As a Man Thinketh
Assessment by Joyce Maina (Kenya)
1. What is the main idea the author is trying to convey in the book?
The author is trying to set out a personal basis for individuals in terms of character, behaviour and lifestyle. The kind of life that I as an individual want is determined by the kind of lifestyle I am living in and the effects of thoughts on health and body. The kind of life and behaviour that I have is determined with the kind of thoughts that are occupying my mind. As James Allen quotes “ Good thoughts bear good fruits while bad thoughts bear bad fruits.” Mind is the master power that makes and molds a man’s 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.
(i) Thought and Character.
As the plant springs from, and could not be without, the seed, so every act of a man springs from the hidden seeds of thought, and could not have appeared without them. What I have in my mind or what I tell my mind becomes a character which becomes a trait and it cannot be stopped unless I change my thoughts towards it. With that I am able to set a basis or foundation for my future and life in general.
(ii) Vision and Ideas.
Dream and as you dream, so shall become. We all have dreams, visions and ideas that we wish that one day in life or later in future they will become real. Dreams are the baseline of realities and a better future.
(iii) Factor thought in achievement.
But then to achieve or become successful in life, one has thoughtful factors in achievement which will help him or her to succeed. He who has conquered weakness and has put away all selfish thoughts belongs neither to oppressor nor oppressed but he is free from all kind of temptations. So that I can achieve my long term goal, I have to stop being an oppressor and start focusing in my dreams and life in general. It is easier for as to find excuses and someone to blame for our circumstances but rarely do we try to solve problems regarding our circumstances by starting with ourselves. The masses are slaves because there is none ready to stand up and meet challenges from within or without head on. We are always anxious to improve our circumstances, but are not willing to improve ourselves.
(iv) Fighting against Circumstances
Circumstances do not make the man but reveals to him the condition behind everything. So as to finally get right results we must have the right thoughts and a fitting environment to suit in. Like being brought up in a very poor and unstable family, regardless of the kind of life we struggle to get education for a brighter future. In our successes the only things that make us less human are our own latent weaknesses and not the magnitude of the success. The circumstance of success does not in any way make us mean or wicked but rather emphasizes our a natural tendency towards what we would do if given the chance.
(v) Health and Body
Out of a clean heart comes a clean life and a clean body. We choose the kind of health and body that we want which which is all determined by we tell our mind. Like a drunkard chooses to drink and to eat healthy food, my health deteriorates and in the end dies.
(vi) Self Control
It is the strength, right thoughts and power that end up in peace. I have the control over my life and over the kind of life that I want to live. My future is determined by my serenity, what I want in life. A noble and Godlike character is not a thing of favor or chance, but is the natural result of continued effort in right thinking, the effect of long-cherished association with Godlike thoughts.
It emphasizes a popular saying; nothing good comes easy. I need to be determined, focused and willing to pay the price for success in every sphere of my life. In achieving success or anything worthy of note I will have to make some sacrifices and commitment. That in itself is not easy and requires discipline, but the passion and desire I have to see my dream come true is so strong that I can delay the easy for the difficult.. With God on my side, I believe that my head will always be above waters. This important to me because, it just encourages me that, I could go on and learn to control my thought as I have to some extent self-control over the years. I thought to myself without self-control cannot control his thought, giving it direction and all that. From the section of serenity I discovered that calmness of mind is the result of long and patient effort in self-control and that more the more tranquil a man become, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good. More so only those, whose thought are controlled and purified makes the winds and the storms of the soul obey them.
(vii) Honesty and dishonesty
The honest man reaps the good results of his honest thoughts and acts; he brings upon himself the sufferings, which his vices produce. The dishonest man likewise garners his own suffering and happiness. To be successful in life I need to be honesty with every single thing that I do so that honesty can reward me back.
3. How will these idea or lessons help you in a particular way, both in your daily personal life and in helping you to create a better world? If so how?
The thoughts and character will help me in becoming a better person. I get the chance to know and understand myself better and the work that I have of making the world a better place. Honesty will help be in my daily life, as I work to my bulliest I am determined that only honesty will make a better person. Good thoughts will make me change my way of viewing life and make me more focused on in goals in life.
4. Quotes: Are there any statements which the author made that particularly got your attention? If so please quote them and comment as to why they.
(i) Cherish your visions, cherish your ideas, cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts, for out of them will grow all delightful conditions, all heavenly environment: of these, if you but remain true to them your world will at last be built. Appreciation the least that we have or get in life opens doors of better chances in life.
(ii) Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil. Vision being the act or power of anticipating that which come or happen is the master guide of the kind of tomorrow I will have. This idea had me thinking about my life, I always have this picture of being prosperous, but I have not seen that change which I want for the world. So this was like, you have a personal vision and not a vision to change your environment, but several time I look around me. This idea reminded me that if I earnestly want to change the way things are around me then I should start picturing the change I seek around me in my thought and one day it will come to be with effort put in place. This idea is a whole lot of eye opener. To desire is to obtain, to aspire is to achieve as well as the greatest achievement first and for a time a dream.
(iii) Dreams are the seedlings of realities.
Dreams are the baseline or foundation of the kind of future that we desire to have. Whatever we dream of or our heart desires it definitely fulfilled through positive mental thinking.
(iv) Out of a clean heart comes a clean life and a clean body. Out of a defiled mind proceeds a defiled life and a corrupt body. Thought is the fount of action, life and manifestation, make the fountain pure and all will be pure.
5. Is there anything in the book that you do not understand or are unclear about, or are there ideas which you disagree with and, if so, why?
“A man does not come to the almshouse or the jail by the tyranny of fate or circumstance, but by the pathway of groveling thoughts and base desires”, I don’t understand the message that the author is trying to communicate.
6. Did the book contain exercises for the reader to compute? If so, did you complete all of the exercises and did you find them helpful?
There was no exercise for the reader to compute, however the lessons in this book can and should be used as exercises; to elevate one’s thinking and develop the skill required to achieve greater purpose in life, to be persistent in spite of challenges one face.
7. Was there anything you read in the book that you would like to comment on that was not covered in previous questions?
Every thing is nice; however, my contribution as a reader is that this book should be made available to all and to be equipped with its wise ideas.
Please Rate the following Questions on scale from 1 to 10. Ten is good and one is Poor
A. How interesting was it to read? 10
B. How helpful were its 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? 10
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Assessment by Joyce Maina (Kenya)
1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
The author is trying to pass the message that there is no limit to succession. Nothing can hinder us from becoming who we want ones we are focused and we know what we want.
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). Purpose in life
Before achieving any meaningful progress, one must have a purpose in life. Ones I have a destiny I will be able to tackle all sorts of problems because I know what I want in life and am focused into it
ii) Freedom to be yourself.
Man is born free and has the right to reject or to accept thing, Law. Religion or any other things. I have the freedom to choose the kind of life I want live and what I will want to contribute to the human existent here on earth and left it behind as legacy.
iii). Striving to be perfect at the beginning is bad
Although perfectionism is good, it should not be a precondition before one venture into the unknown. Striving to get it right at the beginning is not a mark of achievers. There must be time for learning and gaining experience.
iv) Linking with people who have are positive minded
No man can help another unless the one been helped is willing to be helped. If I have to succeed and become I better person I have to interact with people who are focused and know the purpose of life.
v). Doing the same thing all always.
To be a good leader entails being in control of oneself. I must look for better ways of doing something to get the desired result. To have a different result entails doing something new. I cannot say I want to overcome my procrastination habit and continue to do the same things over and over.
vi). Listening to my inner voice
A saying goes that every failure has in it the seed of its own success. I must be on the look out for dream killers. They will surely come with their discouraging words. I must find the solution to their objections in their own words.
3. How will these ideas or lessons help you in a practical way, both in your daily personal life and in helping you to create a better world? If so, how?
It will help me a lot especially during my daily exercise in self-development and my relationships.
In self-development: It will go a long way at helping me to stay focus and to not give in to discouragement and failures that I may come across during practicing and acting.
During business development: It will help me at understanding the face that every failure is an opportunity to try better, till perfection is reached.
In relationships: It’s going to help me to develop my human relations skills so I will be able to teach all that I had learned at the end and I believe through this I will be creating a better world. I will give back to the world what the world has given me.
Encouragement, Determination and Focus: As Jonathan did, we all should try to be determined, focused and with the encouragements we get from those who want us to succeed in life, we will one that attain our desires and dreams. It might take years for us to be who we wanted to be, sometimes it might take just a day but no matter how long it takes us to be who we have wanted to be, determination and hard work will pay it off some day. Jonathan was very hard working. He had to go through certain challenges and some of these challenges made him even stronger. He did not give in to them but succeeded. In our world today, we just as Jonathan go through many challenges in life. Sometimes I get very worried and frustrated when I don’t succeed in what I do. Sometimes it is difficult to make a concrete decision because many people you call friends will tend to discourage you and they become happy when they see you giving up in your dreams and desires. To fly as fast as thought, to anywhere that is,” he said, “you must begin by knowing that you have already arrived..
4.Quotes: Are there any statements which the author made that particularly got your attention? If so, please quote them and comment as to why they were important to you.
“I just want to know what I can do in the air and what I cannot, that’s all. I just want to know”: Jonathan Livingstone Seagull made these statements in answer to his mother’s barrage of questions. Most of the times I seek to acquire knowledge not just for the sake of it but because of curiousity and knowing that I can benefit some good from it. It is good to want to know, it is good to satisfy that curiousity even if the good in it cannot be perceived at the moment.
“I say you are free”: This was an answer to Maynard Seagull’s question. This statement is passing across a message that whatever we set our minds (thoughts) to we can do irrespective of our feelings. The mind can override the feelings and with consistency and determination, we can be whatever we want to be.
“Look with your understanding”: Our eyes are limited. However, looking with the eyes of understanding is not something everybody practices. One needs to be conscious of it all the time. The physical eyes are quick to see limitations, weakness and defeat. But the eyes of understanding are will see hope, faith, love, strength, trust and accomplishment.
“An unlimited idea of freedom, an image of the Great Gull”: Fletcher Gull addressing a new set of gulls and told them that their whole body is nothing more than thought itself. This is an inspirational statement that could lift the spirit of any being. It is energizes the ‘can do spirit’ in a being and sets the being to become whatever it chooses to through a process of thought.
“Jonathan Seagull discovered that boredom and fear and anger are the reasons that a gull’s life is so short, and with these gone from his thought he lived a long and fine life indeed”: This statement is very true. Boredom, fear, anger, laziness and other vices kill faster than real disease and illness. I know this from experience that in my state of low activity which I sometimes feel, several negative thoughts run across my mind and tend to make me give up on lofty ideas and goals I have set for myself.
There is a reason to life. ’This demonstrates our purpose of existence on this universe. Biblical, God created man in His own image and entrusted man to be the steward over His creation. This means that all and sundry as a purpose in life and therefore we must think of satisfying these reasons of our existence to create a better world.
“The subject was speed, and in a week’s practice he learned more about speed than the fastest gull alive”: This statement literally tells me that practice makes perfect as the saying goes. One can learn a lot within the shortest possible time with practice. I cherish practicing in order to gain a skill even as other engagements or circumstances may dictate otherwise.
“To fly as fast as thought to anywhere that is,” he said, you must begin by knowing that you have arrived.”: This statement made by Chiang reminds me of dreams. Our dreams of the future are our visions. I see my vision and goals as I have already achieved them.
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 agree with everything that the author is taking about.
6. Did the book contain exercises for the reader to complete? If so, did you complete all of the exercises and did you find them helpful?
The only exercise was I as a reader to develop the skills required to achieve greater purpose in 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.
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? 10
Success Through Positive Mental Attitude Assessment
By Joyce Maina (Kenya)
1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
As the author states, “Your mind is your invisible talisman. Positive mental attitude is the right mental attitude for each specific occasion. If has the power to attract the good and beautiful. Living a better and happy life can only be achieved through positive mental attitude.
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. It is never late to change life and succeed.
The story of Milo C. Jones that was used in the book to illustrate this point made a massive impact on me.
It taught me that if an individual who late in life, became completely incapacitated could make use of his mind and make it happen, then I can also make it too, even in the harsh Kenyan economic status where the Kenyan shilling has completely lost value, where I spend a fortune everyday on electricity and transport so as to be able to run my business and have no godfathers in the government or high places.
My mind is like a motor vehicle, it depends how you drive it.
ii. What one can achieve is only limited by what one can dream of.
The author clearly shows us that in this life that we live we hold the power of thought and dreams and envisioning what we want to see manifest in our lives. I have also come to realize that as unique individuals we should not be afraid to be ourselves and begin to have a personal dream, one other writer once said, “Too many among us are afraid to be ourselves. So we give up our dreams to follow the crowd”, this hit me so hard as it reflected the point that indirectly we have entertained a NMA through the fear of being ourselves and following the crowd in hope that the fear of failure will be covered up by the crowd or rather failure will be less embarrassing as we might fail of a crowd
iii. Target one reason for the accomplishment of your goals instead of hundreds of reasons why you cannot achieve them
This idea is important to me because I run a business and business can be one complex system to run. Each time I have an idea for a new product or service, I’ll look for many reasons why I can’t implement them instead of reasons why I can.
For instance, I can rationalize that it is going to take a lot of article writing, it is going to take a lot of time to create, a lot of research, a lot of follow up, a lot of this and a lot of that. Now, this idea is going to help me change my thinking pattern so that I can succeed in my business and in life.
iv. The human brain produces pulses and transmits ideas
This idea is important to me because one of my core strengths is generating great ideas with reckless abandon. I generate more ideas than I can work on. I am always surprised that most of the time I see people put the exact idea I generated to work and there’s always nothing I can do about them.
Now since I have learnt that it is because of the pulse my brain transmits, I’ll strive to work on my great ideas and not give other people the room to beat me to it.
v. Using the principle of semantics to understand what people mean before jumping to conclusions
The idea is so important to me because, I easily jump to wrong conclusions and pick offense when people say things that could have other meanings. Instead of seeking first to understand what they mean, I judge them and it affected my relationships.
This idea will help me especially in my relationships to seek first to understand what the other person really mean so that I can communicate with them more effectively.
vi. Using the step-stone theory to find satisfaction in your work
Indeed I was fascinated by the step-stone theory and it’s going to help me a lot in finding satisfaction in everything I do. Sometimes, when result takes long in coming, I find what I do boring. The step-stone theory is going to help me tie my daily routines to my major goals and make them stepping stones to the achievement of my goal.
vii. I am a product of my own thinking- as one author puts it across, “Each day, life will send you little windows of opportunity. Your destiny will ultimately be defined by how you respond to these windows of opportunity” and a PMA is what gets you to make use of the opportunities availed to us. Life’s too short to play little hence we have need to implement a PMA in all we do. I have now for the past few years started to use the law of attraction and the results have been absolutely phenomenal.
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 will help me to look at the positive side of things, to see a cup as half full instead of half empty, to light a candle instead of cursing the darkness. In fact, it is already helping me. In the church, at home, at work and elsewhere, I look for solutions instead of looking for people to blame. I carry positive mental attitude into everything I do and I maintain it.
With the solutions I will proffer and the lives I will touch, the world around me will be much better. My positive mental attitude will be contagious and will rub off on other people who in turn will transfer it to others.
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.
“When you have a positive mental attitude, the problems of your world tend to bow before you.”
Comment: This quote is going to help me relax and maintain a positive mental attitude to find creative solutions to the problems around me. I tend to go into depression when faced with problems of great magnitude, but now I have a secret weapon in positive mental attitude.
“You have everything to gain and nothing to lose by trying. Success is achieved and maintained by those who keep trying with positive mental attitude.”
Comment: Really, this quote is going to help me try a lot more. Recently I discover that one of my weaknesses is not taking enough risk. But since I now learn that I have everything to gain and nothing to lose by trying, I am going to try out a lot of ideas and see which one works out.
I am trying to ask a lot more people for things I need. I am going to challenge members of my investment club which I preside over to try out new things, invest in stocks they are afraid of as well as put more money into real estate regardless of the nervous economy we now find ourselves.
“Keep your mind on the things you want and off the things you don’t want.”
Comment: Very simple quote that will help me greatly. I think a lot of thoughts like any other human being do, but most of them are… on the things I don’t want. Really, I don’t know why, but this quote is instructive enough and will help a great deal. The authors should know better than I do.
“Your world will change whether or not you choose to change.”
Comment: This quote will help me change my world instead of waiting for life to change it for me because life changes my world to a world I don’t desire.
“You are and will be the same you even though you lose an arm, an eye, or other parts of your body.”
Comment: This quote teaches me that there is ability in disability as they say. And also, that I am unique and my most important possession is my mind, and not my arms, leg or any other part of my body for that matter.
5. Is there anything in the book that you do not understand or are unclear about, or are there ideas which you disagree with and, if so, why?
No.
6. Did the book contain exercises for the reader to complete? If so, did you complete all of the exercises and did you find them helpful?
Yes, the success analysis. It was indeed very very useful.
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? 10
B. How helpful were the contents? 10
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? 10