Minny Nkwe – Assessments – International Institute for Global Leadership

As A Man Thinketh
Assessment by Minny Nkwe (Botswana)

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

The author’s main idea is on how man thinks and how powerful can thoughts influence his character in the conditions and circumstances of his life. A man becomes what they are or what they will be because of what they think, he is the master of his thoughts by experiencing and applying it in his life, everything (job, relationships, happiness, pain, winning and losing) that happens to us is the result of what we will be thinking of all day not by chance, the way we think draws those energies to us, If we think evil and dark thoughts we attract this same energy around us, we are not aware of our thoughts as we do not know what we think all day because if we knew, then we would realize that our life sucks because of what we are thinking, we have to observe our thoughts and change them gradually and this will automatically help us create any circumstances we want to think of. A man’s thoughts and character are one thing and can not be separated, the body is the servant of the mind, whatever negative thoughts we have affect our body, in order to choose to have a purpose in life we have to get rid of aimlessness and weak thoughts, our life is a reflection of our own words and thoughts, the man of weak thoughts can make them strong by exercising himself in the right thinking. On the surface, the premise is simple whether one is purposeful in thought or one allows thoughts to drift, we are responsible for our circumstances. The ultimate in self control is calmness of mind.

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) “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he”. The sum of a man’s thoughts are his character. His character influences the conditions and circumstances of his life, I found myself dwelling too much in the past, I would be sitting in a couch eating food and replaying past events and conversations in my mind again and again, sometimes not even savoring the food I am eating, it made me feel confused and mixed up and in such a frame of mind, I would blame my circumstances for not feeling good. Then I realized that by not replaying passed events in my mind I could enjoy my food and savor the surrounding ambience of the room im in and I felt very fresh, and smiled at myself. As I became aware of how I was thinking things I did not want to think about, I let them go and as soon as I let go of the past I felt so much better.

ii) The relationship between thought and circumstance, a man’s mind may be likened to a garden – cultivated or uncultivated. The cultivated produces flowers & fruit, while the uncultivated produces weeds many times, Sometimes it is wonderful to go out and be with pals but by continuasily doing this always gave me a low priority and did not make me feel good as I abused myself by denying my needs always, For example I would skip working on the project which I loved, to simply accompany a friend on a pleasure trip where my presence would not make a difference at all. It was deeply ingrained in me that this is what I “should” be doing, and I felt unhappy about it in the end. If I could have continued with this belief, I would have been keep abusing myself to do what I “should” be doing and then keep feeling not good. And like all of us, I would blame circumstances when I would feel bad. But the actual culprit was the belief that I “should” be abusing myself all the time to help my friend in any smallest possible way, The moment I became aware of this belief, I smiled at how I was creating circumstances by thinking thoughts that were not nice for me. So I gave up the disempowering belief and felt very happy.

iii) The effect that thoughts have on our bodies and health: The body is the servant of the mind. With unlawful thoughts our bodies are at a risk of disease and can also kill the body but with beautiful thoughts it becomes clothed with youthfulness & beauty. A positive mind anticipates happiness, joy, health and a successful outcome of every situation and action.

iv) Until thought is linked with purpose there is no intelligent accomplishment, a man who does not have a purpose in life is like driving a car without fuel that lead it to fail and wont even move to the next level, and this will result in a loss and self pity, a man should have a purpose that he set for himself to accomplish. He should make this purpose the centralizing point of his thoughts, he should not allow his thoughts to wander into fanciful imaginings, we can fail to achieve this purpose several times but the more we go through this challenge the more we realise our weakness that we work-on by fixing our thoughts faultness and we grow in character.

v) All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts. we can only alter our weakness and strength as they are our problems, for a man to achieve anything he wants is for him to think big and think positive as it is a mental attitude and state of mind, which focuses on the full half of the glass and not on the empty half, and we should think in terms of I can, I am able and I will succeed.

vi) The dreamers are the saviors of the world. My vision is the promise of what i will become one day, my dreams and vision lead to who i become by that I will guard my thoughts of my dreams, vision and ideal as i am putting together a vision board to keep in focus those dreams for them to become reality. My ideal is to prophecy of what i shall uncover.

vii) Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom. It always make sense when you do things at a relaxed mind and with this you think clearly. Peace of mind is conductive to better emotional and physical health, increased energy, stronger mental powers and improved memory. I enjoy life with a peaceful mind because I will be experiencing the inner strength and won’t be threatened by anything as I will be having inner costant joy.

3. How will these ideas or lessons help you in a practical way, both in your daily personal life and in helping you to create a better world? If so, how?

My thoughts build who I am, as am responsible for my character. The only way for me to change my character is through controlling the quality of my thought life. To make changes in my circumstances, I must sow the seeds of positive thought and I am at the moment in the process of putting together my personal affirmations. Through repetition and keeping a constant focus, I am sowing the seeds of success for better circumstances.

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 link between thought and health has been identified by many for years now. I quote, “clean thoughts make clean habits.” It’s amazing how we always make physical changes, like a change in diet, yet most of the time we fail. These failures are a not a failure in action that we cannot do it, but a failure in thought. So as I examine myself, I must identify what thoughts have lead to any unhealthy health habits that I have. I came to a conclusion that the mind is a great place to start to make changes. James Allen links the importance of purpose. Once purpose is identified and the mind is fixed on this purpose, the actions will follow. This is what we always ask ourselves “Why am I here?” as we may know it is not a question that should be taken lightly because without purpose, thoughts and actions are aimless and unfocussed. I am still processing this through a process purposeful thought. Clarity in this area will lead to clarity in other parts of my life

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

From my own pespective I think the book was well covered and easy to understand.

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 exercise for I the reader to complete.

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, I feel the questions covered most of everything that is in the book.

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

A. How interesting was it to read?                       8
B. How helpful were the contents?                       7
C. How easy was it to understand?                       6
D. Would you recommend it to others?               9
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 7

Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Assessment by Minny Nkwe (Botswana)

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

The main idea of the authour is to teach us that it is okay to be different and not do what everyone else does, just because you are supposed to. We are supposed to be who we are, it is our choice to make what is right for us, and that we have the ability to change reality with the power of our own thoughts. It is about every one of us, struggling to find the answers, to reach something higher that we are not even yet aware of. We all have the power to become what we want if only we can believe in ourselves. As we see Jonathan achieved his passion of flying by being different from all the seagulls and working hard practicing and learning more everyday the art of flying until he became a master. He became responsible to find a meaning to his purpose for life.

i) Jonathan’s behavior or personality, he is an ordinary seagull who is more interested to know more about flying than just eating, he goes extra mile to learn more about the art of flying which is not a norm for the gulls, even when his parents got worried about him that he cannot be like the rest of the flock, and being bone and feathers that did not bother him, He just wanted to know what he can do in the air and what he can’t, that’s all. Jonathan’s personality taught me that I have to follow my heart’s desire and pursue my passion and do whatever I want to achieve by following my dreams.

ii) Never get discouraged by failure, we see after many efforts Jonathan fails in flying efficiently and eventually decides to quit and join the Flock, thinking it will make everyone happier. While returning to the Flock, he discovers how to fly like falcon and is able to set the highest speed limit in the history of seagulls. He practiced every night and day, he decided not be limited by nature and he developed charts for brains, He decides to share the discovery with the Flock, and thought they will be wild with joys.

iii) Standing for your believes, Jonathan seagull stood for what he believed in, flying, higher than other seagulls, he did not want to scrabble after fish heads. Jonathan discovered the art of flying all the way from eight thousand meters above sea level at two hundred and fourteen miles per an hour reaching terminal velocity. This taught me that if you put your mind at a task, you could achieve anything. If you don’t stop believing in yourself anything is possible. Don’t be limited by anything. If there is a plateau blocking your path, push through it, as we know our believes about ourselves control our destiny.

iv) Desire to share: this sends him back down to the flock which originally outcasted him. He begins taking on students and giving lectures and lessons to an increasingly large portion of his former flock, until he passes leadership of the school to his best student. This taught me that resilience, tenacity, situations where you have to take a path no one around you has taken before, persuading the entire group about your idea, ability to fight back, sharing your learnings with others and more than anything pursuing your passion.

v) Jonathan’s eager to learn, his humble acceptance of the teaching of his elders in the new realm. He became more and more proficient in his endeavors and in turn becomes a teacher/guide to others, becoming a kind and loving soul along the way.
Jonathan transcends into another society where all the gulls enjoy flying. Jonathan’s learning to fly was not focused on wings and feathers but thought and imagination; eventually he becomes the first gull to fly fifty miles an hour, then ninety miles per hour and later flies the first acrobatics of any seagull on earth.

vi) Freedom: we see Jonathan addressing his Flock He spoke of very simple things – that it is right for a gull to fly, that freedom is the very nature of his being, that whatever stands against that freedom must be set aside, be it ritual or superstition or limitation in any form. “The only true law is that which leads to freedom,” i think freedom is a good place to start, it gives us a breakthrough to discover ourselves, as we see how Jonathan saw himself free from the things which trapped the other gulls into an unhappy and meaningless life, such as the desires for food, acceptance by others, and political power.

vii) Return to our point of departure, we see Jonathan being summoned by the Council and Jonathan declared outcast for irresponsible behavior. The gulls closed their eyes and turned their backs upon him, he spent the rest of his days alone, but he flew way out beyond the far cliffs, and learned more each day. After he mastered his flying, we see him going back home to teach other flocks regardless of how they treated him. This taught me that home is where the heart is, no matter how differently you are treated, when you have the love within you, you should always remember your roots. We only begin to understand what wisdom is when we recognize that even after we succeed in breaking through our limits we must return to the place of our origin, however as we return we will be in a different state than when we left as we will now be having knowledge of both sides of the boundaries.

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 or lessons from this book will help me to be different by expressing myself, free myself from things that are trapping other people into unhappy and meaningless life, I should do whatever I want and not let people make decisions for me and doing the things that I love as Jonathan loved to fly, he didn’t just fly for food; he flew because he loved to, and even when everyone told him to stop he kept on flying, so he followed his dreams. These ideas will help me in my personal future because I don’t want to be part of the pack and be a follower. I want to stand out from the crowd and be my own person.

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

“I don’t mind being bone and feathers, Mum. I just want to know what I can do in the air and what I can’t, that’s all. I just want to know” How much more there is now to living! Instead of our drab slogging forth and back to the fishing boats, there’s reason to 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 quote taught me that when you have a dream that you want to achieve, you can take all the risk to get to the top as we see Jonathan never cared about eating or the way he looked as he had a mission to accomplish, he had his passion, flying, so he risked his health for flying.

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?

It was very interesting reading this book. I loved Jonathan’s passion, determination, to know all the tips of flying. He had a will power to stick to the task.

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 exercise for I the reader to complete.

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.

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?                       8
C. How easy was it to understand?                       6
D. Would you recommend it to others?              10
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 7

Key to Success

Assessment by Minny Nkwe (Botswana)

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

Reading this book is like having Napoleon Hill as your personal coach, it contains his 17 principles explanation in each principles. The main idea the author is trying to convey in the book is to teach us about the success philosophy and the seventeen principles. Personally i take it as one of the good motivational books that will give you great tools to examine yourself and see where you are at according to the different success principles. Even if you only adopt one idea into your life, it is well worth the short time it takes to read it.He also teaches us how to harness the real power inside us.

Inspire Team Work:

Personaly I understand that this is the act of purpose, performance and relationship in a team to accomplish goals, so that, the genius of each individual emerges and is used for the higher advancement of everyone. Inspiring team work leads to a healthier and more productive working environment, it is always a worthwhile endeavor in everyone, with a little planning and ingenuity on your part, it makes people around you to feel comfortable in sharing their innovative ideas to help you achieve your goals.

Establish a Mastermind Alliance:

Meet people who want to help you accomplish your goals, be friends with people who are

already where you want to be, ask them for advice, find friends who will serve to motivate,

challenge or inspire you in any form if the current ones are not.When two or more

non-competing minds join forces in the spirit of collaboration for the attainment of a definite purpose or goal, you have the makings of a mastermind.

You’ve heard the saying that two minds are better than one. The Bible even supports this

philosophy by stating that when two or more agree and are on one accord when making

requests of the Heavenly Father, it will be granted. This allows us to see options and

opportunities from many different perspectives, thereby opening our minds to increased

possibilities.

Go the Extra Mile:

It consists of doing beyond what is expected of us to do in helping others, like for example

if you were required to go a mile, then take two miles. If we have a chance to help someone in need, we can be generous and give more than is expected of us. That is being like Jesus.

He gave his life for us on the cross so that we can be forgiven for all of our badness (sin).

Even though we do not deserve it, Jesus went the extra mile for us. Sometimes if a bully tries to pick a fight with you and hits you, instead of getting into the fight, walk away from it. Do not try to get even, show them you are different and take an extra mile of giving a positive attitude towards them, Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

Build a Positive Mental Attitude:

We constantly complain about the weather, our work, our spouse, our neighbours, and any number of other things.We all do it from time to time.However, it’s good to remind ourselves that our words are shaped by our thoughts, and the more we can look for positive things to say, the more positive our thoughts will become.I have realise that once i replace negative thoughts with positive ones, i start having positive results. One of the best ways to increase your chance of success in all areas of life is to develop a positive mental attitude.Taking a positive attitude toward life makes you a happier person all round, and one that other people in your life look up to, and want to spend time with.There’s even evidence that having a positive attitude can help lower stress levels and improve your health.

Enforce Self Discipline:

This explains the importance of controlled behavior resulting from disciplinary training,

self- control; it involves acting according to what you think instead of how you feel in the

moment. Often it involves sacrificing the pleasure and thrill of the moment for what matters

most in life.

Overcome Adversity and Defeat

I believe that every person has suffered from some type of adversity and defeat in their life

and one time or another. I personaly experienced this when I lost my sister and my job.

No matter what the adversity and defeat was, most of us never could see the positive aspect of it and there is always one.

Control Your Attention

Keeping yourself focused on things that are only important and put your mind off from

unimportant things, let your mind work on a clear picture of what you want, and it will give

your mind a direction.Controlling your attention you are able to determine the perspective you choose.

Budget your time and Money

The old cliché of time is money is true and has some important things to teach us today,

time is precious, so do not waste it, instead budget it. If you do not value it no one else will,

do also the same for your money, value it simillar with respect, if you do not respect yourself no one else will.

3. 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?

Yes these ideas will help me a lot to develop the patient to work hard at what I can do better and go a long way going beyond what is expected, have positive result as I will be replacing negative thoughts with positive ones, keep myself focused on things that are important to me. For me to achieve my goals I have to practice to have positive mental attitude and have faith in myself.

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.

“Strength and struggle go hand in hand” Page70 – 4th paragraph

Our struggle develop or strengths, sometimes we go through difficult challenges and decide not to stop untill we achieve our goals that is strength, when you are weak that is when you become strong, you pass through difficult challenges to reach to the top and gain the success.

“Great leaders of every generation in this country began their career in humble occupations” page 170 – last paragraph

We all begin somewhere in life to achieve our dreams,when we have determination, self discipline, we can get to the top as we can see from the current president of United States Barack Hussein Obama II was a teacher,a community organiser and this teaches us that one becomes a man of value not of success and to climb a steep hills you require a slow pace at first, and as a leader, your job is to hold fast to the big picture, to keep seeing it in your mind’s eye, with crystal clarity, where it is you are going that place that right at this moment exists only in your mind’s eye.And to keep seeing that, even when nobody else does.

“Opportunity is everywhere”

This is very certain. Opportunity exists for everyone and you can find it almost everywhere. You just need to develop your skills to see where to look. Seeking opportunity is almost inherent in our natures.Sometimes we look for the opportunities else where while it’s in our hands and all we need to do is to open up and see what surrounds us and knowing where to look and how to look will unlock more opportunities .Opportunity is the answer to achieve more in life.

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

I clearly understood most of the things though it took a while to finish the book and I recommend it to everyone as this is the guideline to higher life, it opens up your understanding.

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

The book contains practical execirces that tells you what to do and how to do it, step by step. I found the exercises helpful as they upgrade your sense of seing and dealing with things.

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.

This is a must read book that will add a milestone to your life.It is certainly the best investment.

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? 09

Psycho-Cybernetics 2000

Assessment by Minny Nkwe (Botswana)

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

To me this is a classic personal development book,what the authour is trying to convey in this book is that we take control over our situations and circumstances rather than letting them control us,he also teaches us about success, self-image, rational thinking and a host of other information about why we are like we are.

Self Esteem:

It is a known fact that no other person can value me at my true worth unless I express it.

People will see and accept/reject me based on how I esteem myself. If I have low self-esteem, I will be so taken by others for granted. Self esteem is actually another word for self image. I estimate my self in proportion to how high or low my self image is. If I think I am not worthy of a certain level of importance, I will have a low self esteem in that regard.

Self Confidence:

This is the first step to progress, development, achievement and success. Even if you have a lot of abilities and a lot of knowledge, if you do not have Self-confidence you cannot be a success. But, on the contrary, even if you have only average abilities and knowledge, if you have an unfailingly true self-confidence, chances are that you achieve what you want to. The self-confidence I have in me integrates the power of my mind and body and focuses them towards the goal that I want to achieve and with only such a concentrated energy I can reach my goal.

Self Acceptance:

It is very important for one to know himself what he can do and what he cannot do. With this knowledge, the next logical thing to do is for one to accept himself the way he is. This will give you the motivation to continue doing those things you can do with zeal and not be intimidated by others because of the things you cannot do. Many people believe that if they accepted themselves as they are, they wouldn’t change or that they wouldn’t work on becoming more of who they want to be, which is wrong, and we often judge ourselves unfavorably with the hope it will motivate us to change. And then we feel bad, yes this can work in a short period of time,then we do not realise that the energy we could have made changes got wasted. It can be a vicious cycle. It works exactly counter to what you wanted to do.

Courage

Courage was defined as a form of applied faith. It is through courage that faith is manifested. One must have the courage to act despite the seeming impossibilities or failures. Without courage, it is impossible to achieve anything worthwhile.

Self Image:

This is a mental picture that each person has of himself or herself. It includes our beliefs about our abilities and deficiencies, whether we are popular or not, and so forth. We have to accept and think positive about ourselves, who we are, Keep a good self-image of ourselves in our mind’s eye. I personaly imagine myself as a strong, confident and decisive person. I always has a positive image of me. I decided to accept my deficits and defects,I never waste my precious time, energy and effort by worrying about my weakness and deficits. I understand clearly that worrying and mourning over your defects, deficits, weakness and negatives can never bring their opposites. On the other hand, it will only worsen my position further.If i have got a problem and because I think negative about myself, I will not achieve the goal I have because my negative self image and the believe of what I am capable of will be prevent it from happening and all the willpowers in the world cannot make it happen unless I correct it to reach my goal.

Relaxation:

This taught that when you are relaxed, your mind is capable of learning and memorizing fast. I experienced this as deadline for my examinations came and I became confused, could not even remember what I read the previous day and I was wondering if I won’t mess up, but I decided to take five minutes before I started the paper, I took a walk to have a glass of water, and go to the loo, I also had to cope with the pressure of work. When I came back, I was relaxed and I just picked up my paper and got down with writing, the paper was so smooth as I remembered most of the things that I read and I passed. What I think cause the problem more was worrying about so many things. The state of worrying inhibits the right brain to work as it should. Relaxation helps you to free your mind and allow for creativity and problem solving. it is actually a state of mind. We can be on vacation and still not be relaxed, as relaxation it is the ability to not worry about anything, all we have to do is to be completely content in the moment and not think about the past or the future. We let the past be in the past, and let the future work itself out. It is a complete state of trust.

Failure:

What I noticed when analyzing failures was that people do not show their fullest engagement to their goals or aims they are targeting on. They lack in having the necessary commitment and end up engendering failure and frustration.The best way to achieve your goals or aims is to focus with all your desire, give fullest attention, commitment and dedication

3. 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.

Low self esteem is the last thing in my vocabulary,I want to treat myself importantly knowing that I am the only person who can make things better for my self and whatever I want I will achieve. I will have confidence in myself.

I have realised that my success is contained in the above ideas and must have a direction to be on the top table, I want to complete levels of the institute studies that I am left with so as to be able to get to where I will be properly guided in order to define my goals in life. After I must have done that, I will try to understand and acquire all necessary information for the actualisation of the goals. Once I have set the goals and understood clearly what I want in life, I will act with faith (courage) towards acquiring them. Realising that charity is needed for the full realisation of all the good things of life; I will strive to be charitable to all in cash and kind.

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

“If you always do what you’ve done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got” on Page 180 last sentence 3rd paragraph

If you don’t change the way you do things, live your life, or make decisions, you will never grow or mature or feel better about life as a whole. You have to be the change you want to see in your life.Take chances, take a lot of them. Because honestly, no matter where you end up with and with whom, it always ends up just the way it should be. Your mistakes make you who you are. You learn and grow with each choice you make. Everything is worth it. Say how you feel, always. Be you and be okay with it.

“I am not judged by the number of times I fail but by the number of times I succeed”

(Tom Hopkins). Page 274 2nd paragraphs

“Networking: it’s a key to your action plan whether your goal is a new job, someone to love or a new hobby” 3rd Paragraph Page 177.

Networking is an investment of time and effort in establishing and maintaining contacts. The first two rules that one has to know are to be interested and prepared. Participate on community activities as it will help to get to know people “up close and personal”. People want to do business with people who have similar interests and values. We deal with humans from day to day, and it is easy for us to build friendship as these makes it easy for one to achieve his / her goals in life. Be a good talker and a better listener, in the change world we are living in today you have to know someone to get what you want. It enriches your life, increase your circle of contacts, grow your business, enhance your professional image, and make new friends. It begins with taking a risk, exploring new territory and talking to people.

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, I do not have any comment.i personally agree with the authour though it can take a while to understand 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 lot of exercises which I have been doing on a daily basis. They helped me to relax, build up my self esteem and even have the courage to do more and achieve my goals.

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

None

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

Success Through A Positive Mental Attitude

Assessment by Minny Nkwe (Botswana)

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

This is a remarkable book that has the power to attract wealth, success, happiness and health. The main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book is the fact that if you present yourself in a positive, upbeat manner to people you come across in life, your chances of being successful in your endeavors are much greater than if you constantly complain about things, and success in any area of life has some principles which must be followed in order to achieve. Keeping a positive mental attitude will help guide you through life and help you make the right connections in pursuing your goals. It is free to have a positive mental attitude which anyone is entitled to.

Clear the cobwebs from your thinking

As human being we have control over our mental attitude. Through positive thinking, we can clear our mind off cobwebs and free ourself once enmeshed and have the ability to remain free because sometimes we have undesirable habits we want to come out of them, at times we are tempted to do wrong and like an insect caught in a spider’s web we struggle to get free.The use of reasoning helps someone to escape from negative feelings, emotions, passion habits and prejudices because sometimes our conscious can be in conflict with our imagination and the more we struggle the more we become trapped. i decided to practice reasoning logic and free myself from jail of mental cobwebs, I am what i think, There are certain mental cobwebs that clutter up the thinking of almost everyone even the most brilliant minds like negative feelings, emotions, passion habits and prejudices and our thoughts become entangled in these webs.

Act Now

Some people are always thinking about what they should do, need to do or are going to do. They spend so much time talking about what they are going to do but they never actually do it. We say they ‘procrastinate’ which means they waste time and don’t do what they should do. Sometimes if you talk about something too much it makes it harder to make a decision to start doing it. For example, I always say I need to study more to learn a language, that I never put an effort to start learning, but this can only be put in process if I start to ACT NOW. I talk about what I should do but never actually spend time studying. As a result I don’t improve.

When I think about the people I know, I admire people who are always trying new things and are not scared to step outside their comfort zone, do something you feel nervous about because you haven’t done it before. I think if your attitude to life is “ACT NOW” you will achieve more and have more fun in life. In a race type of situation, if we never leave the starting line, we will never get to the finish line, and to get started or even to get listed to be in the race we need to act now.

Motivation

I personally believe that it is the main reason that keeps us going, because it is that internal energy and voices that tell us to keep moving and doing something, even as simple as getting out of bed in the morning, unless we have this internal energy to make that first move toward any journey, nothing will ever happen and nothing will ever be accomplished. Motivation is the reason people succeed and the reason people fail. The ingredients of motivation are combined with many factors which include simplicity, attitude, the people that we associate and hang around with, the way we think, how much we know ourselves, and the way we help other people.

Learn to see

Seeing is a learning process. We look and recognise what we see. Like we see another person’s abilities, capacities and viewpoint. We become wealthy because we accept other people’s advice.

When your circumstance is more complex you are more likely to need a lot more sparks to get you going to complete your goals in your day to day life, so we have to see opportunities in a positive way and put them to action and explore. What we see and do is what adds to our lives, when we think in a positive manner it improves our life.

Enjoy good health and live longer

Being happy and feeling physical,mental and spiritually fit its a good sense of health is not only about

not being ill, we have to take care of ourselves to prevent illnesses and to change our attitude to heal,do a lot of attivities to feel good,example eating the right food,exercising. There is no greater joy than a healthy, positive life. You feel exhilarated, energetic, happy and on top of the world. A sense of total well being permeates your mind. The future looks bright. You feel good to be alive.

The secret of getting things done

To spread his productivity gospel, David Allen says you are the same person whether you are at home and at the office (or school). It’s more effective to maintain a unified list of all of your tasks. Keep it on paper, not in your overloaded head. Organize tasks by context rather than according to whether they’re professional or personal.Mix business with plessure, decide on your mission to achieve your goal.

If You Don’t Have Money Use OPM:

If you don’t have your money converted into things that grow with inflation, use OPM (Other People’s Money) to purchase it. One can get this money from borrowing from banks, finance companies, insurance companies and friends. It also is that money which YOU might raise in a stock offering or through the sale of limited partnerships. Today people do not boast about how much money they have-instead they boast about how much money they owe, and with money in hand you can concentrate on the business aspects of each deal, improving your chances of success.

3. 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?

These ideas or lessons will help me to be active and enthusiastic. Be able to plan my actions and do it effectively and efficiently, full heartedly, speak confidently. It will also help me to be aware of my goal so that I will not be indecisive.

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.

Quote 1: We are poor – not because of God. We are poor because father has never developed a desire to become rich. No one in our family has ever developed a desire to be anything else.

Before I started going to church, I believed and blamed God for not achieving my goals, or things I wanted in life and that the reason for my struggling it was because of God that he has not answered my prayers, I remember when I was looking for another job (and had been looking for awhile) but I could not find anything. It was what Christians call “a time of testing.” It sounds noble when it happens to someone else, but it is awful when it happens to you. However, now I have come to realise that the reason is because I have not developed the passion to become rich. I have only been “wishing” and hoping and these alone cannot make me rich. It is only a strong desire backed with action that brings riches. God does not want you focusing on or worrying about money instead of Him, so He wants your finances to be in order.

Quote 2: Emotions are not immediately subject to reason, but they are always immediately subject to action.

Sometimes we get so caught up in how we feel that we begin to believe we are our feelings. I try to separate myself from my feelings and remind myself that this mood is only amorphous emotions. They come and they go, but they don’t define me. That ability to separate from your emotions goes a long way in maintaining a healthy general attitude, in spite of our best plans for happiness, a negative emotion waltzes in like an uninvited guest and takes up residence in your mind. This is really irritating it’s like getting a computer virus or your car not starting on a day you planned your vacation. You’ve done everything right. There are no obvious reasons for feeling this way, but darned if those feelings aren’t sticking to you like a bad rash.

Quote 3: A little knowledge may be dangerous.

A small amount of knowledge can mislead people into thinking that they are more expert than they really are. Personaly I think I understand what he means by this. Well, it may be a narrow perspective and only based on my experience, but I am the type of person who wants to learn as much as possible. And I don’t mean learning as in school or for a good grade, but learning for myself, learning for approval, learning to better understand the world and other people, learning because I consider it to be fun, learning as in studying, reading, experiencing new things and gathering information from every possible source.

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, I do not have any comment.

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 exercises i came accross were helpful because they helped me to develop personaly and manage to achieve my goals with PMA.

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.

None

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? 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

How to Win Friends and Influence People

Assessment by Minny Nkwe (Botswana)

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

This book is one of the bestselling self-help books written by Dale Carnegie and was published in 1936. The author is trying to teach us the importance of empathy, seeing things from other peoples’ point of view, and trying to develop win-win scenarios. Many people in today’s world are simply thinking, “How can I get what I want out of this person?” I personally think this book is the finest, book of its kind.

Carnegie continues by explaining the fundamentals of handling people with a positive approach; how to make people like you and wants to help you; how to win people to your way of thinking without conflict; and how to be the kind of leader who inspires quality work, increased productivity, and high morale. As Carnegie explains, the majority of our success in life depends on our ability to communicate and manage personal relationships effectively, whether at home or at work. How to Win Friends and Influence People will help you discover and develop the people skills you need to live well and prosper. How to Win Friends and Influence People is divided into four parts. Those four parts are : Fundamental techniques in handling people ; Six ways to make people like you ; How to win people to your way of thinking ; Be a leader: How to change people without giving offense or arousing resentment.

2. What were the seven ideas which were personally most important to you and why? List theses even ideas followed by an explanation after each one as to why it was important to you. Use personal examples from your own life.

A. Make the Other Person Feel Important Greeting people with energy, warm smile and enthusiasm makes them feel adored and special, free and calm. A greeting of ardent and genuine enthusiasm sets the tone for your entire encounter. This skill can be particularly life-changing when practiced with people around you. Always take time in conversation to really listen while someone is talking, by focusing on what he or she is saying in words and body language instead of thinking about what you are going to say next.

B. Relax and listen before responding. Slow down and savoir the connection you can make with another person, even in a casual conversation. It is best to work on remembering the details of past conversations and encounters. Ask about the things they confided to you.

C. It’s often helpful to make little notes to remind you to ask about something or someone the next time you meet. This simple skill shows people that they are important to you. Appreciating the small things that people do for you and never pass up an opportunity to say thank you, few kind words or even a simple note is plenty. Find simple and small ways to show appreciation and caring to those you love. The best way to make a lasting impression is to take the time to make others feel genuinely valued. Don’t Criticize, Condemn or Complain Criticism is pointless because it puts a person on the defensive and usually makes him strive to justify himself, it can also wounds a person’s precious pride, hurts his sense of importance, and arouses resentment. Sometimes it is very useful because it can help you develop yourself further and avoid mistakes in future.

D. Constructive criticism, in which someone offers you another solution or an idea to do something better should always be appreciated. This is important to me because it build me up in a sense that when I see something that I don’t like; I refrain from criticism and seek to be more understanding and forgiving towards the other person. Arouse in the other person an eager want we all have our needs and wants. You may be feeling hungry or thirsty and want to eat or drink something; another person may be feeling sleepy and want to take a nap.

E. You may want to improve your interpersonal skills. Sometimes we get only interested in what we want and forget other people. The best way to get them involved and influence them is to talk to them about what they also want and how they can get what they want. If you are wrong admit it doesn’t make any difference if you’ve made an insignificant mistake or a serious mistake, you need to take ownership of the mistake, admit to it, apologize for it, and tell the truth if you have made a mistake. Do not put the blame on anyone or anything else. I have to make things right by Fixing and cleaning up mistakes I did, I can even go extra mile to do what it takes to correct the mistake. Although I cannot change the past, I can avoid making the same mistake in the future. I learn from my mistakes. I quote John C. Maxwell as he said: “A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them.”

F. Ask Questions Instead of Giving Direct Orders It is always wise to ask questions instead of giving direct orders. Let the other person save face. Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to. Make the other person happy about doing the thing you suggest there are always many ways to say something, and some ways are better than others. This principle creates a win-win situation. You are happy that the person is doing what you suggest, the other person is happy to be doing it. I always practice this by asking for what I want in a way that the other person’s honored to be doing what I suggested, I like to be sincere, and don’t promise anything I can’t deliver, and be clear on exactly what it is that Want the other person to do and be sure that I convey the personal benefit to the other person when I ask.

G. Give honest and sincere appreciation. As we know that one of our most neglected virtues of our daily existence is appreciation. I always give sincere appreciation to the clerks when I am shopping, I will try various ways to motivate the person for the good piece of work they do and make a point that I praise them in front of others and this will make them happy and do their work efficiently as we know everyone like to be complimented. When we understand the importance of why one should not criticize others, it will make us rich because we will be having the ability to deal with others. Honest appreciation got results where criticism and ridicule failed.

3. 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?

Above ideas are very important to me as they help me to think positive of how I can take a step toward recognition and appreciation. It gives me the light that when you make the people around you feel important, you create a climate of trust and mutual appreciation, which can change your life in ways large and small. I learned that sincere appreciation and honest is the most effective tool used sparingly by majority of people.

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

“Instead of condemning people, let’s try to understand them. Let’s try to figure out why they do what they do. That’s a lot more profitable and intriguing than criticism; and breads sympathy, tolerance and kindness.” I know its part of being a person of good character and integrity, let’s empower each other listen and be grateful and graceful.

We feel more important most of the time without realizing it, we assume arrogant attitudes and pretend that we know better than everyone else, that we are right and others are wrong. Instead of assuming responsibility for our actions and misact ions we blame others and also complain a lot, though it’s only human, I do firmly believe that we must reflect once in a while on our bad habits and catch ourselves when we are criticizing, judging, condemning and complaining too much. What I have leant inline is that appreciation and admiring is the way to go, so we must appreciate others, let’s make them valuable and important, and be interested in who they are, what they like and makes them tick, with all doing this it will come back to us in a positive way as we will feel appreciated, loved, valued and good in general. “First, arouse in the other person an eager want. He who can do this has the whole world with him. He who cannot walks a lonely way.” To be able to influence other people and leave impact on them, you get to talk about what they want not what you want and show them how to get it. This quote taught me to put other people’s wants first and value them.

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

The book is well written in a clear way that I did not come across anything that I did not understand or disagree with.

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

This book is practical.

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.

None, I do not have anything to comment.

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? 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

Giant Steps
Assessment by Minny Nkwe (Botswana)

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

The Giant Steps is a book written in a diary format, it is light and interesting to read when travelling. The main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book is to show us how to get maximum results with minimum investment of time. He offers us daily inspiration and small actions, exercises that will compel you to take giant steps forward in the quality of your life. The book is based on the finest tools, techniques, principles, and strategies. From the simple power of decision-making to the more specific tools that can redefine the quality of your relationships, finances, health, and emotions. The real challenge here is how to make the daily habit your own habit, and not someone else’s prescription.

A. What shapes our destiny?
The beauty of life lies in our ability to recognize that we have freedom of choice, that we have a hand in shaping our destiny. We own the right to our dreams, our wishes and our fantasies but it also depends on us how we see ourselves. It can remain a dream or we can give it structure and take it to the next level which is our reality. Everything is around us, ready to be utilized. Pure potential is available every second of every day waiting on someone to tap into it, waiting on someone to exercise their free will.

In every company I have worked, I took three things along with me which are Belief, awareness and dream. It was up to me to create the structure and breathe life into it. It was up to me to shape my dreams into reality and create memories and experiences that I can continue to tap into. It is important that when a cycle is completed that we should have the heart to reflect upon that ambit and to know that we have taken every opportunity to help shape our destiny.

B. Beliefs
My belief is that everyone has something they are passionate about and getting in touch with that can be an incredibly moving and inspiring experience. I also believe that everyone can achieve the thing they are passionate about. Whatever it is whether its gardening, climbing mountains, helping people the thing that you love doing most of all is an expression of who you are and that is out there for you.

C. Change your focus
Knowing how to change your focus can mean the difference between a life of bliss and a life of frustration. I made a decision that for me to know how to change my focus I must first understand what determines it in the first place, and for this to work I ask myself questions like what is the biggest concern in my life right now and areas of my life that are not going well, the reason is simply because we get what we focus on. You can have a ton of great things going on in your life but still feel miserable if you keep focusing on the things that aren’t so great. So knowing how to change your focus is a critical skill to have.

D. Values
These are the most important things in our life. We decide what we most desire by aiming at our highest values. The main benefit of knowing your values is that you will gain tremendous clarity and focus, but ultimately you must use that newfound clarity to make consistent decisions and take committed action. So the whole point of discovering your values is to improve the results you get in those areas that are truly most important to you. I always look at what is most important to me and work on it. I take values as priorities that tell me how to spend my time, right here, right now. I have learnt that time is our most limited resource and it does not renew itself, as once we spend a day it’s gone forever and we make permanent loss as we spend investing our time in actions that don’t produce results we want.

E. What creates emotion?
One of the best ways to build up and creative positive emotions is by having positive emotions. As we know most of the personal growth advice is that positive emotions are considered the goal. Sometimes I think to think to myself, ‘I’m going to do this, and this and that will make me happier, more optimistic, and more outgoing.

And you know what, there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, there are many, many different techniques, exercises, and strategies that you can use to achieve those goals. The best way to achieve those ends would probably elude you though, because it is so simple, most of us don’t even think about it.

F. Releasing fear
Many of us have a life that we know is not what we really want, but perhaps we’ve become resigned to it, believing that ‘this is all there is for me’ or ‘it’s OK, or even, ‘it’s too late to change anyway.’ The reason for this resignation is usually because of fear. It can be scary to look at what you want, perhaps once you found it, you would find it was out of your reach and how do you live with that? Perhaps you would find you would have to make difficult sacrifices. Or perhaps you feel you are just not good enough. Is this what you have been told? If so, it was you who chose to believe it. You can also choose to believe otherwise. Most of us have been stopped by fear, lack of confidence, past experience, until we are so hemmed in by our lack of belief, that we accept a life of mediocrity and we decide that there is nothing that we are passionate about, this life is OK for me? It will do.

G. Decision making
Making a decision implies that there are alternative choices to be considered, and in such a case we want not only to identify as many of these alternatives as possible but to choose the one that has the highest probability of success or effectiveness and best fits with our goals, desires, lifestyle, values, and so on. These values and preferences are often influenced by our rules, culture, and law, I discipline myself by realizing when and why I need to make a decision, declaring the decision, working on the decision and commit resources and act.

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?

Personally I can say I have not succeeded in many areas due to not taking the time to work with what was in front of me and jumping all around. I have currently made a decision to stop that and sticking with what is in front of me and if it does not work only then I will move onto something else. I’m going to take what works and leave the rest.

I spent a long time going through this really small book, that is when I realized that this is for people that actually have “a plan” and want to shape their lives instead of just being tossed around by life and hoping for the best. I used to have goals each year, more elaborate than most. Now I have values awareness, end values, what I most desire like: vision, hope, friendship, appreciation, direction, desire and freedom.

I found this book good for reminding me and keeping me on track. I have decided to have the book in every place I get to every day, treat it like my purse.

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

“You can’t change the fruit without changing the root.”

As we know if a tree has no root it can’t grow and find its source for nourishment, because it use the roots to receive nourishments, the same as us we cannot succeed if we do not have the start, we need to build the foundation first so we can get to the top and achieve our goals.

Like the word of God says you must be born again-renewed in your nature so that we can change before we expect others to change, only by receiving Jesus Christ, and letting him change you, can you be a truly a new person. To be fruitful means we have a heart change for without it God cannot work through us to others.

Unless you change how you are, you will always have what you’ve got. Life is a unique combination of “want to” and” how to” and we need to give equal attention to both.

The most important question to ask on the job is not “what am I getting?” The most important question to ask is “What am I becoming?” It will be a pity inheriting millions and you are not a millionaire and the pitiful part would be when your income grew and you do not grow. We can have more than we’ve got because we can become more than we are.

“It is not what happens to us, but our response to what happens to us that hurts us.”

Your life isn’t defined by what happens to you; you define your life by how you choose to respond to the things life throws at you. That is the POWER OF CHOICE.

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

The book is clearly written and the format used does force you to slow down and just consider the present questions. It gives you the space to see that they are enough for one day. But then a couple of days later there is the sense of “what do I do with this?” The way things are presented in this book are logical, elaborating points clearly with great life examples that you can remember and apply them in your life.

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 practical exercises from the beginning to the end of it and the overall flow of the text they are very useful. I can say Giant Steps is a strange combination of ideas and action steps. Sometimes you find that some days seem hardly worth wasting a page on. The exercises we find in this book actually make you set your own actions in place as well as using Tony’s lead, as he gives examples and then he backs off enough for you to turn them into what you need for yourself and this help you create space around you to give those questions room to grow and shape themselves to your own specific needs.

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 have nothing to comment on the book.

Please rate the following questions on 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?                       10
D. Would you recommend it to others?               10
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 9

The New Dynamics of Winning

Assessment by Minny Nkwe (Botswana)

1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
The main idea is to show the reader literally practice goals that lead to success.It helps you to focus your mind for peak performance anywhere, anytime, how paying the price prepares you for success. It’s a guide and an inspiration to achieving your personal best.

a. Drive All great success ultimately begins with an idea, but what makes ideas become reality is the fuel of human desire. An idea by itself can give you a temporary feeling of inspiration, but burning desire is what gets you through all the perspiration necessary to overcome the inevitable obstacles along the way.

b. CommitmentThe most important single factor in individual success is COMMITMENT. Commitment ignites action. As we know that commit is to pledge yourself to a certain purpose or line of conduct. It also means practicing your beliefs consistently. There are, therefore, two fundamental conditions for commitment. The first is having a sound set of beliefs. There is an old saying that goes, “Stand for something or you’ll fall for anything.” The second is faithful adherence to those beliefs with your behavior. Possibly the best description of commitment is “persistence with a purpose”.
I work as a receptionist in a University College, I have many things to attend to and sometimes the way the phone rings it drives me crazy but I never have a bad day I make sure I put on a smile from morning until I go home and still maintaining that energy, I have realized that the combination of a strong, positive commitment to self and to a set of principles serve as a foundation to effectively maintain four commitments and these commitments are to: customers, results, employees, and the organization.
I believe everyone has a customer and is a customer to someone else. Customers are usually thought of as external to the organization that needs your product or service and the price your customers are willing to pay measures its values in their eyes. Commitment is hard work the only way to achieve a reputation for commitment is through determination and persistence. This is why I am committed to my work to bring out the best result.

c. Dream When I left school, I carried the single most important element for success A DREAM, and some of those dreams came true, I have learnt that in life you are not supposed to just have the dream, but do the dream, we must have a dream that motivates us, must learn how to learn as this frees our dependency on others for knowledge, it is always also advisable to learn from failure and learn how to bounce back from failure as no one ever succeed without failure. Always dream big and remember no one has ever achieved anything without a dream attached to a burning desire.d. Self-TransformationThroughout my life I’ve engaged in self transformative processes on several occasions, at times without understanding that this was what I was doing. Perhaps the best way to understand this process is to think about the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly.We all know that the caterpillar reaches a point in its life cycle where it is ready to change. It ceases its normal life activities and retires from the world. It constructs a cocoon to shelter it and structure the change. Inside the structure of the cocoon it introduces an agent that dissolves it, it liquefies itself. After it has dissolved itself it reforms as a new being inside the cocoon structure. And once it has solidified in its new form it breaks away that shelter and re-enters the world to engage in new life activities. I personally decided to take part in yoga exercises as it transforms me by opening up the physical and mental binds that block my potential, limiting my life. As we may know that transformation is a process that brings newness and interest you might think that changing deeply could make you so different that you would lose touch with those you love and even yourself, actually transformation that yoga brings makes me be more of myself, and opens me up loving greater depth. It involves a honing and refining which releases my true essence, as a sculptor brings out the beauty of form in the stone by slowly and carefully chipping away the rest.e. Mind mattersSometime people think they are limited by their body endurance and that tiring is purely physical, I have found it is usually not the body that tires first but rather the mind which loses stamina required for attention. We need to treat the body with more care and this will help a lot with the mind not getting tired quickly. When your mind tires, your attention wanes and begins to wander and sensitivity to your body’s messages diminishes.f. Strength through mental toughness It takes more than visualization, self-talk, relaxation and concentration to be a real winner in life. It takes a kind of strength through mental toughness that a few people understand, but once you do understand it, you can master yourself and how you respond to anything that comes your way. Remember, too, that you are greater than anything that can happen to you. I have decided to join playing sports so that I develop my mental toughness.g. Coachability Factor Human change is a very complex process and any model is a simplication of reality. You have to practice openness in everything you do, be open to change, learning and personal development, be open to examining your own beliefs, understanding and decisions.3. 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?
Lessons that I have learnt from this book will help me achieve a lot in life, I have realized that the way we build security in our life involves habits that we are often not conscious of. Some habits are necessary as they become dangerous if we unconsciously let them direct our lives. Repeating habits over time tends to put us on automatic like a machine and filters how you relate to the present.

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

“It is not what happens to us, but our response to what happens to us that hurts us.”Some things in life are going to be painful, but we amplify and repeat the pain through the way we respond to it. Let’s say that something painful happens, like someone saying something unkind to us. Without mindfulness, the mind is likely to proliferate thoughts blaming the other person thinking about their faults wondering over and over, telling ourselves we’re stupid for having got hurt; wishing things were otherwise; repeating the painful words we heard over and over. There seem to be endless possibilities for multiplying thoughts. This proliferation of thoughts adds yet more pain, but this time it’s self-inflicted.
“You can’t change the fruit without changing the rootI have realized that for me to reach to the top, to be successful I have to work on my attitude and behavior that is why it is important for one to be born again-renewed in nature.
“There are no mistakes or failure, only lessons”As we know experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes, a mistake stops being a mistake when you admit you’ve made it, make amends for it, learn the lesson it has to teach you, and implement that lesson going forward so that it never reoccurs.

5. Is there anything in the book that you do not understand or are unclearabout, or are there ideas which you disagree with and, if so, why?
In my own opinion I think the book is well written and simply understandable, clear and precise.

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 few exercises towards the end. I found the exercises helpful as they will guide me to achieve and practice what I have read, and also give me a way forward to succeed with my goals.

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

I have nothing to comment on the book.
Please rate the following questions on 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? 10

D. Would you recommend it to others? 10

E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 9

Real Magic
Assessment by Minny Nkwe (Botswana)

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

The main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book is how you can create miracles for yourself in your own life. The book was written with the express purpose of showing you the way to create what may have previously thought to be possible in your life; it is a very personal book.

When most of us think of magic, we picture a man in a black cape sawing a woman in half, or a sleight-of-hand card trick. But there’s another kind of magic — real magic — that can enrich your life. According to Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, real magic means creating miracles in everyday life. Quitting smoking or drinking, achieving new Job success, or finding a happy relationship — these are all miracles because they transcend our perceived limitations.

In Real Magic, Dyer teaches us how to achieve a higher level of consciousness. He asks us to imagine what would make us happy, then offers specific strategies for attaining these goals. In every aspect of our individual lives — physical health, finances, intimate relationships, and personal identity — there is always room for a miracle or two. And with Dyer’s help, each and every one of us can be a miracle, worker!

A. Knowing

Possessing information about certain things in our life, when we know everything becomes clear and precise. When we don’t know ourselves, we can’t have a healthy and balanced outlook on life. Self-power grows through self-appreciation and self-nurturing. Being at ease is accepting yourself. People, who know who they are, express self-love calmly and confidently. They’re extremely magnetic. Ease is everyone’s natural, healthy state.

I agree that understanding what we are all about as an individual is very important. I believe that having a healthy mind is just as important as a healthy body. In fact the two are related. Knowing who we are and not trying to be someone we aren’t goes a long way toward real happiness and allowing us to live a better life.

B. Affirming myself as a no-limit person

I know I have power within me to create a life of fulfilment and joy, I am a miracle and therefore I am a creator of miracles.’ You can never deny who you really are. If you try to be something you’re not, there can be no joy, no feeling of completion. To be at ease, you must be who you are. If you can only be a mouse, then be that mouse and feel satisfied with the choices you make in life that arise from that authentic part of you. Being yourself will be your greatest joy. When you know your own truth and relax into who you are, life will always support you.

C. To move past anger and bitterness

When you’re hurt by someone you love and trust, you might become angry, sad or confused. If you dwell on hurtful events or situations, grudges filled with resentment, vengeance and hostility can take root. If you allow negative feelings to crowd out positive feelings, you might find yourself swallowed up by your own bitterness or sense of injustice.

When someone you care about hurts you, you can hold on to anger, resentment and thoughts of revenge or embrace forgiveness and move forward. Nearly everyone has been hurt by the actions or words of another. Perhaps your mother criticized your parenting skills, your colleague sabotaged a project or your partner had an affair. These wounds can leave you with lasting feelings of anger, bitterness or even vengeance but if you don’t practice forgiveness, you might be the one who pays most dearly.

By embracing forgiveness, you can also embrace peace, hope, gratitude and joy.Letting go of grudges and bitterness can make way for compassion, kindness and peace. When you are happy you can have healthier relationships, Greater spiritual and psychological well-being, Lower blood pressure and fewer symptoms of depression. As you let go of grudges, you’ll no longer define your life by how you’ve been hurt. You might even find compassion and understanding.

D. Staying focused on what I am in life than what I am against

I have decided to spend some time with the positive people, because I am the average of the people I spend the most time with. In other words, who you spend your time with has a great impact on the person you eventually become. If you are around cynical and negative people all the time, you will become cynical and negative. There are so many things I could do, that might be worth it. And there is always a deluge of interesting things passing by that pique my curiosity.

I want to lead by example. I cannot always save the world, but I can make the world a better place by practicing what i preach, by becoming self-aware, tapping into my compassion, and protecting your positive space. Always know that you can lie to anyone else in the world, but you can’t lie to yourself. Our lives improve only when we take chances, and the first and most difficult chance we can take is to be honest with ourselves.

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

E. Give yourself a day to ask nothing of anyone

As Maria Robinson once said, “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”

Nothing could be closer to the truth. But before you can begin this process of transformation you have to stop doing the things that have been holding you back. Remember “When you stop chasing the wrong things, you give the right things a chance to catch you”.

F. Getting your relationship to purpose

Most people enter into relationships with an eye toward what they can get out of them, rather than what they can put into them. The purpose of a relationship is there as the mirror in which to see yourself clearly and also to decide what part of yourself you would like to see show up, not what part of another you can capture and hold.

Remember relationships must be chosen wisely. It’s better to be alone than to be in bad company. There is no need to rush. If something is meant to be, it will happen in the right time, with the right person, and for the best reason. Fall in love when you’re ready, not when you are lonely. In life you will realize that there is a purpose for everyone you meet. Some will test you, some will use you and some will teach you. But most importantly, some will bring out the best in you.There can be only one purpose for relationships and for all of life, to be and to decide who you really are.

G. When the student is ready, the teacher is everywhere

We hear what we are ready to hear. If we are not ready to receive, nothing, no matter how sound the advice is, will get into our head. It is ourselves who choose to filter out information. The fact is, the teacher is always ready to teach but the student is not always ready to listen. Some received and accepted later in their life and often regretted saying to themselves, “Why did not I know this earlier.” It is because the student is not ready. The answer has been out there all the while but the student did not receive it because he shut it out. Be a ready student the answer that you seek will come to you.

Yes, these ideas will help me in both my daily personal life and in creating a better world, because I believe that no matter what your faith is, the point is this: if you are headed in the right and true proper direction then keep going. Many of us if not all have or should have goals. The question we must all consider is Where are they taking us. If they are directing and guiding us to where we want to go Then by all means Keep going but if we see that this is not the case and adjustments should be enacted than by all means Adjust. Remember, when someone is headed down the wrong road they do not need motivation to speed them up, they need education to turn them around and get back on the right road. The road that will bring them most success.

6. 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.

“Our bodies are our gardens, to which our wills are gardeners.”

“I have been all things unholy; if God can work through me, he can work through anyone.”

“We are born into the world of nature; our second birth is into the world of spirit.”

“There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving and that is your own self.”

The book is clear, it is written in a simpler way to understand, I have not come against anything that was difficult to interpret.

The text in this book is very useful, it is full of ideas and actions that you can use as practical exercise to change your life.

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

The book covered most of the things and I do not have anything to comment on.

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? 9

Goals

Assessment by Minny Nkwe (Botswana)

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

This book is one of many self-motivation and self-improvement books. It offers so many good pieces of advice about setting personal goals and working towards them. The main idea the author is trying to convey is that, you become what you want by setting goals and working towards them day by day and ultimately achieving them is the key to happiness in life. He teaches us that setting goals is powerful that we should make a habit of daily goal setting and achieving for the rest of our lives.

i. Clarification of Values

Our values are our ideas about what is most important to us in our life, what we want to live by and live for. They are the silent forces behind many of our actions and decisions. The goal of values clarification is for us to become fully conscious of their influence, and to explore and honestly acknowledge what our truly value at this time in our life. You can be more self-directed and effective when you know which values you really choose to keep and live by and which ones will get priority over others.

ii. Emotion Control

It is always possible to take control of your life by taking control of your emotions. I do not want to lose my temper at all, or at least far less often. Controlling your emotions doesn’t mean ignoring them. It means you recognize them and act on them when appropriate. Emotions do not just appear mysteriously out of nowhere, always stop and analyze what you were thinking about, until you find what thought was causing that emotion.

iii. Improve Your Family Life and Relationships

Any type of relationship, whether it is between family members, people we work with, friends, or customers we serve, takes a lot of work to build and maintain. And much of the cement that improves our relationships is developing trust, compassion, and acceptance of the other.

Relationships are based on living, loving and sharing. Like any living being and any living relationship needs nurturing to flourish. As we know that left alone, left untended, left uncared for, and the survival rate is not good so we must set aside time, however brief, to spend with this person. The time spent must be dedicated, focused, and of quality, in order to nurture the relationship. Give your full attention, show that you care and that you’re interested, and be mentally and emotionally available when you spend time with another.

Talk to one another openly about feelings, issues and concerns about things you have heard or been told, avoid prejudging by gossip, seek to clear the air when someone you interact with seems to have said or done something that reverberates negatively on you. It is always important to wear the other person’s moccasins as it is impossible to truly know another person’s motivations, reasons, and actions until we look with care and listen with an open heart. It is easy to dismiss a person because they have done or said things we are not in agreement with or because we feel hurt on a superficial level and prefer to lick our own wounds instead of looking at the real motivations underlying their intent.

iv. Optimize Your Health and Wellness

Food is our body’s fuel. It is the source of the building blocks; vitamins, minerals, fat, protein, etc. our body needs to stay healthy, grow, fight illness, and heal and also functions at its very best when you choose to eat well.

v. Become an Expert in Your Field

Being an expert is knowing that you can answer any question about the field you serve. Essentially, you should know what you are talking about, and present it with personal authenticity. When you are challenged on a particular recommendation, listen carefully and be open to the fact your pattern matching may have been flawed and led to an incorrect assumption. Being wrong is just part of the game, and if you are seldom wrong you are not taking enough risks or you are already a renowned expert.

vi. Associate with the Right People

We should always be attracted to people who make us feel good about ourselves and ultimately, this is the number one skill in improving our relationships with others.

vii. Accept Yourself As You Are

I am a good listener, so friends feel able to talk to me if they have a problem and they know I am not going to tell anyone. I am an efficient worker because I just get on with my job. There is a reason why you were made the way you are. If we were all supposed to be the same, we would be. I have stopped trying to make everyone like me and I have stopped trying to be something I am not. As a result, any changes in my character happen naturally as my confidence continues to grow. When you learn to accept yourself, you are likely to find that others will accept you too.

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 have learned that, if you do not know your own needs, wants, preferences, and limits, you risk using relationships as a source of your own validation, which can easily lead to co-dependency, clingy behavior, aggressive possessiveness, manipulation, or other unhealthy reasons for wanting to be with others. Knowing yourself enables you to be a creative, uplifting force rather than a destructive, one, and you will find yourself able to revel in other’s successes, achievements, and strengths rather than resenting them. Always take control of your life by taking control of your emotions for example, if someone insults you, and you experience anger, your immediate response might be to insult them back.

But no matter what the emotion, there are always at least two alternatives to choose from and probably even more. Don’t react, do nothing, this approach is especially good when you know that someone is trying to purposely frustrate you. Don’t give in; when you fail to show an emotional reaction, the person egging you on will become frustrated and eventually stop. I have also learned that to achieve all my goals and become everything I am capable of becoming, I must get my time under control and when I spend time idling, I am losing energy and time for thoughts. Everything I have accomplished in my life up to this point is mere preparation for what is to come in the near future and I am responsible of everything I do in my life. I have made a decision to always ask simple questions about big things.

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.

“Time slips through our hands like grains of sand, never to return again.”

Time management it is a skill and it is learnable, to achieve all our goals and become everything we are capable of becoming, we must get our time under control. Sense of control is the key to feelings of happiness, confidence, power, and personal well-being and it is only possible when we practice excellent time-management skills.

“Cherish your visions and dreams, as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.”

Dreams and visions give us something deep to think about, and our subconscious will assist us in figuring out how to accomplish them.This quote is encouraging all of us to exercise the muscles of our soul and fully realize our capacity to grow, in order to express our fully genuine self. Dreams are the visions we have, our desires, and what we want to accomplish. We should always encourage the dreams of those who are around us as many inventions have materialized from dreams.

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

The book was clear and understandable 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?

The book does not contain any 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.

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

Leadership for Dummies

Assessment by Minny Nkwe (Botswana)

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

Leadership for Dummies by Marshall Loeb and Stephen Kindel is the easiest guide for persons moving up the business ladder. Easy to read and understand, it has lots of good information necessary to those in charge. According to Loeb and Kindel, leaders are made not born and they recommend following the simple formula outlined in the book. The book explains that developing your leadership skills can add fulfillment to your life right now.

i. Leadership and Vision

Leadership is all about having a vision of where you want to be and working to achieve that vision. I have learnt that having a clear vision is perhaps the most important of all the elements that a leader must successfully execute. We’ve all heard the saying “You must stand for something, or you’ll fall for everything.” As a leader, you have to learn to communicate your vision to the people you want them to follow you. Learn to paint a picture with words. Speak it, write it, draw it and touch it. Whatever methods you can use to create a picture, do it. As they say, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”

ii. Leadership is a Process

Sometimes leaders are glorified; sometimes they are reviled. Often, they are simply taken for granted. Whatever the case, leaders clearly play a vital role in the success or failure of every organization not to mention every city, state, and country. To me, leadership is not a role, it’s a process involving how an individual or a group influences others toward a particular goal or objective. Leadership development occurs across one’s life span. Some people qualify that process and what it means by adding words like inspiring leadership or directive leadership. I look at it as a social-influence process. Many leadership development programs do not come close to what life does to produce outstanding leaders. So one of the most important elements of our work on leadership development is the focus we take on sustaining the development experience over an extended period of time, keeping in mind our impact points on performance.

iii. Skills Good Leaders Need

The ability to lead effectively is based on a number of key skills. I have learnt that leadership skills require that we are able to inspire and motivates others: Great leaders create a vision of the future that is vivid and compelling, and that motivates employees to want to achieve it. Everyone wants to work for a company that makes a difference in the world. As a leader, you are best able to help the members of your team connect what they do to the impact it has on customers and communities.b. Communicates powerfully and prolifically: Great leaders communicate with their people often, and in a variety of different ways. Whether it’s by means of one-on-one conversations, team meetings, blog posts, email messages, phone or Skype calls, or any other such medium, leaders do not talk about communicating they just do it. c.Displays high integrity and honesty: Great leaders are honest and transparent, and have high integrity they do what they say they are going to do, and they walk their talk.

iv. Leadership in everyday life

More than anything else, leadership is about character and authenticity. It is about taking ownership for changing something and making it better than you found it. And when that change operates with responsibility, it earns respect. Leadership is exercised every day in schools, homes, and other institutions. Life places us in positions of leadership everyday. For instance, as parents we are leaders to our children; often, our friends seek our advice and counsel; and as we grow older, parents, who used to be our leaders when we were children, look up to us for guidance.

v. Leadership and Discipline

All great leaders have understood that for them to want to manage a disciplined team, focused on achieving results, beating the competition and demonstrating continuous improvement. They want to generate enthusiasm while making measured progress toward common goals. They want the entire team to succeed, to work together and be the best that they can be it start with them. They should define their personal measurable objectives. Their goals must be tangible, measurable and substantive.If an executive lacks self-discipline, self-control, or self-respect, even if he is the person in charge he will not, in fact, be the leader.

vi. Leadership and Decision making

As a leader in today’s dynamic business environment, you depend on your ability to manage complexity. Decision Making for Leaders equips you with the skills you need for effective decision-making that delivers outstanding long-term results for your organization. You will focus on both the descriptive and prescriptive aspects of decision-making to empower you to make sound decisions, leverage your strengths and achieve sustainable results from the decision-making process.

vii. Leading when you are not a Leader

I have learned that leadership doesn’t have to be formal. You are a leader if you are not afraid to offer your ideas and take initiatives. You are a leader if you believe in something so much that you infect others with enthusiasm. You can lead by example. At least to me, it doesn’t mean you should pursue leadership positions as your main goal, but that you should work in the best possible way and show an example to others. You can and should be a leader in everyday 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

These ideas will help me to keep an open ear and mind. Start listening to people who I never listened to before. This means seeking out people who I never really paid a whole lot of attention to, and actively soliciting their input. Learning to listen is a blast. It makes us fuller, smarter, more empathetic, more successful people and leaders. Let’s all take our earplugs out and tune in to the wondrous wealth of inspiration that surrounds us. I have learned that a leader is someone who has the humility and drive to do whatever it takes to make sure the goal is achieved. When I set that kind of example, other leaders will, too. As the greatest leader of all-time revealed, “The greatest among you must be your servant.”

We tend to grow up thinking of leaders as independent of instead of interdependent with other people. More autocratic than co-creators. Responsible leaders view themselves in relation to others. Those, whose perspective of success relies on others, are becoming a stronger force than perhaps many realize.The lessons will also help me to be a responsible leader by stepping forward into the space and the moment with an “I can and I will” mindset to impact situations and systems for the greater good.

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

“Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.”

This quote tells that as leaders, it is our job to help people understand the need for passion in what they do. Without that passion, the work becomes a chore, it becomes something that is hard to achieve and it becomes an uphill struggle. However, when we find our ability to love what we do, our work becomes a demonstration of our love. We have to learn to love what we have to do, if we can’t do what we would love to do.

“The genius of a good leader is to leave behind him a situation which common sense, without the trace of genius, can deal with successfully.”

I have learnt that you actually get more done and can focus on future things if you delegate. Delegation is also a great way to stretch people and give them the ability to grow and develop as well.The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will to carry on.

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 did not come across any idea for which I am not clear and have disagreement. The book is well written and presented in simple, clear and understandable way.

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?

I did not come across any exercise which I suppose to do.

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 did not come across anything that I did not like in the book.

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

A. How interesting was it to read? 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

Nonviolent Communication

Assessment by Minny Nkwe (Botswana)

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

Nonviolent Communication is a communication process developed by Marshall Rosenberg beginning in the 1960s. It focuses on three aspects of communication: self-empathy, empathy, and honest self-expression.

This book is based on the idea that all human beings have the capacity for compassion and only resort to violence or behavior that harms others when they don’t recognize more effective strategies for meeting needs. The book’s theory supposes all human behavior stems from attempts to meet universal human needs and that these needs are never in conflict. Rather, conflict arises when strategies for meeting needs clash. NVC proposes that if people can identify their needs, the needs of others and the feelings that surround these needs, harmony can be achieved.

While NVC is apparently taught as a process of communication designed to improve compassionate connection to others, it has also been interpreted as a spiritual practice, a set of values, a parenting technique, an educational method and a worldview.

i. Receiving Empathically

Empathy is a respectful understanding of what others are experiencing. Instead of offering empathy, we often have a strong urge to give advice or reassurance and to explain our own position or feeling. Empathy, however, calls upon us to empty our mind and listen to others with our whole being. We receive from others the information they convey through their observation, feeling, needs and request. Empathy is respectful understanding of what others are experiencing. It is listening for the feelings and needs of those who come to speak with us that define true empathy.

In Nonviolent Communication, no matter what words others may use to express themselves, we simply listen for their observations, feelings, needs, and requests. Then we may wish to reflect back, paraphrasing what we have understood. We stay with empathy, allowing others the opportunity to fully express themselves, before we turn our attention to solutions or requests for relief. NVC suggests that our paraphrasing take the form of questions that reveal our understanding while eliciting any necessary corrections from the speaker.

ii. Expressing honestly

I understand that it means being from moment to moment the same person regardless of the people or circumstances you find yourself in without pretenses or maintaining a cover-up, to be without pretention. NVC involves expressing an observation, feeling, need, and request. An observation sets the context, feelings support connection and getting out of our heads, needs support connection and identify what is important, and a request clarifies what sort of response you might enjoy. Using these components together minimizes the chances of people getting lost in potentially disconnecting speculation about what you want from them and why.

iii. Self-empathy

Self-empathy means listening inwardly to connect with your own feelings and needs. Every human being needs empathy when they are in pain. But it’s difficult to give empathy if your own well is dry. So it’s a good idea to receive empathy on a regular basis. While there are different ways you can request empathy from others, a good place to begin is with self-empathy. The ultimate goal of non-violent communication is to care for everyone’s needs, but the process begins with honoring your own. It involves compassionately connecting with what is going on inside us. This may involve, without blame, noticing the thoughts and judgments we are having, noticing our feelings, and most critically, connecting to the needs that are affecting us.

iv. Observation

The facts what we are seeing, hearing, or touching as distinct from our evaluation of meaning and significance. NVC discourages static generalizations. It is said that when we combine observation with evaluation others are apt to hear criticism and resist what we are saying. Instead, a focus on observations specific to time and context is recommended.

v. Feelings

Identifying feelings is said to allow us to more easily connect with one another, and allowing ourselves to be vulnerable by expressing our feelings can help resolve conflicts. These are to be distinguished from thoughts and from words used as feelings but which convey what we think we are, how we think others are evaluating us or what we think others are doing to us. Feelings are said to reflect whether we are experiencing our needs as met or unmet.

vi. Needs

Once we feel our emotions and needs have been heard, there’s often a sense of relief and release. Then we can move on to finding the best strategy for meeting the identified need. Often, our needs go unmet because we are relying on the wrong strategy. For example, we rely on one person to meet a need and it becomes overwhelming for him or her. So we start feeling angry, impatient, afraid, or another distressing emotion. We need to reach out to others for support with this particular need instead of relying on a single person.

Request

I have learned that if I make a request and receive a “no” it is recommended not that i give up, but that i empathize with what is preventing the other person from saying “yes,” before deciding how to continue the conversation. It is recommended that requests use clear, positive, concrete action language.

3. How will these ideas or lessons help you in a practical way, both in your daily personal life and in helping you to create a better world? If so, how

These ideas will help me to transform the thinking, moralistic judgments, and language that keep me from the enriching relationships I dream of. As I learn how to apply NVC through reading books, I will start to resolve conflicts with more ease, learn to ask for what i want without using demands, begin to hear the true needs of others with less effort, strengthen my personal and professional relationships, and start living my full potential.

Expressing honestly and receiving empathically are goals accomplished through the following four components: observation, feeling, needs and request. These are of utmost importance.

It taught me that when I am communicating with others, there are steps of nonviolent communication through which I should express myself as stated below:

State, quite objectively, the concrete actions which you observe that are affecting your well-being.

State how you feel in relation to what you are observing

State the needs, values, desires, etc. that are creating your feelings

Request concrete actions that may enrich your life

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

“What others do may be a stimulus of our feelings, but not the cause.”

Most of us have been educated from birth to compete, judge, demand and diagnose to think and communicate in terms of what is “right” and “wrong” with people. We express our feelings in terms of what another person has “done to us.” We struggle to understand what we want or need in the moment, and how to effectively ask for what we want without using unhealthy demands, threats or force.

At best, thinking and communicating this way can create misunderstanding and frustration, or simply keep us from getting what we want. It can also keep us from the fulfilling relationships we deserve. And still worse, it can lead to anger, depression and even emotional or physical violence.

“All violence is the result of people tricking themselves into believing that their pain derives from other people and that consequently those people deserve to be punished.”

Being aware of these feelings and needs, people lose their desire to attack back because they can see the human ignorance leading to these attacks.

“Every criticism, judgment, diagnosis, and expression of anger is the tragic expression of an unmet need.”

It simply means that my response, if there was one, would be far less harsh and likely quite friendly instead. Often times those who criticize are simply reflecting something that is lacking in their own lives or that they are lacking in their personal belief system. In other words, perhaps they wish they were more like you or they’re jealous of where you are in life because they’re not there or any of many reasons.

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 did not come across any idea for which I am not clear 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?

The book’s design enables the reader to transform reading about nonviolent communication into practicing it. Each chapter is studded with out-quotes in shaded boxes, highlighting essential points. The chapters on observation, feelings, needs, and requests have concrete exercises designed to help the reader learn the skills of nonviolent communication.

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 did not come across anything that I did not like in the book.

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

A. How interesting was it to read?                            10
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

The Law of Attraction

Assessment by Minny Nkwe (Botswana)

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

This book presents the powerful basics of the original Teachings of Abraham. The law of attraction is the attractive, magnetic power of the Universe that draws similar energies together. It manifests through the power of creation, everywhere and in many ways. When we use our minds, thoughts are created and these thoughts determine our emotions and focus. What we think, feel and believe is what we experience.

The law of attraction manifests through our thoughts, by drawing to us thoughts and ideas of a similar kind, people who think like us, and also corresponding situations and circumstances. It is the law and power that brings together people of similar interests, who unite into various groups, such as political groups, sports teams, sports fans, fraternities. The author is trying to tell us that we are responsible for 100% of every outcome in our lives, we have to make decisions almost every moment of our lives. Every experience comes through our decisions that we make; so use your thoughts wisely, keep your emotions intact and stay focused.

The seven most important ideas in the book are:

i. You become what you think about

I have learnt that I should not think about what I don’t want, or dwell on past occurrences, because if I only think about all the bad things that have happened to me, or the bad things that I think are going to happen to me, then I will only get more of the bad things i don’t want to happen. I am not pushing the bad circumstances away, or stopping them from happening. If anything, I am actually attracting the bad circumstances to myself. The law of attraction sees that I am thinking about, not about how I don’t want it and the law of attraction will give me whatever it is I am thinking about.

ii. Your feelings cause your thoughts

Applying the law of attraction to your life will be unsuccessful if you do not know how to manipulate your bad feelings into good feelings. If you’re feeling good emotions like happiness, love, excitement, gratitude, passion, joy, hope, and satisfaction, then your thoughts will be positive and positive things will happen to you. But if you’re feeling bad emotions such as anger, fear, resentment, depression, hate, revenge, and guilt, then your thoughts will be negative and negative things will happen to you. If you’re feeling those good and positive emotions and something negative happens to you, then you have to be able to control your emotions and not let that negative thing that has happen to you, affect your emotions.

For example: In the morning, if you start out having a good day and as long as you don’t allow anything to change that mood, then you will continue to attract more situations or people that sustain that happy feeling. Same thing happens if you wake up in a bad mood. If you start out having a bad day and do not alter your mood, then you will only attract more bad and unhappy situations or people.

iii. Take inspired action that aligns you with what you want

I learned that if I want a new job, one more fulfilling, more exciting, better paying, thinking about it and I must take action that tells the Universe that I want that job. Begin actively looking. Make contacts. Talk about what I want in that job. Support your desire with action as manifestation of what I want comes much more swiftly and completely when i stand by my words. Stand in your integrity. Show the Universe that I am a powerful creator by being what I say I want to be.

iv. Our default position is well-being, happiness and joy

We are designed with a default position and this is well-being, happiness and joy and only if we drift from this position we experience life to be difficult. When I ask for things in life, I must make sure that I ask in positive and not give out a call for negative aspects. If I side track from this position, I concentrate on the negatives and life automatically becomes more challenging. In this position, life is easy, life is good and I am a great person.

v. We create experiences through our mind – thoughts, feelings, emotions and focus

When we use our minds, thoughts are created and these thoughts determine our emotions and focus. What we think, feel and believe is what we experience. This is why we need to be very careful every time we use our minds. Our minds are the most powerful thing on the universe and by understanding this; we can have a better understanding of important rules into manifesting a better life. Everything that happens, we create through our mind work. Our greatest challenges become our greatest teachers.

vi. Everything is possible

Everything is possible, through focus, attention and mind mastery. We can create anything, and we do this through our thoughts, feelings and emotions. We can shape our lives.

vii. Choosing our thoughts

As we are choosing our thoughts, our emotions are guiding us in either a positive or negative direction if we head for better feelings in each moment our lives will improve We lead happy lives by focusing more on the good things that we want more of. We decide whether we want to look at a situation positively or negatively. If we always look at the positive, we will improve our lives daily. Life does throw challenges at us, but our job is to dig into the problem regardless of what is going on around us and learn how to stay feeling good inside. We need to learn how to not just look at life externally, but internally too.

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 have learned about the omnipresent Laws that govern this Universe and how to make them work to my advantage. The basis of law of attraction is simply the beliefs and energy we hold within will attract to us circumstances that reflect said beliefs and energy; whatever we are feeling, we will attract situations that match those feelings. My whole life will change if i stop focusing on what I fear and what I do not want, and I start focusing on what i do want. My whole life will change if you learn how to apply the law of attraction.

The way I feel is everything is the key to applying the law of attraction. If what i desire is to be healthy, then I have to feel as if I am already healthy. Not wishing to be healthy or hoping to someday be healthy, but actually feel as if I am already healthy, even if I am not. I have to continue thinking and feeling this way all the time. I have to commit to the feeling of already being healthy. I have learned to say “I am” this is a powerful creative statement. It is a declaration. Be sure whatever follows “I am” is indeed what you want in the now and to perpetuate into the future. Also, make your statements concise and precise. Put it in a nutshell. I learned to speak as if what I want is already coming to me, or is already part of my experience.

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

“I attract to my life whatever I give my attention, energy and focus to, whether positive or negative.”

We will attract people, events, situations, ideas and thoughts that match our dominants words, thoughts and beliefs if we are focused on the good and positive behaviors, intentions. If our focus is on the good and positive behaviors, intentions and outcomes in our life, we will automatically attract more good and positive things and on the other hand if we focus upon lack or negativity, then that is what will be attracted into our lives.

“To bring anything into your life, imagine that it’s already there.”

Nurture your dreams and desires by maintaining faith and cultivating a positive attitude, for the energy it releases, provides the environment for your dreams to grow. I learned that I should develop the faith of the gardener today and know that as i plant the seeds of a prosperous and bright tomorrow that it will surely come to pass in its time because the gardener has no difficulty imagining the beauty of the flower when he plants the seed. It will, however, require nurturing and care as it begins to grow. Consider the seedling that soon withers under the heat of the sun if it is neglected but flourishes when provided the right care.

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 did not come across any idea for which I am not clear 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?

Exercises contained in the book are ongoing. The exercises helped me to know how to attract positive thoughts that would help me achieve my goals and avoid negative thoughts.

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 did not come across anything that I did not like in the book.

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

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

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

Assessment by Minny Nkwe (Botswana)

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 to be a truly effective person, you need to learn to solve personal and professional problems with an integrated and principle-centered approach in other words, the decisions you make both personally and professionally should come from the same core set of values and ideas. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is recognized as one of the most influential books ever. Covey reveals a step-by-step pathway for living with fairness, integrity, honesty and human dignity principles that give us the security to adapt to change, the wisdom and power to take advantage of the opportunities that change creates. The 7 Habits have become so famous because they work.

The seven most important ideas in the book are:

i. Be Proactive

This is the ability to control one’s environment, rather than have it control you, as is so often the case. Self-determination, choice, and the power to decide response to stimulus, conditions and circumstances. In everyone’s life, there are a multitude of events that occur every day. Out of all of these events, there’s only a subset that are actually of concern to us and the rest really don’t matter. Within that set of events that are of concern is a smaller set that you actually can do anything about, your sphere of influence.

The idea is don’t spend your time focusing on events that you can’t control; instead, focus on what you can control. Let’s say, for example, that you’re waiting for a very important phone call. Some people stress out waiting for the call that’s a bad habit because you can’t control when the phone call comes. On the other hand, others simply spend their time focusing on the things. Cast those efforts aside and spend your time on things that you can affect.

ii. Begin with The End In Mind

Covey calls this the habit of personal leadership leading oneself that is towards what you consider your aims. By developing the habit of concentrating on relevant activities you will build a platform to avoid distractions and become more productive and successful. The things that you want them to say are the real core values that you care about the most, and thus they should be the ones that you focus your life’s work on, both personally and professionally.

iii. Put First Things First

This habit is of personal management. This is about organizing and implementing activities in line with the aims established in mental creation and physical creation. Most things that we do each day can be divided up in two different ways: they’re either urgent or not urgent, and they’re either important or not important. Obviously, in our lives, we wish for the things we do to be important, but we’d also like for them not to be urgent, because urgent things cause stress. So, ideally, an effective person focuses on things that are important but not urgent.

We should define specific goals that we wish to accomplish, important short term ones. Once you’ve defined a couple of goals for the upcoming week for each of your roles, literally schedule them in. Add these things to your schedule and don’t let anything interfere with them, because these items are not urgent, you have some flexibility on when to do them, but because they’re important, you must schedule them and keep it on the schedule.

Think Win/Win

This is the habit of interpersonal leadership, necessary because achievements are largely dependent on co-operative efforts with others. Covey says that win-win is based on the assumption that there is plenty for everyone, and that success follows a co-operative approach more naturally than the confrontation of win-or-lose.

I tried some of the exercises from this chapter, and the one that really stood out to me was to think about a relationship in my life that wasn’t in a “win/win” state. I wrote down every notable aspect of the situation from my perspective, then tried to do the same from his perspective. Doing that brought me fairly close to seeing a win/win solution.

v. Seek First To Understand, Then Be Understood

This is the habit of communication, and it’s extremely powerful. Simple and effective, and essential for developing and maintaining positive relationships in all aspects of life. This is probably the habit I’m worst at because I often fill in the blanks unnecessarily when talking with people.

Instead, an effective communicator really tries to understand as much information as possible about the situation before providing a solution. Covey offers a great example of this in the middle part of the chapter, when he outlines a discussion with a teenage boy that goes terribly. The problem is that they’re speaking to two completely different things: the boy is having difficulty expressing his problem, while the parent is already trying to guess at the solution.

vi. Synergize

This is the habit of creative co-operation. The principle that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, which implicitly lays down the challenge to see the good and potential in the other person’s contribution. I simply fail to get along well with some people at times, even people that I ought to get along with for the benefit of both of us. The real key to doing it is to identify what exactly about that person makes them beneficial, and also the specific traits about them that cause you not to like them.

vii. Sharpen the Saw

This is the habit of self renewal, says Covey, and it necessarily surrounds all the other habits, enabling and encouraging them to happen and grow. Covey interprets the self into four parts: the spiritual, mental, physical and the social/emotional, which all need feeding and developing. This focuses on the need to do things that renew you in several different ways: physical, mental, spiritual, and social/emotional. Quite often, we get so caught up in the day-in and day-out business of life that we rarely step back and spend any time focusing on taking care of ourselves.

When I was growing up, my family used to devote Sunday afternoons to such tasks. Everyone would take two hours to do something mentally invigorating, like reading a book, then everyone would spend two hours doing something physically invigorating, like running or something. It wasn’t as formal as that description, but every Sunday afternoon, it was part of the routine, and it’s something I look back on with fondness as it really helped me recharge and shape my 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

I have learned that if someone comes to you with a situation, hear them out; often it requires the full story and some questions before the correct plan of action is revealed. This means listening and attempting to see the situation from the speaker’s perspective, not just your own. I have learned to identify ways to really renew myself in each areas of my life. If I feel mentally drained, I schedule a period of time to relax and let my mind float onto something outside of my normal thoughts like a book or a movie.

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

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.”

It tells us that the decisions and actions that we have done in the past and will do in the future are insignificant compared to the knowledge and wisdom that we learn from these experiences. We all have faults and we all make mistakes. If we’re willing to learn from our mistakes and grow from them, those mistakes have had a purpose and have created a positive result. What lies within us, our character, is what makes us who we are.

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 did not come across any idea for which I am not clear 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?

The book’s design enables the reader to transform reading about the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People into practicing it, as the habits are principle-based and empower people through more continuous learning and growth. Don’t wait for things to happen. Take action and exercise your initiative.

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 did not come across anything that I did not like in the book.

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

Maximum Achievement

Assessment by Minny Nkwe (Botswana)

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

This book teaches us the steps required for activating and conditioning our subconscious mind for success orientation by replacing our default failure mechanism. Then the author discusses the 12 step method for goal accomplishment which is unbelievably effective. In short the steps are extreme desire, believing in the set goal, verbalization of goal, listing of possible benefits of accomplished goal, analysis of your present status, fixing a deadline, listing of all obstacles and limitations, creation of a list of people who can help, additional information requirement, creation of a written well defined plan, visualization of goal and stick with persistence until accomplishment of goal.

For developing a better interpersonal relationship for high effectiveness, the author discusses the importance of increasing the self-esteem of people we deal with in our everyday life as well as self by being agreeable and unconditionally accepting that person by smiling, appreciating by saying heartfelt thanks, approving by warm praise, paying importance by attentive listening and so on.

i. Peace of Mind

People usually evaluate how well they are doing in their lives by how much inner peace they enjoy. You only enjoy inner peace when you are living your highest values in life and your innermost convictions. If for any reason you compromise your values, your peace of mind is the first thing to suffer.

ii. Happiness is my birthright

It is the center to my very existence. Brian describes that I experience happiness and peace of mind whenever I am completely free from the destructive emotions of guilt, fear, anger, doubt, resentment and worry. In the absence of these emotions, I enjoy peace of mind effortlessly. In this case, the key to happiness and peace of mind is to work on eliminating anything destructive for my life, including the emotions listed above.

iii. Loving Relationships

I have learned that loving relationships, which is the people I care about: my friends, family, and intimate relationship, they are the real measure of how well I am doing as a human being. Most of my happiness and unhappiness comes from my relationships with others. Brian Tracy has a simple test to measure how well you’re doing in your relationships, which is laughter. How much you laugh together with the people in your life is a simple measure of things going well. When a relationship turns sour, the first thing that goes is laughter.

iv. Financial Freedom

Financial freedom is when you no longer have to worry about money anymore as most of us are occupied with money problems. This means they think about money when they wake up in the morning, and stress about it throughout the day. This is not conductive for you being who you want to be. Many health problems are caused by stress and worry about money. And, many problems in relationships are caused by money stress or problems.

Enjoying the rewards of financial freedom is simply a matter of increasing your financial education and determining where you are now financially and where you want to go. Financial freedom is much more than having money. It’s the freedom to be who you really are and do what you really want in life. If you want to be financially-free, you need to become a different person than you are today and let go of whatever has held you back in the past. It’s a process of growth, improvement and gaining spiritual and emotional strength to become the most powerful, happy, and successful “you” possible. That is the true reward of financial freedom.

v. Worthy Goals and Ideals

Our deepest subconscious drive is a need for meaning and purpose in life. I have learned that I need a clear sense of direction to truly be happy in life. I need to be committed to something bigger and more important than myself. I need to have a feeling that my life stands for something, and that I am making some sort of contribution to the world.

Happiness has been defined as “the progressive realization of a worthy ideal”, meaning you can only be happy when you are working step by step towards something that is really valuable to you.

vi. Self-Knowledge and Self Awareness

To be at my best, I need to know who I am and why I think and feel the way that I do. This is a key ingredient to success and achievement. It is only when I am aware of something and begin to understand myself that I can begin moving forward in the different areas of my life. Brian believes that you should always be striving to grow, become better and learn. I can do this through reading books, attending seminars, or finding mentors/coaches.

vii. Personal Fulfillment

This is the feeling that you are becoming everything that you are capable of becoming. The ability to set goals and to make plans for their accomplishments is the master skill of success. You must learn how to be happy and positive in all circumstances, which is essentially a habit and skill that you must master.

The first step to achieving the life I want is to create my ideal life in every detail. Don’t be worried about the process of getting to where you want to go, but rather, just focus on creating a vision of your perfect future. If your goal is to be fit and healthy and live a long life, then you will achieve 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

In short, at first I have to accept unconditional responsibility for what I am now and to discard my tendency to point a finger towards someone else for my present situation. Then set myself free from most negative emotions by forgiving different persons including my parents, myself and everybody else and make myself ready for an upward journey. Then decide what i need or what I desperately want to be and set a definite goal, which enable the inevitable changes in my life to happen in a predetermined positive direction. I have to learn to dictate my subconscious mind and thus enable us to stretch my comfort zone and accomplish bigger and bigger goals.

One aspect that I find powerful that I have learned about is self-esteem and the importance of it. Tracy says there are two rules for self-esteem: you can never like or love anyone else more than you like or love yourself, and you can never expect anyone else to like or love you more than you like, love or respect yourself. He says that your own level of self-liking and self-acceptance is the control valve on the quality of your human relationships. Everything you do either increases or decreases your self-esteem. If you indulge in destructive or negative habits, it will lower your self-esteem. If you are indulged in productive, healthy habits, your self-esteem improves.

I can gain self-esteem each day simply by making progress in my life. Do the right thing. Grow, contribute, and make a difference. The little actions, or habits, that I perform each and everyday contribute to me having more self-confidence and self-esteem.

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

“I learned that if I didn’t commit to achieving my own happiness, no one else would.”

Achieving even the simplest of goals requires us to learn the meaning of commitment. Throughout our life, we are reminded of commitment, whether it’s related to personal or business goals, and we realize that without committing, we can’t achieve anything.

When you think about it, everything you ever achieved sprouted from a commitment you made; whether it’s your children, your degree, your job, or even your house. Learning how to commit is not simply about making commitments, however, it’s about keeping those commitments in the face of foreseen and unforeseen hurdles.

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 did not come across any ideas for which I am not clear 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?

Exercises contained in the book are ongoing as I have to practice what I read. It will not work if I simply read and do nothing about it.

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.

None.

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

Unlimited Power

Assessment by Minny Nkwe (Botswana)

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

The main idea that the author is trying to convey is how to perform at your peak while gaining emotional and financial freedom, attaining leadership and self-confidence, and winning the cooperation of others. The author wants to give you the knowledge and the courage to remake yourself and your world. This book is a revolutionary fitness book for the mind and also a guidebook to superior performance in an age of success. This is a guide into the power of the mind and how anyone can tap into this power to overcome challenges and achieve success.

i. The Commodity of Kings

Power is simply “the ability to act.” Since ancient times, power has been the commodity of kings. Power originally came to those who were strongest physically. Later, it came to those who had a special heritage through royalty. More recently, it came to those who had the greatest wealth or capital. Today, those who possess specialized and valuable knowledge have the greatest capacity for power.

I have learned that there are only two things that can prevent me from becoming wealthy which are; I don’t know how, or I am unwilling to apply what I know. Where building wealth is concerned, a formal education is not necessary, and does little to prepare you to become wealthy. Your greatest opportunity to become wealthy is through owning your own business.

ii. The Difference that Makes the Difference

Success can be defined as simply getting what you want. The difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is their ability to manage their physical, mental, and emotional states regardless of outside circumstances. A new science called Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) studies the structure of an individual’s subjective experience of objective reality and provides instruction on how to alter that subjective experience to allow the individual more power to direct his or her own life. This science is key to replicating the results of successful people through a process called modeling.

Three fundamental ingredients of a successful person’s life must be modeled in order to produce identical results:

The Belief System

The Mental Syntax

The Physiology

iii. The Power of State

A state is the sum total of a person’s experience at any moment in time. A state has two components: internal representation and physiology. A person’s state ultimately drives that person’s behavior from moment to moment. The science of NLP empowers the individual to master his or her own states and consequently his or her own behavior patterns, thus assisting that person with producing desired results.

iv. The Birth of Excellence: Belief

A belief is any guiding principle that provides a sense of certainty about meaning and direction in life. There are five general reference sources upon which beliefs rest:

Environment, Past Events, Knowledge, Past Results, Imagination of Future Events.

The world we live in is the world we choose to live in, whether consciously or unconsciously. The path to success consists of knowing our outcome, taking action, knowing what results we are getting and having the flexibility to change until we are successful. I have learned that I have to find the beliefs that support my outcomes and that could get me where I want to go.

v. The Seven Lies of Success

The word “lie” in this context does not mean “to be deceitful or dishonest.” Rather, it is a useful way to remind us that no matter how much they believe in a concept, they should be open to other possibilities and continuous learning. The following seven beliefs can be found again and again in successful people:

Everything happens for a reason and a purpose, and it serves me.

There is no such thing as failure. There are only results.

Whatever happens, take responsibility.

I do not need to understand everything to be able to use everything.

People are my greatest resource.

Work is play.

There is no abiding success without commitment.

vi. Mastering Your Mind: How to Run Your Brain

I have learned that my mind is the most powerful tool i have for the creation of good in my life, but if not used correctly, can also be the most destructive force in my life. My mind, more specifically, my thoughts, affect my perception and, therefore, my interpretation of reality. I decided to choose to be the person who is actively, consciously thinking my thoughts and become the master of my mind.

When you change your thoughts you will change your feelings as well, and you will also eliminated the triggers that set off those feelings. Both of these outcomes provide you with a greater level of peace in your mind. There are two ways to control my thoughts: you can interrupt and replace them or you can eliminate them altogether.

vii. The Syntax of Success

Different people have different strategies for achieving states of love, anger, happiness, persuasion, etc. Knowing one’s own strategies and those of others is vital to achieving lasting success. Syntax is the order in which actions are taken. Duplication of another person’s strategy allows duplication of that person’s results.

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 have learned that to live a happy life we must focus on values that are much greater than our own pleasure and satisfaction. I should find a problem that I am passionate about and start solving it. Start contributing in my own way. However small my contribution will make a big difference in some one’s life. I have also learned that solving world problems can help me figure out my life by making me realize that it is much more satisfying to live for a purpose that is much larger than my life. It is very hard to figure out your life purpose but once you are able to find one, it will be much more satisfying than anything else you have done in life. Don’t stop, keep looking. Exploring new places is the best way to learn not only about the world but also connecting to yourself. When you connect with people of different cultures and understand their values, you start to understand what you really want from life.

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

“Remember, a real decision is measured by the fact that you’ve taken new action. If there’s no action, you haven’t truly decided.”

This quote is about hesitation, reluctance to commit and the trouble you can get in when you procrastinate. It’s also about taking action, decisive and energetic action. This quote says that if you aren’t taking action, you are still thinking about it. Once you have finished your analysis and come to a conclusion, it’s time for action. By taking action, you are making a decision. You are cutting yourself off from the other choices and working energetically on the path you have chosen. Yes, you still have to keep your head on a swivel and look to see how well your approach is working. If need be, you can still modify your approach, but keep working towards your goal.

“The great end of life is not knowledge, but action.”

What men need is as much knowledge as they can organize for action; give them more and it may become injurious. Some men are heavy and stupid from undigested
learning.

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 did not come across any idea for which I am not clear 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?

Exercises contained in the book are ongoing as I have to practice what I read. it will not work if I simply read and do nothing about it.

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 did not come across anything that I did not like in the book.

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

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