Okoye Chinedu Callistus – Assessments – International Institute for Global Leadership

As a Man Thinketh

Assessment by Okoye Chinedu Callistus (Nigeria)

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

The idea the author is try to convey in the book “As a Man Thinketh” is all about the thoughts of men and the impart to they live. For me he summarized his idea with his quote: “Mind is the Master power that moulds and makes, And Man is Mind, and evermore he takes The tool of Thought, and, shaping what he wills,
Brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills, He thinks in secret, and it comes to pass,
Environment is but his looking-glass.”

A person’s thoughts form an inner garment of character and an outer garment of circumstance. James Allen’s contribution was to take an assumption we all share, that because in as much as we are human, we therefore control our thoughts, and reveal its fallacy. Because most of us believe that mind is separate from matter, we think that thoughts can be hidden and made powerless, this allows us to think one way and act another. But Allen believed that the unconscious mind generates as much action as the conscious mind, and while we may be able to sustain the illusion of control through the conscious mind alone, we are continually faced with a question, “Why cannot I make myself do this or achieve that?” In noting that desire and will are sabotaged by the presence of thoughts that do not accord with the desire, Allen was led to the startling conclusion that, “We do not attract what we want, but what we are.” Achievement happens because you as a person embody the external achievement; you don’t “get” success but become it. There is no gap between mind and matter.

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

i. A man holds the key to every situation of his life

Part of the fame of this book is its contention that ‘Circumstances do not make a person, they reveal him. This, however, would be a knee-jerk reaction to an argument of subtlety. While Allen does not deny that poverty can ‘happen’ to a person or people, what he tries to make clear is that defensive actions like blaming the perpetrator will only further run the wheels into the rut. What measures us or what reveals us, is how we use those circumstances as an aid or Anything that inspires, motivates or drives you to progress. A successful person or community, in short, is that which can process failure with the most efficiency. Each set of circumstances, however bad, offers a unique opportunity for growth. If circumstances always determined the life and prospects of people, then humanity would never have progressed. Circumstances seem to be designed to bring out the best in us, and if we make the decision that we have been ‘wronged’ then we are unlikely to begin a conscious effort to escape from our situation. It all seems too hopeless. But as any biographer knows, a person’s early life and its conditions are often the greatest gift to an individual. We all know that Gold does not emerge from jewelers’ shops but from mud and rock. One self-help author influenced by Allen is Wayne Dyer. Dyer observed that “being broke is a temporary state of affairs that afflicts almost everyone at one time or another, but being poor is an attitude, a set of beliefs that gets reinforced when we shift to blaming life circumstances for the condition of our poverty.” The tragedy of poverty is that children born into it begin to accept it as part of their culture. Allen talks about those who feel that it is all right to do shoddy work because they are being paid so little. Yet this attitude, superficially justifiable, keeps them in the very situation they despise.

ii. The honest man reaps the good results of his honest thoughts and acts

The idea the Writer is trying to convey here is that, whatsoever a man swore shall he reap. Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results; bad thoughts and actions can never produce good results. This is but saying that nothing can come from corn but corn, nothing from nettles but nettles, you can’t plant beans and during harvest expect to get yam. Men understand this law in the natural world, and work with it; but few understand it in the mental and moral world (though its operation there is just as simple and undeviating), and they, therefore, do not co-operate with it. Those who suffer are those who accommodate bad thought within them. The circumstances, which a man encounters with suffering, are the result of his own mental in harmony. The circumstances, which a man encounters with blessedness, are the result of his own mental harmony. Blessedness, not material possessions, is the measure of right thought; wretchedness, not lack of material possessions, is the measure of wrong thought. A man may be cursed and rich; he may be blessed and poor. Blessedness and riches are only joined together when the riches are rightly and wisely used; and the poor man only descends into wretchedness when he regards his lot as a burden unjustly imposed.

iii. When a man turns away from his sinful thoughts, all the world will soften towards him, and be ready to help him.

The author was trying to point out that when we harbor bad thoughts within us a lot of bad things follow us and it will be as if the whole world is against us, but once we put away all those thoughts for good, things fall in place for us. The circumstances in which a man finds himself is because of his thoughts whether good or bad. So, we should be extremely careful of our thought before it becomes our character, and our character before it becomes out destiny. For a man’s thoughts is within him.

iv. Our accomplishment in life is based in on our sacrifice

Here the author is trying to tell us the important of sacrifices, for the major we sacrifice is the major we would receive, He who would accomplish little must sacrifice little; he who would achieve much must sacrifice much; he who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly.

v. Strength can only be developed by effort and practice

The author is trying to let us all know that our strength lays in our development of our effort. Whatsoever we are doing harboring bad thought gets to us and our effort will look effortless. For we to develop our efforts we need both our minds set working towards our effort for we to archive great in life. For a noble character is not a thing of chance, but is the natural result of continued effort. A man’s mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind.

vi. It’s not the circumstances that keep you stuck, it’s the decision not to change that which keeps you stuck

This does not mean that a man’s circumstances at any given time are an indication of his entire character, but that those circumstances are so intimately connected with some vital thought-element within himself that, for the time being, they are indispensable to his development. Circumstances buffet man so long as he believes himself to be the creature of outside conditions, but when he realizes that he is a creative power, and that he may command the hidden soil and seeds of his being out of which circumstances grow, he then becomes the rightful master of himself.

vii. The body is the servant of the mind.

It obeys the operations of the mind, whether they be deliberately chosen or automatically expressed. At the bidding of unlawful thoughts, the body sinks rapidly into disease and decay; at the command of glad and beautiful thoughts it becomes clothed with youthfulness and beauty. Disease and health, like circumstances, are rooted in thought. Sickly thoughts will express themselves through a sickly body. Thoughts of fear have been known to kill a man as speedily as a bullet, and they are continually killing thousands of people just as surely though less rapidly. The people who live in fear of disease are the people who get it. Anxiety quickly demoralizes the whole body, and lays it open to the entrance of disease; while impure thoughts, even if not physically indulged, will soon shatter the nervous system.

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

The ideas have been so helpful in the same that in one point of our life we have one way or the other harbored bad thoughts within our self and we found out that thoughts expose us to my negative things which have a very bad impact in our life. And once this acts are not noticed and stop early we find out that it may become the way of life.

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

“Break the chains of your thought, and you break the chains of your body, too.”

This is where my problem lays, in as much as the quote got to me am still unable to discover my potential, because there is nowhere am breaking my chains of thought without discovering my potentials.

“Mind is the Master power that moulds and makes, And Man is Mind, and evermore he takes the tool of Thought, and, shaping what he wills, Brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills, He thinks in secret, and it comes to pass, Environment is but his looking-glass.”

Whatsoever a man bears in his mind is what he represents; his thoughts is what determines his accomplishment 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?

The author James Allen did a wonderful work in writing this book, everything in the book were well explained and understood by me. He took time to making his hard work a very fruitful one, I really recommend him to his wonderful work, his book was a successful one.

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 exercises, where we are asked to develop a deeper understanding of the principles of As A Man Thinketh, and that we should begin our week with the wisdom of James Allen. I find this James Allen principle very helpful because it really affected my reasoning ability and I am still practicing on how to control my bad thought.

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.

Yes, I think that the book “As A Man Thinketh” omitted a very vital point because there is no how you will discuss about the mind leaving out the soul. I see them as working together. Mind and soul are two concepts that are closely related yet very distinct from one another. They both come from the inner part of a human being, particularly his brain and maybe his heart. The soul is the spiritual nature of humankind. It is the incorporeal essence of humankind, and it is thought to be separable from the body at death. In life, it is credited with the faculties of thought, action, and emotion. The soul is the self, the “I” that inhabits the body and acts through it. Without the soul, the body is like a light bulb without electricity, a computer without the software, a space suit with no astronaut inside. With the introduction of the soul, the body acquires life, sight, and hearing, thought and speech, intelligence, and emotions, will and desire, personality, and identity.

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

The book was very interesting because I have not read for long now and this one got my attention till I finished reading it.
B. How helpful were the contents? 10

The book was very helpful, it totally changed my thoughts and my life pattern towards positive way.
C. How easy was it to understand? 10

The book “As A Man Thinketh” was written in plain English, it was not very difficult to understanding the idea the author was try to convey in his book.
D. Would you recommend it to others? 10

Would is an understatement because I have sent it to some of my friends to share to my positive life pattern.
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 8

For the book “As A Man thinketh” I rate it 10 because it was practical and soul touching.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Assessment by Okoye Chinedu Callistus (Nigeria)

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

The idea the author is trying to convey in the book, “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” is to trust and believe yourself. If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, but a room should be made for their doubting too. We find out that when you want to start to live as your true self, there is certainly some fear, boredom, and anger in starting to become the person you were born to be. If you have spent your life trying to do what is expected of you, your stepping out of that role may cause fear resulting from the awareness of danger on the people around you. Your new way of living may expose the drab existence that they are still clinging to. Being an outcast is the thing you must pay for being different. We must leave our “comfort zone” to make your own journey. Jonathan was “cast out of gull society”. Being an outcast is not always bad because in the case of Jonathan, be an outcast is being free, he is open to pursue wide range of interest so he has more opportunities in life compare to other gull who believe that their main goal is to eat for them to survive. “Don’t you forget that the reason you fly is to eat.” These take part to the self-discovery of Jonathan. To discover ourselves, we must remove ourselves from eating (fixation) of the flock (society) thus we become an outcast because we need to let go the comfort zone to search for the heaven of our desire (perfection). Jonathan Livingston Seagull is the people who wish to discover themselves. It is said in the book, “to the real Jonathan Seagull, who lives within us all.” The author directly stated that all of us are a Jonathan Seagull. It is interconnected with the central theme since Jonathan hungers for the exploration of his potentials and knowledge.

i. Trust and believe in yourself

Trust and believe was the idea that got to me most, because trust or confidence and believe is what drives away fear and failure away in our life. The practical example was during my elementary school days I was very dumb (both analytical, logical, and how to read), my class mate made gesture of me in whatever l do, I even skipped school to escape them making gesture of me. One day I told myself, its only takes hard work to attain to great success in life. The problem I had then was that l was not even trying to break that barriers and so I started learning from my mother who gave me those secret of how words are formed and pronounced. This went on and on for months and l finally got into secondary where and my intellectual explored and l became the best in my class. To cut the long story short, I graduated as the best student in my secondary school days and graduated with second class upper grade in my higher institution. A lot of people were astonishment to how great I have become.

ii. Being an outcast is the price you pay for being different

Here again the writer is trying to convey that being different people will call you a loser and everyone who comes across you will bully you. You find out that anything you do people will erroneously mistake your opinion and idea. I have not for once been is such situation but I have seen how people who are cast out of their society are treated, the hatred the got for just being different from others. In most case, you are meant to leave your comfort zone to make your journey and you are not allowed to associate with others in their society and anybody who speaks with you is also cast out. People will see you as being evil and always finds fault in whatsoever that they do. The worst of all their opinion and ideas are never accommodated.

iii. People should learn to discover their own potentials by going beyond barriers and have self-determination.

The writer her tries to tell us how important it is to discover your potential to enable us to go beyond your limit. Every one of us have a seed of greatest. But our potential is different. Our personal potential is not limited to just one area of our life, it spills over like a waterfall and pools together with our minds and abilities. The most problem we are facing is, “how can one discover his/her potential?” according to the writer, the best way to discover your potential “is by looking within rather than the world around us”. To me this is what am facing now because I don’t really know what is my potential and how to force it out of my inner mind. The question I have been asking myself is, what is my potential? How can I fast discover it? Because the key to success is discovering your potentials and am yet to discover main.

iv. The only true law is that which sets us free.

When you fully discover you potentials in life you find out that you do things beyond human imagination and a lot of people will castigate you in all that you do or say, but mind you, never do anything to please anybody, because even if you choose to kill yourself you will be criticized, for instance our savior Jesus who sacrificed himself for us during his death was still been criticized and mocked him.

v. Keep working on love

Here the author is trying to let us know the Important of loving one another whether in good times or bad times we should love one another. In his book, we see how Jonathan was cast out of seagull inspect of his love to them in trying to discover another means of livelihood, he was cast but that never stopped him from loving them, he later went back preaching the same love to seagulls who was casted out just like he was cast out.

vi. It will always work when you know what you are doing

Here the author is trying to point out a very interesting aspect of our life, for some of us who live the life of try and luck, life will be a bit difficult in archiving greatly, but for some of us who knows what we are doing in every endeavor of our life, it won’t be all that difficult knowing fully well there is a lot of constraints hindering man kind in all activity of life.

vii. You are never given a dream without also being given the power to make it true

For we to attain a height of greatness we it will surely be determined by our self. For we are the maker of our self and the builder of our destiny.

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

This ideas and lessons have practical impact on us all, because there is a point in our life that we as human have experienced being an outcast. Being an outsider is the only way one can truly discover one’s true self. To find yourself you must spend time with yourself. An outsider, unlike people who belong to a group, isn’t defined by the group, but instead defined by their individual character. So, to really know or to fully understand one’s self you must first discover your potential. Like most statements, it is easier said than done. I have learned that I must make a constant effort to lose myself from the burdens of grudges and hatred. This practice of forgiveness can, to my mind, only work in concert with love. I accept that we all walk through life with many wounds. It can be difficult to find the strength to be kind and patient given these wounds. It can be difficult simply to allow our wounds to heal. Not only do we fail to seek healing, but we can also fall in love with our pain, nursing and feeding it rather than the strength and beauty within us. However, we must forgive. We must forgive ourselves for all the moments where we fall short of our own ideals. I have also learned to seek the forgiveness of my Creator. It is a blessing I earnestly desire, and one I request daily.

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.

“Stand to Center meant only great shame or great honor.”

This one got to me as in during my camping as a corps member serving in Abuja, Nigeria, my platoon group emerged the winner during which I was they captain and I was standing at the center to receive our trophy. I was very excited to have lead them to that greatness.

“You’re wasting your time with me, Jonathan! I’m too dumb! I’m too stupid! I try and try, but I’ll never get it!”

This quote is very important to me during my youthful age when am try to break my dumbness it seem as if not was working for me, till I made a declaration to break my dumbness.

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

Whatsoever you are doing but you are limited in it, you find out that in that realm of affair you cannot archive your greatest potential till you break that bound limiting you from archiving or attaining to you highest potential.

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 don’t understand what the author of “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” is trying to say about heaven being an idea of perfection on his statement, “No, Jonathan, there is no such place. Heaven is not a place, and it is not a time. Heaven is being perfect.” This is the idea I have about Heaven; Heaven is a real place where the people of God will live one day. In fact, heaven is where God and the angels live. John 14:1-3 even says that Jesus is in heaven preparing us a place to live. In heaven, those saved by God, will have new bodies without the curse of sin. Most importantly God will be in heaven and He wants to be your friend. He wants to dwell with you and wipe away all your tears (Revelation 21:1-4).

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 author never made provision of any exercise in this book, non-that I know of, but what I see as the authors exercise is for one to find a way of discovering his potentials in life to enable him/her attain a great height of success.

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 only thing I have to comment on was the place where the author ambiguated have as not a place but as a person being perfect, and I think in my own way that it’s a contradiction and not a fact and should be literally reviewed.

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
It’s an interest story, a very long tales, you must read all through before you can make a conclusion on the idea of the author.

B. How helpful were the contents? 9

It’s very helpful in the sense that it tries to help one know on how to discover his/her potential to enable him/her attaint height of greatness.
C. How easy was it to understand? 8

On like the “Jonathan Livingston Seagull”, which was all about a long tales, you must read all through before you get the idea the writer is trying to convey.
D. Would you recommend it to others? 8

In as much as the book has lots of tales in it I enjoyed the story and have sent it to some of my friends who enjoy reading during they spare time.
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 8
I rate it 8 because the writer did not state clearly his idea, but rather he associated it to seagull.

How to Win Friends and Influence People

Assessment by Okoye Chinedu Callistus (Nigeria)

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

Everybody in the world is seeking happiness, and there is one sure way to find it. That is by controlling your thoughts. Happiness doesn’t depend on outward conditions. It depends on inner conditions. It isn’t what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it. Either with positive mental attitudes or with negative mental attitudes that we normally get, because we are what we think and do. “There is nothing either good or bad,” said Shakespeare, “but thinking makes it so.” Abe Lincoln once remarked that “most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

i. If you want to gather honey, don’t kick over the beehive

I think that the idea the author is trying to convey here is all about how we go about criticizing, condemning, or complaining about people. Criticism is futile because it puts a person on the defensive and usually makes him strive to justify himself. Criticism is dangerous, because it wounds a person’s precious pride, hurts his sense of importance, and arouses resentment. The resentment that criticism engenders can demoralize employees, family members and friends, and still not correct the situation that has been condemned. Let’s realize that criticisms are like homing pigeons. They always return home. Let’s realize that the person we are going to correct and condemn will probably justify himself or herself, and condemn us in return. If we want to stir up a resentment tomorrow that may rankle across the decades and endure until death, just let us indulge in a little stinging criticism-no matter how certain we are that it is justified. When dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotion, creatures bristling with prejudices and motivated by pride and vanity. Bitter criticism caused the sensitive Thomas Hardy, one of the finest novelists ever to enrich English literature, to give up forever the writing of fiction. Criticism drove Thomas Chatterton, the English poet, to suicide. Please, let’s stop criticizing, because it is the fastest way we murder people easily.

ii. The Big Secret of Dealing with People:

The idea the author is giving us here is how we can give honest and sincere appreciation no matter how hard it is. People sometimes became invalids to win sympathy and attention, and get a feeling of importance. If some people are so hungry for a feeling of importance that they go insane to get it, imagine what miracle you and I can achieve by giving people honest appreciation this side of insanity. According to Schwab he was paid this salary largely because of his ability to deal with people. I quote his exact words “I consider my ability to arouse enthusiasm among my people,” said Schwab. “The greatest asset I possess, and the way to develop the best that is in a person is by appreciation and encouragement. “There is nothing else that so kills the ambitions of a person as criticisms from superiors. I never criticize any-one. I believe in giving a person incentive to work. So, I am anxious to praise but loath to find fault. If I like anything, I am hearty in my approbation and lavish in my praise.”

iii. He Who Can Do This Has the Whole World with Him. He Who Cannot Walks a Lonely Way.

The author raised an interesting point here, we sometime tend go contritely to this. He said we should remember that tomorrow when we are trying to get somebody to do something, arouse in the other person an eager wan. If, for example, we don’t want our children to smoke, don’t preach at them, and don’t talk about what we want, but show them that cigarettes may keep them from not achieving greatness in life, and once it becomes our habit we can’t do away with it. Every act we have ever performed since the day you were born was performed because we wanted something. Since we have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me. Here is one of the best bits of advice ever given about the fine art of human relationships. “If there is any one secret of success,” said Henry Ford. “It lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and see things from that person’s angle as well as from your own.”

iv. Ways to Make People Like You

If we merely try to impress people and get people interested in us, we will never have many true, sincere friends. Friends, real friends, are not made that way. Alfred Adler said that “it is the individual who is not interested in his fellow men who has the greatest difficulties in life and provides the greatest injury to others. It is from among such individuals that all human failures spring.” We must be interested in people if you want to be a successful. I have discovered from personal experience that one can win the attention and time and cooperation of even the most sought-after people by becoming genuinely interested in them.

v. A Simple Way to Make a Good First Impression

Charles Schwab told the author that his smile had been worth a million dollars. And he was probably understating the truth. For Schwab’s personality, his charm, his ability to make people like him, were almost wholly responsible for his extraordinary success; and one of the most delightful factors in his personality was his captivating smile. Actions speak louder than words, and a smile says, I like you, you make me happy. I am glad to see you. The author was talking about a real smile, a heartwarming smile, a smile that comes from within, the kind of smile that will bring a good price in the marketplace. Professor James V. McConnell, a psychologist at the University of Michigan, expressed his feelings about a smile. People who smile, he said, tend to manage teach and sell more effectively, and to raise happier children. There’s far more information in a smile than a frown. That’s why encouragement is a much more effective teaching device than punishment.

vi. If You Don’t Do This, You Are Headed for Trouble

The trouble the author was referring to was Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language. This policy of remembering and honoring the names of our friends and business associates was one of the secrets of Andrew Carnegie’s leadership. He was proud of the fact that he could call many of his factory workers by their first names, and he boasted that while he was personally in charge, no strike ever disturbed his flaming steel mills. Most people don’t remember names, for the simple reason that they don’t take the time and energy necessary to concentrate and repeat and fix names indelibly in their minds. They make excuses for themselves; they are too busy. We should be aware of the magic contained in a name and realize that this single item is wholly and completely owned by the person with whom we are dealing and nobody else. The name sets the individual apart; it makes him or her unique among all others. The information we are imparting or the request we are making takes on a special importance when we approach the situation with the name of the individual. From the waitress to the senior executive, the name will work magic as we deal with others.

vii. Make the other person feel important-and do it sincerely

The author said if we are so contemptibly selfish that we can’t radiate a little happiness and pass on a bit of honest appreciation without trying to get something out of the other person in return, if our souls are no bigger than sour crab apples, we shall meet with the failure we so richly deserve. I wanted something priceless. And I got it. I got the feeling that I had done something for him without his being able to do anything whatever in return for me. That is a feeling that flows and sings in the authors memory long after the incident is past. There is one all-important law of human conduct. If we obey that law, we shall almost never get into trouble. In fact, that law, if obeyed, will bring us countless friends and constant happiness. But the very instant we break the law, we shall get into endless trouble. The law is this: Always make the other person feel important. John Dewey, as we have already noted, said that the desire to be important is the deepest urge in human nature; and William James said: The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated. As I have already pointed out, it is this urge that differentiates us from the animals. It is this urge that has been responsible for civilization itself.

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?

It helped me improve my ability to make decisions and it aided me enormously in all my contacts with 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.

“For the great aim of education, it is not knowledge but action.”

I think what Herbert Spencer meant her is that Learning is an active process. We
learn by doing.

“If you teach a man anything, he will never learn.”

Bernard Shaw was right on this his quote. For a man learns only when her develops an interest in an idea that gets to him.

“Don’t complain about the snow on your neighbor’s roof,” said Confucius, “when your own doorstep is unclean.”

The author is telling us that we should first consider our self, our problems before solving someone’s else problem. And this exactly what is happening in this our new generation, we found people whose house are dismally going to the next house to make peace there. It’s not done that way, first we should place our house in order before thinking of the next person close to us.

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, simple, 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?

Its book about human beings, how we behave and how we react to our environment, and it contains a lot of practical 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.

Not at all, the book was written in plan and understandable grammar.

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

Keys to Success

Assessment by Okoye Chinedu Callistus (Nigeria)

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

The main idea the author is trying to convey in this book are many, but I think the main idea is on “Definiteness of Purpose.” This is the starting points of all achievement, and the lack of it, is an obstacle for many people, simply because they never really define their goals and start towards them. We found out that when we have aim and purpose defined, even with little we can achieve great success. The author made a very touching statement where he differentiated “wish” and “burning desire” as being crucial. Everyone wants to be great but nobody wants to go beyond just wishing. If we know what we want from life, with determination to get it to the point it that it becomes an obsession, and we back that obsession with continuous effort and sound planning, then we have awakened and developed the purpose of definiteness. It is definiteness of purpose that encourages one to specialize and specialization leads us to perfection. Our success in life will depend on our ability to specialize on a field and to perform exceptionally within it. The problem most of us are facing in life is the inability to specialize in the area we can perform exceptionally and that’s a big problem, because he who does not plan, plan to fail. Successful people make decision very quickly (as soon as all the facts are available) and firmly. Unsuccessful people make decision slowly, and they change them often. The greatest benefits of definiteness of purpose is that it opens our minds “faith.” It makes our mind positive and free it from the limitations of doubt, discouragement, indecision, and procrastination. The author also said that being successful depends on how we cooperate with other people. The author said that the first step from poverty to riches is the most difficult. (where will I get the resources to implement my plan?) the key is to realize that all the riches we acquire through our own effort begin with our having a clear, concise picture of what we seek. When that picture grows to be an obsession with us, we find out that our every action leads us towards its acquisition.

The author also pointed out that, there is no scarcity of opportunity. There is only a shortage of imagination. Countless people gain new wealth yearly, whether the economy is prospering or ailing. The only limits they recognize are those within their own minds. Anyone who cries “no opportunity” is simply issuing an alibi (some failure to keep a promise) for his or her own unwillingness to assume responsibility and use imagination. Most times we found out that those who said or cry “no opportunity” are those who sit and complain, doing nothing to achieve success. The author made it clear that Definiteness of purpose helps us to have complete control of our mind. We must control our mind so that it is regularly open to the power of infinite intelligence.

Failure and pain are one language through which nature speaks to every living creates, pointing out mistakes. Realizing that the turning point at which we begin to attain success is usually defined by some form of defeat or failure. With this realization, we need not accept defeat as failure but only as a temporary event that may prove to be a blessing in disguise.

Creative vision requires us to stimulate our imagination to work towards our definite major purpose and to put the results of that imagination to work.The author said something about the health of our mind and body not being separated from our success story. Anything that affects the soundness of our mind will affect our body, and anything that affects our body will touch our mind. Therefore, the author refers to it as a mind-body. He went on by saying that we are also affected by the environment, subject to natural laws that govern our mind-body just as much as they affect trees, mountains, birds, and beast. Understanding the way in which we can maintain a sound mind-body depends, therefore, on understanding the way nature works. We must learn to work with natural forces, not fight them.

The author also said that like time, money should be spent with a definite purpose in mind. We must use self-discipline in sticking to it. Our priority in any budget should be to set aside a fixed percentage of our income for savings. A strong and growing savings cushion is an important weapon in our fight against the fear of poverty. If adversity (A state of misfortune or affliction) or ill health strikes, adequate savings will allow us to start looking for the seed of equivalent benefit right away.

Making savings a habit, and we should never back away from a good habit. Allocate some portion of our income to charity. This is an important part of going the extra mile. The author made it clear that we are where we are because of our established habits. He said that cosmic habit force is the law which makes every living creatures, every particle of matter subject to the influence of its environment. it can work for us or against us. The choice is ours. In the science of personal achievement, we seek to take control of this order by taking control of our habits. We recognize that our thoughts and actions will become as much a part of our nature. If our habits are positive, the seeds that they plant will be too. If our habits are negative, their results will also be negative. Therefore, we must take control of our habits through self-discipline. Habits become a part of our nature by repetition. If we create thought habits by repeating certain ideas in our mind, cosmic habit force will take over these patterns of thought, make them permanent (depending on our intensity of repetition and practice) and put them to work.

i. Establish a mastermind alliance

The author is trying to let us know here that the mastermind principle lets us appropriate and use the full strength of the experience, training, and knowledge of other people just as if they were our own. The is to do the job. We should not in any way select people for our alliance merely because we like and know them. such people are valuable to you because the improve the quality of our life, but they are not necessarily suited to a mastermind alliance. And we should stop concentrating on our losses, because the more we do that we attract other losses. We should stop thinking about that and adopt a definite plan.

ii. Assemble an attractive personality

Here the author is trying to let us know that we should accommodate the right people to attain great success in our life. We found out that those who really want us to attain to great success in our life are always sincere in everything they do. Sincerity is what strengthen every aspect of pleasing personality. Successful people reach decision and quickly, and they become annoyed and are inconvenienced by others who do not. Prompt decision making is a habit, and it is supported by our positive mental attitude, which gives us confidence. It is tied (bound or secured) closely to our sincerity of purpose, the more we are convinced of the value of our definite major purpose, the quicker we will be to discard distracting options and to select those which move us towards our goal. People working for us should be properly treated. Courtesy demand that we should respect other people’s feelings under all circumstances.

The author also stated that, anyone who desires an attractive personality should avoid employing people who show lack of their tact (Consideration in dealing with others and avoiding giving offense). We should tolerate those who are working with us, those whose opinions, practices, and beliefs differ from ours should be recognized and respected. We all know that holding our mind open to new ideas and new information is not simply in a way, but it makes things more pleasing. A lot of firms that are not performing well may be as result on intolerance among staffs. Intolerance brings a lot of disadvantage;(it stops the growth of mind by limiting the search for knowledge, it discourages imagination, it prohibits self-discipline, it makes enemies of those who would like to be friends, and it prevents accuracy in thinking and reasoning). Since our feelings (emotions) can lift us to great achievements or hurt us down to defeat, we owe it to ourselves to understand and control them. The first step is for us to identify the feelings which motivates us, we can seek the out and use them.

iii. Use applied faith

Faith is a state of mind, whatsoever we think of and believe in it is usually what we get. For it to be useful to you in achieving lasting success, it must be an active and not a passive faith. According to the author active faith is the process of relating our self to the vital forces of the world, which the author calls “infinite intelligence.”

Whatever our mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve. Therefore, if we self-impose limitations and restrictions, it will block the flows of infinite intelligence. Faith is a state of mind which can be cultivated. An important part of opening our mind to faith is ridding our mind to the fear which limits our belief.

iv. Go the extra mile

Going the extra mile is not the sort of principle according to the author, but can be put into practice in a few easy steps. Instead it is a state of mind that we must develop, so that it will become part of everything we do. There is a powerful, mental attitude connected with it. The author told interesting story about Edison and Barnes on Dictaphone. It was the determination in Barnes that made Edison to enter partnership with Barnes. Barnes returned to Edison months later after he sold about seven Dictaphone, full of ideas for selling more machines across the country. Going an extra mile means that we strengthen our ability to do our job and to do it well. Carrying out our tasks in a state of mind focused on providing the best service possible in the best possible attitude reinforces our skills. Going the extra mile is a way of writing our self an insurance policy against the fear of poverty, against the fear of want, and against competition from those who only go halfway. Going the extra mile develops personal initiative because we do not wait for things to happen but make them happen. Going the extra mile builds our conviction that we are doing what is good and right. It puts us on better terms with our conscience, and it gives us faith in our self.

v. Create personal initiative

Here the author is trying to let us know that our definite goal may someday include being our own boss, but if it doesn’t, or even if that step is still some ways off, personal initiatives can still pay off for us. The time to begin exercising our personal initiative is the moment we decide upon our major purpose. Begin creating our plan of action, start assembling our mastermind alliance. We may find that our purpose changes because of things we learn in accomplishing these tasks, but the important thing is to begin work immediately. It is better to act on a weak plan than to delay acting at all. Procrastination is the archenemy (a principle enemy) of personal initiative, and if we let it become a habit this early in the game, it will plague (any large-scale calamity) our every move.

The author also pointed out that we should never wait for some outside force to trigger our actions. We of course should also respond to surprises and our competition, but we must be moving forward according to our own plan daily.

vi. Build a positive mental attitude

According to the author, a positive mental attitude is the single most important principle of the science of success. We will depend upon it in everything we do. “Success attracts success while failure attracts more failure.” Striving for success makes us better able to attain success. Doing nothing and accepting failure only bring more failure our way.

If we put our mind to work with a positive mental attitude and believe that success is our right, our belief will guide us unerringly (without making errors) towards whatever our definition of success might be. If we adopt a negative mental attitude and fill our mind with thoughts of fear and frustration our mind will only draw those same things to us.

vii. Enforce self-discipline

According to author self-discipline is the process that ties all our efforts together. Most people act first and think about the consequences later. Self-discipline calls for balancing our emotions with our reasoning. This means we must learn to consult both our feelings and our reasons before we reach a decision. Sometimes we will need to set aside our emotions and follow the dictates of reason alone. Other time we will decide in favor of our emotions, modified by our reason. This is what holds or teaches us how to throw our willpower behind either reason or emotion and amplify the intensity of our expression.

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

This idea has been very helpful to my life because I learnt that bragging about our achievement should not be our habit. And in most case, we do this to cover up feelings of inferiority. We imitate success rather than attain it. Its fine if our definite major purpose includes community recognition, but the prospect of exposure as a fraud. We should take pride in what we have accomplished, and remember that there will soon come a time when real achievements will stand for themselves. The problem some of us is that they quit before the start. And one of the most surprising things is the fact that when we have discovered the thing for which we are searching, we generally find out that it has been within our reach all the time, but nothing except persistence and a will to win would have revealed it.

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 would plant for days, plant flowers. If you would plant for years, plant trees.

If you would plant for eternity, plant ideas.”

Here the author is trying to say that the time we spend working does not determines how rich we are supposed to be, but with definiteness of our purpose set to work with our imagination we can make a lot. Riches is not only measure with hard work but with hard work, definiteness of purpose, and positive mental attitude to work.

“One single idea may have greater weight than the labor of all the men, animals and engines for a century.”

I think what the author is trying to say is that one good idea we have imagined out of our mind can feed us and our entire generation for live. It does not mean working 24 hours/7 days a week, we can be sleeping and be expending, for instance bill gate and some other prominent rich men are benefiting from the ideas gotten from their imagination. We need at least 2 hours with our mind daily.

“Before I do anything for you, you must do something for yourself.”

(What the writer was trying to say was that before we seek help of others, we should on our own take a step in defeating our obstacles, we must start getting to know that side of our personality that knows no obstacles, that recognizes no defeat.)

“Know what you wish to say, say it with all the feeling you command, and then sit down.”

The author says that while addressing people, we should remember to keep our speeches short, as soon as we have conveyed our point. The author went on to say that if we want to present new computer system to a business that has never used computer system before and we talk on about LAN and Pentium Chip, we will soon face a roomful of sleepwalker. Tell them instead how we can link their employee together how quickly information can be shared, and how fast and efficiently our technology will allow them to work and we will face a roomful of people eager to do business with you.

“Strength and struggle go hand in hand.”

The author is trying to say that if we have no positive mental attitude towards achieving success the wont be anything motivating us to push harder towards our struggle, thereby making us friend to fear, poverty, and frustration. The first time is for us to defined our definite purpose of life and work towards achieving it with faith and enthusiasm.

“Success attracts success while failure attracts more failure”

The author is trying to say that if we do not plan our life we will plan to fail. All he is trying to say is that we should plan our life for raining days.

“Wasting time is sinful.”

Most people waste enough time (time they could have used to meditate or work with the minds) in gossip alone to earn them all the luxuries they envy in others. Time is our most precious asset, in other words time is money. If we use it well, it is like money in the bank and must be spent on strict self-discipline.

“Your thoughts are the only thing you can completely control if you decide to do so.”

We must control our thoughts. We will know that if we have the power to form and express our thoughts, we have the power to change the circumstances of our life into whatever we want them to do. If our life is not already what we want it to be, it is because we have placed limitation to our life’s and it has drifted into our present circumstances by cosmic habit force. We can change that. Definiteness of purpose, backed by the power of cosmic habit force and enforced by self-discipline and personal initiative, can bring us to the circumstances we want.

“The worst thing that happens to you may be the best thing that can happen to you if you don’t let it get the best of you.”

Here our mental attitude in respect to defeat is the factor of major importance which determines whether we ride with tides (periodic rise and fall) of fortune or misfortune. The person with a positive mental attitude reacts to defeat in the spirit of determination not to accept it. The person with negative mental attitudes reacts to defeat in the spirit of hopeless acceptance.

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 totally disagree with the author on this his quote “forget the old saying “don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” He goes on by saying we should put all our eggs in one basket and contrite our attention on protecting that basket and getting it to the market. I disagree because if it worked for the author does not mean the same principle will as well work for me. In as much as I believe that this quote is right and it won’t work for everybody and I believe that controlled attention is the act of coordinating at the faculties of the mind and directing our combined power to a given end. Concentration upon a single idea has been the hallmark of success for few people.

The objects on which we deliberately concentrate our attention becomes the dominating influences in our environment. if our thoughts are fixed on poverty or the physical signs of poverty, these influences are transferred to our subconscious by autosuggestion. If we continue to concentrate on poverty, we will condition our mind to accepting poverty as an unavoidably circumstance, and we will eventually become poverty-conscious.

This also works in the same manner as in when our dominating thoughts are fixed on success and security, through controlled attention. This habit leads us to the development of a success consciousness. The object of controlled attention is to keep our mind (active) busy through thoughts which it will be helpful in attaining the object of our desires. If we neglect controlling our attention, our mind will become fixed on negative influences.

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, on like the first books I have read. I have recorded about six (6) exercise on the book and am still working on because our mind is not what we can manipulate within a day or even weeks.

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.

For me the author did a wonderful work all aspect was covered and most importantly it was written in advanced plain English.

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

Psychocybernetics

Assessment by Okoye Chinedu Callistus (Nigeria)

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

The self-image is a premise, a base, or a foundation upon which your entire personality, your behavior, and even your circumstances are built. Because of this our experiences seem to verify, and thereby strengthen our self-image, and a vicious or a beneficent cycle is set up. For example, a schoolboy who sees himself as an “F” type student, or one who is “dumb in mathematics,” will invariably find that his report card bears him out with F. The author said that the trouble with these students was not that they were
dumb, or lacking in basic aptitudes. The trouble was an inadequate self-image “I don’t have a mathematical mind.” They “identified” with their mistakes and failures. Instead of saying I failed that test (factual and descriptive) they concluded I am a failure.

i. The Self Image

Understanding the psychology of the self can mean the difference between success and failure, love and hate, bitterness, and happiness. The discovery of the real self can rescue a crumbling marriage, recreate a faltering career, transform victims of personality failure. On another plane, discovering your real self means the difference between freedom and the compulsions of conformity. The most important psychological discovery of this century is the discovery of the self-image. Whether we realize it or not, each of us carries about with us a mental blueprint or picture of ourselves. It may be vague and ill-defined to our conscious gaze. In fact, it may not be consciously recognizable at all. But it is there, complete down to the last detail. It has been built up from our own beliefs about ourselves. But most of these beliefs about ourselves have unconsciously been formed from our past experiences, our successes and failures, our humiliations, our triumphs, and the way other people have reacted to us, especially in early childhood. From all these we mentally construct a self (or a picture of a self). Once an idea or belief about ourselves goes into this picture it becomes true, as far as we personally are concerned. We do not question its validity, but proceed to act upon it just as if it were true.

ii. Discovering the Success Mechanism Within You

Every living thing has a built-in guidance system or goal-striving device, put there by its Creator to help it achieve its goal which is, in broad terms to live. In the simpler forms of life, the goal to live simply means physical survival for both the individual and the species. The built-in mechanism in animals is limited to finding food and shelter, avoiding, or overcoming enemies and hazards, and procreation to insure the survival of the species. The author also said in man, the goal to live means more than mere survival. For an animal to live simply means that certain physical needs must be met. Man has certain emotional and spiritual needs which animals do not have. Consequently, for man to live encompasses more than physical survival and procreation of the species. It requires certain emotional and spiritual satisfactions as well. Man’s built in Success Mechanism also is much broader in scope than an animal’s. Dr. Norbert Wiener, who pioneered in the development of goal-seeking mechanisms in World War II, believes that something very like the foregoing happens in the human nervous system whenever you perform any purposeful activity even in such a simple goal-seeking situation as picking up a package of cigarettes from a table. We can accomplish the goal of picking up the cigarettes because of an automatic mechanism, and not by will and forebrain thinking alone. All that the forebrain does is to select the goal, trigger it into action by desire, and feed information to the automatic mechanism so that your hand continually corrects its course. This feedback data enables the automatic mechanism to continually correct the motion of our hand, until it is steered to the cigarettes. The unhappy, failure-type personality cannot develop a new self-image by pure will power, or by arbitrarily deciding to. There must be some grounds, some justification, some reason for deciding that the old picture of self is in error, and that a new picture is appropriate. You cannot merely imagine a new self-image; unless you feel that it is based upon truth. Experience has shown that when a person does change his self-image, he has the feeling that for one reason or another, he “sees,” or realizes the truth about himself.

iii. Imagination—The First Key to Your Success Mechanism

The author says that imagination as the first key to our success have played an important role than most of us realize. The author said he has seen the practical impact in his life. Creative imagination is not something reserved for the poets, the philosophers, the inventors. It enters our every act. For imagination sets the goal picture which our automatic mechanism works on. We act, or fail to act, not because of will, as is so commonly believed, but because of imagination. A human being always acts and feels and performs in accordance with what he imagines to be true about himself and his environment. This is a basic and fundamental law of mind. It is the way we are built. When we see this law of mind graphically and dramatically demonstrated in a hypnotized subject, we are prone to think that there is something occult or supra-normal at work. According to the author, what we are witnessing is the normal operating processes of the human brain and nervous system. Our nervous system cannot tell the difference between an imagined experience and a real experience. In either case, it reacts automatically to information which we give to it from our forebrain. Our nervous system reacts appropriately to what we think or imagine to be true. In short, the man on the trail reacted to what he thought, or believed or imagined the environment to be. The messages brought to us from the environment consist of nerve impulses from the various sense organs. These nerve impulses are decoded, interpreted, and evaluated in the brain and made known to us in the form of ideas or mental images. In the final analysis it is these mental images that we react to. We act, and feel, not according to what things are really like, but according to the image our mind holds of what they are like. We have certain mental images of our self, our world, and the people around us, and we behave as though these images were the truth, the reality, rather than the things they represent. This same creative mechanism within you can help you achieve your best possible self if you will form a picture in your imagination of the self you wanted to be and see yourself” in the new role. This is a necessary condition to personality transformation, regardless of the method of therapy used. Somehow, before a person can change, he must see himself in a new role.

iv. Dehypnotize Yourself from False Beliefs

Now the point the author wants to make is this, Adler had been hypnotized (Having your attention fixated as though by a spell) by a false belief about himself. Not figuratively, but literally and hypnotized. Remember that the last chapter said that the power of hypnosis is the power of belief. Dr. Barber’s explained further by saying that, we found that hypnotic subjects can do surprising things only when convinced that the hypnotist’s words are true statements. When the hypnotist has guided the subject to the point where he is convinced that the hypnotist’s words are true statements, the subject then behaves differently because he thinks and believes differently. The important thing for us to remember is that it does not matter in the least how you got the idea or where it came from. You may never have met a professional hypnotist. You may have never been formally hypnotized. But if you have accepted an idea from yourself, your teachers, your parents, friends, advertisements or from any other source, and further, if we are firmly convinced that idea is true, it has the same power over you as the hypnotist’s words have over the hypnotized subject. It is no exaggeration to say that every human being is hypnotized to some extent, either by ideas he has uncritically accepted from others, or ideas he has repeated to himself or convinced himself are true. These negative ideas have the same effect upon our behavior as the negative ideas implanted into the mind of a hypnotized subject by a professional hypnotist.

v. How to Utilize the Power of Rational Thinking

Our automatic mechanism, or what the Freudians call the unconscious, is impersonal. It operates as a machine and has no will of its own. It always tries to react appropriately to our current beliefs and interpretations concerning environment. It always seeks to give us appropriate feelings, and to accomplish the goals which we consciously determine upon. It works only upon the data which we feed it in the form of ideas, beliefs, interpretations, opinions. It is conscious thinking which is the control knob of our unconscious machine. It was by conscious thought, though perhaps irrational and unrealistic, that the unconscious machine developed its negative and inappropriate reaction patterns, and it is by conscious rational thought that the automatic reaction patterns can be changed. The author said the fact that are buried in the unconscious, memories of past failures, unpleasant and painful experiences, does not mean that these must be dug out, exposed, or examined, to effect personality changes. As we have pointed out earlier, trial and error accomplish all skill learning, by making a trial, missing the mark, consciously remembering the degree of error, and making correction on the next trial until finally a hit, or successful attempt is accomplished. The successful reaction pattern is then remembered, or recalled, and imitated on future trials. This is true for a man learning to pitch horseshoes, throw darts, sing, drive a car, play golf, get along socially with other human beings, or any other skill. However, as soon as the error has been recognized as such, and correction of course made, it is equally important that the error be consciously forgotten, and the successful attempt remembered and dwelt upon. These memories of past failures do no harm if our conscious thought and attention is focused upon the positive goal to be accomplished. Therefore, it is best to let these sleeping dogs lie. Our errors, mistakes, failures, and sometimes even our humiliations, were necessary steps in the learning process. However, they were meant to be means to an end and not an end in themselves. When they have served their purpose, they should be forgotten. If we consciously dwell upon the error, or consciously feel guilty about the error, and keep berating ourselves because of it, then unwittingly the error or failure itself becomes the goal which is consciously held in imagination and memory. The unhappiest of mortals is that man who insists upon reliving the past, over and over in imagination continually criticizing himself for past mistakes continually condemning himself for past sins. Continually criticizing our self for past mistakes and errors does not help matters, but on the other hand tends to perpetuate the very behavior we would change. Memories of past failures can adversely affect present performance, if we dwell upon them and foolishly conclude I failed yesterday therefore it follows that I will fail again today. However, this does not prove that unconscious reaction patterns have any power in themselves to repeat and perpetuate themselves, or that all buried memories of failure must be eradicated before behavior can be changed. If we are victimized, it is by our conscious, thinking mind and not by the unconscious. For it is with the thinking part of our personality that we draw conclusions, and select the goal images that we shall concentrate upon. The minute that we change our minds, and stop giving power to the past, the past with its mistakes loses power over us.

vi. Relax and Let Your Success Mechanism Work for You

Our trouble is that we ignore the automatic creative mechanism and try to do everything and solve all our problems by conscious thought, or forebrain thinking. The forebrain is comparable to the operator of an electronic brain, or any other type of servo-mechanism. It is with the forebrain that we exercise imagination, or set goals. We use the forebrain to gather information, make observations, evaluate incoming sense data, form judgments. But the forebrain cannot create. It cannot do the job to be done, any more than the operator of an electronic brain can do the work. It is the job of the forebrain to pose problems and to identify them but by its very nature it was never engineered to solve problems. The mistake we make is assuming that this process of unconscious cerebration is reserved for writers, inventors, and creative workers. We are all creative workers, whether we are housewives working in a kitchen, school teachers, students, salesmen or businessmen. We all have the same success mechanism within us, and it will work
in solving personal problems, running a business, or selling goods, just as it will in writing a story or inventing. The Success Mechanism within you can work in the same way to produce creative doing as it does to produce creative ideas. Skill in any performance, whether it be in sports, in playing the piano, in conversation, or in selling merchandise, consists not in painfully and consciously thinking out each action as it is performed, but in relaxing, and letting the job do itself through you. Creative performance is spontaneous and natural as opposed to self-conscious and studied. Conscious effort inhibits and jams the automatic creative mechanism. The reason some people are self-conscious and awkward in social situations is simply that
they are too consciously concerned, too anxious, to do the right thing. They are painfully conscious of every move they make. Every action is thought-out. Every word spoken is calculated for its effect. We speak of such persons as inhibited, and rightly so. But it would be truer were we to say that the person is not inhibited, but that the person has inhibited his own creative mechanism. If these people could let go, stop trying, not care, and give no thought to the matter of their behavior, they could act creatively, spontaneously, and be themselves.

vii. You Can Acquire the Habit of Happiness

The author based it discussion of his idea on how we can acquire happiness. A state of mind in which our thinking is pleasant a good share of the time. Happiness is native to the human mind and its physical machine. We think better, perform better, feel better, and are healthier when we are happy. Even our physical sense organs work better. Russian psychologist K. Kekcheyev found that when thinking pleasant thoughts, they could see better, taste, smell and hear better, and detect finer differences in touch. Dr. William Bates proved that eyesight improves immediately when the individual is thinking pleasant thoughts, or visualizing pleasant scenes. Margaret Corbett has found that memory is greatly improved, and that the mind is relaxed, when the subject is thinking pleasant thoughts. Psychosomatic medicine has proved that our stomachs liver, heart, and all our internal organs function better when we are happy. Happiness is not something that is earned or deserved. Happiness is not a moral issue, any more than the circulation of the blood is a moral issue. Both are necessary to health and well-being. Happiness is simply a state of mind in which our thinking is pleasant a good share of the time. If you wait until you deserve to think pleasant thoughts, you are likely to think unpleasant thoughts concerning your own unworthiness. Happiness is not the reward of virtue, said Spinoza, but virtue itself, nor do we delight in happiness because we restrain our lusts, but, on the contrary, because we delight in it, therefore are we able to restrain them.

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

The ideas or lesion have helped me in a practical way, in the sense that the methods itself consists in learning, practicing, and experiencing, new habits of thinking, imagining, remembering, and acting to develop an adequate and realistic Self-image, and use our Creative Mechanism to bring success and happiness in achieving goals.

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 can remember, worry, or tie your shoe, you can succeed.”

The things you are called upon to do are simple, but you must practice and experience. Visualizing, creative mental picturing, is no more difficult than what you do when you remember some scene out of the past, or worry about the future. Acting out new action patterns is no more difficult than deciding, then following through on tying your shoes in a new and different manner each morning, instead of continuing to tie them in your old habitual way, without thought or decision.

“Is There an Infinite Storehouse of Ideas, Knowledge, and Power?”

Many great thinkers of all ages have believed that man’s stored information is not limited to his own memories of past experiences, and learned facts. Edison believed that he got some of his ideas from a source outside himself. Once, when complimented for a creative idea, he refused credit, saying that ideas are in the air, and if he had not discovered it, someone else would have.

“Try to do only one thing at a time.”

Another cause of confusion, and the resulting feelings of nervousness, hurry, and anxiety, is the absurd habit of trying to do many things at one time. The student studies and watches TV simultaneously. I just wonder how a student can concentrate while watching TV and at the same time read his/her book. It’s not possible, that’s why we say we can’t worship two masters at the same time.

“Happiness Does Not Lie in the Future but the Present.”

I have found that one of the commonest causes of unhappiness among my patients is that they are attempting to live their lives on the deferred payment plan. They do
not live, nor enjoy life now, but wait for some future event or occurrence. Happiness is a mental habit, a mental attitude, and if it is not learned and practiced in the present it is never experienced.

“You Are Not Your Mistakes.”

Self-acceptance means accepting and coming to terms with ourselves now, just as we are, with all our faults, weaknesses, shortcomings, errors, as well as our assets
and strengths.

“You Are Somebody Now.”

Many people hate and reject themselves because they feel and experience perfectly natural biological desires. Others reject themselves because they do not conform to
the current fashion or standard for physical proportions.

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

Yes, there is one quote from Abraham Lincoln and I quote “God must have loved the common people for he made so many of them.” He was wrong. God did not create a standard person and in some way label that person by saying this is it. He made every human being individual and unique just as He made every snowflake individual and unique. God created short people and tall people, large people and small people, skinny people, and fat people, black, yellow, red, and white people. He has never indicated any preference for any one size, shape, or color.

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?

From what I read from the book, I think each of the chapters had an exercise with it. I listed it out in my book because the book was so advanced, it took me quite a long time understanding what was the authors idea.

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.

Yes, this book was all about the functions of our sense organ and how we can relate it to working for us in achieving our goal. It was quite advance, I must confess.

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
It was interesting, but was hard to easily comprehend the authors ideas.

B. How helpful were the contents? 8
It was quite helpful because broadened my thinking, imagining, remembering, and acting.

C. How easy was it to understand? 8
It was not easy at all comprehending it, the author used advanced method of explaining the key formula to achieving success.

D. Would you recommend it to others? 8
Yes, but must tell them that it is not easily comprehended like the other books I have read.

E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 8

Success through a Positive Mental Attitude

Assessment by Okoye Chinedu Callistus (Nigeria)

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

The idea the author is trying to convey here is that, he is trying to show us the working principle that leads us to the route to riches. He also said that education or our occupation is not what determines how rich we are, we can attract or repel wealth irrespective of our education background. Our thinking, study, and planning sessions need not to be too lengthy, but specific, because, being specific in a goal leads us to perfection. If we invest only one percent of our time in a study, thinking, and planning session it will make an amazing difference in the speed with which we reach our specific goals.

I find it very difficult picking seven ideas because the entire book was full of ideas, but below are the once that got my attention;

i. Meet the most important living person

I think the most important person the author is talking about is the “invisible talisman.” This invisible talisman has two amazing power, the power to attract wealth, success, happiness, and good health and it has the power to repel all these things mentioned above. It is the first of this power, Positive Mental Attitude (PMA), that enables us to climb to the top and stay there. It is the second that keeps other men at the bottom all their lives. It is Negative Mental Attitude (NMA), that pulls other men down from the top when they have reached it. The author also said that being handicap should not be a limiting factor for rich. He told us a story of Tom Dempsey who was born without half a right foot and only a stub for the right arm. Tom had a burning desire to play football, because of that desire, his parents made him an artificial foot. Tom Dempsey with his crippled leg kicked a record breaking 63-yard field goal. It was the longest field goal ever kicked in a professional football game. According to the author, true successful person is that person whose attitude towards himself is big and he is generous and merciful to others. This ability to turn our invisible talisman over and use the side which has the force of positive mental attitude rather than the side which has the force of negative mental attitude is characteristic of so many of our successful people. Most of us are inclined to look upon success as coming in some mysterious way through advantage that we do not have, or perhaps because we do have them, we don’t see them. the obvious is often unseen. Every man’s positive mental attitude is his advantage and there is nothing mysterious about it.

ii. You can change your world

Here the author is saying that people who find themselves from unpleasant situation normally say that the world has given them a raw deal. They are blaming the world and circumstances outside themselves for their failures. They blame their heredity or their environment (I am a victim of such people). I think we started out with a Negative mental attitude. He went on by saying that, of course, with that attitude, they are handicapped, but it is negative mental attitude that is holding them down, not the external handicap which they give as the cause of their failure. The author also said that identifying one’s self with a successful image can help break the habits of self-doubt and defeat years of Negative mental attitude set up with personality. Another and equally important successful technique for changing our world is to identify our self with an image that will inspire us to make the right decision. It can be a slogan, a picture, or any other symbol that is meaningful to us. He also said that another essential ingredient for changing our world is to have definiteness of purpose. Definiteness of purpose, combined with Positive Mental Attitude, is the starting point of all worthwhile achievement, our world will change whether we choose to change it. But we have the power to choose its direction. We can select our own targets.

iii. Clear the cobwebs from your thinking

We are literary what we think. Sometimes we have undesirable habits and we want to correct them, and there are times when we are strongly tempted to do wrong. Then, like an insect caught in a spider’s web, will struggle to get free. The more it struggles the more it gets trapped in the spider’s webs. The author made it clear that power of the Holy Bible has been instrumental in changing even the attitudes of human derelicts from negative to positive. And because of the special power in this written word they were inspired to clear the cobwebs from our thinking. Thus, they became clean in thought and habit.

He went on by saying that with positive mental attitude, a man may not know the facts or have the know-how. He may not understand, yet he recognizes the basic premise that truth is truth and is not false regardless of his lack of knowledge or understanding. He therefore endeavors to keep an open mind and to learn. He must base his conclusions on what he does know, yet be prepared to change them when he becomes more enlightened.

We are what we think. Our thoughts are evaluated by whether our attitude is positive or negative. We should always look at our self-first when we are faced with a problem that involves a misunderstanding with other people. Our ability to use the principles of autosuggestion will depend very largely upon our capacity to concentrate upon a given desire until that desire becomes a burning desire. He said again that it is most important that when we read aloud the statement of our desire through which we are endeavoring to develop a money consciousness, we read with emotion and strong feeling.

iv. You have got a problem

The idea the author is trying to convey here is that when we stumble upon a problem and we repeated overcome over that our problems, we are on our ladder of success. With each victory we grow in wisdom, stature, and experience. We become a better, bigger, more successful people each time we meet a problem and tackle and conquer it with positive mental attitude. We can direct our thoughts and control our emotions, and thus regulate our attitude. We can choose whether our attitude will be positive or negative. We can decide whether we will affect, use, control, or harmonize with the change in our self and our environment. we can ordain our destiny. When we meet the challenges of change with positive mental attitude, we can intelligently solve each problem with which we are confronted.

v. The secrete of getting things done

Many persons have the habit of procrastination, because of it, they may miss a train, be late for work, or even more importantly miss an opportunity that could change the whole courses of their lives for the better. One of the things that often prevents us from seizing the secret of getting things done is a certain timidity in the face of our own inspirations. We are a little bit afraid of our ideas when they first occur to us. Do It Now! It can affect every phase of our life. It can help us do the things we should do, but don’t

vi. How to motivate our self and others

Motivation is that which induces action or determines choice. It is that which provides a motive. A motive is the inner urge only within the individual which incites him to action, such as an instinct, passion, emotion, habit, mood impulse, desire, or idea. Here the author told us that Hope is the magic ingredient. Hope is a desire with the expectation of obtaining what is desired and belief that it is obtainable. He went on by saying that a person consciously reacts to that which to him is desirable, believable, and attainable. Hope for instance motivated the cosmetic manufacturer to build a profitable business. Hope also motivated women to buy his cosmetic. I believe that hope will motivate me.

The author is trying to tell us how we can motivate others, he told us how his stepmother motivated him on her arrival to their home, and I Quote him “My stepmother was always the one who encouraged me to strike out on my own with such bold schemes as later proved the backbone of my career. I will never forget the great lesson she taught me in how to motivate other by giving them confidence in themselves. For my stepmother was the making of me. Her deep love and unshakable faith motivated me to try to become the kind of a boy she believed me to be.” We can motivate others by having faith in them. faith rightly understood, is active, not passive (passive faith is no more a force than sight in an eye that does not observe. Active faith steps out on its belief and risks failure because it assumes it will succeed. When we motivate others by having faith in them, then we must have an active faith).

vii. There is no short cut to riches

Here the author is trying to tell us that there is no short cut to success. And he defined short-cut as a way of accomplishing something more directly and quickly than by ordinary procedure. It is a route more direct than that ordinary taken.

The man who takes short-cut knows his destination. He knows the route that is more direct, yet he will never arrive at his destination unless he starts and continues towards it regardless of the interruptions he encounters or the obstacles he meets. For if we think with positive mental attitude, we will automatically follow through with action. We will employ the positive mental attitude principles that will help us achieve any goal that doesn’t violet the laws of God or the rights of our fellow man.

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

The ideas or lessons have helped me practically in Magnificent Obsession. What I mean is that the idea has helped me in a way that I have learned to share myself with other people without expecting a reward, payment, or commendation. Regardless of who we are, or what we have been, we can create inside us a burning desire to be helpful to others. When we share with other a part of what we have, that which remains will multiply and grow. The more we share, the more we will have.

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.

“We are poor not because of God.”

Some people that are poor blame their situation on the almighty God, instead of blaming themselves of the lapses. Just as the author wrote it, we are poor because father has never developed a desire to become rich and this has been a case with some of us, our parent was satisfied with what they had then because they normally eat and being rich is beyond eating. This situation will remain till someone in their family develops a desire to be something else.

“You have everything to gain and nothing to lose by trying. Success is achieved and maintained by those who keep trying with positive mental attitudes.”

The important point the writer is trying to point out here is that S.B. Fuller started life with fewer advantages compared to others. In this our present time, we still have the personal right to say, this is what I choose to become in life and I really need to achieve it, with positive mental attitude we can achieve it. And unless our goal is not against the laws of God or society, we can achieve it.

“I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.”

I think that Henley is trying to inform us that we are the masters of our fate because we are masters, first, of our attitudes. Our attitudes sharp our failure.

“If a man is right, his world will be right.”

There is great idea in this quote. If we are unhappy with our world and want to change it, the place to start is with our self. This is what positive mental attitude is all about. When we have a positive mental attitude, the problems of our world tend to bow before us and all things will work towards our plan.

“What the mind of man can conceive and believe, the mind of man can achieve with positive mental attitude.”

We visualize our intended destination, our subconscious mind is affected by this self-suggestion. It goes to work to help us get there. This is because we know we want, there is tendency for us to try to get on the right track in the right direction, and then go into action. Work now becomes fun, because we are motivated to work and to pay the price. We now budget our time and more for our goal and study, think and plan towards achieving great and the more we think about our goals the more enthusiastic we become. And with enthusiastic our desire turns into a burning desire.

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?

For me the book should be a best seller book, the author did a great job in the book (success through positive mental attitude PMA). It was written in an understandable English and I think schools should adopt this book into our integrated course of academic studies (curriculum).

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, unlike the first books I have read. I have recorded about a lot of exercises on the book and am still working on them because our mind is not what we can manipulate within a day or even weeks.

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.

For me the author did a wonderful work all aspect was covered and most importantly it was written in advanced plain English.

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

Giant Steps

Assessment by Okoye Chinedu Callistus (Nigeria)

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 to tell us that we all have a dream and 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 us to take giant steps forward in the quality of our 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 our relationships, finances, health, and emotions. The challenge here is how to make the daily habit our own habit, and not someone else’s prescription. It is not what we do occasionally that counts, but our consistent actions. The answer is our decisions, and it’s in these moments that our destiny is shaped. The author concludes by saying, he believes our decisions are not the conditions of our lives, that determine our destiny.

i. Success and failure are usually not the result of a single event

Failure is the result of neglecting to make the call to go extra mile. In the same way that failure follows this string of small decisions, success comes from taking the initiative and follow up. Many of us have a life that we know and is not what we really want, but perhaps we have 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 we want, perhaps once we found it, we would find it was out of our reach. Perhaps we would find us to make difficult sacrifices. Or perhaps we feel we are just not good enough. If so, it was you who chose to believe it. We can also choose to believe otherwise. Most of us have been stopped by fear, lack of confidence, 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.

ii. Beliefs

It doesn’t matter what anyone says we can or can’t do. It doesn’t matter what opinions others have for our life, and what they consider possible. If we believe in our self, then anything is possible. As soon as things get tough in our lives we start thinking that we may not make it stress, worrying, imagining things that may go wrong in the future. We need to understand, the human mind is the most powerful tool we own, but it can also be the most destructive and we need to learn how to take control of the direction of our mind and our emotions. 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 we love doing most of all is an expression of who we are and that is out there for us.

iii. Change your focus

Knowing how to change our focus can mean the difference between a life of bliss and a life of frustration. I decided 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. We can have a ton of great things going on in our life but still feel miserable if we keep focusing on the things that aren’t so great. So, knowing how to change our focus is a critical skill to have.

iv. Values (financial value)

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 our values is that we will gain tremendous clarity and focus, but ultimately, we must use that newfound clarity to make consistent decisions and take committed action. So, the whole point of discovering our values is to improve the results we get in those areas that are truly most important to us. 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.

v. Creates emotion

Our definite goal may someday include being our own boss, but if it doesn’t, or even if that step is still some ways off, personal initiatives can still pay off for us. Being creating our emotion is the moment we decide upon our major purpose and create our plan of action, start assembling our mastermind alliance. For me it is better to act on a weak plan than to delay acting at all. The author here is trying to let us know that, when setting a goal, we need to do that with strong emotion towards achieving great success. By so doing, we find out that our goal becomes a burning desire and obsession, which is what is required in setting a goal. 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 is nothing wrong with that. In fact, there are many, many different techniques, exercises, and strategies that you can use to achieve those goals.

vi. 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.

vii. The more decisions we make, the better we will become at making them.

Muscles get stronger with use, and so it is with our decision-making muscles. The author is trying to set us in line of making decision and immediately take the first action toward fulfilling it. By doing so, we will build the muscle that can change our entire life.
Deciding 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 decide, 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 decided 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.

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.

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

What does not define Our life happens to us; we define our life by how we choose to respond to the things life throws at us.

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.

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 comment about the book, it was the combination of ideas and action.

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 was the content? 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 Okoye Chinedu Callistus (Nigeria)

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

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 one of us can be a miracle worker.

i. Knowing our self

Once you begin to work toward your authentic self, you can begin to live as only you can live, and be the person you are meant to be. Then, what others think about you won’t bother you. When you discover your true self, no one else can tell you who you are. 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 our self. People, who know who they are, express self-love calmly and confidently. 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. Know who we are is one thing, and working towards that same path to achieve greatly in that directions is another gall game all together.

ii. Affirming no-limitations in one self

The author is trying to let us know how important it is for say something and follow it up with faith and believe. Napoleon Hill, in Think and Grow Rich said “The starting point of all achievement is DESIRE. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desire brings weak results, just as a small fire makes a small amount of heat” and “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” We found out that we are the people placing limitation in our self. I know I have power within me to create a life of fulfillment 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.

iii. 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.

iv. Staying focused in everything we are doing in life

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.

v. 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 must 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.”

vi. Getting your relationship to purpose

Most people enter 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 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.

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

We learn when our mind and body are at peace. We can’t concentrate when we have troubled mind. 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.

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

The book is clear, it is written in a plan and understandable language, I don’t think I came across 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 my life.

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

These are the ideas that got the best of me when reading this wonderful book;

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

The author is trying to let us know that we can’t work or think properly with ill health and in some case, it is the best time to use our mind, in the sense that it’s the only time we are at peace we our mind and body.

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 further 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 book contains quite a lot to exercises and it still in play in my 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 was the content? 9
C. How easy was it to understand? 10
D. Would you recommend it to others? 8
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 8

The New Dynamics of Winning

Assessment by Okoye Chinedu Callistus (Nigeria)

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 us to focus our mind for peak performance anywhere, anytime, how paying the price prepares us for success. It’s a guide and an inspiration to achieving our personal best. The book deals with enabling the reader how we can learn the process of winning by developing all the resources of our mind and body to the fullest. It takes on place the experiences of many champions affirming that winners were one day a beginner.

i.Stair stepping

Refers to taking a big goal and breaking it down in to smaller components. By setting lower level goals ones that are measurable and relatively easier to reach it is easier to make correction we get off target. If we tried to eat an entire stake in one mouthful, you’d choke. But by cutting it in to smaller, bite sized pieces, it is digestible and enjoyable. Achieving goals systematically also builds our confidence. While smaller, the successes are experienced more often. This provides the positive feedback and reinforcement necessary for achieving any big goal. Maximum success is built up on mini goals. Any goal can be achieved, but first it must be broken down in to a series of sub goals. Each smaller goal should lead us, one day at a time to our larger life goal.

ii. Paying the Price

The commitment to paying the price is a key quality in mind of a champion. We could even say that if success has an entry fee; the cost is total commitment. As stated by the writer, paying the price of success for most of us seems like paying the United States national debt. It appears overwhelming for us to invest in ourselves the amount of time and effort required for peak performance. Too often, we believe our own physical and environmental limitations are unique and much greater than those of gifted champions. Most of our hurdles in life are self-imposed limitations that can be overcome if we never, ever give up on ourselves.

iii. Self Esteem

Self-esteem is made up of both self-worth and self-trust. Self-worth is simply the feeling of being glad that you are you, with our genes, our body, and our background. Self-trust is the functional belief in our own ability positively and effectively to control what happens to us in a world of uncertainty. Remember that no eyes will ever analyze a video of you, a photo of you, a reflection of you in a window, as sharply as critically as our own eyes. Try to feel good about your physical self, including how you look, how you dress, and how you think. Realize that you can be your own worst enemy or your own best friend. Self-esteem or lack of it, in general is at the root of all behavior; both positive and negative.

iv. Silent Approval

People today, especially young people, need far fewer critics and far better role models. By setting an example of honesty, consistency, and commitment in all our relationships, we can create a kind of wealth for our self and our family that is of much greater value than fame and fortune as we usually understand it. Silent approval occurs when authority figures -whether they are heads of families or leaders of companies -look the other side way when actions conflict with their stated principles. Don’t tell your children, your peers, or your peers or your subordinates what to do. Show them by doing it yourself. Talk is never enough, even when you are speaking the truth. When you promise something, do people believe it will really happen, or is there a question of whether you really mean it?

v. Integrity

Integrity implies an understanding that people can trust you to do what you say you will do. Having a power is like drinking salt water. The more you consume, the thirstier you get. No matter how much wealth or recognition the world lays at our feet, don’t allow our personal integrity to be contradicted by our behavior in any area of our life. It is not just a matter of preserving our reputation. It is a matter of living a life with character. There is a lesson for all of us in the scandals of our public figures. We truly cannot separate our personal life from our professional life. We bring the same person to our place of business and home again. Integrity is non-situational and it is absolute.

vi. 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 we do understand it, we can master our self and how we respond to anything that comes our way. Remember, too, that we are greater than anything that can happen to us. I have decided to join playing sports so that I develop my mental toughness. Visualization works because the mind reacts automatically to the information it receives in the form of feelings, words, and sensory experiences, such as sight, taste and touch. The mind can’t tell the difference between a real experience and one that has been vividly and repeatedly imagined. By mentally rehearsing the perfect accomplishment of your goals, you create a neurological pathway that allows your muscles to repeat those actions. Seeing leads to believing and believing leads to achieving.

vii. Coach-ability

Factor Human change is a very complex process and any model is an implication of reality. You must practice openness in everything you do, be open to change, learning and personal development, be open to examining your own beliefs, understanding and decisions. Coachable performers accept the role of authority figures. Respect and trust for authority, however doesn’t mean blind submission and robot like conformity. The coachable champion trusts his or her own judgment as well as the decision of designated leaders. They have a healthy personal Impulse toward self-direction and freedom of interpretation. This means he or she enjoys innovation, and has the capacity to form new or different opinions from those held by other people. They have also high tolerance for order and organization. And generally, all great coaches were themselves very coachable and are orderly and organized individuals who habitually plan a head and who are naturally oriented toward the future. They don’t replay yesterday’s game in their heads; they prefer to focus on the games yet to be played.

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

Lessons that I have learned 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.”

People most time don’t border what happen to us but how we react to it is what they are interested in. and people should not be belittled because they are found in one situation or the other.

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

To be successful we must 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.”

A mistake stops being a mistake when you admit we have 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 unclear about, 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 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? 10
B. How helpful was the content? 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

Maximum Achievement

Assessment by Okoye Chinedu Callistus (Nigeria)

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

The main idea the author is trying to convey here is that, instead of spinning the dials of life hoping for a lucky break, as if we were playing a slot machine, we must instead study and emulate those who have already done what we want to do and achieved the results we want to achieve. If we do the right things in the right way, we will get the results we desire. If we can determine exactly what it is we want, we can find out how others have achieved it before us. If we then do the same things they have done, we will achieve the same results they have. The “secret of success” is so simple that we overlook it all. Whatever we want we can have, if we want it badly enough, and if we are willing to persist long enough and hard enough in doing what others have done to accomplish similar things before us. It doesn’t matter if we’re young or old, male or female, black or white. It doesn’t matter if we were born with a silver spoon in our mouth or if we came from a deprived background. Nature is neutral. She is no respecter of persons. She plays no favorites. She gives us back what we put in, no more and no less. And we can determine what we put in. We are having a hard time with this idea because we are so accustomed to looking for the reasons for our lives outside ourselves. But the proof is all around us.

i. The Master Program

Everything that happens to us, everything we become and accomplish is determined by the way we think, by the way we use our mind. As we begin changing our mind, we begin changing our life. The idea here is that we will learn about our “master program” and how we have been put on a form of autopilot, starting from an early age. We will learn how to begin taking control of our internal guidance system, and how to remove influences and obstacles that have been interfering with our happiness without our even knowing about it. We will know how to alter our master program to make it more consistent with the results we want. It’s true that some people are born with extraordinary gifts, but most of us start off with talents and abilities that are average. Most men and women who achieve great success in any field do it by developing their natural talents and abilities to a very high degree in some special area of interest. Our individual potential is there, inside us, but it must be identified and developed if we want to get more of what is possible out of our self.

ii. Make Your Life a Masterpiece

The idea the author is trying to convey here is that we can be, have and do more than perhaps we have ever imagined. All we need to do is to learn how, and then put what we learn into action. The author went on to tell us that for we to be successful, we need to consider the important ingredients of success. By defining our success and happiness in terms of one or more of these ingredients, we create a clear target to aim it. We can then measure how well we’re doing. We can identify the areas where we need to make changes if we want our life to improve. We must start with our ideal, our vision of a perfect future. We begin unlocking our inner powers by lifting our eyes and “seeing” our life exactly as if it were already perfect in every respect. Our first job is to create a blueprint, a clear picture of where we are going and what it will look like when we get there. This image will then serve as an organizing principle, a guide, abenchmark, against which we can measure and compare everything we do in the process of turning it into reality. The author went on by saying that peace of mind is the key of achieving greatly in life, so we should not let anything over shadow our peace of mind.

iii. Basic Operating Principles

The main idea the author is trying to convey here is that the main reason for so much underachievement and frustration is simply that people do not know how to get the most out of themselves. They don’t know how to apply themselves for maximum performance and happiness. They don’t know their basic operating principles and as a result, they waste many hours, even years, functioning far below their potential. The author went on by giving us an example, imagine that someone gave you an expensive, sophisticated personal computer. It was delivered to your home, and when you took all the parts out of the boxes, you found that there was only one thing missing: the instruction manual. Now imagine that you had no training at all in computers or in computer language. Then imagine that you now had to figure out how the computer worked, how to set it up, how to operate it, how to program it and how to get it to produce something of value. How long do you think it would take you, working without help or guidance, to figure out how to use a personal computer on this basis? The answer is that, even if you were highly motivated and determined, it would probably take you years to figure out how to operate a computer on your own. And it’s a certainty that long before that, you would have turned your mind to other things and gone back to doing your work in the same old, slow fashion. Now, let’s imagine instead that you received the same computer, but this time it came complete with an instruction manual that was user-friendly and, in addition, a computer expert came along and showed you, step by step, how to set up the computer, how to operate it, how to program it and how to run it at maximum efficiency. With the instruction manual and expert training, you could have the computer up and running in an afternoon. From then on, you would get better and better at using it, and the quality and quantity of what you produced would increase rapidly.

iv. The Law of Cause and Effect

The Law of Cause and Effect says that for every effect in your life there is a specific cause. It is so important it has been called the “Iron Law of the Universe.” It says that everything happens for a reason, whether or not you know what it is. There are no accidents. We live in an orderly universe governed strictly by law, and this understanding is central to every other law or principle. The Law of Cause and Effect says that there are specific causesof success and there are specific causes of failure. There are specific causes for health and for illness. There are specific causes for happiness and for unhappiness. If there is an effect in your life that you want more of, you merely need to trace it back to the causes and repeat the causes. If there is an effect in your life that you do not enjoy, you need to trace it back to the causes and get rid of them. This law is so simple that it is baffling to most people. They continue doing, or not doing, things that are causing them unhappiness and frustration, and they then blame everyone else, or society, for their problems. Insanity has been defined as doing the same things in the same way and expecting to get different results. “To some degree, we’re all guilty of this.” We need to face this tendency squarely and deal with it honestly.

v. The Law of Belief

The Law of Belief says that whatever we believe, with feeling,becomes our reality. The more intensely that we believe something to be true, the more likely it is that it will be true for us. If we really believe something, we cannot imagine it to be otherwise. Our beliefs give us a form of tunnel vision. They edit out or cause us to ignore incoming information that is inconsistent with what you have decided to believe.

vi. The Law of Expectations

According to the author, the Law of Expectations says that whatever we expect with confidence becomes our own self-fulfilling prophecy. To put it another way, what we get is not necessarily what we want in life, but what we expect. Our expectations exert a powerful, invisible influence that causes people to behave and situations to work out as we anticipated. In a way, we are always acting as a fortune-teller in our own life by the way we talk about how we think things are going to turn out. Successful men and women have an attitude of confident, positive self-expectancy. They expect to be successful, they expect to be liked. They expect to be happy, and they are seldom disappointed. Unsuccessful people have an attitude of negative expectations, of cynicism and pessimism that somehow causes situations to work out exactly as they expected.

vii. The Law of Attraction

We invariably attract into our life people and situations in harmony with our
dominant thoughts. Like attracts like. Birds of a feather flock together. Everything in our life we have attracted to our self because of the person we are, and especially because of our thoughts. Our friends, our family, our relationships, our job, our problems, and our opportunities have all been attracted to us because of our habitual way of thinking in each area.

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

For me the way these ideas will help practically is that, if we must have a system to test run what ideas we have acquired. Without a system, you can use to integrate the ideas you learn, you are like a person trying to assemble a jigsaw puzzle without a picture. And almost any system is better than no system at all. But you’ve got to learn the system and then discipline yourself to stay at it until you get the results you want.

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 am a part of all that I have met.”

“Nature understands no jesting; she is always true, always serious, always severe; she is always right, and the errors and faults are always those of man. The man incapable of appreciating her, she despises and only to the apt, the pure, and the true, does she resign herself and reveal her secrets.”

“Why are some people more successful than others?”

“Do what you can, with what you have, right where you are.”

“You can’t help the poor by becoming one of them.”

I think what the author is try to say is that we can’t make others happy unless we could make our self-happy first.

“It is not money that lies at the root of all evil; it is lack of money.”

There is a Scottish proverb that says, “It is better to light one
wee candle than to curse the darkness.”

“Whatsoever a man soweth, that also shall he reap.”

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

No.

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

Yes, it was so mind setting and with more commitment it will lead me to great success.

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 was the content? 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

Unlimited Power

Assessment by Okoye Chinedu Callistus (Nigeria)

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

For me the idea the writer is trying to convey in this book is about Producing Results. To me, success is the ongoing process of striving to become more. The road to success is always under construction, and by applying the technology in this book, we could produce astonishing results in a very short period of time. The power to magically transform our lives into our greatest dreams lie waiting within us all. It’s left for us to unleash that power. Although we’re in an information age, information is not enough to produce the results we want. Knowledge is only potential power. Action is what unites every success. For me, real “power” is the ability to act. We are already producing results. They just may not be the results we desire. Most of us think of our mental states and most of what goes on in our minds as things that happen outside our control. But the truth is we can control our mental activities and our behaviors to a degree we never believed possible before.

i. The quality of life is the quality of our communication.

According to the author, the essence of what this book is about lays on mastery the power of communication. People who fail take the adversities of life and accept them as limitations, people who succeed have learned to turn those adversities into challenges that teach them strength. The people who shape our lives and our cultures also have the ability to communicate a vision or a quest or a joy or a mission to others.

ii. The difference that makes a difference

People who succeed do not have fewer problems than people who fail. It is not what happens to us that separates failures from successes. It is how we perceive what happens and what we do about what “happens” that makes the difference. I realized that success leaves clues, and that people who produce outstanding results do specific things to create those results. I believed that if I precisely duplicated the actions of others, I could reproduce the same quality of results that they had. This is called Modeling. If we precisely reproduce the specific mental and physical actions of another person, we will get the same results, if it’s possible for others in the world, it’s possible for us.

iii. The power of state

I think the author is trying to tell us that the experience of being doing well, when we could do no wrong-or the opposite-is a result of the neurophysiological (The branch of neuroscience that studies the physiology of the nervous system) state we are in. Understanding state is the key to understanding change and achieving excellence. Our behavior is the result of the state we’re in. We always do the best we can with the resources available to us, but sometimes we find ourselves in un-resourceful states. The author went on by defining for us state as the sum of the millions of neurological processes happening within us, in other words, the sum of our experience at any moment in time. The problem is, most of our states happen without any conscious direction on our part. People succeed or fail in life in direct relationship to their ability to consistently put themselves in states that support them in their achievements. The key to doing this successfully is memory management. In any experience, we have many
things to focus on-no matter how terrible a situation is, we can represent it
in a way that empowers us. We can represent things in a way that puts us
in a positive state, or we can do the opposite. If we don’t consciously direct
our own minds and states, our environment may produce undesirable states. We must weed our garden by deciding what we are going to focus on. Successful people can gain access to their most resourceful states on a consistent basis. When we go into a state, our brain then accesses possible behavioral choices.

iv. The birth of excellence: Belief

I think what the author meant by the birth of excellence was belief. Beliefs deliver direct commands to our nervous system. Handled effectively, they can be the most powerful forces for creating good in our life. On the other hand, beliefs that limit our actions and thoughts can be as devastating as resourceful beliefs can be empowering. Beliefs are the compass and maps that guide us toward our goals and give us the certainty to know we’ll get there. Without beliefs or the ability to tap into them, people can be dis-empowered; with powerful guiding beliefs, we can see what we want and be energized to get it. Belief is nothing but a state-a feeling of certainty-that governs behavior. The birth of excellence begins with our awareness that our beliefs are a choice. We can choose beliefs that limit us, or we can choose beliefs that support us. The biggest misconception people often have of belief is that it’s a static, intellectual concept, an understanding that’s divorced from action and results. Nothing could be further from the truth. Belief is the doorway to excellence precisely because there’s nothing divorced or static about it. If we start with a belief system that stresses what we can’t do, we tap a limited amount of our potential, and we take half-hearted action, tentative actions, which will probably lead to dismal results, and then what will these results do to our beliefs about subsequent endeavors? This is a classic downward spiral: failure breeds failure. On the positive side, however, if we begin by believing with every fiber of our being that we will succeed, we will tap lots of our potential, take massive action, and our belief in our ability to produce even better results in the future will be affirmed. In this case, success feeds on success and each success creates more belief and momentum to success on an even higher scale.

v. The seven lies of success

Our beliefs are specific, consistent organizational approaches and fundamental choices about how to perceive our lives and thus how to live them. We don’t know if our beliefs are true or false. What we can know, though, is if they work-if they support us.
The word “lies” is used in this chapter as a constant reminder that we do not know for certain exactly how things are, and that no matter how much we believe in a concept, we should be open to other possibilities and continuous learning.

vi. Mastering your mind

The idea the author is trying to convey here is how to be in control of your states and, therefore, in control of your actions. Most time we found out that People don’t usually lack resources: they lack control over their resources, or don’t know how to get access to their resources. So, we can choose to remember experiences or push buttons that play songs of happiness and joy, or we can push buttons that create pain. So, let’s discover not only how to push the buttons that play the pleasure songs, but also how to push a button that used to play a sad song, but instead now brings up an ecstatic one-or even learn to re-record over the disk and take the old memories and change them.

vii. The syntax of success

The meaning of an experience is determined by the order of the signals provided to the brain. The author uses the word Strategy to describe the combinations of all the factors that create any result: kinds of internal representations, the necessary sub-modalities, and the required syntax. We have a strategy for producing just about anything in life: the feeling of love, attraction, motivation, decision, depression, whatever. If we discover what our strategy for love is, for example, we can trigger that state at will.

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 think that what’s ever we do we should put in mind that the biggest leverage we have in any situation is Physiology. Mind and body are totally linked in a cybernetic loop. Physiology is the lever to emotional change. We think of states as primarily mental, but in fact, they all have very clear, identifiable physiologies. We can change our internal representations all day long, but if our biochemistry is messed up, it’s going to make the brain create distorted representations. It’s going to throw off our whole system.

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 great end of life is not knowledge but action.”

“Nothing has any meaning except the meaning we give it.”

“It’s a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you
very often get it.”

“Things do not change; we change.”

“The difference that makes the difference.”

“Man is what he believes.”

“Your reality is the reality you create through your beliefs.” Choose them well.”

“Good timber does not grow with ease; the stronger the wind, the stronger the trees.”

“Everything happens for a reason and a purpose, and it serves us.”

“Beliefs in limits creates limited people.”

“Humans have learned only through mistakes.”

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

No.

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

Yes.

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 was the content? 9
C. How easy was it to understand? 9
D. Would you recommend it to others? 9
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 9