As A Man Thinketh
Assessment by Efe Peter Igbinovia (Nigeria)
1. Discuss the main ideas that you found most important In this book and discuss why they were important to you?
My regard to the Author for a job well done for written this life changes, inspiring and motivational book.
As a man thinketh in his in his heart so is he not only embraces the whole of my being, but is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance of my life. I am literally what I think is my character being. The complete sum of my though the heart of a man, is a great incubator, it is very complex incubator of spiritual and physical things. It is capable of incubating either good or evil things it adapts itself to whatever seed is planted in it to incubate it to motivate. So, it’s true as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.
It is true and indisputable man is a growth by law and not a creation by artifice. A noble and Godlike character 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 Godlike thought.
Act is the blossom of thought, and joy and suffering are its fruit. Thus does a man garn in the sweet and bitter fruitage of his own husbandry.
Thought in the mind hath made us what we are by thought was wrought and built. If a man’s mind hath evil thought, pain, comes on him as comes the wheel the ox behind. If one endures in purified thought, joy follows him as his own shadow, I agree with the fact that act is the blossom of thought, and joy and suffering are its fruit.
He that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocket it shall be opened. For only by patience, practice and senseless importunity can a man enter the door of the temple of knowledge.
This principle is commendable and is biblical. You see, the sin of once problem or life is determined not only by how he see it but by what he seek in life. Goal oriented people don’t let problems defer them from their goals. I will achieve that which I want to achieve by taking hold of the principle.
2. Can you relate the ideas or concepts in this book to your personal circumstance in life such as your relationships, your belief, your goals and your values?
The ideas of this book is exciting informative, directional, and extremely helpful toward motivation of a person to become self dependent, self inspired, self empowerment and self control in life.
The ideas in this book as also giving me a huge considerable hope for the future which obviously has giving me a great deal of power in the present. This enable me to be more effective today, which means my tomorrow have to be better. The ideas had affected my life positively, most especially, my Christian life, my spiritual life is upward and forward after I finish reading this book, I found out and saw myself wanting to have the kind of mind which God will be pleased with and be all I can be. Can be beautiful in three different ways. I have pick it up for momentary lift in spirit by reading all the pages. I have feast more bountifully from the banquet table of great thoughts and ideas and really get some instructional lifts, which will make a difference. The ideas in this book had inspired me to nourish myself on a regular basic with the germs of wisdom, which prevail throughout the book. It is clear and concise so that I never wonder what is meant in a nutshell.
It challenges me to be all that I can and then give me some clear-cut guidelines to accomplish that objective.
My belief is nothing I do get accomplished without hope, confidence and optimism. It is not our position but our disposition that made us happy. Some people freeze in the winter, others kind positive attitude always create positive results. Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference; optimism is the faith that leads to achievement by the application of positive thought.
There is a direct correlation between our passion and potential being positive in terms of though is essential to achievement and the foundation of true progress.
My goal is to acquire greater knowledge that will lead to great accomplishment and greatness in life by creating room for positive thoughts and ideas that will result into physical action.
My value towards life is that I have potential for fruitful living not only because of our source but because of our care. Just as Jesus Christ is the source, the father is the Vinedresser. The Vinedresser takes care of the vine, he would be a man of skill and knowledge, an expert at growing grape he is also the owner, when you think of an owner, you think of personal interest, you think of commitment something more than knowledge and skills as branches we not only have our source from the vine, but we have God who oversees us, takes care of us and prepare us to be productive and fruitful.
3. What are the most important new ideas or concept you learned from this book?
There is so much I have learned from this book, it made me to know that thought in the mind hade made us what we are, my thought was wrought and built own is always the master even in his weakest and most abundant state and that he is the maker of his character, the molder of his life, and the builder of his destiny. Time of general calamity and confusion has ever been productive of the greatest mind. The purest are his produced from the hottest furnace and the bridged thunderbolt is the one elicited from the hottest furnace and the bridged thunderbolt is the one which from the based or consistence’s are the run of the weak but the Lord of his own thoughts. Man holds the key to every situation and contains with himself that transforming and regenerative agency by which he may make himself what he will be.
4. Has this book challenged or changed your thinking in anyway.
This book has helped me a lot to think positive and to cultivate the right attitude or characters. It has broken my understanding on the effect of thought on circumstance. This has really helped me to fix my mind of on the development of my plans and strengthening of my resolution and self-reliance. He higher I lift my thought, the greater will be my success the more blessed and enduring will be my achievements. It has really made me to cherish my vision in life.
5. Are there ideas in the book that you totally disagree with if so, why
To be sincere all ideas in this book are agreeable and totally commendable.
6. What did you find most helpful and least helpful in this book?
This book has made me to understand that our attitude towards life have a very important role to play in determine our destiny, it made me to understand the law of sowing and reaping, it also made me to know that man’s action is the product of his thought (mentality). It also made me to understand that man is the architect of his life, he determines whether to be a failure or success by his thought (mentality).
A man should conceive a legitimate purpose in his heart and set out to accomplish it. He shall make this purpose the centralizing point of his thought to put away aimlessness and weakness and to begin to think with purpose is to enter the ranks of those strong ones who only recognized failure as one of the pathways to attainment, who makes all conditions serve them, and who think strongly, attempt fearlessly and accomplish masterfully this really inspired.
7. In 50 words or less, please describe the main idea the whole book is trying to convey?
What this book is trying to convey is to stimulate and motivate men and women to the discovery and perception of the truth that they themselves are makers of themselves by virtue of their thoughts which they choose and that mind is the master weaver, both of the inner garment of character and the outer garment of circumstance, and that as they may have hitherto women in ignorance and pain they may now weave in enlightenment and happiness.
Please rate the following questions on a scale form 1 to 10. Ten is good and one is poor.
1. How interesting was it to? 10
2. How helpful were the content? 9
3. How easy was it to understand? 8
4. Would you recommend it to others? 5
5. What is the overall rating you would give it? 10
My regard to the author of this book, it has really influence my entire life, my thinking, I now think differently, the book is 100 percent acceptable, and big thanks to the institute for global leadership for giving me this opportunity to be part of this program.
Thought is our head; it is not what happens to us it is what happens in us, joy is by product of following right principle.
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Assessment by Efe Peter Igbinovia (Nigeria)
1. What Ideas were personally most important to you in this book? Do not simply list the ideas, but explain or discuss why they were important to you, using personal examples.
The Author Richard Bach is a great motivator and inspired man to behold. From my study on this book I realized what it takes to be great and how to be a great person in life. These are the main idea I found very important to me.
Firstly, I learned that for a man to be great he has to set a GOAL or TARGET for himself, this target I would describe as AIM which Jonathan seagull took more important to him than just eating.
Secondly, when going about achieving a goal in life one must be determine and focus, seagull as I read he never falter or stall, he was very courageous and determine to achieve his despite the challenges he encountered.
Thirdly: He was very consistent in training and practicing on flying, I will say he obeyed what I will describe as the law of repetition which states that it brings about deep and lasting impression.
Fourthly: Continuity and improvement
In level he found himself he always tries his best to improve on that and get better, the more he tries the better he became, he never settled for last he was always out for the best he can everyday of his life.
Achievement: Despite all the challenges he encountered he never yielded to circumstances or discouragement, he took it all as an achievement, he put outside everything that will limit him from doing what he loves to do.
Perfection: Jonathan Livingston seagull is one who possess some unique qualities that differ him from the rest seagulls, with his quality he was able to achieve his dreams and perfected it, he was able to overcome nature in the sense that what the other seagulls does for living which is just eating meant nothing to him but what he regarded as more important was flying. In the course of his pursue for a great flying, he was able to find the rare and tasty fish that schooled ten feet below the surface of the ocean. He no longer needed a fishing boat and a stale bread for survival, he learned to sleep in the, setting a course at night across the offshore wind, covering a hundred miles at sunset to sunrise. With the same inner control, he flow through heavy sea fogs and climbed above them into a dazzling clear skies, in the very times when every other seagulls stood on the ground knowing nothing but mist and rain. He learned to ride the high winds far inland to dine there on delicate insects.
2. Can you relate the ideas or concepts in this book to your personal circumstances in life such as your relationships, your beliefs, your goals, your values, etc? Please use personal examples in your explanation.
This book written by Richard Bach is indeed a very healthy and nourishing one for the matured minded person. It can also help the average mind to build up his understanding in a very simple way. This book has given me a clue on how to pursue my goal with total submission to hardworking, seriousness, passion and above all faith and believing on my self that I can be what I want to be.
Some years ago when I was in the high school, all indoor game was organized in the school for all the students of the school, we were asked to participate for at least a game, then I love the game of table tennis so much but I didn’t know how to play, anytime we go out for training my peers were found of making jest of me because I am not a good player of the game, the good thing about me was that I was desperate to learn and I did everything possible to be good at the game, I kept training tirelessly and consistently, I was very committed to the game until time to time I was improving and getting better at it, I was acquiring new skills each day I train. When it was kick-off of the game, I was chosen to play, first of all I qualified for the round sixteen and went ahead to win the golden medal of the competition, I was able to achieve this due to the goal I set for my self and I did not only set a goal I worked towards achieving the goal, I had passion and I dedicated my time for the game, despite all the challenges I had from peer and folks I still went ahead to win the game. I tell you today I play table tennis like a wizard, it’s my hobby and I have passion for the game
I clearly understood after ready this book that when we are out for something we should not let material benefit be our number priority but rather we should do it for fun and be happy about it.
Secondly, this book has also made me to understand that faith without works is vanity it will yield no result, of course it is good to have faith but it will not yield no result if you do not work towards achieving a result, as they say manners don’t fall from heaven. Faith is describe here as the engine (machine) of our vision and goals, it gives you the hope of being what you want to be and have whatever you desire to have, I will say that faith plus works is equivalent to success.
This book has motivated and inspired me so much for successful living and I have become an aspirator to my self and to those who come in contact with me. I have come to understand that knowledge is indeed the powerhouse of success; it is worth more than anything else a man would require in life. I am very enthusiastic about reading motivated books like this, books that will inspire me for success. I will describe Jonathan Livingston Seagull as a legend and an hero for his great strive for survival, this has really motivated me to do great things and it’s up to me.
3. What are the most important new ideas or concepts you learned from this book? Please Explain.
I have read several books to be sincere, motivated books like this but there is something so unique about this very one, it’s adventurous, entertaining and educative. Jonathan Livingston Seagull is a book clearly written to the layman’s understanding, I will say this is one of the best books I have read; it’s easy to comprehend. Jonathan Livingston Seagull is a very brave, courageous and he is a real gem for taking that bold step.
Kudos to the author of the book Richard Bach for writing this book. It has really touched my life and has affected my mentality towards becoming a great man and remains at a perfect state of greatness.
4. Has this book challenged or changed your thinking in any way? If so, explain how?
This book has change my orientation and it has made me know that I can be what I ever I want to be; it has made me know that heaven is not a place but a state of perfection. Now I know that I can make heaven in my business and what ever I do, my destiny is in my hands, I have the power to achieve greatness and perfection.
5. Are there ideas in the book that you totally disagree with? If so, why?
I am very convinced about the content; despite my effort to find one I could not find any error or phrase I’m not convinced about.
6. What did you find most helpful and least helpful in this book?\
What I found most help in this book are the educative ideas I picked out while reading the book and the words of courage, I have been embolden and motivated for greatness through the knowledge I gained.
7. In 50 words or less, please describe the main idea the whole book is trying to convey.
Jonathan Livingston Seagull is very informative, it contains ideas and knowledge which are helpful in building dreams and it gives confident to those who have tried and has fallen, it gives hope to those who are on the race for greatness.
Please rate the following questions on a scale from 1 to 10. Ten is good and one is poor.
A. How interesting was it to read? 9
B. How helpful were the contents? 8
C. How easy was it to understand? 7
D. Would you recommend it to others? 7
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 10
My regards to the author of this book, it has really influence my entire life, my thinking, I now think differently, the book is 100 percent acceptable, and big thanks to the institute for global leadership for giving me this opportunity to be part of this program. Thought is our head; it is not what happens to us it is what happens in us, joy is by product of following right principle.
The New Dynamics Of Winning
Igbinovia Peter Efe (Nigeria)
1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
The author’s idea of this book is about the mindset of a champion, what it takes to be a champion, the principles of champions, the dos and don’ts of champions.
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.
1. The winner’s drive
2. Paying the price
3. The champion within
4. Visualization of victory
5. Fame, Fortune and integrity
6. The coachability factor
7. Self confidence and self transformation
This seven ideas are most important to me because it has really worked for me in my day to day activities, it boosted my morals, characters, approach and my relationship with people in achieve the goals I set for myself.
The winner’s drive:
This idea has given me an exposal on how I can achieve my set goal and target, I learnt about what it takes to succeed, which the author said; Hard work, careful decision making are the technical expertise including support from friends and family. He simply stated that these are just part of it but the most important is DETERMINATION. This is ability to access the inner resources of strength and commitment that are the defining characteristics of a champion in any field; He said that it takes 10% talent and 90% guts and determination to be a champion. He quotes;
Nothing in the world can take the place of determination; Talent will not, nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent, and unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “PRESS ON” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.
Paying the price
The entry fee to success is absolute commitment; the commitment to “paying the price” is a key quality in the mind of a champion. Commitment is another word “HARDWORK”. Achievers grow out of commitment. The story of Mary Lou really inspires and motivated me on this idea, she made me understand that winners work at doing the things the rest of the population won’t even think of doing. I have come to understand that most of our hurdles in life are self-imposed limitations that can be overcome if we never, ever give up on ourselves.
The Olympia within
I got to realise that the key trait shared by athletes champions and winners in every walk of life is the fundamental belief in one’s own internal value, if your success depends on external possessions, you will be subject to constant anxiety. Every man been a champion or loser is born with the qualities of a champion, though champions are born but they can be unmade by their perceptions and responses. Loser are not born to lose, they are programmed that way by their own perceptions and believes.
These are some vital truths I wrote on these ideas:
1. You need to feel life inside yourself before you can offer it to anyone else.
2. Your own sense of value determines the quality of your performance; performance is only a reflection of internal worth, not the measure of it.
3. The less you try to impress, the more impressive you are.
4. What you show to the world on the outside is a reflection of how you feel in the inside.
The visualisation of victor:
While studying this idea I realised some vital truths about seeing the victory in the inside before it can be actualised. Like the author mentioned “when your eyes are open, you see the world that lies outside”, you see the items of the room you are in, the people and the view of the landscape through the window. He went further to say that “winners see the act of winning in advance-vivid, multidimensional, textured, clear”. Champions know that what you see who you will be. He also mentions that your imagination will take you beyond limits of time and space. Although most people attached little importance to these inner visions, they may seem pleasantly irrelevant, or uncomfortable at odds with the accepted external reality, though most people believe in the idea that “seeing is believing”. In other words you need to physically see something with your own eyes to believe that it’s real but there is a newer of thinking that suggests. “Before you can see it, you have to believe it”, this premise holds that our believe system is powerful that thoughts can actually cause things to happen in the physical world. So which concept is nearer the truth? Do you have to see it before you believe it, or believe before you see? The answer is both basically, if you can see something in your mind’s eye and you imagine it over and over again, you will believe it is really there in substance. As a result, your actions, both physically and mentally, will move to bring about in reality the image you are visualising. He said that your beliefs are quite simply, a function of what you see day in and day out. In other words, what you see really, is what you get regardless of whether you know it or not. So, I have learnt to see the right image of myself regardless any contrary situation.
Coachability factor
The coachability factor is a great component of good leadership, every good leader themselves should be exceptionally coachable. There are three qualities of being coachable, these are;
* Coachable performers respect the roles of authority figures. This is usually the results of previous positive experience with parent and teachers. Respects and trust for authority, however doesn’t mean “blind submission” and robot like conformity. The coachable champion trusts his or her own judgements as well as the decisions of designated leaders.
* In ability to accept guidance from others, coachable performers 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.
* The third quality of a coachable person is a high tolerance for order and organisation. Training schedule, practice routines and other sometimes bothersome daily requirements are taken in stride.
Fame, Fortune and Integrity
In this chapter, I learnt so much on integrity, fame and fortune, how to make it and retain it. In the world there’s always a good and a bad side. The main reason for optimism is that we really do seem to understand that we’ve got to get our values in order. We are also beginning to realise that there’s only one way to do that Total integrity in our personal and professional life. 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 your relationships, you can create a kind of wealth for yourself and your family that’s of much greater value than fame and fortune as we usually understand it. By failing to set a positive standard, you can invite serious trouble. For example, one of the most powerful and prevalent behaviour shaping influences in the world is not human being or even a cartoon character. It’s an attitude, also called “silent approval” By Denis Waitley. This occurs when authority figures-whether they are heads of families or leaders of companies look the other way when actions conflicts with their stated principles. Silent approval can also take the form of a negative example set by leaders, perhaps subconsciously, without anyone really being openly aware of the message that’s being sent. The mechanism is the same, whether it’s at home or at work. Whether you do consistently, whether good or bad is what people are going to take as the truth. Consistency is the opposite of silent approval. There are seven specific things you can do to build consistency and integrity into your leadership style.
* Question your motives daily:
Before you make any decision, personal or professional, ask yourself; “Do I believe in what I am doing here? Is this true, is this right, is this honest? If I do this how will it affect the others involved?” This is not only the best way to live in moral sense, it’s also eminently practical. It’s the best way to ensure your success. In fact, to live according to any other standard is nothing short of self-destruction. According to Lou Holtz basic rules; do what is right, do your best, treat others as you want to be treated.
* Show it and don’t tell it:
Don’t just say it to your children, peers or subordinate what to do. Show them by doing it yourself.
* Be your own investigative reporter:
No matter how much wealth or recognition the world lays at your feet, don’t allow your personal integrity to be contradicted by your behaviour in any area of your life. It’s not just a matter of preserving your reputation. It’s a matter of living life with character. There is a lesion for all of us in the scandals of our reputation/ public figures; you truly can’t separate your personal life from your professional life. You bring the same person to your place of business and home again. Integrity is non-situational, and it’s absolute
*Be loyal to your inner circle:
The two most sought-after traits of top executives are honesty and loyalty, seeing what’s right and doing it.
* Follow through:
Integrity implies an understanding that people can trust you to do what you say you will do. Talk is never enough even when you are speaking the truth. Promises should not be lightly given unless you want them lightly received.
* Look up to those beneath you:
Don’t look down on anybody personally or professionally
* Learn to watch your watch:
You may not have as much money as Warren Buffett has, or as much as Donald Trump had. But there’s one thing you have as much of as anyone else: Time. There is the same number of hours in your day as there were for Shakespear or Einstein. Make the most of your time; don’t waste it, because when this time is gone, it’s gone forever. It’s essential to cultivate an ability to politely refuse activities for which you have no time, no talent, or no real interest. Conversely, don’t be afraid to devote an extraordinary amount of time to a problem that requires a great deal of attention
Self confidence and Self transformation
This idea or chapter can help one understand how he or she can get in the peak performance zone in his or her career or personal life. It feels good to hit one’s target at a first trial, but this can be done repeatedly whenever we want. There is a great deal you can do towards consistently achieving peak performance, you can start by learning to detect and eliminate self sabotaging thoughts, feelings and habits, then by using the same positive mental techniques that work for an archery champion or professional golfer, you can sell more policies, services more clients or meet whatever challenges you face everyday. There are two main misconceptions about peak performance. First, there is the idea that you must always bear down and try your hardest you win. In the business world, this expresses itself through threats, deadlines, ”bottom-liner thinking” and all manner of pressure exerted by managers on employees and by employees on themselves. The test of an effective manager, however, is his or her ability to communicate these requirements as potential opportunities rather than potential catastrophes. The second self defeating misconception is almost a mirror image of the first. Now instead of trying to clench your fists, grit your teeth and bear down, you convince yourself that you shouldn’t think about anything -that your mind should just bee a blank screen and everything you do should be spontaneous. Champions in life learn to achieve this relax focus. It’s very different from lack of intensity. Rather, it’s centering attention only on what’s important for flawless execution. External thoughts and unwanted tensions are erased, everything is on target.
In addition to the two mention defeating misconception above are a number of specific mental blocks that can get in the way of peak performance. These are questions you must ask yourself when embarking on a significant undertaking so that you can increase dramatically your chances of success
.
* Are you feeling optimistic?
High expectation of success is the single most valuable quality you can bring into a challenging situation. A high expectation of success is more important than practise or preparation. Don’t just hope for the best; learn to expect the best, even if you have to force yourself to do so. Note: optimism is contagious. In any collective enterprise, your own optimism will rob off on the other members of the group and increase the probability of your organisation’s success.
* Are you drowning in adrenalin
Always learn to be prepared for sudden change. Don’t allow yourself to get so wrapped up in an idea, a plan, or a project that you lost the ability to retain your balance if the whole thing falls through.
* Are you replaying yesterday’s mistake?
Giving your best effort right now regardless of what happens yesterday. What happened earlier has absolutely no influence on what happens today unless you choose to let it. Worrying over past errors or failure surely qualifies as one of the most self destructive pastimes you can possibly inflicts upon yourself.
*A. N. T (Abstract Negative Thoughts)
This is one of the surest signs that you are not ready to perform at your best. To avoid this kind of sabotage, train yourself to focus on the concrete, tangible and positive aspects of what you are about to do. Think of some physical action or gesture that will snap yourself out of the A.N.T trance and bring you back to the reality.
* Are you thinking too much about the outcome and not enough about the process? One sure way of getting the best result of what you are doing is to be passionate about it, you should develop the love for it, thereafter the profiting will appear 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 ideas of this book (new dynamics of winning) are so versatile, rich, motivational, and so full of strength. I believe with a meaning practical of the lessons and wisdom I have accumulated from the study of these ideas, the sky is not even my limit but rather by springboard. In everything I do, in my association, my businesses, deals and in my relationship with people, I just know that I will excel.
4. Quotes: Are there any statements which the author made that particularly got your attention? If so, please quote them and comment as to why they were important to you.
“ Nothing in the world can take the place of determination. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent, and unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “PRESS ON” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”
This quote has answered a bothersome question in my heart as per the reason why some talented and educated are not successful. The reason quoted here is determination and persistency.
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?
No
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? 8
B. How helpful were the content? 9
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
Psycho Cybernetics 2000
Assessment by Efe Peter Igbinovia (Nigeria)
What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
The main idea the author is conveying in this book is;
The author pin pointed on the following; self esteem, self confidence, self image, the key to your personality, understanding the role imagination plays in self-perception, using your imagination to create image of success, identify, confront and cast off false beliefs that provide negative target for your internal guidance system, to recondition yourself from stressful emotional responses that prevent your internal guidance system from working effectively, to set specific goals of success for your internal guidance system est.
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 seven ideals that were personally most important to me and the reason why they are important to me are:
self image
Disinherit your personality and fuel success
Imagining your way to success
Relax and turn stress into success
how to program your success mechanism
Use negative feedback to point your toward success
How to change habit of failure into habit of success
Self-image: This idea has given me an insight about my personal fulfilment through self image enhancement, I learnt about what it takes to achieve my dream through positive self image, every one of us always act, feel and behave in a way that is consistent with our self image regardless of the reality of that image. This idea has giving me an understanding that each of us possess 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. This self image is our own conception of the sort of person I am. It has been built up from our own beliefs about ourselves but most of these beliefs have been formed from our past experiences, our success and failures and the way people have reacted towards us. Ones an idea or belief about ourselves goes into this picture it becomes true as far as we proceed to act upon it just as if it were true. It is our self image that prescribes our limits; we are entirely the product of the image we carry of ourselves. The self image is the key element to determine whether my internal system functions for success or for failure, it defines the size and scope of the target my goal-seeking device has shot for the area of the possible. This idea of self image will help me to achieve a personal fulfilment.
(II). Disinheriting your personality and fuel success: Personality is the outward manifestation of our self-image. Everyone has a personality lock up within him. Poor personality and inhibited personality are the same, Maltz wrote: the person with a poor personality does not express the creative self within, he has restrain it, handcuffed it, locked it up and thrown away the key, for one reason or another he is afraid to express himself, afraid to be himself, and has locked himself within the inner prison. Frustration is the characteristics of the inhibited personality, failure to adequately express him. But this basic frustration is likely to colour and overflow over all that he does. By freeing my personality from inhibition, I liberate myself, I free the aspect of me that is unique and creative, and once I have brought my real self into light, all those negative, unattractive images I have been holding of myself will simply vanish. The real self within every person is attractive, it is magnetic, it has a powerful influence upon other people, we have the feeling that we are in touch with some real and basic, and it does something to us. This idea has really helped me to appreciate myself as a spiritual being. When I am experience my spiritual nature, it’s impossible to absorb any emotional injuries, both my subconscious and conscious minds accept my worthiness, my horse is veritably prancing in it’s awareness that I am entitle to protection from being wounded by myself or by others. Again, it is important not to confuse spiritual with religiosity. Dr. Malts often reminds his readers that they were “children of God” and if the practice of religion is important to me, I can readily incorporate my spiritual life into my religious life. The author made me to understand that if religion plays no part in my life, I can develop my spiritual nature through creativity, meditation, enjoyment of nature, any activity that enhances my awareness of myself in relation to the universe, plant a garden, play your guiltier, find a special place were you can go frequently for a break from the care and concerns of your life. That means I have to get involve in some aspect of the effort to save the planet, whatever I choose to do, it’s important to appreciate myself as an expressing entity. It is the nature of life to express; flowers bloom, birds sing, human beings create. My spiritual side longs to be creating, to be moving life forward and when I spirit is creatively engaged, it is practically invulnerable. It is the nature of the spirit to give; it is in the nature of the ego to take. If I am actively engaged in expressing my spiritual nature, anything anyone say or do that is potentially injurious to me appears so clearly a product of their own ego that it hardly affects me.
(III). Imaging your way to success: This idea has giving me an insight on how I can achieve success by imagination. Anything imagines to be true is accepted as true by my subconscious mind. An imagine experience is perceived and acted on by my subconscious mind exactly as a real experience, my behaviour follows what I believe to be true, my behaviour changes in the direction of my belief, beliefs are powerful. They create communities, order our lives and define our capability but our imagination is even more powerful, because it can change our beliefs, everyone is familiar with the old say “seeing is believing” to your subconscious mind, just the opposite is true, believing is seeing, your imagination makes your subconscious mind see what your subconscious mind believes. Maxwell Maltz cited numerous case studies that demonstrated how the mind accepts imagined case experiences as equivalent to actual experiences. In his most dramatic example, he described an experiment in which group of equally skilled basketball players practise shooting free throw for 20days, one group on the court, the other one in their minds, those who used mental practise showed the same improvement in their skills as those who practise in the gym. Realising that my actions, feelings and behaviour are the result of my image and beliefs, gives me an opportunity to practice new traits and attitudes which I otherwise could not do. If I picture myself performing in a certain manner it is nearly the same as the actual performance, mental practice is nearly the same as the actual performance, mental practice helps to make perfect.
(IV) How to program your success mechanism: This ideal has made me understand fully how I can be able to program my success mechanism, success is instinctive, but sometimes we block the instinct, we all possess a built-in guidance system that moves us towards the things we think about. If we watch limits instead of destinations we bump up against those limits. If our self perception is so negative that we allow ourselves no destination at all, we wander all over the road eventually we crunch up against a curb and despair about why we never seem to get anywhere but if we have a specific, realistic, images of success to guide us and if we star focused on those images, we need not to worry about curbs, we may wander outside our lane from time to time, but our built in guidance system keeps us on course, it automatically corrects our steering and keeps us moving forward toward success and happiness.
All living creature possess such a built-in goal striving mechanism, a success instinct that guides them towards goals of nourishment, defence and reproduction and spiritual satisfaction as well as mere physical survival. It operate as a creative mechanism, guiding us towards fulfillment of the many goals that makes us human and contribute to a rich and satisfying life but being human we may also program our creative mechanism with bad data that can savage our success and the main factor that determines our programming and the data it can accept, once again is our self image. Our creative mechanism always operate according to the way our self image has programmed it, program it with image of success and it operates as a success mechanism, if you program it with negative images and limitations, it operates as a failure mechanism. But like any servomechanism, it’s programming can be changed. This idea has giving me an understanding on how our internal guidance system works and the role of my self image in programming it, and the procedure for breaking old habits that keeps crunching up against curbs and installing new habits that will lead to happiness and success and also correcting my programming, tapping my success instinct.
(V). How to change habits of failure into habits of success: Our self-images begin with other’s opinions about us. Our awareness of these opinion forms our earliest sense of self. Our servomechanism basic program, we then confirm this program by acting in accordance with it. A poor self image can cause ones servomechanism to operate as a failure mechanism. The self image has nothing to do with reality. It was something that had been learned. Anything that had been learned can be re-evaluated and challenged; anything that has been challenged can be relearned with new data to replace the old. A negative self-image can be erased like tape recording and replace with a new, positive self-image through subconscious habit. It’s not easy to change such a habit but it is simple, it just takes repeated practice. I always ask myself this question on how I can take control of my creative mechanism and reprogram it as a success mechanism, I later realise that I really can create change, because change comes about through awareness of negative self-image, by challenging the bad habits that allows me to set and achieve worth wile goals. It’s easy to remember these steps if I think of reprogramming my automatic mechanism by using C.R.A.F.T process.
C- Cancel old negative data
R- Replace it with new and positive data
A- Affirm your new self-image
F- Focus on an image of success
T- Train yourself in your new attitude and behaviour
Following this process will enable me to cancel old, negative data and replace it with new, positive data, and therefore affirm my new image to myself, and then focus on an image of successful me. This is the process maltz called mental picture or entering the theatre of imagination. I call it focusing your day dreams or reflective relearning. By vividly imagining success, I can now cause my subconscious mind to respond as though I had actually been successful. Finally, I trained myself for lasting change by acting as if I was already operating under my new program.
(VI). Relax and turn stress into success: this idea is very important to me because relaxation is the key to activating my creative imagination, the only state in which our servomechanism can work properly, yet most of us has no idea how to relax. We are conditioned to respond to events in our lives in ways that leads in increased stress by learning to relax, to recondition our selves from these responses, we can reduce the level of stress in our lives. By finding my own most effective path to relaxation, I can consciously address the subconscious, right brain processes that are the key to psycho-cybernetic. When I relax, my mind is capable of accelerated feats of learning and memory. This principle can be used for significant learn as well as advertising jingle. A Bulgarian psychiatrist, Dr. Georgi Lazanov has develop a method of instruction that uses deep-relaxation and breathing exercises combined with music to induce a state of heightened concentration widely used in European school, super learning; expands learning and memory capacity by keeping the left brain, body and right brain from working against each other and hamstringing your abilities. When people in such concentration fed information, they are able to absorb and retain it at astonishing accelerated rate. Such techniques are particularly useful for learning the new habits necessary for changing your self-image. In fact, in developing the super learning method, Lazanov acknowledged a debt to self-image psychology in other to learn faster and release our inner potential. He maintained, we must first overcome limitations in our thinking, we are condition to believe that we can only learn so much so fast that there are certain rigid limits to what we can do and achieve, he said we are all bombarded constantly from the first day we were born, with limiting suggestions; like Maxwell maltz, Georgi Lazanov, drew analogies with cybernetics in showing feedback affects results. If the teacher felt depressed, or thought the students were stupid, or that method would not work, students might realise it, and this would affect performance. In other words, relaxation is the key to freeing the mind for creative, holistic, right brain problem solving. If I am physically tensed or mentally distracted, my automatic mechanism can not function, it can only operate effectively when I am in a relax state.
(VII) Use negative feedback to point towards success: This idea is important because I have all the tools I need to build a new self-image and an action plan for success. I may have begun to lay the foundation through relaxation, imagination and thinking about the goals. I may even have begun the process of changing old habits through daily application of C.R.A.F.T which is good for me! The only person who can draw a blue print for my self-image is me, only me can design the plan, only me can decide how best to rebuild my personality to my specification. The good news is that it does not matter what my design is as long as it’s my design, and I am diligent in following it. My automatic creative system is versatile enough to plot a course to any target I may set, provided I make a habit of applying the skill and techniques necessary to keep it running smoothly. Once I have established goals, my internal guidance system kicks in, but again, it is my self-image that determines whether or not I remain locked on target. A person whose self-image is positive finds it easy to develop and nurture what Dr. Maltz called the success type personality. When such person receives negative feedback-signals, they go off course the servomechanism responds by making a course correction helping to guide us down the road to creative accomplishment. But to a person with poor self-image, such negative feedback serves only to confirm their sense of inadequacy.
These seven ideas are most important to me because it has really help me in enhancing my self-image, self-esteem and self-worth. These ideas has also help me to understand the role my imagination plays in self-perception, using my imagination to create images of success, and to identify, confront and cast off false beliefs that provide negative target for my internal guidance system, to recondition myself from stressful emotional responses that prevent my internal guidance system from working effectively and to set specific goals of success for my internal guidance system, to cultivate specific aspects of personality that lead to success, to use my negative experiences as feedback to correct my course toward my goal, to remove the emotional scars that inhibit my personality, to deflect assaults on my self-esteem by responding appropriately and creatively to emotional pressures, and to build feeling of success into my personality.
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 can help me to create a better world by knowing conception of the sort of person I am which is my self-image and these ideas also tells me that I can create a change no matter the failures, errors and disappointment I might have experience in the past. I also learn that I can use my negative feedback to point my toward success by correcting the past, I can become the person I want to be, by taking the right decision and always imagining my way to success. With all these ideas I can build a better word for myself.
4. Quotes: Are there any statements which the author made that particularly got your attention? If so, please quote them and comment as to why they were important to you.
Self image: It’s important to me because the author is making every human to know the conception of the sort of person you are and through your beliefs about yourself.
Becoming the person you want to be? He said that, you can become who you want to be in life by the decision you take, self confidence, self esteem, and try to work things out the right way. Having the right to feel good about your self. You can use your past to correct your present.
5. Is there anything in the book that you do not understand or are unclear about, or are there ideas which you disagree with and, if so, why?
NO, I understand and agree with every idea in the book as the author made it so clear to my understanding.
6. Did the book contain exercises for the reader to complete? If so, did you complete all of the exercises and did you find them helpful?
Yes, the book contains exercises for the reader to complete, the exercises were completed and I find it very help to me.
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, every page and chapter of the book were encouraging and everything there was covered and there is no comment.
RATING OF THE BOOK
1. How interesting was it to read? 10
2. How helpful were the content? 9
3. How easy was it to understand? 10
4. Would you recommend it to others? 9
5. What is the over all rating you will give it? 10