push themselves to set their own record, not to outsmart others, but to be the best of themselves, make sure you improve your life even if it is in a small way tomorrow you will look back and appreciate the sacrifice you made, we are unique in nature let us avoid comparing ourselves to others, we want to be like so and so, you are better than them, we are not replica of one another, but we can learn from them to be the best of ourselves in life, do what you love most and put all your efforts and skills there.

iv. Concentrate on what makes you happy and learn on how to achieve it, no matter how hard it will be to do it.

When you do what you love, it becomes a hobby and nobody will force you to do it, also even if its hard with time you will achieve it, because your mind and energy will be dedicated towards it. This is a reason why when we guide young people let us give them opportunity to choose what they love and not choose for them, because it will back fire, one parent never wanted to listen to his child, the child wanted to be a foot baller, but the father told him it cannot work like that he wanted him to be a doctor, due to respect and obedience, the child had to obey his father, but after going to school all those years during graduation the son handed over the degree to the father, and said father this was yours now let me pursue my career.

v. You can go to any place and to any time that you wish to go.

After you master the skills of anything you are doing, there is that freedom, in you that you can do anything no matter what, you have conquered the world, you are happy and you have achieved your goals, you feel good and encourage others to follow your steps.

vi. Everything that limits us we have to put a side.

I mean everything including family and friends, if they become obstacle in our progress, cut link and move forward it’s your life not theirs, so let us not have excuses that if it wasn’t family or friends I could have been far, they didn’t hold you , you gave in and your life turned other way round.

vii. The gulls sees farther who flies highest.

Even in life those who have accomplished their mission, they live a happy life, they enjoy because of their struggle, you cannot expect manna to drop from heaven, before you enjoy there is a struggle, you have to do what it takes to be happy and enjoy life to the fullest.

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 is a n eye opener books, mostly we forget about our powers and what we can do in real life, this book ignites or thinking and awaken the giant in us to do what we are supposed to do to be happy.

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.

“Other gulls refused to believe the glory of flight that awaited them, they refused to open their eyes and see.”

This is common to us human beings, we have closed our eyes to see what we can do with our ability and be happy, and we justify our situation and sit at the comfort zone.

“One school is finished and the time, has come for another to begin.”

Usually we do a lot of things at once and lose focus, if you finish one thing a time, then you will be more focused, like in my area of duty I finish one car before I go to the other, so that I build confidence to my clients.

“The only true law is that which leads to freedom.”

Freedom is good but should be used in a proper way, once you have friend to do what you are supposed to do without supervision and achieve it that is maturity.
The best freedom is doing the right thing even when you are alone without being followed up, be it in work place, or in business, however human beings have that weakness, that if they are not being told what to do they won’t do. They wait for instructions in order to do something, we need to teach youths and young people that the best ways to do things is when you do with passion and without being forced to do, it will be so nice and enjoyable.