As A Man Thinketh
Assessment by Adewale Abraham Adewole (Nigeria)
1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
The main idea the author is conveying in the book is that man is the creator of his life, how good or how bad a man life turn to be is as the result of how he deploys his thoughts.
2. What were the seven ideas which were personally most important to you and why? List these seven ideas followed by an explanation after each one as to why it was important to you. Use personal examples from your own life.
a. A noble and god-like character is not a thing of favor or chance, but is the natural result of continued effort in right thinking, the effect of long-cherished association with god- like thoughts.
b. Only by much searching and mining are gold and diamond obtained, and a man can find every truth connected with his being, if he will dig deep into the mine of his soul.
c. 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.
d. Man wishes and prayers are only gratified and answered when they harmonize with his thoughts and actions.
e. A man begins to be a man when he cease to whine and revile, and commences to search for the hidden justice which regulates his life. And he adapts his mind to the regulating factor , he cease to accuse other as the cause of his condition, and build himself up in strong and noble thoughts; Cease to kick against circumstances, but begins to use them as did to is more rapid progress and as a means of discovering the hidden powers and possibilities within himself.
f. Having conceived his purpose a man should mentally mark out the straight pathway to its achievement, looking neither to the right of left.
g. As the physically weak man makes himself strong by careful and patient training, so the man of weak thoughts can make them strong by exercising himself in the right thinking.
3. How will these ideas or lessons help you in a practical way, both in your daily personal life and in helping you to create a better world? If so, how?
These ideas have been helping me and will continue to help me in all my engagements in life. Since I laid my hand on this book and digested the contents therein, I have increased the level of my thinking; I see more reasons to do more of thinking and the cultivation of my mind, since these are the fundamental activities that will propel me towards the achievement of my goals, creating my environment, molding circumstances and the fulfillment of my purposes. Also this will help me a lot in helping me creating a better world, knowing all these truths about life will enable me to counsel and encourage people around me who are weak in thinking, and most especially the younger generations who are just coming up.
4. Quotes: Are there any statements which the author made that particularly got your attention? If so, please quote them and comment as to why they were important to you.
a. “A man can only rise, conquer, and achieve by lifting up his thought”.
This is important to me because it exposes me to the fact that a man who refuses to lift up his thought will definitely achieve nothing worthwhile in life. Therefore I need to lift up my thought so that I may achieve all my set goals.
b. “There cannot be progress without sacrifice”.
This clarifies to me that for every goal I will like to set before myself, I must also consider the sacrifice I will need to make to achieve it. Sometimes I will need to deny myself of some things, and even discipline myself, knowing this will boost my energy and enthusiasm and also give me a clear track to the attainment of the set goals.
c. “A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts”.
This is important to me because it taught me that all I want to be, where I will like to be and the people I will want around me will be the reflection of my thoughts.
d. “Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results; bad thoughts and action can never produce good results”.
This is means that for me to achieve good results, I need to possess good thoughts.
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?
All the lessons ideas and quotes in the book are well understood, though there are some that required reading all over again for me to get the best meaning and the teachings they are passing across.
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?
Definitely there are many exercises in the book, for instance the idea of cultivating my mind with goods seeds. Since I have read this book, I have been carefully watching the things I feed my mind with and also I will continue to practice this so that I may achieve the best of my dreams.
Also I have seen the need to cultivate the habit of neglecting what my eyes will always see in pursuit of my goals, but rather focusing on what my mind could see. This had boosted my courage in the pursuit of my pending goals, I see no reason to fear or doubts anymore, but rather lay my hand on getting the information and the knowledge that will speed me up to 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.
In the book, though much emphasis was not laid about God in the book. I believe it is due to the basis on which the institute was established, so that it will not bring any idea of religion bias. But the fact still remain that the physical is the reflection of what had happened in the spiritual.
Therefore as man cultivates his thinking positively, he must always take his entire plan before God for supernatural approval and backup.
One thing that is sure about this world, whether a man likes it or not, life is a battle ground and there are many forces in life that cannot be conquered with physical confrontations.
Please rate the following questions on a scale from 1 to 10. Ten is good and one is poor.
A. How interesting was it to read? 9
B. How helpful were the contents? 10
C. How easy was it to understand? 7
D. Would you recommend it to others? 8
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 8
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Assessment by Adewale Abraham Adewole (Nigeria)
1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
The main idea the author conveyed in the book is that every living creatures that have the ability to think was made to be free. He has the freedom to think within himself and create his environment. The product of which he becomes, is his ability to reach into himself and make things happen.
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.
The followings are the seven ideas that I found important to me in the book.
For most gulls, it’s not flying that matters, but eating
This refers to the fact that many people in life are where they are today, because they do not see any reason to move from where they are to the next level. They are okay with where they are, and the little they are getting. Instead of living the comfort zone, but they are limited with fear and doubts of uncertainties.
There was a time in my life that I wanted to further my education, but the good cash flow I was getting from my menial job then kept discouraging me from embarking on the program. Not until I broke this thought of complacency I was able to further.
His wings were ragged bars of lead, but the weight of failure was even heavier on his back:
So many times when we experience failures, they brings discouragement and makes us feel like disembarking from the pursuit a desired goal. But at these we need to embrace internal encouragement which always emanates from the passion put towards the goal. We need to see the gold amidst the rubies.
This happens to me during my execution of a community project which the funding could only come through the seeking of sponsorship. I visited many business places for them to partner for the execution of the project. But along the line a lot of failures were encountered as a result of intimidations. But the only thing that kept me going then was that I was able to see the glorious end of the project even from the onset.
If I were meant to learn so much about flying, I’d have charts for brains
Many times we expect things to present itself in it ‘s beauty and perfect state before we launch into the pursuit of our desired goals. But good times never come; we need to start where we are, with what we have, to where we desire to be.
The determinant of our altitude is always our attitude. Therefore if we have right attitude towards who we are, we can position ourselves to where we desire to be.
d. He climb two thousand feet above the black sea and without a moment for thought of failure and death:
For success to be achieved, we must be able to overcome fear and to see above challenges, we must know that for us to achieve, there must be a price to pay. Therefore we must prepare with this kind of attitude and this will make us triumph in face of calamities and challenges.
e. If I dive from five thousand feet instead of two thousand, I wonder how fast…:
Thinking of improvement on a daily basis is very important in everything we are doing. We must gather new skills, information, and knowledge about our assignments. Also we must go extra mile in our pursuits by gathering all necessary and relevant information, setting standards and always look forward to making things better. By doing this we will achieve perfection in whatever we do and this most times attracts outstanding success.
This I learnt as a member of JCI, I attached to my mind the slogan of the organization that says “be better”. And since, I ‘have been seeing my life improving every day because each day I get added to metal and physically.
f. I want to share what I have found, to show those horizons out ahead for us all:
As Jonathan sea gull was full of excitement to show other gulls what he had saw and learnt. Other gulls are seeing nothing but condemnation; this happens many times the in real world, but we must not let other who sees not what we are seeing discourage us from the pursuit of the golden dreams.
This occurred to me when I quantified the improvement that having formal education has brought on me. I imagine how I always see improvement whenever I finish a course or reading a book. I got exposed to new things and see me becoming a better and new person from time to time.
Therefore I imagine if 80% of my generation could have this beautiful opportunity, the world will be the best place to live. This prompted me to the creation of the group named club6252, we advocate education for all.
g. Sully I must go back, he said at last.
For anything we are able to achieve in this world, we must see the need to share it with others. This makes the world a better place, extending freedom, joy and harmony to the rest of the people.
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 listed above are great lessons for me. I found them practical and fundamental in the pursuit of dreams. Therefore I will hold them grip to my life and will table them in my heart so that I may achieve my set goals. Also I want to see myself contributing to the development of this world, I will appreciate leaving world a better than the way I meet 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.
The quotes that I found in this book that got my attention are as follows.
“There is a reason to life! We can lift ourselves out of ignorance we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence skill. We can be free! We can learn to fly!”
This quote caught my attention when I read it, it exposed me to the fact that I am not created to be limited; I am a creature of purpose and freedom. I can achieve anything if I could dream it. I can keep developing myself to the attainment of my desired levels in life.
“Learn nothing, and the next world is the same is the same as this one”
This quote challenges me on the reason that I must continue to find development anywhere I find myself. Doing this will propel me to the next level of my success.
“The gulls who scorn perfection for the sake of travel, go nowhere, slowly. Those who put aside travel for the sake of perfection go everywhere”
This taught me that for me to go places and achieve the extraordinary; I must keep developing myself and reason to learn new things about living. It is my knowledge that will determine the level of my success and my altitude in life.
“To fly as fast as thought, to anywhere that is, he said, you must begin by knowing that you have already arrived”
This taught me that in everything I engage myself I must see the success of it even from the starting point. This tells me of the power of my faith. It means anything I could believe definitely I can achieve it.
“It always works, when you know what you’re doing”
This taught me the power of seriousness and commitment in pursuing my targets. The more committed I am to my goals, the better they turn to be.
“The gulls who see farthest who flies highest”
It taught me that the more I could see, the higher I can go. Therefore I need to open my eyes widely to see farther than the ordinary, see beyond my present situation.
“You’ll never get it for sure as long as you make that pull so hard”
This taught me that anytime I focus on the challenges am facing of about to face in my pursuit or if I think impossibilities, achievement will always be impossible.
“Break the chains of your thought, and you break the chains of your body too”
This taught me that if I could develop my thoughts I will be able to develop my body too. There is nothing I can’t achieve; there is nowhere I can’t go, all I need to do is to picture it in my mind and work towards its achievement.
“Don’t believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show is limitation. Look with your understanding, find out what you already know, and you’ll see the way to fly”
In life environment always brings difficulty, they show nothing but obstacles. But for me to achieve, I will always need to see above all these and see from within through application of our knowledge and positive minds.
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?
There is nothing unclear to me.
6. Did the book contain exercises for the reader to complete? If so, did you complete all of the exercises and did you find them helpful?
Yes the book contain exercise that I completed, I was able to brake forth from my fearful state of mind into a mind of possibilities. This I achieved by ruminating more on the lessons acquired from the book.
7. Was there anything you read in the book that you would like to comment on that was not covered in the previous questions? If so, please comment.
I have nothing to comment on about.
Please rate the following questions on a scale from 1 to 10. Ten is good and one is poor.
A. How interesting was it to read? 8
B. How helpful were the contents? 9
C. How easy was it to understand? 6
D. Would you recommend it to others? 7
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 8