As a Man Thinketh
Assessment by Hillary Muyanzi (Kenya)
1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
The main idea of the book is to show the effects of our thoughts on every circumstances that we as human beings pass through; I love what the author states and I quote “The Universal Law of Attraction obeys us no matter which way we choose to think. If we are to become creators of circumstance, we need to face the fact that we are already creators of circumstances!” in short his main idea is to show us that we are to have courage to face each and every circumstances and decide who or what we want to become in life – we create what we want to become.
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. It is very crucial to have a concentrated thinking, this is the big secrete that separates the winners from whiners.
I tend to believe that concentrated thinking is where you are in control of your thinking thoughts in order to have fruitful results. When I was growing up this for me was very difficult, to a point of juggling between what I should become when I grow up, I jumped from one career to another and desiring to have more and fat salary so to say and at the end, I ended up not pursuing any of the careers I thoughts – lack of concentrated thinking!
ii. Take Action; it makes no greater impact to have great and powerful ideas in your mind without taking an action.
I desired to be a pilot but without proper education and studying, it just remained to be an idea and desire. It is so amazing how the author describes the best way to take actions and he says “In order to go from the head to the heart, we need to move forward in faith, acting “as-if” the information is already in our heart. When the information finally reaches our hearts, it gets burned into our flesh and becomes a “knowing!” This allows us to set bigger goals that makes us to think out of the wall on how to attain our goals; it makes us to be more creative and for what we desire.
iii. Character; this is very important to our lives.
For me I noticed at some point I was a little bit different from my colleagues that we were in the same school, mother had been so tough on us in matters of discipline and help to shape our character, because character makes who you are even when no one is watch you. This book shows that a noble and Godlike character is Not a thing of Favor or Chance, but is the natural result of Continued Effort in Right Thinking, the effect of long-cherished association with Godlike thoughts.
iv. Nothing is impossible; as human beings inside of each one of us, there is power, intelligence and love and we have been made to be lord of our own thoughts.
The author says that we hold the key to every situation! I didn’t think about this, initially I thought there are situation that only needs God’s intervention, but reading this make me think that we are responsible for each situation, as in where we succeeded is where we took our portion of responsibilities and where we failed is where we did not take our portion of responsibilities – so inside of us we contain the transforming and the regenerative agency by which we make ourselves what we want.
v. The body of the servant of the mind.
For me I have always been thinking that some issues in our personal lives are cause by environment or lack of some resources, but it is so surprising how the author puts it that “Disease and health, like circumstances, are rooted in thought. Sickly thoughts will express themselves through a sickly body” and this is mostly because of the fear of contracting the diseases and that these fear demoralizes them and the result is them being sick”
vi. Today decide to conceive to a legitimate purpose; one should make his/her purpose his/her supreme duty.
So if commit and set out myself towards this then I will definitely bring it to accomplishment but they who have no central purpose in their life fall an easy prey to petty worries, fears, troubles and self-pityings, all of which are indication of weakness, which lead, just as surely as deliberately planned sins.
vii. All our achievements are a result of our Thinking; both the success and failure will come from within us, if we continue to think in one direction we will still remain the same.
When I was in high school, most of my colleagues love to speak in “Swahili” but it is difficult for them to express themselves in “English” looking at whole scene I decided not to often speak Swahili but rather English, this decision helped me to be at the top of my class
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 immerse lesson and ideas that are very crucial for success. First and foremost as an individual these lessons have become an eye opener. Hence I will need to put all these ideas on paper and start to visualize each and every area of my life that needs to change – in other words it is a time to have a personal meeting and do the evaluation in order for me to be a successful person. This will help me to create a clearer vision and this will be a motivation towards my goals no matter how big it might appear.
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 noble and Godlike character is not a thing of favor or chance, but is the natural result of continued effort in right thinking, the effect of long-cherished association with Godlike thoughts.” Nothing happens by chance even our success, it is a result of our right thinking and including God in all our actions.
“In this direction, as in no other, is the law absolute that He that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened; for only by patience, practice, and ceaseless importunity can a man enter the Door of the Temple of Knowledge.”
When we decide to seek for knowledge and discovering that which is crucial to us then we will be able to find and the doors of opportunity for us to grow will be opened.
“Some may have already discovered these secrets from different sources and wander why they are still wanting more. The reason is because the information has not yet traveled the long distance from the head and into the heart.”
I believe when we have the information and ideas from our head into our hearts, then we are able to do things with passion and peace, knowing very well that we are in the right track and path to our success
“Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom. It is the result of long and patient effort in self-control. Its presence is an indication of ripened experience, and of a more than ordinary knowledge of the laws and operations of thought.”
Panic is dangerous, it is dangerous because it makes us to lose our focus and start to think of the problems instead of solutions. Hence it is teaching us to stay calm when making critical and crucial decisions of our lives; and you only will become calm when you come to the understanding of who you are – understand yourself.
“The dreamers are the saviors of the world. As the visible world is sustained by the invisible, so men, through all their trials and sins and sordid vocations, are nourished by the beautiful visions of their solitary dreamers. Humanity cannot forget its dreamers; it cannot let their ideals fade and die; it lives in them; it knows them as they realities which it shall one day see and know.”
One of the ways I have discovered to be a great dreamer is through having a dream board, where I need to write down all the things I would love to become or do as I visualize them. This will be a great tool because each moment I look at the dream board, will start to burn inside of me to work more hard or think out of the wall in order for me to attain the desired results.
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?
Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become. Your Vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your Ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil. This is a great statement but has I read it, I was thinking to myself what if this dreams don’t come to a reality because of few reasons like environment or something, how should one feel or keep moving?
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?
No I haven’t seen any exercises to complete except to exercise as an individual. There might be no exercises in the book, but the lessons learnt here, if well practiced they are gold and wisdom that becomes great solutions to our each day problems.
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.
So far so good, the book was so clear and very informative in general. I just love the book.
Please rate the following questions on a scale from 1 to 10. Ten is good and one is poor.
A. How interesting was it to read? 9
B. How helpful were the contents? 9
C. How easy was it to understand? 9
D. Would you recommend it to others? 10
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 9.5
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Assessment by Hillary Muyanzi (Kenya)
1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
This book shows how the seagull would come dodge and fight for the bits of foods, this of course was not an easy task, they had to fight with no shame, hence the main idea of the book is to show that when we become unashamed, when we decide to stretch our wings, our hands to gain something that we desire in our lives, then we will shift from just being ordinary individual and do great things in life and I quote “a hundred feet in the sky he (Jonathan Livingston Seagull) lowered his webbed feet, lifted his beak, and strained to hold a painful hard twisting curve through his wings. The curve meant that he would fly slowly, and now he slowed until the wind was a whisper in his face, until the ocean stood still beneath him.” At this point it was a disgrace and a dishonor. At times we might start with a fail, but when we are passionate about something, we surely will be able to over.
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. Check for what is more important in life.
The author quotes that “Most gulls don’t bother to learn more than the simplest facts of flight – how to get from shore to food and back again. For most gulls, it is not flying that matters, but eating” I believe it applies to us as well, it is not just a matter of us reaching to the top but the significance we impact.
ii. Spend more time doing what you love to do.
No matter who is against you or your ideas, I believe when you are passionate about something you will feel and things that others don’t feel or do what they are not willing to do. Jonathan Livingstone Seagull loved to fly although his parents dismayed him but he decided to spend more time alone flying low but after he became self-popular.
iii. There is more learn.
Each day presents itself with an opportunity to learn, there is always something to learn in each moment and if we take each second as a learning moment then sooner or later we will start to fly high; there is much to learn! We can learn from different sources; it can be through our daily studies and this is through books and teachers, we can learn friends and people around us, it can even be from our personal experiences and mistakes that others make each day.
iv. Every failure is always an opportunity to learn something, I should not be discouraged whenever I try to do something, whether it is for the first time or I have done it before.
If we decide to take a risk on each and everything we do, then it means we will succeed and even though we might at some point fail but we will have learnt great lessons that will be of great essence to us and those around us.
v. It might feel good to be just like others, with no straining, no failures or nothing that holds you back, but this normal feeling of no pain will not give us any substantial success and hence we will just but remain ordinary individuals.
vi. Failure does not mean it is the end, it is actually a time to check where we failed and restart again, it is not about the fall but what we do after we fall.
Failing is not the main problem, the biggest problem is when we decide to remain at that point where we fell, we are not meant to remain at the same point of our failure but to rise up one more time, dust off and keep moving to where we intend to be.
vii. Do the extraordinary.
At times we have to go beyond our norm to be different as we overcome our fears; I love this phrase “A seagull never speaks back to the Council Flock, but it was Jonathan’s voice raised. “Irresponsibility? My brothers!” he cried. “Who is more responsible than a gull who finds and follows a meaning, a higher purpose for life? For a thousand years we have scrabbled after fish heads, but now we have a reason to live”
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 lessons are so mind blowing, for me as individual they are like new energy to shift me from my lowest point to a higher level of success. Sometimes life kicks us so hard, but we have no choice rather than to topple over, these lessons come to help you gain the momentum even when you feel you cannot make it through. Hence for me, I will use ideas to revive my energy whenever I feel like I have failed in one situation or the other never to give up.
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.
“It wasn’t long before Jonathan Gull was off by himself again, far out at sea, hungry, happy, learning.”
The more practice what we want to do or become, the easier it will be for us to attain it.
“As he sank low in the water, a strange hollow voice sounded within him. There’s no way around it. I am a seagull. I am limited by my nature. If I were meant to learn so much about flying, I’d have charts for brains. If I were meant to fly at speed, I’d have a falcon’s short wings, and live on mice instead of fish. My father was right. I must forget this foolishness. I must fly home to the Flock and be content as I am, as a poor limited seagull.”
There are those moments that there is a voice inside us, a voice of failure and want to go back to our normal lives, but the going back will be of no great impact to our lives, fight on no matter how difficulty it looks.
“He closed his eyes to slits against the wind and rejoiced. A hundred forty miles per hour! And under control! If I dive from five thousand feet instead of two thousand, I wonder how fast. Determination is key to our success.”
“A seagull never speaks back to the Council Flock, but it was Jonathan’s voice raised. Irresponsibility? My brothers! he cried. “Who is more responsible than a gull who finds and follows a meaning, a higher purpose for life? For a thousand years we have scrabbled after fish heads, but now we have a reason to live. We should be so decided to go beyond our normal.”
“Why is it, Jonathan puzzled, that the hardest thing in the world is to convince a bird that he is free, and that he can prove it for himself if he’d just spend a little time practicing? Why should that be so hard?” what is of importance, is us being able to change our thinking and the way of doing things. If something is not working out for us, why should we keeping doing the same way if there is another way out?”
“Oh, Fletch, come on. Think. If you are talking to me now, then obviously you didn’t die, did you? What you did manage to do was to change your level of consciousness rather abruptly. It’s your choice now. You can stay here and learn on this level which is quite a bit higher than the one you left, by the way or you can go back and keep working with the Flock. The Elders were hoping for some kind of disaster, but they’re startled that you obliged them so well.” It is not about what others think about you, but about what you think about yourself that matters, don’t allow negative people and negative circumstances block you from seeing the greatness inside of you.”
“Most gulls don’t bother to learn more than the simple facts of flight – how to get from shore to food and back again. For most gulls, it is not flying that matters, but eating. For this gull, though, it was not eating that mattered, but flight. More than anything else. Jonathan Livingston Seagull loved to fly.”
We all have that one thing that we love the most, if we pay more focus on that which we love the most, then our passion will be regenerated and renewed, this will push us towards our destiny and what we were meant to be or go where we are supposed to be.
“Poor Fletch. 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 will see the way to fly.”
I believe this is in some cases, with our physical eyes we are able to see what is around us, but with our understanding we are able to sense and perceive what is true, what is noble and important to our daily lives.
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?
Yes the book ends and one is left in suspense, “His race to learn had begun” for me is how I wish we could be told after, what did he learn, how was the next step of his life, what impact was experienced after?
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?
There were no exercises to be completed, although, the book by itself is a good challenge with great lessons and ideas to be implemented. The ideas are to be written down, think about them thoughtfully and take actions towards them in order for them to be helpful and effective in our daily lives.
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.
So far so good, the book was so clear and very informative in general.
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? 7
B. How helpful were the contents? 8
C. How easy was it to understand? 7
D. Would you recommend it to others? 7
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 8.5