As A Man Thinketh
Assessment by Johnson Mompoint (Haiti)
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 the concept of the Thought. He wants that the readers recognize that man’s visions can become reality, simply through the power of thought. For the author the power of thought can stimulate men and women to the discovery and perception of the truth that they themselves are makers of themselves by virtue of the thoughts which they choose and encourage; 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 woven in ignorance and pain they may now weave in enlightenment and happiness. Thought power is the key to create our reality. Everything we perceive in the physical world has its origin in the invisible, inner world of our thoughts and beliefs. To become the master of our destiny, we must learn to control the nature of our dominant, habitual thoughts. By doing so, we will be able to attract into our life that which we intend to have and experience as we come to know the truth that our thoughts create our reality. If we control our thought we can do our dream reality. Every effect we can see in our outside or physical world has a specific cause which has its origin in our inner or mental world. This is the essence of thought power. Put another way, the conditions and circumstances of our life are as a result of our collective thoughts and beliefs. Every aspect of life, from the state of our finances to the state of our health and our relationships, is accurately revealing our thoughts and our beliefs. It is very important to believe we can do something despite the limits because the power of thought is unlimited. Thought makes a man what it is. In other words, we simply are what we think.
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. Power of the thought: Depend to me, I think thought power is limitless… In being humans we can observe that exist a single, intelligent consciousness that pervades the entire universe, which is all powerful, all knowing, all creative and present everywhere at the same time: it is the universal mind. Our mind is part of this one universal mind and since our thoughts are a product of our mind, it follows that our thought power too is limitless. Once we truly understand that our mind is one with the single source of all power and that this power is within us, we will have found the only true source of infinite power for which nothing is impossible and impossible is nothing. Know that thought power comes from within. Accessing the source of all power starts by looking inwards.
ii. Thought effects: Man is the creator of his situation through his thinking because man is who decides how to grow their thoughts. If man cultivates good thoughts then he will obtain good results in his life. Our thoughts create our realities. Humans own his destiny. Thoughts have a major effect on our character. Our thinking determines our actions in life. Man is the causer of his circumstances. Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results; bad thoughts and actions can never produce good results. I believe that we are the result of our mind, so we have to meditate.
iii. Laws of growth: I think growth is essential to our satisfaction and our success, but it doesn’t just happen. It requires intentionality, focus, and accountability. It also requires a plan. This plan is the result of our capacity and ability to think about something. Man grows as it develops in his mind, according to what he keeps in his heart… Thought is the key of growth, not all thoughts are created equal. It is the reason it exists laws of growth because everyone is different and sees the reality in its own point of view.
iv. Mental harmony: In my point of view by reading this book, mental harmony is the source of joy and happiness in life. Suffering is always the effect of wrong thought. In some direction, it is an indication that the individual is in harmony with himself, with the law of his being. The circumstances which a man encounters with suffering are the result of mental disharmony. The circumstances which a man finds happiness are the result of his own mental harmony. In other words, when someone is in harmony with himself mentally it can enjoy happiness forever. Happiness, health and prosperity are the result of a harmonious adjustment of the inner with the outer of the man with his surroundings.
v. Effects of Thoughts on Health and Body: The body is the servant of the mind. It obeys the operations of the mind. In other words, the mind is stronger than the body. The body is a delicate and plastic instrument, which responds readily to the thoughts that dominate, and habits of thought will produce their own effects, good or bad, upon it. A healthy body is the result of a sound mind. For perfect our body we have to guard our mind.
vi. Thought and Purpose: ¨A man should conceive of a legitimate purpose in his heart and set out to accomplish it.¨ We can say that in life, everybody has some purposes that are very important for him and has to work hard to do it. For example, my purpose was to be a doctor so I had to do my best to obtain a certificate in Medicine after six years studying at university.
vii. Visions and Ideals: Visions are the engine of our thoughts. It converts our thought power into mental images, which are in turn manifested in the physical realm. We have to be able to expand our visions and ideals as large as possible.
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 human mind is an amazing thing. It has given us science, literature, morals, and finally philosophy. The thought still has the power to create new realities in the entire social world. All things that exist in the world are a creation of the human mind, the human thought in particular. They all exist because we simply think them into existence. So our thinking can change the overall vision of the world in which we live. Everything that exists in the world could exist because simply think about them is a global visualization of its existence. So, use the power of our thoughts can effectively create a new world of opportunities for everyone, a perfect world without injustice, without discrimination, without violence…
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.
¨Use thought power to change your life¨: The power of thought can help us to change our life because we are literally what we think. All that we accomplish or fail to accomplish in our life is the direct result of our thoughts. So, thought could have a direct impact on our life. If we use well our thinking we can make good change in our life.
“Circumstances do not make a man, they reveal him”: The views are influenced by the environment so I think the essence of man is based on his thinking that both are based on their experience, environment and genetic predisposition for certain behaviors. The circumstances are challenging us to develop our full potential of intelligent and be able to solve problems. Based on the phrase itself, I can say that we ended up making what we think. So it is advisable to cultivate positive thinking and proactive. If different men are living the same situation, the reaction probably will not be the same, everyone will act in different ways to the same circumstance.
¨ Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves¨: I think for a person to improve the circumstances in which they live it should know that it has to make numerous efforts that permits him to improve itself in different aspects of social life. To overcome man must set goals in its life. Setting goals is the first step in transforming the invisible into something visible. Man must have a plan… Most people fail because they lack the persistence to create new plans that replace those that do not work, create new plans after the failure helps man to overcome.
¨Clean thoughts make clean habits¨: When we have clean thoughts in our mind, it helps us act better; we can be able to distinguish well from evil. A good argument is a reflection of a good thought. Good thinking allows us to act according to moral standards.
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 do not have something special that I do not understand reading the book and it was easier to me to understand the meaning of the words of this book comparing with the other book (Jonathan Livingston Seagull). I catch faster the idea of the sentence.
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?
As in the other book, I did not see any exercises for me to complete in the book but reading the book was an experience very interesting to me that helped me to develop my understanding about what other people thinks in this case Mr. James. Although this book does not have exercises to complete, it helped me to extend my thoughts on some aspects of real 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.
I realized that the author tried to address almost every aspect of real life related to the power of thought. For me, the ideas discussed in the book by Mr. James Allen could be the key of success for everyone who strives to make a positive change in its social life.
Please rate the following questions on a scale from 1 to 10. Ten is good and one is poor.
A. How interesting was it to read? 9
B. How helpful were the contents? 9
C. How easy was it to understand? 8
D. Would you recommend it to others? 10
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 9
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Assessment by Johnson Mompoint (Haiti)
1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
The main idea is to show that all human beings in nature have to struggle to survive…The nature is beautiful but we have to fight to live and to fight the obstacles that appear every day on our way. In this book, the author wants to let us know how correct we have to do the things every day in life. We have to try to get everything we want in life with our own efforts despite the difficulties .The author wishes to emphasize in the book that when a person perseveres in life without stopping to make many efforts, one day you will get the results you want with much success. In this book, the main idea that shares the author is we have to do the necessary to achieve our most ardent desire no matter how many times we have fallen and we have to learn that our reward is in the effort, not the result and if we do full effort every morning we wake up and every day we are alive we will achieve full victory. The story the author describes in this book is an example of true perseverance because with perseverance everything will be easy in the future or we can say that any effort is light with the habit. So, we have to keep us strong and never give up.
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. Perseverance: For me, perseverance is commitment; it could be defined like hard work, patience, endurance in everything people do in life. Depend to me; it is very important to be perseverant in life for being able to bear difficulties calmly and without complaint. Perseverance will teach us how to keep trying again and again despite the obstacles… Every day in my own life I try to be perseverant in everything I do. For example, I can try a new sport that is very difficult but I don’t give up… and when I have a learning disability in something I try to keep studying even when discouraged. If I missed a week of school I have to work hard to catch up. Others examples of perseverance are: when I save money and make sacrifices to buy something I need, when I study and work hard to raise my grade and try out for something I was not successful at the first time.
ii. Obstacles: Obstacle is considered like an object, thing, action or situation that causes an obstruction. There are, therefore, different types of obstacles, which can be physical, economic, biopsychosocial, cultural, political, technological or even military. So, in life we have to confront daily obstacles in our path: at home, at school, at work, in the streets and everywhere and it is very important to know how to overcome them with determination. In my six years studying, I confront so many obstacles every day but I always try to be strong against them. People have to be tenacious and persistent because failure is the path of least persistence and victory belongs to the most persevering.
iii. Patience: Patience is the state of endurance under difficult circumstances, which can mean persevering in the face of delay or provocation without acting on annoyance or anger in a negative way; or exhibiting forbearance when under strain, especially when faced with longer-term difficulties. Patience is the level of endurance one can take before negativity. Sometimes in life we have to be patient because everything comes at its time. Patience is very important to do something good. It is much better to have patience to get better results than hurry to fail on the road. It is better being late in your way than never arrived. Patience is something that I always try to have in everything I do for example in my studies at university that was a long career full of difficulties but with patience I could achieve my goal to be a professional in Medicine.
iv. Effort: For me, effort is the key of success in life. Every day people make so much effort to survive or keep working at something that is difficult until complete it. Effort always helps to grow and get up. Every day, people do effort to be better.
v. Learn from others: I think it is very good to learn from other people that have some experience better than us in something… We have to accept an opinion or recommendation offered by them that will help us as a guide or a conduct to action. I learned from my parents, from my teachers, my friends and old people. In life, people could accept to receive good advice from others.
vi. Pay attention: First, it is very necessary to know the sense of the word ¨attention¨, is the cognitive process of selectively concentrating on one aspect of the environment while ignoring other things… It is very good to pay attention to whom teaches us something new. Pay attention is very important to be able to do something correct and understand it well.
vii. Think: Before doing something it is very important to think about it very carefully. Reason about or reflect on something helps us to avoid errors. Thinking about something carefully helps us to take a good decision. We have to be able to do a good judgment about something before acting. I always try to think about every decision I have to take in my personal life especially when I was at the university that was a moment very special in my career like what schedules I have to take every semester… So, I can say acting like that gave me good results in my studies.
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?
Those ideas teach me that life is a process in which we learn new things every day…To learn those new things we have to cultivate many qualities in our personality, our way of being, our characters and others. We have to use good strategies to get better results and finally achieve our goal successfully. These qualities could be the key to create a world without injustice and inequity. We should make efforts with great determination in life when we want to achieve a goal. These ideas impulses us to work very hard to lead civil rights movement and personal project.
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.
¨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.” This sentence in the book gets my attention because the author tries to say me that I can see farther than my eyes. I should have to use my mind to do something not my eyes because my understanding is stronger that my vision. Understanding gives us the capacity and the ability to conceptualize something to a given measure but our eyes represent the limit of this conceptualization. We have to think with our brain not with our eyes. In another words, we have to use our eyes just to see not to reflect on something.
¨Everything that limits us where we have to put aside.¨ The author wants to let us know with this idea that we do not have to focus on someone or something that ordinarily makes us lose our time. If something leads us to the failure way, we have to abandon it and start to use others strategies that could be better. If something does not work right try another. We do not have to let anything limit our effort and sacrifices.
¨You need to keep finding yourself, a little more each day¨ For me, this idea means that people has to do more and more effort every day in life and have to do their best to achieve their goal.
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 do not have something special that I do not understand reading the book but I had some difficulties to understand the meaning of some words. I had some difficulty to catch the idea of some sentence.
6. Did the book contain exercises for the reader to complete? If so, did you complete all of the exercises and did you find them helpful?
I did not see any exercises for me to complete in the book but reading the book was an experience very interesting to me that helped me to develop my understanding about what other people thinks in this case the author.
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 realized that the author is a lover of nature because he uses the wonders of nature to tell the story for example the sea, birds, boat, wind etc… His manner to describe the image of the scenes in the book shows me that he is a good observer of things that exist in the environment. He compares the animal habits with the daily effort people do every day in life: our sacrifices are the same birds do to be strong against the wind when they fly in the air.
Reading that book taught me that life is a constant struggle, life is full of obstacles and we have to advantage the time every day, every moment that we can live. We have to be strong, perseverant; we have to be persistent and keep trying, doing what we do well, very calmly, try to finish everything we start. Never give up despite the difficulties. If we think like that, we can make a change in our personal life, in our community and built a better day for everyone in the world.
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? 8
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
Keys to Success
Assessment by Johnson Mompoint (Dominican Republic)
1.What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
In this book the author is trying to demonstrate us the ways that can lead to success. The concept he is talking about in the book is the keys of success. He talks us about the seventeen principles of personal achievement. In each chapter of the book, he defines a different principle. In my point of view, everyone can have success in his own life not depending of the place he comes from (country, family, origin, social leveling, religion, race, age, education, nationality etc…). The most important is how they apply the principles of success in their life or how they structure their own life to take place among the rich and powerful. We can achieve success studying and learning the secrets of some greatest achievers to success in the world. Napoleon, the author of this book helps us to understand that we can achieve success in everything we are doing in our life. To reach our goals, we must first define them and then develop plans, we must focus our ideas and enthusiasm into a coherent, comprehensive plans based on prosperity. The first step to achieve success is the definiteness of purposes. Without developing definiteness of purposes, we cannot obtain good results in anything we are doing. It is not something easy to have beautiful things in the life (luxury, fame, money, cars, mansion, respect, good job…) we have to work so hard for these things because only by finding our own burning desire will we can achieve success. Definiteness of purposes brings a host of advantages required for success like imagination, enthusiasm, personal initiatives, self-discipline, concentrated efforts, perfection and more… It also brings opportunities and inspiration and we have to take these opportunities at the maximum.
Making decisions quickly and firmly is a factor that can help us to be successful. Definiteness of purposes makes our mind positive and frees it from limitations. We must have to accustom our mind to success and then it will refuse to accept the possibility of failure. Positive mental attitude makes us stronger because it gives power to everything we do. We first have to know what we want to be successful in life.
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. Mastermind Alliance
In daily life, we always must try to cultivate Mastermind Alliance with ourselves. This is very important to cultivate it wherever it is possible and then it will serve us in many areas. Doing Mastermind Alliance with yourself will do you stronger and will give you power to face obstacles. In my life, in everything I do, I try to do mastermind alliance with myself. I always do my best to cultivate mastermind alliance in my education. There is one year ago, I am graduated in Medicine School and every day I try to learn more from every possible source: articles, journals, magazines and every material that can expand my mind or update my knowledge about medicine. In my work area, I do it possible to deal and cooperate with all members of the group or everyone else (patients or patients family) on completely ethical terms. Finally, everyone must intent to cultivate mastermind alliance in everything they do, wherever they are (at work, at home with their family, in their projects) with harmony, respect, confidence, justice and understanding.
B. Positive Mental Attitude
Positive Mental Attitude is something so powerful that it can move the world, its impact can change everything in our life and it can be considered like a factor to face any obstacle or difficulty. Positive Mental Attitude influences our characters and our personality (facial expressions, self-control, posture, tone of voice); it determinates the nature of our emotions and feelings. Building a positive mental attitude opens doors, brings opportunities allows to display skills and ambitions. Positive mental attitude gives us confidence, security and certainty to make prompt decision quickly. In my life, I always do my best to be optimist. I do my best to take decisions with a good common sense. The best way to remove fear from our mind is to replace it with Positive Mental Attitude.
C. Tolerance
Tolerance is the capacity for or the practice of recognizing and respecting the beliefs or practices of others. Tolerance is the dispositive to be patient and fair toward those whose opinions, practices and beliefs differ from us. Tolerance brings us the capacity to accept others like as they are with their qualities and defaults. It allows us to accept opinions and decisions of other people. Tolerance helps us to be opened to the diversity of the world and to the power of the spiritual side of the mind; it encourages the growth of the mind by unlimiting the search for knowledge.
D. Humility
Depend to me, humility is one of the best qualities that someone can possess in the life and it is considered like one of the character much admired. It is the quality of being modest and respectful. Humility comes from the bottom of the heart; it helps us to grow the best values of the society and reinforces our relation with GOD because people who are strong in faith are always humble of heart.
E. Self-Discipline
Self-discipline can be defined as the ability to motivate oneself in spite of a negative emotional state. It controls all emotions, both positive and negative; it encourages us to use the positive ones. Willpower, persistence, hard work and perseverance are the qualities associated with self-discipline. Self-discipline is the product of persisted willpower and willpower brings all departments of the mind under complete control and puts them to work in attaining definite major purpose. Self-discipline is considered like the ultimate path towards success.
F. Enthusiasm
Enthusiasm is an emotion state that we express with joy and happiness wherever we are and in everything we do. Enthusiasm helps us to do everything well. It encourages us to make our work a labor of love. Enthusiasm makes us feel better and better because it could have a very good positive impact in our health.
G. Self-Improvement
Self- Improvement is the ability to motivate ourselves to be what we really want to be or to achieve the goals we desire and our purposes. Self- Improvement gives us the strategies for beating the obstacles to making our desires become reality. When we encounter obstacles and difficulties and we fall, self- improvement helps us to get up and to keep going. Self-Improvement creates personal initiatives and personal initiatives create the future and advancement.
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 a big impact in me and in my daily life, they enforce me to think more about the purposes I have in my life and what strategies I must apply to achieve them. They make me strong to face defeat and learn from them because in daily life always there will be defeat. They teach me how to manage circumstances and how to use my resources. I understand that it is very important to create mastermind alliance with myself and others to expand my knowledge and experience, create visions, take risks and assume responsibility. Success is not something easy but it is not something impossible either. I must do sacrifices every day, get up, stand up when I fall and keep fighting, and learn from my mistakes. I have to build self-discipline, perfect my personality. Every word and every idea of this book reveal a secret for me to have success in my life and can change the world: a world with joy, humble, enthusiasm and respectful 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.
“No one mind is complete by itself.”
For me, this quote tells something true because when two or more persons are working together and in harmony, they will finally accomplish great things. When two or more people are doing something with the same ideas, with the same purpose or with the same goal they will obtain best results faster than one person by himself. No one person can answer every question or can learn everything in the world. This is the reason that everyone studies a different career or has to do a specialization in a determinate area or sometimes take a master after graduated at the university. Knowledge is so large and we never learn all the things in life.
“The speed at which you acquire these will depend on the size of your needs.”
Everyone in life has his needs and purposes and every need has its difficulty to be resolved. So, we have to determinate the size of our needs for being able to know how much efforts we have to develop to achieve them. All we accomplish or fail to accomplish in daily life is the direct result of the efforts and determination we put in realizing our purposes taking into account their grade of difficulties. Everyone has some purposes that are very important for him and has to work hard to do it possible.
“Demonstrating the power of your faith.”
In my point of view the sense of this quote is very strong in all the senses of the word because the power of faith is limitless, faith can move mountains, it can do talk the rocks and much more. Demonstrating the power of the faith can be a useful tool for achieving our goals in life. In the book, the author enumerates ten steps that can help us to demonstrate the power of our faith. Between us, for me the most important are:
“Adopt a definite major purpose and begin to attain it.”
“Affirm the object of our desire through prayer, morning and night.”
“Call into our mind as often as possible the advantages of our definite major purpose.”
“Don`t let a day pass without making at least one definite move toward attaining our major purpose.”
“Fight with all our resources the disagreeable circumstances and never run away from them.”
“Doing more than you paid for.”
When we are doing something, we must do it with love, patience, dedication and will. Sometimes, people do a job not because they like it or they have the vocation to do it but because they need money to take care their bills or because they are searching to be famous. It is always good that we do more for they pay us to do and we will have great recompenses and we will be proud of our efforts and will be satisfied like people will be satisfied for our services. We have to strengthen our ability to do our job and to do it well; we must provide the best service possible attitude. The best way to excel is not doing a job just to get it done but it is do it with the high quality possible and we will become indispensable to others because we do for them what no one else does.
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?
Everything in the book is very clear and it was a very great pleasure for me to have this book in my hands and be able to read it and enjoy every page, every idea, and every word that can help me to be better and better. This book is very good present that someone can give to a friend. The ideas of this book are strong and very powerful.
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 to complete. I completed all and they were very helpful for me because Wow this book is amazing, wonderful. I will conserve it for always like a precious gift.
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.
Something that attracts my attention in the book is that the author is someone that trusts in God because he talks about how to build our faith and how to put it into action. He inspires us to pray every day morning and night, to enforce our relationship with God. I really like this approach in the book because the prayer is a key that can open all the doors.
In other part, the author encourages us to maintain good habits that promote good health. Our mental and physical health is inseparable; we can work to strengthen one without having a positive effect on the other. Making good health a habit is something very important because if we are sick mental and physically, we cannot realize anything in our life. In the book, the author gives us some advices to be healthy.
Please rate the following questions on a scale from 1 to 10. Ten is good and one is poor.
A. How interesting was it to read? 10
B. How helpful were the contents? 10
C. How easy was it to understand? 9
D. Would you recommend it to others? 10
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 9.5
Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude
Assessment by Johnson Mompoint (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 this book is how people can achieve success in life using the Positive Mental Attitude. The author considers “Positive Mental Attitude” like the most magnificent machine ever conceived a machine so awesome that only God Himself could create. Depends to the author, this machine is the brain and nervous system a human computer from which the electronic computer was designed. Positive Mental Attitude is a good factor that instructs people on exactly what to do and how to do it in order to tap the power of the subconscious mind and put them to work for them. Positive Mental Attitude helps people to attract good and desirable things in life and motivates them to desirable action too. People must know what they want and like that they are most apt to recognize it when they see it… So, they have to keep their mind on the things they do want and off the things they did not want. People must understand their reality and have to look the way to force themselves to improve it because success is achieved and maintained by those who force by themselves and keep trying with Positive Mental Attitude. Positive Mental Attitude is considered like a good way that could lead to success because it can help people to overcome their difficulties and to discover their strengths. It can help people step out ahead of their competitors and it can turn what others say is impossible into reality. In my point of view and based on the ideas of the author, success can be achieved in bringing into reality the possibility of the improbable. The most important is to know what you want and then you can find the best way to get it. Finally, I think success is maintained by those who keep trying all the time and Positive Mental Attitude is the one simple secret to be successful.
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. Logic
Logic describes the use of valid reasoning in some activity, is the capacity of men to think clearly, helps us to contemplate reasons in favor of something we are going to do and reasons against it. In the book, the story of W. Clement Stone is a good example of the use of logic. Analyzing, he concludes that it was not the size of the frog legs that made them distasteful, it just was the fact that he had eaten in the jumbo frog legs the first time that had not been fresh. Every day, in life we do so many mistakes when we are doing all things without the use of logic.
B. Honesty
Honesty is considered like a facet of moral character and connotes positive and virtuous attributes such as integrity, truthfulness, and straightforwardness, including straightforwardness of conduct, along with the absence of lying, cheating, or theft. Furthermore, honesty means being trustworthy, loyal, fair, and sincere. Honesty is one of the best values that someone could cultivate in his life. When someone is honest he is respected by everyone. In my personal life, I always try to be honest all the time I could because be honest has some gratification from others.
D. Motivation
Motivation is that induces action or determines choice, it is the desire to do things. It can be considered a driving force; a psychological one that compels or reinforces an action toward a desired goal. It is the hope or a force which starts an action in an attempt to produce specific results. Motivation is so powerful that it can help us to impulse to optimize well-being, minimize physical pain and maximize pleasure. It can also originate from specific physical needs such as eating, sleeping or resting, thinking and more…, in moment of need, we must have use self-motivators to motivate ourselves to positive action to desired direction and then, we will note that failure can be turns to success.
E. Satisfaction
Satisfaction can be considered like a feeling of comfort or pleasure we have when it has filled a want, success or a need covered. It is the joy that an individual experiences, feels, for something or someone. Satisfaction is a mental attitude and we can determine to find it in everything we do in life. To be happy and satisfied, we have to control our mental attitude and reverse our talisman from negative mental attitude to positive mental attitude. There is nothing more exciting than when you’re satisfied to fulfill a dream. A young salesman that learned to control his mental attitude with the use of Jerry Asam’s self-motivators (“I feel healthy!”) I feel happy! I feel terrific!”) was happy and satisfied when he achieved his goal to do his twentieth sale for the day and have hit his target about eleven o’clock in the night. We can enjoy the satisfaction that comes with a job well done.
F. To Be Happy, Make others Happy
Happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being characterized by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. Happiness can also be defined in terms of living a good life, or flourishing, rather than simply as an emotion. Happiness begins at home in our family, to be happy we have to motivate members or our family and create a harmonious relationship with them; it is the first way to find happiness for ourselves. One of the surest ways to find happiness for ourselves is making someone else happy. The experience of Writer Claire Jones and her husband during Christmas is a very good example of making others happy. Their idea to fix a small Christmas tree for the old couple neighbors was an act of love. It was a small thing they had done for the old couple but it made them very happy, this action showed the deep of their kindness. If we try share happiness, we will attract happiness.
G. Use Other’s People Money
Our big dream in life is to make money and to be wealthy but it is not something easy because we have to work hard for that. And one of the ways more easily is doing business. And like the author says: business is other’s people money. Other’s people money is the way to acquire wealth. Most of the successful and wealthy man in the world had to make investments with OPM. Charlie Sammons developed a forty million dollar business in ten years with a bank credit. But we also have to be very careful because credit can hurt when it is used indiscriminately and can be the cause of frustration, misery, unhappiness and dishonesty.
Raise our Energy Level
We have two types of energy: the physical and the mental or spiritual one. To raise our energy level (physical and mental) we need to exercise both our body and mind. PMA demands a good energy level and vice versa. When we are fatigued, our usually positive, desirable feelings, emotions and actions have a tendency to turn negative but when we are rested in good health, the direction is changed back to positive. For raising our energy level, we have to relax, play, rest, sleep, and take spiritual and mental vitamins daily by reading inspirational material or listening to inspirational tapes or records. Act energetically is the key to be energetic.
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 are true pulses that can help everyone to achieve his objectives through the constant effort, fight, perseverance and honesty. The use of Positive Mental Attitude is so powerful that it can change our conception in middle of the obstacles.
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 know what you want, you are more apt more apt to recognize it when you see it.”
This quote is true because when people definite their purposes they will know what to do to do them come true. Knowing what we want helps us to be able to take advantage of every opportunity that appears in our way that could help us to achieve success. For example, S. B. Fuller knew what he wanted and kept his mind on the things he did want and off the things he did not want. He developed the desire to be wealthy and used the correct way to change his life. And then, he did so much efforts, he used his mind, his inspiration, his advantages, his faith and finally could turn what appeared impossible into reality. He became a successful man. Other example is the story of Henry Ford… thanks to him; the world could see a revolution very interesting, he had the idea to develop the now famous motor known as V-8. Although the engineers faced so much difficulties, Henry Ford knew what he did want and said: “ Keep working, I want it and I will have it”, after a long time of hard work they did it and the Ford V-8 became the most spectacularly successful and competitor car on the road. Ford could bring into reality the possibility of the improbable. If you know what you want, you can find a way to get it.
“You can do it if you believe you can.”
Believing in something is to have confidence in the truth that may occur or the value of that something, have faith in it. Believe can produce a positive impact in everything we do and help us to do it true. In the book, the story of Sir Ralph is a good example of reality life. Although death’s door is about to open, we can be victorious. Sir Ralph, being in a state of coma as the result of a severe heart attack, through constant effort was able at last able to open his eyes and with wonderful skill and persistence the doctor and nurses brought him back to life. This story teaches me when we are on the verge of breaking down believe in ourselves is the key to be winner. Believe and believe with all our strength permits us doing anything we want in our daily life.
“Learn to see.”
We have to learn to see, we have to learn to understand what we see. Learn to see is not exactly seeing what we want to see but it is trying to understand what we are seeing. Learn to see is like when we push the right button to get what we want from the machine we own that is our mind. The ability to see is much more than the physical process of taking light rays through the retina of eyes, it is the skill of interpreting what we see and applying that interpretation to life. By example, Thompson and Cumley not only observed with their eyes but took the trouble to see with their minds; if we do like them we can find Acres of Diamonds in our own backyard. Learn to see will bring to is opportunities that we never dreamed existed. We have to observe, to be farsighted, apply mental perception, look ant recognize what we see and then convert it to reality and action. In other words, we must also learn to act on what we learn because action is important to get things done.
“Do it now.”
Today is the best moment to act, don’t wait for tomorrow, it can be too late. Don’t look for excuses for not do anything. Do it now is the secret to get things done. Get ready to have success and now is the time to act.
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 effect, this book has nothing that one cannot agree with. The vocabulary is very easy to understand and gives us the desire to read it more and more times. The examples of people who have achieved success that the author explains in the book are very relevant and inspire us to find the good way to achieve our personal goal too.
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 and complete them was very helpful for me although there are some exercises that require more time than another. I was satisfied of my own success quotient and I will try to do it true by action.
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 like to comment about the faith of the author in God because he motivates us to put our faith in God; he inspires us to pray when something goes wrong. Through the prayer, we can solve any problem we have, the prayer helps us to search for the light and find it. The purpose of the author in the book is to motivate everyone to get into desirable action, to be successful and wealthy not depending who is the person and from where he comes. The author impulses us to enjoy a good health for living longer. In summary, the author wants to say us that success is achieved by those who try and maintained by those who keep trying with Positive Mental Attitude.
Please rate the following questions on a scale from 1 to 10. Ten is good and one is poor.
A. How interesting was it to read? 9
B. How helpful were the contents? 9
C. How easy was it to understand? 8
D. Would you recommend it to others? 10
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 9