As A Man Thinketh
Assessment by Atilola Oluwadamilola A. (Nigeria)
1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
The author was trying to picture to us the importance of thought instructing us never to underrate the potency of this creative tool (thought)and trying to admonish us on the essence of developing good thought life that will see us becoming better personality and creating for ourselves a long lasting success applauded and emulated by the world around us.
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) Clean UP:
Life Experience: I now realized that my thought have been the reason I always react to situations around me. I abhor thought of Jealousy, Hurt, Hatred and fear.
B) Never Create Alibis;
I often fight people, circumstances around me giving excuses for my actions, no wonder I never developed.
Life Experience; I often fight people, circumstances around me giving excuses for my actions, no wonder I never developed. “There was something I invested, I was to come and get my forms to start earning but I delayed creating different Alibis until that Opportunity passed by and am now getting to seek for another Opportunity.
C) Learn to ever be faithful;
Life Experience: I am a living witness to this where I serve they pay me a meager allowance so because of that decided not to do my best for them because when I hear what my fellow Corper get as allowance from their respective primary place of assignment I become more angry and become more adamant never to give my best for the farm but things only grew worse for me they refuse to pay me allowances for some month until I did what I am suppose to do. But now i know better.
D) Thought translated into Doors of Opportunity:
Life Experience: This is true I have noticed that the moment i started to think about business opportunity and how to maximize them through reading and studying of relevant business growth books, Opportunities came knocking at my door. What a thought!
E) The Fear factor.
Life Experience; I just passed out of my Nation’s Youth service scheme knowing full well that no Big multi-national company will want to employ a Second class lower graduate so i have decided to start a business of mine own but every time I think of the next way forward for my life I get more afraid by the second and every business idea I have to get into makes no more sense to me though when i dwell on this thought that it will succeed I get high in the spirit of possibilities but when I leave that realm for someday i go back into the transient impossibility thought again.I also find it very difficult to make decisive decision that will help move my life forward because I give room for thought of fear to brood over my mind.
I observed this when, i was to undertake a special NYSC project, i had to align my thought-force into it, thought of fear wanted to have its way i never allow it and that victorious outlook produced me an award as one of the Best Corper in Lagos state during my Set (Batch C 2010).
F) Learn to forgive and forget people’s wrongs;
Life Experience; I remember that someone offended and it pained me into my marrows because of the respect i had for the personality in question, But you I kept it in mine heart and allow it to gain ground but before I knew it had started to degenerate into hatred and Malice and my health began to deteriorate just within a week.
G) Never underestimate character built by experience.
Life Experience: The special NYSC project I did which was to go through Secondary schools under my local government to inspire in them True Leadership, I had gained doggedness through the different disappointment I met towards the actualization of the program but this has thought lessons that can never be compared to monetary Value. And because i am set into going into this as a regular project in partnership with the Government I know better ways of going about it.
3. How will these ideas or lessons help you in a practical way, both in your daily personal life and in helping you to create a better world? If so, how?
A) Clean Up:
Now I have to filter my thoughts everyday to keep a clean thought because, every Action is an offshoot of thought. It is expected that with this, I will be able to build relationships that will not only last but also stand the test of time no matter the storms. This will eventually help me in the future because there is no lasting riches that never survived upon great relationship.
B) Never create Alibis:
I will train myself to take decision on time and never get into something I will not see to the end. I will also learn to use my intelligent quotient on even the most minuets event that takes place in my daily life. I will also learn never to take decision shabbily though fast. This will help my brain capacity to develop and intellectually I will grow sound in whatsoever situation I’m faced with (No matter how Grave or Difficult it is).
C) Learn to Ever be faithful;
Following Robert Kiyosaki’s book (Rich Dad & Poor Dad), “Work to learn and not to earn” that’s how to grow rich. I am learning to be faithful no matter the pay so far the earth exist and its laws are still binding, it has a way of paying you back. This action of mine will lead me into growing to become a man whose reactions are not based on others people’s actions towards me.
D) Thought translating into doors of Opportunity;
I’ve been schooled by Robert Kiyosaki’s and Napoleon Hill’s books and I noticed my thinking faculty started to receive some major transformation bringing relevant transmission of successful quote into my mind and with my using this tool effectively I was undergoing some major business think-Tank process. Then suddenly within the week started to notice Business Ideas from other individual knocking at my door. I have decide to continue in this pattern, never to give up because i believe life has a way of gravitating and vibrating things, Opportunity to anyone that is ready for it and “preparation mixed with Opportunity brings Success.”
E) The Fear Factor;
I have created a Daily Quote for myself that brings encouragement into my spirit and mind and will also help me to be truthful to my strategic plans in ensuring Success. My Business and make me a better personality and leader worthy of Emulation.
F) Learn to forgive and forget;
I had to take a decision, that no matter what a man do to me i will always learn to forgive and forget instantly and that has to see me training my mind into doing that subconsciously.
G) Never underestimate Character built by Experience;
I have decided to always learn through the most insignificant things that happened to me. They have always said experience is the best Teacher i quite agree and I know with this i will only grow to be better and better.
4. Quotes: Are there any statements which the author made that particularly got your attention? If so, please quote them and comment as to why they were important to you.
Statement 1; your circumstances may be uncongenial, but they shall not
Long remain, so if you but perceive an Ideal and strive to Reach it.
Importance: It encourages me to keep on keeping on knowing that my Circumstances are only a Mirage.
Statement 2; “Circumstances does not make a man it only reveals him to himself”;
Importance: This statement is true of me i react to people based on the fact that they’ve hurt me before so to forgive becomes a problem because, I have not train my mind to do so and when they do something else to hurt me, I flare up taking revenge on them. I never their actions and my reactions was a reflection of me.
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 in this book that I did not understand and no idea I find confusing they are all self explanatory.
6. Did the book contain exercises for the reader to complete? If so, did you complete all of the exercises and did you find them helpful?
No, the book did not contain any exercises.
7. Was there anything you read in the book that you would like to comment on that was not covered in the previous questions? If so, please comment.
No, the questions are all encompassing. They are good questions from world’s greatest leadership tutors.
Please rate the following questions on a scale from 1 to 10. Ten is good and one is poor.
A. How interesting was it to read? 9
B. How helpful were the contents? 10
C. How easy was it to understand? 8
D. Would you recommend it to others? 9
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 9
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Assessment By Atilola Oluwadamilola
1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
The Main Idea. — The writer was urging us to imbibe into ourselves strong Characters like Determination that recognize no Failure on its path to attainment of great Height, Doggedness in never giving up in face of tough situations, persistence in keeping on and holding on tightly to dreams and aspirations, patience in learning stage by stage, the essential tools necessary for Enduring Success and burning all effort towards a definite purpose and not forgetting practicality of love and forgiveness that help us in becoming a better personality that relate and develop the world around us making it a better place for every being.
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) Knowledge andLife Experience:
“Knowledge is power;” this remind me of an experience I once had, there was a job opportunity that was raving around and people were taking the opportunity to plug-in but i never knew anything about it until closed and that time I was too late. But I definitely knew that if I applied I will be part of the people chosen but I never had the knowledge and that was how I missed that opportunity.
B) Filter Advices ; “Never be porous to everybody’s Opinion”
Life experience: There was a time an investment company came into Nigeria, one of the agents came to me and my friend and introduced us to it my friend then told me of how he had lost money into different investment company but the way the man packaged gave me confidence so I decided not to heed my friends advice and today i am better for it.
C) Failure; “I have failed May times in my life”
Life experience; I remember my undergraduate days i sat for a course under Animal production and i failed but I noticed I was never prepared to sit for the examination because I did not do what is expected of me, I never created time reading the course because I termed it boring. So i failed.
D) In Every MESS there is a MESSAGE;
Life experience; The poverty my family is passing through despite my father’s high salary he collected before resigning from a beverage company. It taught me never to follow the his footsteps and that is why I have decided i will never be involved in the RAT RACE like Robert kiyosaki will say.
E) Controlled Appetite.
Life experience: I had noticed that during the time when I over-eat. It changed my reasoning and creative thinking. I remember one experience of Gluttony and at the end of the day I realised i had over spent money on ephemeral things birthed from uncontrolled appetite.
F) Time. “Time is Life to me”
Life Experience: I noticed that I had in time past wasted time on the ephemeral things, things that never and will never lead to the growth of a man in life. A lot of time I ventured into some things only at the end of the day to notice I had wasted my time. If I had invested my time on serious things by now I should not be on this level.
G) Never Give Up.
Life Experience; I remember my fellow Corpers never believed in me and never supported me when I was planning for my special project, I faced a lot of problem in the process of trying to get approval.
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?
A) Knowledge;
With Appropriate knowledge of yourself ( self- Analysis) I am sure of light flooding every part of mind and I becoming better and this will help me in influencing everybody around me making me create a better world for me and mankind.
B) Filter Advices;
If I learn to filter advices and take decision fast on time and I am slow in changing the decisions i have taken Napoleon Hill said I will soon transform into leader and this will not only affect me but everybody around me.
C Failure;
Since that time I have learnt to be face situations the way they are and never give up on a thing until have conquered it. I should day by day develop strong determination in conquering situation and circumstances before me.
D) In every MESS there is a MESSAGE;
I have decided I will never be involved in the RAT RACE like Robert Iiyosaki will say. I have decided to learn from other people’s experience.
E) Controlled Appetite;
I took a sincere decision today to be discipline when it comes to Appetite either food, materials things e.t.c.
F) Time;
In Every day to day activity I have learned never to undermine the importance of time. Because I personally define Time as (Encoded Opportunity).
Through discipline will ensure do things within the time frame as it appears in my daily log.
G) Never Give Up;
But I never gave up I kept on trying until I made a head way in the project. My Zeal to affect my world was the determining factor. I have learned from that experience to always have the Goal as the ultimate aim and remain focused on it until failure trying all discouragement tactics gives 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.
Statement 1:“Such promises are only for the gulls that accept the ordinary. One who has touched excellence in his learning has no need of that kind of promise.”
Importance: This teach me never to recede on my plans no matter what because I have tasted how life could be so Law abiding that it gives you what you demand from it and not what you desire.
Statement 2: Here is now to living! Instead of our drab slogging forth and back to the fishing boats, there’s a reason to life! We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill. We can be free! We can learn to fly!
Importance: This encourages me never to give up on purpose and the essence of life I have found for myself.
Statement 3: But I want no honors. I have no wish to be leader. I want only to share what I’ve found, to show those horizons out ahead for us all.
Importance: They teach me never to seek for Titles but seek for Values. Someone said and I quote “Never seek to be known, only seek to know, because that which you know will one day makes you known.”
Statement 4: “We’ve come to take you higher, to take you home.” This came after he was banished from the world of Gulls.
Importance: Teach me there is no disappointment so far you know what you are doing and you are focused. The reason you reach that new height is because people had one time disappointed you and that has accumulated into determination well managed, transpiring into physical achievement. Some of life’s greatest poems in the world were written after major disappointment, some of life’s greatest books were written in prison.
Statement 5: “But you can Jonathan. For you have learned. One school is finished, and the time has come for another to begin.”
Importance: Learning never stops. Someone said “you stop learning you start dying.”
Statement 6: “He thought, I’ll get twice the speed, twice the performance of my best days on Earth.”
Importance: Thought is everything, thought can be turn into Gold because whatever the Mind Conceive, Believe, it can Achieve.
Statement 7: “The most important thing in living was to reach out and touch perfection in that which they most loved to do, and that was to fly.”
Importance: Learn to be perfect in everything you do.
Statement 8: To fly as fast as thought, to anywhere that is,” he said, “you must begin by knowing that you have already arrived…” The trick, according to Chiang, was for Jonathan to stop seeing himself as trapped inside a limited body that had a forty-two inch wingspan and performance that could be plotted on a chart. The trick was to know that his true nature lived, as perfect as an unwritten number, everywhere at once across space and time.
Importance: My brain power is limitless it only recognizes the limit I set before it, through the thought i feed my mind with.
Statement 9: “I don’t care what they think. I’ll show them what flying is! I’ll be pure Outlaw; if that’s the way they want it. And I’ll make them so sorry…”
Importance: never be a coward, learn to take decisions and stand by it.
Statement 10: “But then the day came that Chiang vanished. He had been talking quietly with them all, exhorting them never to stop their learning and their practicing and their striving to understand more of the perfect invisible principle of all life.”
Importance 1: (Jonathan seagull took the greatest Opportunity of his life by learning fast from Chiang before he died assuming he hesitated he might not learn from him.
Importance 2: Make use of all the Opportunity that comes your way you might not get to see them again so learn all you need to know from them because they are necessary for your life and world. Never followership is necessary.
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?
A) “Forget about faith!” I do not understand the writer’s stand on this. Because Napoleon encourages us to build faith in whatever we do. Defining faith as a state of mind which can be built through Auto suggestion.
B) “No, Jonathan, there is no such place. Heaven is not a place, and it is not a time. Heaven is being perfect…… You will begin to touch heaven, Jonathan, in the moment that you touch perfect speed.” I am unclear about this statement, what was the writer trying to say? Was it literal statement or he was trying to be figurative.
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?
There were no exercises in 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 don’t think so the questions were off shoot of research that are carried out great leaders and so therefore they are encompassing in their target.
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? 10
C. How easy was it to understand? 8
D. Would you recommend it to others? 9
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 7