Innocent Muramira – Assessments

As A Man Thinketh

Assessment by Innocent Muramira (Rwanda)

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

A man is a master, a builder and destroyer of his own destiny. According to what the author tried to narrate in the book he tried to portray several ways under which a man can build himself to tallest peak and also gave the other side how man can succumb from grace to grass. And so this can only be achieved with the right thinking thoughts man takes and decides every now and them, some positive thoughts yield achievements development and happiness sometimes but negatives thoughts can lead to taking wrong and regrettable decisions which at the end costs the man’s achievements and may result into ultimate failure.

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. A man is always a master even if in weakest and most abandoned state.

Accordingly this Idea stated above to me it was relevant because the author tries to show us that however much unexpected things happen in our lives where we are abandoned feeling weak but we can never lose hope we have and must keep moving and very strong.

This reminds me when I finished my first degree Bachelors in Law (LLB) I never had money to continue and enroll for Bar course but I struggled for one year and half through volunteering in different Non Governmental Organizations and several law firms until finally money surfaced and I got admitted for Bar course that’s what proved to me a man is always a man whether he thinks is weak and abandoned but he must take positive thoughts to keep himself moving not to start thinking as victim of abandonment.

ii. A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.

Accordingly I concur with the author a man is very well literally what he thinks, his character being the sum complete of his thoughts because when we look around our societies and communities many people have attained growth but no development can be shown or no results can be presented out of them because the way they think is what they are. Some tribes are still barbaric in nature because they still think what they are doing is good for them they do not mind about what is next or how their tomorrow may look like and so they have remained conservative. When I was young I always desired to be like my uncle who is the judge and I thought of it and it slept on my minds all these years I started pursuing my law degree graduated with bachelors in laws, later enrolled for post graduate diploma in legal practice which I also completed successfully and so this taught me to always dream big and not to settle for less and also chase our dreams because with the help positive thoughts tomorrow is very bright.

iii. Man is made or un made by himself in the armory of thoughts he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself.

This is amazing because its reality many people have struggled to make their names popular abut in a brink they become flops. This means that men must do anything to make protect and maintain their status in community because at one time all can be lost. That means we should not involve ourselves in activities that may harm or destroy us because this may become unfortunate to our beings. This means man can involve himself in elite clubs with right thinking minded people, with people who may be of help, people who are developmental, people who are likely to make change in his life not to become unpopular by involving himself with thugs and other idlers who do not have anything useful to contribute to his development. It’s never too late.

iv. Good thoughts bear good fruits, bad thoughts bad fruits

This is epic because anytime men take good thoughts they normally end up with food fruits this may be through starting a project where one invests his money within a year a person starts enjoying fruits of his project. Another good thought could be continuing education when others are dropping this is also good because the fruits of education are delicious however bad thoughts of like leaving school to go and get married at a tender age or advising one to leave school may end with bad results.

v. Suffering is always the effect of wrong thoughts in some direction.

Sometimes we play hard cards to our lives and we pay the costs of such thoughts Imagine a seventeen year old girl who is advised everyday not to come home late but she becomes defiant to the extent that she is impregnated and she loses her value and end up suffering. This means if she had followed the right direction she was not going to meet misery.

Personally I had a friend in Law school who did bet his tuition fees because he expected quick money and he lost the bet at the end of it all he could not pay and he left law school now days he is there suffering and he strongly regrets why he took that wrong direction and I strongly agree that suffering is always the effect of wrong thoughts in some direction.

vi. A man begins to be a man when he ceases to whine and revile and commences to search for the hidden justice which regulates his life.

This is one of the most impressive ideas because for a man to be successful you need to not continue depending and letting yourself shielded by others and do away with blame games time and again. As the author stipulated we have to use other people’s resources and minds as aids to our progress and to concentrate and aim for the better. Also we need to only use other people’s resources and minds as means of discovering the hidden powers and possibilities with ourselves.

vii. Let a man ceases from sinful thoughts and all the world will soften towards and be ready to help him.

This means that if a man becomes remorseful and repents all his sinful acts and his thoughts may change and so he is likely again to win support and mercy from other people who would like to help because people do not like working and helping people who are involved in sinful and evil acts therefore to get what we want one must desist from implementing what evil acts may be influencing him to do. Therefore desist from sinful thoughts get ready for the world to soften and help you.

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 learnt will help me in taking decisions based on positive thoughts since we know good thoughts bear good fruits and bad thoughts bad fruits and again to try to desist from being carried away by sinful acts and thoughts if I need help because people do not like to help and are hard on sinful and evil people when it comes to help and finally to stop blame games.

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.

“Clean thoughts make clean habits.”

You cannot think of going to church, school or doing good to other people and end up doing bad habits like raping and defiling children.

“The body is a servant of the mind.”

This means the body works on the control of the brain and so the body should not be allowed to what your mind thinks otherwise.

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

No.

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

No it did not have exercises

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.

Nothing I can think of.

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? 8
D. Would you recommend it to others? 10
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 9

 

 

Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Assessment by Innocent Muramira (Rwanda)

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

Never to stop chasing you r dream

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. In life people have different dreams and talents

This is clearly reflected when Jonathan Livingston wanted to do flying and his fellow seagulls were only interested in eating and searching for food. This means that people are gifted differently and it takes a lot of sacrifice to make other people believe what you are doing most especially if it is not common to everyman in our society.

ii. That people we love most and we would like to do good for are not willing to appreciate our energy and effort we put in to accomplish our dreams.

Jonathan suffered one time when all the seagulls turned against him because they had not captured the concept and they were conservative because they were not open to new ideas and innovations and this has kept many societies lagging behind because in life we expect people to come up with different ideologies and so this cannot be achieved if the society is still infected with barbaric tendencies and reasoning and this makes to think about to desist from being rigid and become flexible to new innovations which may be good to our communities.

iii. Never get ashamed of your talent

It is stated in the book that Jonathan was never ashamed of flying and in fact he continued pushing himself high to the extent that he achieved what other sea gulls had never expected from him and so it becomes a life changing lesson that we should never be ashamed of our drams if we feel we really like we need to change the lives of other people around us and the general community at large.

iv. Sometimes we should use our talents and our skills to help other people

Sometimes we should use our talents and our skills to help other people who may be in need of them or the one who would wish to discover themselves as Jonathan did to help the flock who had little or no knowledge about flying because their barbaric belief was no sea gull can fly to that level and so it is always important to share with other people what can be good for the whole community with the rest who really feel they would like to be part of the new innovation.

Also it should be understood that by doing this there is a lot of sacrifice because people will hate you, underestimate, despise you and finally undermine you and so one must work hard to stand the test of time and all these challenges that may come as the result of trying to help because all people are not interested in what your trying advocate for some need you to fail others need you to vanish others wish you to die because of fear, hatred and envy all these have to be tested on your way to prove success.

v. In way to achieve our dreams a lot is encountered

Normally people we admire and feel that they are well off still got along story to tell towards they long road to success. Many people do not normally think how they made it to the peak they actually don’t know that it was a real struggle as Jonathan did when he fell and ended up carrying a big burned of failure on his back. Normally this is toughest period in everyman’s’ life because a lot is said and one feels like he is not going to make it however we are meant to de the asters of our own destiny that is why we fall and raise again and end up being successful. Also sometimes we need to accomplish our own missions at the expense of the whole community in case they are not active to accomplish the same mission because a lot is needed in a large group they expect you to accomplish some tasks alone basing on different reasons. And so we can not feel sorry because of the price we normally pay while accomplishing these lifetime achievements like Jonathan who learnt to fly and was not sorry for the price he paid.

vi. Inner Power

Sometimes people have inner power that drives them to do things that other people in their communities still think they cannot be performed by natural person and so they have been named devil or god. This was evidenced when Jonathan was trying to show other sea gulls that he could fly while other gulls strongly doubted and opposed him and so we cannot be suppressed by such peoples ideologies and speeches of hate but only to follow our dreams and make change because it needs sacrifice to achieve our goals and it takes time to be who we wish to be in given period time. Again we can never ignore people who strongly doubt us, oppose and wish to suppress us because many have contributed a lot towards our success and in doing so we are able to check on behaviours attitude and the way we execute daily activities by assessing our weaknesses and our strength.

vii. You have to follow your dream no matter what.

Many people normally get frustrated on their way to their dreams and this has affected them a lot of many people’s chances some really lose hope others start blaming themselves and they start thinking had they known and they end up regretting why they wasted their time and resources on a dream that did not and is not likely to be successful.

Therefore people like Jonathan never had any regrets and continued pushing for the better amidst what others believed and wished him to be and countless times he was despised and undermined by the flock and countless times he failed but he did not stop he continued chasing his dreams of flying until he achieved it. Finally, he shared what he learned by training other flocks which doubted him and he later he offered to train them such that they could be like him in enjoying success.

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?

I hope and very sure that the lessons learnt above will be paramount in day today mission of chasing my dream and strongly believe nothing be it stumbling block will be allowed to settle on my way because am very well determined and ready to chase my dream no matter what, how many times i fall i will have to again stand and challenge what belongs to me. Sometimes I will not ignore what other people say about what am chasing because their arguments will help me to assess my weaknesses and strength and later i will come back to pull their hand if they so wish to be helped and also continue encouraging them that they can also be successful no matter what. It’s always vital to be a good listener to what other people are talking about you because it gives you a chance to assess yourself and become responsible citizen who can distinguish right from wrong.

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.

“Jonathan Livingston Seagull, said the Elder, Stand to Centre for Shame in the sight of your fellow gulls!”

To me this looked like an embarrassment to Jonathan who was trying to chase his dream that others thought he was a failure and so it gives me a strong hope when ever people are striving to the top they pass through a lot and so it is not easy to achieve it needs patience and sacrifice.

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?

Nothing I can think of.

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?

Nothing included.

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.

Nothing else.

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

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

Keys to Success
Assessment by Muramira Innocent (Rwanda)

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

The main idea of the author is trying to show the reader that one to be successful must define his or her goals and then develop plans on how such goals can be fully achieved.

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. Learning and consulting experts who are in the same profession

This has helped me in nurturing my experience as a young lawyer who is ready to bring change and improve on the integrity of the profession because these seniors give me knowledge and I have learnt a lot from them.

ii. It is important to know where you’re going

This has fundamentally helped me in my studies and profession because of my humble back ground when I look back where I come from it gives me hope to continue fighting to get what fighting to achieve and this has kept me wanting to achieve a lot of success.

Goals represent challenge in its most positive form. Leaders have their personal goals, as well as those of their organization, clearly in focus. In fact, one of the principle responsibilities of leadership is defining goals for the vast majority of people who aren’t able to do it for themselves. It is important for one to keep writing down ideas as long as the list of categories continues to inspire you. You’ll probably be surprised at some of the things that turn up. You might have kept a great many desires and aspirations hidden in the back of your mind, but the opportunity to write them down will move them to the forefront of your consciousness. That’s one of the benefits of this technique.

iii. Planting ideas for eternity

Here in accordance with my life and career I had to choose to be a lawyer though it takes many years and a lot of reading but am very sure that I planted ideas that will yield a lot of benefits for me in the near future. No matter how rewarding your full-time job may be, finding the right side business ideas and eventually becoming fully self-employed is even more meaningful than great pay and solid benefits. Once you’re reaping the lifestyle benefits of being your own boss and hustling your way into making significantly more money with your business idea than you ever could at your day job, the hard work will have all been worth it. So, let’s talk business ideas.

iv. That we need to put our ideas in action
According to Ralph Waldo Emerson noted that, “one single idea have greater weight than the labor of all men, animals and engines for a century.” This literally means that if ideas are put in action they will yield a lot for me as am now pursuing part of my ideas of trying to connect with international law firms and organizations for funding to support my idea of promoting legal aid in Rwanda. But it is prudent for one to know the following:
“Constraining the problem and solution space forces idea generators to delve into an area,” note the authors.
“The result is typically a much broader range of ideas that are on target and have real potential to move forward toward impact.” By getting down in the trenches and observing the individuals who are affected by the problem (and who would also be affected by your proposed solutions). “The goal is to make it as real as possible to the people who will be generating ideas.”

v. Specialization

Specialization has been key in my profession because I specialized in commercial transactions and because of this many people trust me and they know am capable of performing to their expectations and because I have got necessary skills and training in my line of specialization. Specialization saves one person to do a particular job saves money and time in training. Transferring or moving employees from a task they are skilled in to a task they are not means potentially wasting a lot of resources. The advantage of specialization in a task is that there is a virtual guarantee of not having to expend money to perform the same task over again because the specialist knows it very well.

vi. Budgeting Time and money

Time is everything and is part and parcel of my day to day management tools because I really work hard to meet my deadlines to show my clients and bosses that am committed to work and able to deliver in time. Late coming at work, failure to meet deadline and not keeping time promptly makes some employees or any other individual failure to accomplish his or her day to day tasks which may be really important to help one in achieving his or her goals and live better life. Failure to budget money may lead to some people becoming extremely poor because many people waste their money in spending extravagantly in buying luxurious goods which may not be needed at the moment and in a due course these people when faced with a problem they end up in poverty which is not good for their lives and their families in this generation. People should learn how to spend their time efficiently and effectively in order to gain a lot and live reach and response lives. With money I have not yet accumulated a lot but when it comes will also manage it efficiently.

vii. Faith

All the way through its faith that has enabled me to achieve all this and I still look forward for more. Faith is background and fundamental to each and everything we do and it is part of everyday life and when one lacks faith he or she is destined to fail and it is one of our call to have faith in order to achieve our intended target and success.
Faith makes us to keep fighting in order to prepare and achieve our goals because without faith many people fail to reach their goals and some end up failures in life which is very unfortunate in life.

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?

Basing on the above ideas I have gained and learnt from this book will be managing time well, my money efficiently, having faith to achieve more to increase and read hard in order to expand my areas of specialization and putting every idea I gain in action in order to achieve my dreams in life.

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.

Ralph Waldo Emerson noted that, “one single idea has greater weight than the labor of all men, animals and engines for a century.”

This showed me that an idea if well put in practice can yield into everything one desires or ever wanted. Furthermore, an idea if well implemented it can be better than each and everything on planet because many people have nice and interesting ideas which may be good if well put in use but they fail to activate them and at the end of it their dreams do not yield into anything tangible.

Tennyson noted that “the sun, the moon, the stars, the seas, the hills and plains. /Are not these, Osoul, the vision of him who reigns?”

That all materials most of them originated as a result of natural order. It is prudent for one to know that all the things that we see and all the thing created by man are part and parcel of intelligence and if one never had such knowledge it will not be able to perform such tasks and achieve success.

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

No

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

No.

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

No.

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

A. How interesting was it to read? 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