Marcus Edibogi Akor – Assessments – International Institute for Global Leadership

As A Man Thinketh

Assessment by Marcus Edibogi Akor (Nigeria)

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

The author is conveying that our visions can become reality, simply through the power of thought. That means that I should clarify my thoughts so that I will attract what I want in my life. Also the book has taught me to think positive since there is no separation between my thoughts and my character. Positive thinking can also be developed since it is through striving to focus our thoughts on what we want instead of things we don’t want.

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.

a. Circumstances does not make the man, it reveals him to himself. – Based on what kind of thoughts we choose to encourage, when circumstances present itself, we exhibit our thought through action. This idea is so important to me because, recently I and my cousin were caught up in a huge traffic. My cousin said to me, Marcus, the government ought to enlarge this road for it to be enough for people. I immediately told my cousin, this is not road problem, it is people’s problem. He said why should I say that, that can’t I see? I said, even though the government enlarges this road, people will still jam the way they are now. After my comment, my cousin didn’t say anything again and we remained silent for the rest of our trip. After about 20 minutes, we were walking and we came to a narrow road where there was drainage across the road. On this drainage, there was a plank enough for one person to cross over. On our opposite direction, a young hawker was approaching the plank too. I stepped on the plank to walk over; at the same time the hawker stepped on it too. My cousin was behind me watching since we have to move before he can cross. I told the hawker to go back since I came on the plank first and allow me cross. He said he won’t go back! I repeated that He must go back. He still repeated, he won’t go back and he remained standing. For like two minutes we stood on the plank. I smiled and went back quietly and the hawker walked pass before I and my cousin crossed too. Immediately, I told my cousin, this is exactly what we saw on the traffic. Not road problem, but people’s problem. Everybody wants to move at the same time and that is why we always get stuck and jammed. I told him that I intentionally did what I did with the hawker to create the circumstance that will better explain our earlier argument. Therefore, I think my thoughts were of creating of solution and that is why when the circumstance presented itself, I was able to express the solution and at the same time use it as a lesson for my cousin.

b. Directing of energies with intelligence and fashioning thoughts to fruitful issues: This idea strikes me because I have been asking myself, “How can I change my thoughts from what makes me depress to thoughts that will make me happy?” I discovered that the energy I need to think depression is the same energy I need to think expression of happiness. I realized that I can redirect my energy and also my thinking to benefit myself. I was thinking of how to make my relationship with my friend work. It was always eating me up because I was always thinking of my friend as a cheat. At the end, I was always feeling bad. Reading this book, I now decided to think of my friend as a good and faithful friend whom I didn’t understand. I felt happiness and even became open to listen to her opinion about the relationship. I realized that all I was thinking before was wrong. I also directed my thought towards my goal. Each time I think of how I want to make it happen in my generation. I feel happy and great.

c. Mind is the master weaver: I came to understand that, it is what we feed the mind with that the mind works with. Now I have made up my mind to try and think positive all the time to make my mind act positive on my thoughts. I thought of situations where I thought I can’t do something and the mind gives me good reasons why I can’t. Otherwise, I also thought of situations where I thought I can do something and the same mind gives me good reasons why I can do it. Therefore, I believe that it is by the power of our thoughts that the mind obeys and act.

d. Thoughts have effect on health and body – I remember some years ago while I was in Secondary School. When I didn’t want an activity, I think of being sick so that I will be excused from the activity. Most of the time, I end up really sick and receiving medical attention. The result is that I miss other useful activities including the one I didn’t want. Though, at some point I stopped thinking sick but choose to enjoy the thought of participating in the activity and find out that I gained more experience.

e. Good thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bad fruits – This idea is important to me because I have experienced both the fruit of good and bad thoughts. Most time, when I think I am confused and depressed, it shows automatically because I begin to feel low self esteem. But when I think I can handle the situations in my life, I feel strong and good self esteem. I can now plan and implement according to priority, things that need attention in my life. At the end, I feel satisfied and fulfilled. I have decided to encourage the thought of personal power to allow me do the best I can in every condition and situation.

f. Linking thoughts with purpose – This idea really answered my question on “how can thoughts be redirected?”. I was always thinking of so many things I have to do in my life and end up doing nothing because I feel they are overwhelming. I see myself pretending before others to be ok but within me I am in confusion and sad. But, I discovered that all I need is to set a goal and align my thoughts towards that goal, then I need commitment of thought and action to get the goal I set accomplished. I totally agree with the author, that aimlessness is a vice.

g. Thoughts and desires should be harmonized with a good end – recently, I was looking for an accommodation for my start up organization, the Bridge. First, I was not specific on the kind of accommodation I wanted. Secondly, I had the thought of fear for not getting the kind of accommodation I wanted. I was feeling really bad when people called me to show me accommodation that is far from what my inner mind yearns for. Reading this book and another book a friend gave me, I changed my thought. I made a specific want of the kind of accommodation and its location. I change my thought to believing I will get the accommodation where I want it. Amazingly, within four days, my want came through! I got the accommodation exactly how I imagined it. So, I believe when thoughts and desires are harmonized with a good end, the good end is unstoppable.

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?

In my personal life, the ideas is helping me to think well of others which has been really sweet for me. I discovered that my thoughts and actions were directly affecting people around me. I was almost becoming too occupied with negative thoughts about life. These thoughts made me feel lonely because I understood that no one wants to associate themselves with people who think negatively. But now, I feel attracted to people because of positive thoughts. I have chosen to encourage positive thoughts both in my personal life and any kind of situation I find myself. I believe with positive thinking, my peers will perceive the transformation and that will directly affect their way of thinking too. I believe when we all think positively about ourselves and others, our world will become better.

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 man cannot directly choose his circumstances, but he can choose his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances. This quote is important to me because of its striking truth. When my thoughts are clean and pure, no matter the circumstance, my character will reflect my state of mind. Like the story about me, my cousin and the hawker. My thought of solution and peace, shaped the circumstance I found myself with the hawker. I knew I had to step back to make peace reign.

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 understood everything and do not disagree with any of the content in the book. I feel they are empowering.

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 did not contain 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.

I love the fact that answers to questions bothering me while reading the book were given as I read on. For e.g. when the negative side of thoughts was given, I expected the positive side which always comes handy while reading further. Therefore, this book is very useful to me.

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

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

Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Assessment by Marcus Edibogi Akor (Nigeria)

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

The main idea the author is trying convey in the book is being different and challenging the status quo. Jonathan Livingstone Seagull was not satisfied with the common conventional way of life he was born into. Therefore he explored other ways of doing things. He sacrificed his comfort to learn greater things for his good and good of other seagulls. Jonathan separated himself from conventional thinking and reached the peak of his happiness doing what he enjoyed doing best. With constant practice, focus and determination he excelled and learnt newer ways of doing things. Regardless the disappointment from others, due to personal motivation and optimism Jonathan did not give up but continued to do what he enjoyed and learned more.

a. Being Different: I discovered some of my behaviors that I need to strengthen through reading this book. Like Jonathan in the book, he saw it as a waste of time scrambling for food with low thinking seagulls. I always feel time wasted when I am with my peers that do not add to my development or my idea. However, I did not know exactly how to cut off and pursue my dream. I have learnt from Jonathan that the only way to pursue my dream is doing the necessary. Even if it takes letting go my friends who do not share in the same vision.

b. Sacrifice: I understand from this book that for every great thing to happen there must be some form of sacrifice. I remember when I was preparing for my Senior Secondary School Leaving certificate; I sacrificed a lot of time to read. I usually hang out with friends; do things that were not necessary for passing my exams. I sacrificed everything to prepare for my exam success. I also woke up in the middle of the night to read. Then, my friends will mock me and say I should not waste my time. But against their mockery, I studied hard. At the end, I passed all my subjects and never repeated the exams again. But till today, I know of some of my friends who are repeating the same exam each year since our graduation from Secondary School. Therefore, I believe for anything great to happen, some form of sacrifice will be involved.

c. Careful assessment of one’s ability: At a point Jonathan felt his nature limited him from doing certain things in the new way he has found to fly but suddenly realized that he can do those things when he accessed what he wanted and what he has. Sometimes we feel what we are looking for is outside of us, but from careful assessment of ourselves, skills, energy, experiences we will discover that it is within not without. I had an experience when I was looking for work. I wanted to travel to the north where I grew up to look for work to do. But I asked myself some questions about my qualification and the type of work I wanted to do. I then began to search my community for the kind of work I wanted. I got the work and that was the beginning of my growth through this moment. One of the things that I would have encountered if I had gone back to look for work in the north where I grew is, unhealthy competition because the skills I had were numerous there but lacking in my current location. So, I believe with careful assessment of my ability, it will save me the stress of looking for answers outside me.

d. Mentor Support – I discovered that I need support from positive minded people to encourage me when I feel down concerning my goal in life. I was in a dilemma at the start of my organization after making a wrong decision. I started a building using mud when the raining season was near. Against people’s advice, I started the building. Few months later without roofing, the building collapsed. The financial resource was limited. I should have used the same finance to rent a place to start small and grow. I was not happy with myself and was in self blame. With support from my Mentor, I was encouraged to plan better and ignore the mistake but learn from it for future. I braced up and faced my dream again. So, I don’t under estimate the power of positive mentor support.

e. End of a goal is the beginning of another greater goal – Sometimes I feel people who have made it in life should relax from working. However, I understand that visionaries have things to do all the time. Once a goal is set and achieved. Another goal is set to pursue and that is why development minded people never lack. Due to this idea, I keep an open mind towards achieving my goal and working towards another bigger goal when opportunity presents itself.

f. Giving back to my community: Jonathan in his quest to teach his new discovery to his fellow seagulls learnt newer ways of doing things. More to it, he felt fulfilled and commanded respect. I think this buttress the fact that givers never lack. I experience in my life those things I hardly forget is what I have at one point or the other taught someone else. I love teaching especially new things. I had an experience with a group of young people I trained recently. Before the training, I had a tool called visual explorer that did not really make any sense to me, no matter how hard I tried to make meaning. I made up my mind I will use it anyway during the training and hope to learn from the view of the participants on the tool. Amazingly, from the participants, I learnt we can draw leadership qualities from the visual explorer. If I had not taught them and expose my challenge to them, I wouldn’t have learnt new things. I honestly thank them for also teaching me. I told them before the training, I didn’t know the purpose of the visual explorer. So, I believe if everyone is generous with the use of their knowledge in helping others, there will be better understanding in the world.

g. Knowing that my true nature lived: Growing up, I had a very low self esteem because of my size. I was always looking at my body as a limitation. I could not contribute meaningfully in a gathering when I am inspired to, because of my size. But along the line, I understood that there are tall people with short character and short people with rich and tall character. That means my size is not a standard for my development. I decided to allow myself to express myself and think big. Just as Chiang in this book told Jonathan, I realized that my true nature lived as perfect as unwritten number. Now I am a public speaker and a Youth trainer. I confidently face crowd to make speeches, presentations and seminar. I feel good that I could work over the challenge of looking at my small body as a limitation. This book reinforced it.

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?

Being positively different is what I always wanted. The ideas from this book have strengthened my wish to follow my dreams against all discouraging voices telling me I can’t. I always nursed a dream to startup a youth empowerment organization in my community. But somehow, I did not get encouraging support from some of my friends. They didn’t believe me because of my financial situation. However, I know now that there is no limitation when I truly want to face my dream. I also discovered that persistence, constant practice makes one more successful. Jonathan in the book was persistent; he practiced and was willing to learn every day. That is a quality of a successful person. Therefore, in my life I will keep persisting to reach my goal. To create a better world, I will always share my experience and knowledge with other young person’s like me who do not know what I know. And I am willing to also learn from others what they know and I don’t know.

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.

“Remember, Jonathan, heaven isn’t a place or a time, because place and time are so very meaningless.” This statement is important to me because I always feel there is a best time and place for certain kind of work in my life. But with this quote, I understand that time and place makes no sense to the mind that wants to make it happen. Any time and place is good for anything good to happen. Even in writing this assessment, I was waiting for when I will be in the library or classroom and a quite time to do my assessment. But I am doing this assessment in the dark in my family house because there is power cut and the time is around 4am. All I needed was my laptop battery charged which is charged. I woke up and thought to complete my assessment. So, I am enjoying doing my assessment even at this time. I will always look beyond time and place and do the things that matter in my life.

“We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill. We can be free! We can learn to fly!” This statement is powerful to me because I believe everybody has the potential to grow and change negative circumstances into positive ones. I learnt earlier in my life not to allow my background put my back on the ground. I was born into a poor family. I also observed my community and I see others living in abundance. I told myself that being poor is not a definition of who I am but just a condition that I can change. I need to have a focus in life and pursue it. With prayers and hard work, I am on my way to greatness. Even coming in contact with International Institute of Global Leadership is as a result of my desire to change my condition in life for better. I believe I can live free, I can learn to fly higher than number or place can describe.

I remember when I was in primary school; I hated Mathematics as a subject because I didn’t understand it. During my graduation, one of my teachers told me to pretend to like mathematics, and then practice at least an example every day. When I got to secondary school, I followed my teachers’ advice. I became a role model in mathematics for my peers. The simple reason was that I studied and practice Mathematics all the time. I even have an experience as a Mathematics teacher in a Secondary School after I graduated from Secondary School. Therefore, I believe that we can really find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill.

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 understood everything and do not disagree with any of the content in the book. I feel they are empowering.

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, the book did not contain 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.

The questions are well taught through and it covers everything that was running through my mind to report. I feel really grateful for this opportunity with International Institute for Global Leadership to develop myself.

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 Marcus Edibogi Akor (Nigeria)

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

The main idea the author is trying to convey is that with positive mental attitude, I can achieve any form of success I desire in my life. Also, that whatever my mind can conceive and believe, I can achieve.

i. When something happens, someone makes it happen: I no longer want to just exist but be living by making things happen too. I discovered that there is enough space for anyone and everyone to effect change. I observe that so many inventions and successes we celebrate today, someone made it happen and that is their legacy. I ask myself, what can I be remembered for? I am now conscious of making things happen instead of just sit and watch things happen. I am getting more confident because I learn in the process of being part of positive happenings in my time and my community.

ii. You are what you think: I remember always the saying that the mind is like a garden and our thoughts are seeds. We choose to plant the seed of our choice in a garden, that is how we can choose to plant positive thoughts in our mind or not. I have chosen to control my thought by always thinking positive especially on task ahead of me. I discovered that the same energy I used to think negatively is directly proportional to the energy I need to think positive. Sometimes my mind wander to negative thoughts but immediately I put effort to turn my thoughts to something positive and I feel really happy.

iii. When you are faced with a problem that involves a misunderstanding with other persons, you must first start with yourself: When I realized this part, I started working on myself to avoid arguments and problems. However, I was confronted with a situation recently when I spoke to someone casually about an event we were planning. First, I felt since we belong to the same place of worship and we see regularly, there won’t be any problem approaching him. I greeted him and after he answered, I told him about the event and the need to have him part of the planning. He immediately grew angry and started shouting at me that I talk casually as if I knew him from somewhere before. That I should learn how to talk to people. He was upset and was leaving the premises. The most embarrassing part is that I had people I know all around watching us. I apologized sincerely to him for talking casually. He said he accepted the apology. I started with myself by understanding that my approach was wrong. Two days later, the same man called me and was apologizing that he had something bothering him in his mind when I approached him and it was just transfer of aggression. I told him I understand and we are all human. Therefore, talking about starting with yourself when you are faced with a problem that involves misunderstanding with other persons, it is very important because it will save a lot of energy and time and gain one more self respect and regard.

iv. I am a mind with a body: I have come to believe this saying “I am a mind with a body”. I discovered that putting our mind in an enclosure called body is the wisdom of God. I come to see myself bigger than my physical body size because of my mind. I used to doubt my ability to do certain things before due to my physical body and height but when I understood that I am a mind with a body, I no longer give thought to my size but do as my mind directs me to do after careful thinking. I believe that our mind is so big that if God had not put it in a body, there will be no space in the world for our minds.

v. Conscious autosuggestion and self suggestion: This is a powerful idea I have used to erase worries in my life. I tell myself all the time that it is well and God is in control. I honestly enjoy peace of mind since I started using self suggestion. For example, when my dependents make their requests especially as it got to do with money, even though I don’t have at the moment of their request, I give them hope and by so doing I also give myself hope. I tell myself that I will get the money to settle my dependents because I know it is possible. It works, because my mind open up opportunities where I can get the money. Sooner or later, I get what I want and I settle my dependents. I used to be worried about my health, but now I have no worries because all the time, I tell myself, Hour by Hour in every way, I am healthy and better through the grace of God.

vi. When you receive a flash of inspiration, write it down: I always use the statement when you “think it, ink it” for this idea. It has helped me so much in my life. When I receive inspiration, I immediately write it down and act on it on the appropriate time and that has contributed much in my way of doing things and succeeding. When I am not with pencil and paper, most of the time I use my mobile phone for note taking.

vii. Every adversity carries with it the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit: this idea has help me to always search for the opportunity in adversities that come my way to help myself to greatness. It works because, I have been wondering why my family came from riches to being poor and I discovered a lot of useful answers and opportunities. One of such is the fact that I should use our poor situation to learn about financial freedom and security. Also, it gave me the opportunity to develop myself and not be dependent on others since I understand that anything worth having in life is worth working for. Also, by developing myself, I became interested in entrepreneurship which gained me a full scholarship to study 11 months in Kanthari (former, International Institute for Social Entrepreneurs), India. Now, I have started my own youth empowerment organization, to empower young people like me with leadership and entrepreneurship skill, to understand the basic science and principle of success to lift ourselves from the poverty we find ourselves to the most desirable place of wealth for ourselves.

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 already helping me by organizing my life. I think more positive than before, I make more good friends now than before, I come in contact with great people in my community, I experience peace and easy access to things I want from others by being positive, I get things done quicker and better now than before. In fact, the ideas in the book are invaluable. Things that I had doubt of venturing into before are now just at my beck and call. For example, I had it in mind long ago to talk in our radio station to youth on leadership and entrepreneurship, but I always felt it will cost me and it may not be possible. But with faith and being positive after reading Success through a Positive Mental Attitude, I started the talk Leadership and Entrepreneurship on the radio station youth wing program on 1st September, 2012. It is free of charge and the presenter, thanks me for coming. I also get free advertisement for my organization and program. With my talk about leadership & entrepreneurship on air, I am enjoying what I love to do and at the same time helping other young people to step up and create their own life. So, I thank God for the International Institute for Global Leadership for this invaluable experience. I believe greater things will still come by being positive in all my actions. Thanks for the opportunity.

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.

“Keep your mind on the things you do want and off the things you don’t want” – this quote has helped me to control my thinking and action. When negative thoughts cross my mind immediately I try to replace it with what I love doing most or thoughts of moments I have enjoyed myself in life. I feel the difference immediately and my mood immediately change for good. I outline task for myself to be accomplished so that I fix my mind on the task and get excited on the task by doing it. Also the fact that I have decided that I will be successful in all areas of my life including finance, I try to think of how to succeed.

Anything in life worth having is worth working for: Nothing good in life comes easy and I feel more satisfied with what I earn by working with my own mind and body. This quote is very important to me because I understand that life is not about luck. It is about setting goal and going for the goal.

The more you give of that which is good and desirable – the more you get: life is reciprocal, that is the way I understand this statement. I observe that times when I talk rudely and offensive with my younger ones or others, they answer back rudely or avoid me in all. But when I am happy and talk with them lively, they in turn talk lively and even share their thoughts with me. And it makes me feel more comfortable and happy with them. Therefore, I believe that when I need love from others, I will first give love and I will get more.

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 engage my friends with discussion of some parts of the book where I may be a bit confuse and I get better understanding after, therefore, I understand and agree with the ideas in the book.

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?

Yes, the book contains a test on success quotient analysis. I completed it and I found it very helpful. In fact, it opened my mind and eyes to see areas in my life that needs improvement. I also understood areas where I am the boss. Although, my overall score in the success quotient analysis was below average as at 19th August, 2012. I will still complete it with time to access myself 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.

As always, your questions are well covered.

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

Psycho Cybernetics

Assessment by Marcus Akor (Nigeria)

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

The main idea that the author tried to convey in Psycho-Cybernetics is that the human brain is an automatic guidance system. The human brain can be either success mechanism or a failure mechanism. In the book, ideas on enhancing positive self image by undergoing series of techniques and strategies to build a better life was offered. These includes exercises, self assessment checklists that helps one to relax, imagine, think positively, set SMART goals and have a pleasing personality. Those self assessments and exercises help to break old negative habits and create a new positive habit that attracts success in any area of pursuits. Personally, I think Psycho-Cybernetics after the Bible is a lifelong book that needs to be consulted all the time throughout life on earth. Ideas on how people can shape their personality for success and faking it till we make it were also incredibly explained.

Focus on desired changes instead of dwelling on past mistakes:

The idea of using the right side of my brain to create new images of myself that leads to success has been tremendously helpful. I now picture myself in 10 years from now how I will be speaking to thousands of people at a time to help them discover themselves. I learnt from this idea how to correctly channel my energy of thoughts. Sometimes images of past mistakes creep into my mind and immediately I begin to feel bad, anxious, resentment and so many other negative emotions but from this idea I have a default picture of my successful life in my right brain and each time the bad thought creep in, I immediately switch to my successful picture and I automatically feel happy again.

Five steps to a new self image, CRAFT:

CRAFT which stands for Cancel, Replace, Affirm, Focus and Train is an idea on how to take control of my creative mechanism and reprogram it for success mechanism thereby creating a new desired self image. Sometimes, I get an idea to do something and I just discourage myself that I can’t do it because I am not financially buoyant but with the CRAFT of reprogramming, I say Cancel each time a damaging thought cross my mind, I go further to replace with a positive statement that “everything is possible including this idea”. I then begin to write the idea down. Immediately I do that, it allows me to begin to picture the possibilities involved in the idea and I train myself with that new self image, I discuss the idea with friends and it works. I have used the CRAFT of reprogramming to also help young people who access The Bridge Youth Empowerment Organization. CRAFT is a great idea.

Relaxation as the key to activating our creative imagination:

I understood that my automatic mechanism which is the brain can handle one goal at a time. And that no matter how busy I am, time comes to me at a rate of only sixty minutes to the hour. On a whole on relaxation, the ideas on different types of relaxation like Zen breathing, progressive relaxation and others, I feel refreshed each day I practice relaxation. The truth is relaxation gives peace of mind. I just feel stand still to all the worries, bustling, hustling and the noise from my external environment and even with those that clouds my mind. I feel peace. I understand now that it is only when we are relaxed that complex works are made easy. I am hoping and praying to keep doing the daily fifteen minutes relaxation exercise.

Sowing SEEDS to reap success:

SEEDS which stands for Situation, Evaluation, Emotions, Do, and Self esteem is a very practical idea to de-stress myself. I learnt from the idea to see situation as fundamentally neutral, evaluate the situation to know who owns the problem, shift my emotions to fit my evaluation, do something about the situation and the watch my self esteem grow. This idea is important to me because it has helped me saved a situation that formerly I would have been very crazy about. I was into a conversation with my Dad which turned out not to good, but I later kept quiet and sow SEED into the situation. I discovered that it was my fault, I had to go back apologize and now we are friends again, I and my Dad. It really made me feel good and I felt more matured to be able to handle situation differently than how it used to be. IIGL is doing great by this great study program.

Likening Human beings to a bicycle:

I have been reading about goal settings in other books but this book gave me a clearer understanding on the importance of setting goals and getting goals. I like the statement that “we maintain our balance only while we are moving forward toward something. Trying to maintain balance while sitting in one place makes us feel shaky and, ultimately, we fall”. I discovered that setting goals no matter what it is, is the prerequisite to success after building a positive self image. From the first two books I read in this level one, I had been able to set goals but with the idea I have from this book, it has helped me to clarify the goals and set it the SMART way. I became more specific with the goals; made sure I thought through its measurement, understand the actions I need to make to get my goals, realistic about the plans for the goals and then the time I need to make the goal a reality. I feel more secured with my new SMART goals and no more being anxious but excited and happy.

Using Negative feedback to point me toward Success:

I understood that negative feedback when received positively helps us to make a course correction which will guide us down the road to creative accomplishment. Before now, honestly when I receive negative feedback, I feel like dead because I feel it only confirms my sense of inadequacies caused by my poor self image. Now, I am more confident and look for opportunities to be given negative feedback. I remember last year during my leadership & entrepreneurship training course at Kanthari, India; one popular word that was associated with me was being defensive because I reacted to negative feedback. Although along the line I corrected that reaction to responding but still didn’t have a clear picture of how best to respond until I read Psycho-Cybernetics. The interesting thing is that it seems the negative feedback are always around but with the help of the ideas on receiving it positively, I no longer notice negative feedback but I see feedback that helps me to do whatever I do better.

Everyone’s real personality is a good personality:

This statement to me is healing because it has made me to love everyone the more no matter how bad their personality is at the moment. I learnt about disinhibiting my personality to free the creative potential within me. With this idea, I see greatness in everyone. Infact, this part was confirmed to me when I was reading my bible recently and came across Philippians 4:5, it says: “Show a gentle attitude towards everyone. The Lord is coming soon.” This idea has made me to change my way of thinking and I am enjoying positive and success type personality. Ultimately, it has helped me to develop a project for children with disruptive attitude in my community to help them free their creative potential. I used to resent them because of their mannerism but now I think it is far better to make them understand how to channel their energies into productive ventures and start building for themselves opportunities for positive self growth.

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 has helped me developed a pleasant personality that I am enjoying. I have understood the power of controlling the mind to picture only desirable successful results. Going through the Psycho-Cybernetics 2000 program has helped me to clarify my goals and practically identify false beliefs that have been holding me down in the past. My confidence has increased and I talk assertively with all humility to difficult friends, colleagues and family members now. In the past months, I have experienced some successes as a result of Faith & believe in God and with picturing success in my mind. For example, I have a great passion for good governance and democracy but I do not have the required skills and knowledge to make project work in that area. A Training opportunity came for being trained in good governance and democracy with youth leadership. I applied and with faith in God and lessons learnt on how to use the right brain for picturing success, I imagined myself successful in the application process, attending the training program and doing my best to gain all the knowledge necessary and put it into practice. I am happy to announce that the result came out and I was selected to attend the program starting in January, 2013. I believe it is a program that will transform my life and the life of people in my community and around the world. So, Psycho-Cybernetics 2000 has been of a tremendous help in my personal development and Faith in God. After the Bible, it will be my guide.

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.

Plan your work before you work your plan:

If you won’t connect to paper, you won’t connect to reality! Wow. Before reading this book, I was a chronic victim of acting on impulse when an idea comes to my mind. But now, I write every idea down and think it through planning before working it out. I also encourage everyone around me with ideas to ink it as they think it. My goal for 2013 has been written down and planned for execution. This planning came after reading this book and I feel more secured with a plan written on ground.

“It’s important to think of any goal as a process, not a place to be.”

Before now, I used to feel contented with little successes but I discovered from this quote that success in itself is a stepping stone to other successes. So, I have changed my mentality to see goal is the final stop, but as a process to achieving more.

“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.”

I see heavy truth in this statement because you can’t give what you don’t have and you can’t get what you don’t give. The law of reciprocal. Having this in mind has really helped me to be more creative and innovative. One cannot afford to remain the same over time. Change is constant and important. Last year, my organization worked in two different schools supporting them with leadership skills but 2013, we are targeting 5 schools which to me is progress in action. With that more young people will gain skills to enable them live life by their own script.

“To see and appreciate the contribution each of us makes to other people and the world, we need to acknowledge that every one of us has unique gifts and each of us matters.”

I only can simply say thank God for this quote. I recognize that since I am striving to be a world changer, I need nothing less than the truth in the quote above. It is and will help me to appreciate individual and cultural differences.

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?

Yes. So many interesting and exiting exercises in the form of questionnaires and techniques. I completed them all. However, I still feel inspirationally dissatisfied because I am making those exercises as a checklist for my personal development therefore, once in a while; I will still take the exercises up.

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.

Keys to Success
Assessment by Marcus Edibogi Akor (Nigeria)

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

The main idea the author is trying to convey is that a positive mental attitude is the single most important principle in the science of success. He said I will depend upon it in everything I do. The author gave seventeen principles of personal achievement that will help anyone achieve any form of success that is desired and honorable.

a. The difference between wish and a burning desire is crucial: I always wish so many good things of life for myself, my family members and friends, but I realized that it does not end at wishing. It begins with a burning desire then followed by a plan for action to making my wish come true. After getting inspiration from the chapter “develop definiteness of purpose”, I drew up an action plan that will lead me to achieve some personal and professional goals from now till year 2022. Each day I look at my plan, I feel am in the right process of becoming what I want in life. By developing my plan for success, I have noticed I have some great level of faith in myself and I believe that everything I need to succeed has been put in place for me.

b. Selecting the members of my alliance: two qualities that I learnt to keep foremost in my mind while choosing people who will help me attain my goal are the ability to do the job and the ability to work in a spirit of harmony. This idea has helped me a great deal. Recently in September, 2012, my organization had a vacancy for a computer operator. I gave the panel of interviewers the two conditions for recruiting the best person and it worked. Among those that applied and were interviewed, the person we finally chose is really doing a great job with the students and they all say they like him. I have also shared the same ideas with friends who wanted to do recruitment and it has helped them too.

c. Assembling an attractive personality: so many aspects of my personality I used to ignore as not important before, I discovered as very important in the process of giving it attention. For example, a smiling habit use to make me feel like a joker but I realize that maintaining a good and sincere smile at all time especially when hurt is a medicine to the heart. I realized that everyone that I smile at, always respond with a good smile. Sometimes, when I meet with someone with a serious face, I smile at the person and it is just contagious because immediately the person smiles, s/he feels free. I am becoming more and more humble because of the truth I discovered in this book and it is really making me love more and feel loved.

d. I should not only simply have faith, I just use it: this helped me combine faith with action. When I have the idea of doing something, I go ahead and do it even though the prevailing circumstances are not encouraging. With this idea, I have learnt to ignore what is seen and focus on what is unseen because it helps me visualize and imagine better things order than the things around me. I have accepted that I alone is responsible to what happens to me, so I have decided in faith to make good things happen to me and will not lose sight of that. Putting my faith into action has also helped me understand that everything I do in pursuit of my goal for better life is worthy. Another way I have learnt to have faith is know that my mind attracts anything it dwells upon. So, in faith, I dwell upon my plans for action and I see them translating to reality.

e. Until I begin to render more service then I am already being paid for, I am not entitled to any pay: from
this book I have learned to go the extra mile. I discover that the extra mile is even supposed to be a normal part of life. Doing the ordinary in an extra ordinary way. I feel peace of mind when I do things beyond people’s imagination. Recently, a student came to type her project in our computer center; I sensed how she was struggling with the project for weeks and how the deadline for her submission is coming close. I woke up one early morning; worked on the project and helped her finished it. First thing in the morning at about six am, I text her to come for her completed project when office resumes. I cannot explain the excitement and happiness she felt when she came and got her project printed. She came back again to give thanks and since then she has been thanking God. I felt good doing the project out of help even though I had several other things to do or at least sleep.

f. Procrastination as the archenemy of personal initiative: lately I discovered that there are lots of projects that can be initiated to help the poor masses of my community. However, when it comes to planning, I always feel lazy and begin doing other minor task. I have learnt to do it now. I forced myself to begin developing a plan for an initiative for disruptive children and youth in my community and now the plan is coming on well. Also, I tried out organizing kids in my church and teaching them moral values and the program is well appreciated by the parents and the kids themselves. I think personal initiative is the key to solve the world’s problem.

g. Nothing great has ever been achieved without positive mental attitude: this is perfectly true because I discovered that I am becoming irresistible even in places people complain that it is no go area just because I am building and practicing keeping a positive mental attitude. Recently, I went to meet the youth corp members (those doing their compulsory one year service after studies) to share an idea on good governance and democracy, they all gave me a good audience because I kept a positive mind and gave a good presentation. So many of them were happily registering their interest in the idea.

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 in this book are already helping me in different practical ways. I have been able to set both professional and personal goals for myself. Some I am yet to achieve, some I have achieved. I am more and more becoming conscious of what I say, what I do and what I think because I ask myself what result I will gladly receive. If the result does not sound good, I change my thought and what I give out because I am only willing to receive good things. I was encouraged to read building a positive mental attitude at least once a week for six months, I am currently abiding by that prescription and it is really making me transformed in my thoughts and actions. I enjoy close friendship with my new friends who have the same passion for social change the way I do.

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.

“Occupy your mind with doing what you want to do so that no time will be left for it to stray to the things you do not want to do.” This quote is important to me because it helps me stay focus and reduces negative emotion from my mind. I feel happy when I control my mind towards what I want to do and do them. This quote has also helped me in combating procrastination.

“Learn to like people just as they are, instead of demanding that they be just as you want them to be.” This quote has helped increase my tolerance and understanding of people with different personalities. I understand that everyone cannot be the same and every individual is unique. Therefore, it makes me look at each person as being great the way s/he is.

“Do not fear criticism, encourage it.” I now realized that criticism is one major tool for growth when received positively. I have learnt not to react negatively but respond positively to any criticism directed to me.

“And there will be other generations after ours. Their lot in life will depend largely on the inheritance we leave them. We all must become bridge builders, not only for the present generation but for generations yet unborn.” For me this is the singular purpose we exist. Understanding that we shall leave this earth one day, we all have to be aware and conscious of making success that will lead to better life for us and for generations to come. Otherwise, posterity will not forgive us. I have choose to build success in my life that will last for eternity because I understand that I am created for eternity and will do my best to leave a positive legacy.

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?

Yes. I completed the exercises on the fast review chapter. I find them very helpful. I visit it once in a while to update my current review.

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.

How to Win Friends and Influence People
Assessment by Marcus Edibogi Akor (Nigeria)

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

The main idea the author is trying to convey is ideas on ways to make people like me and win people to my way of thinking, change people without arousing resentment and leading them effectively for change.

A. Don’t criticize, complain, or condemn.

After getting this idea, I recently went to my family house and noticed the face of my younger sister not happy, I asked her why she is not looking happy and she explained the issue between her and my Dad. From her explanation she was at fault, but I didn’t say a word further which was unusual of me. I was patient not to show my anger with her because she felt she was right in disobeying our Dad’s instruction. The issue led to my mum complaining from her room. Few minutes later, we were together to share the days experience and I brought up the issue and backing it up with the word of God in the Bible. Everyone in the house understood where their fault was and willing took responsibility and apologized to each other. Peace was restored to the house. If it were before, from when my younger sister explained the issue, I would have criticized and condemned her and even join my mum and dad in complaining about the issue but from the wisdom in this idea, I was able to act differently which at the end brought peace to the house.

B. Give honest and sincere appreciation.

I noticed one of our members who always made sure that our office is clean and I sincerely thanked him for doing a great job with the cleaning of the place. It was really interesting to watch this principle play out. That same day, he came and wanted to clean the entire center but I advised instead he should only clean the windows so that he won’t be late for other things of the day. To my greatest surprise, he cleaned the window to a shining level I never saw before. Even 2 days later, other members were asking who cleaned the window because it still looked new. I truly respect this principle and I will always try to obey it.

Another instance, I appreciated my younger sister for preparing meal for us in the house and the next time she served me she almost emptied the content of the whole pot for only me. Giving honest and sincere appreciation anytime is worth it.

C. Self expression is the dominant necessity of human nature.

I planned to implement a “Youth Leadership, understanding democracy and good governance summit” recently and I was looking for a space for the summit. I went to my local government council to seek for their hall and was told by a staff that I needed to meet with someone who will now lead me to another person and finally to the Leader of the Legislative council for the release of the hall. I established a relationship immediately with the staff and made her feel important that she could help me in securing the hall and I told her my plans for the summit and also gave her special invitation to bring her young children. We ended up friends and I was asked to go and come back. Few minutes later, I felt I should collect the woman’s phone number and I went to meet her. But before I could say anything, she told me that the leader is around and even gave me some idea on how to approach him and assured me that I will get the hall for free. As prophesied by my new friend, I met with the Leader and after allowing him talk for sometime about himself and his achievements in the area of development. He told me that I am very free to use the hall. I got the hall free of charge and had a successful summit all because I allowed the people involved express themselves freely without interruption.

D. Become genuinely interested in other people.

I have a friend whom I ceased writing email to, because I hardly get her reply but I decided to write again after getting this idea. I wrote to her asking how she and her family was doing without making any further request or comments and sincerely asked her of her welfare. I got a quick reply on from her telling me how she was doing and her daughter had an injury and she is writing me from the hospital where her daughter was receiving treatment and all the stuff happening around them. I replied as soon as I read the email to show my sincere concern and support in prayers for her daughter’s quick healing and asked for the daughter’s name. Honestly, our conversation through emails seemed we were sitting in the same room talking. She lives in Lithuania and ofcourse I, in Nigeria. It was amazing how people get interested in you because you got interested in them first. The principle works!

E. There is nothing either good or bad, thinking makes it so.

I have learned to see things on a neutral ground and give it my own meaning before expressing outward signs. I was recently approached by a church member on an issue since 2010! I was really taking by surprise but I remained calm as the church member went on talking till she finished. Few minutes later after having a thought on it, I just strictly warned her in a mild tone not to talk to me on that issue again. To my surprise, unlike her, she apologized quickly and said she wouldn’t do that again. What I think is supposing I warned immediately she was talking, she would have reacted instead of responding with apologies. Therefore, it is always good to have a rethink on how best to handle difficult situation and not act like everyone else who would react before thinking.

F. The name sets the individual apart, and makes them unique among all others.

I submitted a letter recently to my Local Government Chairman’s office through his secretary because the Chairman was not around. I asked the Secretary his name, and he told me. After about 3 weeks, I went to follow up my letter and I met so many people in the secretary’s office seeking for attention. Just like this book stated “The request we are making takes on a special importance when we approach the situation with the name of the individual”, it works! I immediately called his name and greeted him happily, first, a broad smile returned to his serious face and he quickly gave me all the attention I needed and even at a point he was apologizing for not remembering me but I just told him I understand that he meets so many people always so it is not his problem. Interestingly, all others who were clamoring for attention from him were all quite while I and my “name” friend was attending to each other. Thanks to IIGL!

G. Be a good listener, encourage others to talk about themselves.

On Monday, the week of this assessment, I was invited for a meeting by the proprietor of one of the fastest growing private primary school in my community. He told me that he was in such a hurry to meet up and travel to our state capital, therefore, our meeting will be very brief. He explained to me the purpose of the meeting and I listened attentively. After some few words from me, I am appreciating his idea. The rest was history! He inspired me with all the great achievements he has made and still striving to make to meet with his vision. The brief meeting turned out to last close to 2 hours. And in this period, I can count the number of my words but at the end, the proprietor was so happy that he even gave me an opportunity to develop training seminars for his youth group in the church at any cost because he loved to work with me.

It is a proven fact that to be interesting, be interested. God works miracle honestly and I thank God for inspiring the founder of IIGL and the authors of books like this to help developmental minded people gain success. I truly appreciate.

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 see myself being successful in all I do already because of the ideas from this book because all of them I am trying have instant positive result. I think this is the highest form of ideas to dealing with people. In my personal life, it has improved my relationship with my siblings, my parents, my acquaintances and my friends. As a matter of fact, I now discovered why I lost so many of my valuable friends in the past because I failed to make them feel important. In my organization, it is bringing more people to know about our work and making me make new friends who get interested in me and my work because I am interested in them. I have a Youth Leadership Program going on in my organization; I will teach these ideas to the youth in the program to contribute my part in creating a better world.

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 desire to be important is the deepest urge in human nature:”

I truly want to be important therefore naturally I don’t like it when people don’t give me the desired attention. But the fact is, I need to give importance to people, If I want importance. I used this principle any time I give speech, I sincerely make the participants from the beginning of my talk understand how important they are. The result is, I have a good atmosphere and cooperation of all the participants because they position themselves well to listen to my talk. And in that way, I get my audience and importance. It is always good to do unto others as I would have others do unto me.

“The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it:”

My neighbor recently wanted to engage me why it will not be good to appoint the next Pope from Nigeria, since we will destroy the system. His argument was coming in as a result of the recent news on Pope’s resignation which we were discussing and I was hoping that the next Pope comes from Nigeria. I sensed his seriousness and how he was bringing facts that Nigerian is not worth the sit of the pope. I just told him that, instead of discussing how other people are not worthy of God’s favor, why don’t we think of ourselves and see how we can make daily conscious change in our ways to earn God’s favor and also pray for the growth and development of our dear country. I added that the pope position if given to Nigeria, imagine the blessings, our image to a large extent will be pleasant and it will go to positively affect every single Nigeria’s image. Honestly, the man was quite after approaching his argument from a humble perspective and avoiding rebuking him for negative thoughts towards his country or trying to give reasons why a Nigerian worth becoming a pope. He agreed with what I said on individual personal development for change and that is how his prepared argument came to close.

“Sympathy the human species universally craves:”

In the past I have neglected giving sympathy so much that I was not getting along with the people who are dear to me. I began to show sincere sympathy to people who come complaining about the smallest thing in this world and it made a big difference. I now get along nicely with everyone who comes my way. I have learnt to be sympathetic with other people’s ideas and desires.

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?

Not applicable.

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. Although, at every point the author recommended that we practice the principles and I obeyed.

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.

As always, your questions are well covered.

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

Giant Steps
Assessment by Marcus Edibogi Akor (Nigeria)

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

The main idea the author is trying to convey in the book are sets of principles and lessons on how to improve the quality of our relationships, finances, health and emotions, ultimately have a quality life.

A. Most people overestimate what they can do in a year and underestimate what they can do in a decade.

Overestimation of what I can do in a year and even in a day has caused me frustration and I know what it means. Therefore with this statement, I got the idea to moderate my thought and goals for the short and long term. I review my goals more often and now I feel more comfortable and at peace achieving my goals easily and not overwhelming myself.

B. Whatever we focus on determines how we feel.

This is so true because how we feel powerfully influences our actions and interactions. I remember recently I was focused on a relationship which was making me think and feel inadequate and a very caring friend called me on phone, I responded indifferently and I later felt bad. My neighbor with all enthusiasm was welcoming me for meeting me after a long time, but I responded very casually because my mind was full of pain from focusing on an assumed imbalance relationship. I have learnt to consider all the possibilities of an issue rather than jump to conclusions and chose to focus on one that will empower me and I care about.

C. Beliefs have the power to create and the power to destroy.

This statement is so powerful to me because I have experienced both side of the creating and destroying self, based on belief. I feel pain each time I choose to belief that the challenges especially financial challenges I am going through cannot be overcome. I always feel really bad and depressed. I begin to feel I am alone in the whole wide world and nobody cares if I live or not. On the other hand, when I believe that all the challenges I am facing will pass away and there is hope for the future, I feel energized, confident and positive. I get more love and attention from people around me because I flow in a state of peace. Therefore, I believe strongly that our beliefs have the power to create or destroy us. I have consciously decided what I am going to believe.

D. Ask questions that will uplift your spirit and push you along the path of excellence.
I asked a friend a question recently that made the friend angrily walked away because of how I asked the question. I strive to get excellence in my relationship with others but the more I tried the more I felt things are not working until I came across the idea of questioning in the right direction. Since I started considering my questions and asking myself the question before taking it out on others, I feel more connected with people I relate with. I now ask questions that I know will uplift my spirit and the spirit of others too. Also in my relationship with myself, I discover that when I ask myself the wrong questions I feel disempowered. I begin to give myself negative answers that lower my spirit and It makes me feel low self esteem. However, when I came across the statement that “a single change in the habitual questions we ask ourselves can and will profoundly change the quality of our life,” I instantly began to eliminate negative questions from my memory and replacing with positive questions that put smile in my face. Questions are truly the laser of human consciousness.

E. The resources you need to change anything in life are within you right now, just waiting to be tapped.

As I write this assessment, I feel empowered with a new spirit relating with this statement, I feel good and great. I used to underestimate my potential and I didn’t realize that “what I don’t use, I lose” until I came across this powerful statement which has transformed my life. I now see myself in a new light of possibilities. I discover that I can do all things successfully if only I can think, imagine and persist long enough in whatever I have chosen to do. This statement works in my life most especially when I decide what I really want and also ask myself what is preventing me from having it now. Most of the time what prevents me from having what I want is what I focus on. I know what I really want but then distractions set in and I lose focus, at the end, I see myself going back and forth. Now, it is a different story, I have learnt to focus on the positive things my heart longs for.

F. Carefully choose the words you use to describe your health.

One of the major changes I made in my local dialect is to change the way I respond to questions like how are you and how is your health? My local dialect has a negative way of answering that question which doesn’t fully represent how one’s health is at the moment of questioning. A direct translation of the usual general way of response is, “I am not bad”. I decided to always respond “I am doing good or great or abundantly healthy”. Honestly, for me it makes a huge difference because I discover that my response helps shape my mood. Also when I am feeling pain in my head and I am asked how is “my headache?” I quickly correct the statement, it is not “my headache” but “the headache” is passing away and I am really feeling energetic and relief. My words set the space for miraculous feeling.

G. You are the source of all your emotions.

I discovered that I can create or change my emotions any moment. Before now I always want to find enough good reason for feeling good but from this book, I learnt that I do not need an excuse to allow myself to feel good. I can decide to feel good any moment of my life and that is it. I also understand very well now that all emotions serve me, it’s just for me to transform them and deal effectively with the situation, looking for solutions and learning from and using them to enhance my life and the lives of all those I have the privilege to touch.

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 I learnt in this book are very helpful and timely because already, people around me and those I come in contact with are testifying to my positive spirit and how good I am. An acquaintance turned friend recently told me “Marcus you are very nice, good and forgiving. In fact you are the best because you don’t get angry, you treat everyone with respect and dignity and you show exceptional leadership”. Honestly, for me I was shocked because in the first place, I never expected any of such from this friend especially a Muslim female and surprise that I was being observed. In essence, I thank God and IIGL for helping me rediscover my life, my purpose and helping me get on purpose through the powerful books in IIGL curriculum I have read so far up to this book. I am most grateful.

Other ways the ideas have practically helped me is being in harmony with my thoughts, words and actions and I have decided it as a lifestyle. I am guiding my heart seriously now with all diligence to always think positive. Negative thought distracts me once a while but the amount of positivity in my system does not allow the distractions to thrive. If not for the books, I will be sick of depression and frustration by now but I have come to believe that circumstances do not make a man, his thinking and attitude does. In my daily life now, I experience how people respond to me with love, and respect because I have decided to give them same.

My relationship is growing stronger each day because when I begin to think limiting thoughts, I quickly replace with empowering thought like all the good things I admire in my relationship and immediately I begin to feel good and peaceful. In creating a better world, I am being seen as a role model already in my community, people come to share deep issues in their lives with me based on trust and believing I can guide them through. I happily always guide them through using the experiences I acquire from reading books at IIGL. Books are really boosters of destiny. Things that ordinarily I wouldn’t know, through books, I feel experienced. I am trying my best by giving my time to young people in my community by empowering them positively.

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.

“Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside of them was superior to circumstance.” Bruce Barton

I totally agree with this statement because I used to feel I am defined by my circumstances but because of this quote I know that my circumstances cannot in anyway define me and I very strongly believe that I am more than any circumstance or situation in my life.

“Words can produce illness; words can kill. Therefore, wise physicians are very careful about the way they communicate.”

Even in the Bible, it is written that we should be careful what we say with our tongue because in it lies the power of life and death. With this knowing, I am very conscious of my communication and I am succeeding by communicating positively with others. I use my words to empower and encourage others. There is truly power in words because I remember when I used to be very sarcastic with what I say, what I get is angry people who do not want me around. When I begin to use transformational vocabulary, everyone wants to be around me. Mark Twain nicely put this whole idea as “A powerful agent is the right word. Whenever we come upon one of those intensely right words, the resulting effect is physical as well as spiritual, and electrically prompt.”

“You have to have something to get you out of bed. I can’t do anything in bed, anyway.”

I am writing this very line of assessment at about 4:45am and it is the main reason why I got out of bed even though I didn’t feel like it. But since I have a goal to finish my assessment on this date. I am motivated by my goal to get into action. If I had remain in bed, I will only be wishing how far I should have gone with my assessment, so nothing can take the place of having a goal to look forward to achieving and get the motivation to go for it.

“Most people are as happy as they decide to be.”

I think being happy or unhappy is a thing of the mind and a decision. Therefore, remembering this statement when I want to feel angry because of external circumstances, I make myself happy again because it is a conscious decision.

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?

Not applicable to me.

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?

Yes.

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? 10
C. How easy was it to understand? 10
D. Would you recommend it to others? 10 (in fact I am giving my copy to a friend)
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 9

The New Dynamics of Winning

Assessment by Marcus Edibogi Akor (Nigeria)

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

The main idea the author is trying to convey in The New Dynamics of Winning is how we can develop our mind over muscles. The book teaches mental strategies on how to succeed in every areas of life.

i. The stair step method

According to this book, “Maximum success is built upon mini goals. Any goal can be achieved, but first it must be broken down into a series of sub-goals. Each smaller goal should lead you, one day at a time, to your larger life goal. We described this process using a four part terminology: define, outline, timeframe, and claim.” This idea is important to me because, one of my goals for this year is to resume my IIGL studies. Therefore, I sent an email in that regard and was given direction by Deborah. Although, in 2013, I read The New Dynamics of Winning but I didn’t write an assessment. However, before I re-started my IIGL studies, I broke my goal of completing my IIGL studies without breaking it again into sub goals of reading my IIGL materials 2 hours a day. I started last week Monday and to my surprise on Thursday, I completed this book. I understood how that setting a goal and breaking the goal into smaller goals can help to speedily achieve success.

ii. Today is yours; you choose how to live it.

This idea struck me because even though I have always tried to program my day, I failed to meet up expectation most of the time. This book reminded me of the importance of choosing how to live my day irrespective of prevailing circumstances. Now, on a daily basis, I plan my day and remain committed to meet up the plan. I have tested it consistently for a week since I began this study and I have achieved more than I ever expected. I also tried to neglect a day and found that nothing worthwhile was achieved. Therefore, I have learned to choose how to live my day and I plan to stay committed to always plan my day.

iii. Don’t just hope for the best; learn to expect the best, even if you have to force yourself to do so. I fell in love with the statement “let’s hope for the best” until I learnt from this book that it is even best “to expect the best.”

That is having a high expectation. It has changed my mindset since I came across it. For example, in my organization “The Bridge Youth Development Foundation,” I am always mindful of limited resources as a result, I organize poor programs. But I have decided to be my best in all my programs now and make them an excellent experience for participants. Am full of realistic high expectations for my work and life.

iv. Quit being careful.

This has always been my problem. I am careful about everything even things that I know will add value to me and others. All because I worry about what my friends will say or feel. I have decided to not be careful anymore. I will take as much risk as is presented to me. I believe no one ever gets rewarded doing nothing. Being careful has made me do nothing but procrastinate everything. I have changed my mind. No more being careful. Am going all out to do as my mind conceives positive and as directed by the Holy Spirit within me.

v. Real power comes from empowering others.

During the week I was reading this book, I was coaching one of my mentees on confidence building and leadership. I found that in empowering the young man, he became more committed to things that concerns me and also had a burning desire to learn more. I felt really good about our empowering sessions. That gave me an idea to do the same job of building his confidence on a larger scale. Therefore, I decided that in 3rd week of January, 2016, I’ll begin a 3 days program on leadership where I can empower more young people to discover, develop and deploy their potentials. One of the books I gave to the young man during our program was “As a Man Thinketh.” I have discussed IIGL with him and I believe he’ll become a student soon.

vi. Laboring Under Correct Knowledge (L.U.C.K.)

This blew my mind because I have learnt in the past that knowledge without zeal is tantamount to destruction. With this acronym of L.U.C.K., I understand that it is good to labor under correct knowledge; otherwise all efforts will be wasted. As for me, I think, restarting my IIGL studies and staying committed to it is a way to labor under correct knowledge.

vii. Seeing leads to believing. Believing leads to achieving.

Visualization of victory that I read in the book made me to enter into the spirit of possibilities and faith that everything is possible. I am publishing a book for children on Anti-Corruption titled “Integrity – A weapon to fight corruption” and the success I have visualize makes me feel wonderful and on top of the world. I believe the whole children in primary school in Nigeria will have a copy of my book. I believe that continents will celebrate my work. I have visualized the success and I tell you, I am also taking strategic actions and steps towards fulfilling my dream. You see as I write this assessment, I went out to look for an instructor to illustrate some diagrams in the book that turned me down, but I am not discouraged. I believe I’ll get a better illustrator, I only feel sorry for the illustrator for missing out on the opportunity to be part of a global 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?

These ideas are already helping me develop my ability to believe even the unbelievable. In my daily personal life, I am building confidence daily by having control over my time and personal development and the development of others. I am also learning not to accept below the best. I am learning to counter every negative action or words from others that is not consistent to my belief. For example, today in Church, I put my Bible and Jotter on a seat at the front row. Then a fellow church member went and took my materials from the chair without my knowledge and kept it at a seat where I regularly sat. When I saw it, I went to ask her if she did it, she said yes, I asked her why? She said the seat is reserved for Pastors. I told her to go get my materials back on the seat but she didn’t and was smiling. When it was time to seat, I went took my materials back to the seat and sat for the service. I had a wonderful service. After the service, I asked the Pastor if the front row seats were actually reserved for Pastors, he said no, that anyone can seat there. I went back to the Lady and warned her frankly, never to do that again. Now, if it were in the past, I will just overlook and sit at the seat the lady prescribed for me by her own thinking. But now, I know better to stick to what I believe is best for me irrespective of people’s negative perceptions.

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.

Life’s most important revelation is that it’s the journey that counts, not the destination. Life is not a treasure hunt. Life itself is the treasure. Oh yes! Life itself is the treasure!”

I discovered the importance of this quote because we can easily forget that the process is as much as important as the result of a thing. In 2013 during a youth leadership and democracy academy I attended under the theme leadership aspiration, I learned that there are two types of leaders, transactional and transformational leaders. Meaning that transactional leader’s gets results at all cost, while transformational leaders follow through the process of achieving results. And I resolved since then until this book is emphasizing “process” to be a transformational leader.

“If you want a teammate or life-mate to love to be around you, all you need to do is love to be around. Having passion for living is something that we normally take for granted until something terrible comes our ways.”

This quote has helped me to appreciate life and love to live to the fullest of my abilities and thereby making loved ones around my life full of life. I discovered many times in the past that I felt hopeless, no one love to be around me. But when am hopeful about life, I discover that even hopeless people become hopeful too. It’s the thing of the mind, it is about changing mindsets. I love to be around to add value to others.

Paul “Bear” Bryant was quoted in The New Dynamics of Winning saying “If anything went wrong, I did it. If it went semi-good, then we did it. If anything went real good, then you did it. That’s all it takes to get people to win for you.”

Wow! I learned that to make people win for you, you have to make them feel great about themselves. I have determined to be lavish with my praise of others from now forward, genuinely though.

“Nothing damages self-esteem as much as being singled out in public. People will be much more receptive to your advice if you offer it quietly, in private.”

This is completely true and I had to learn it in a hard way. My mum and everyone around me always complained that I don’t know how to talk to people, that I was rude and arrogant. Although I felt I was doing the right thing by openly rebuking people and all of that, but it dawned on me when I talked to someone privately, and the rebuke was appreciated, I understood the difference. Therefore, with this emphasis in this book, I am determined to never single anyone even a kid out in public anymore but do it more respectfully and in love.

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?

None.

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?

Not really, except for the 21 days challenge which I read through and found it helpful and it serving as my guide daily even beyond completing the book.

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.