As a Man Thinketh
Assessment by Kevin Wambua (Kenya)
1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
The author explains the importance of our brain, our thoughts and how powerful they are, he goes further and elaborate about the power of our thinking (brain) how thinking makes our lives better or worse, he states that mind is one of the powerful tool we have that can make a man or destroy him, nothing happens without thinking, what we see in the daily life is what someone thinks, the good, the bad all is about thinking, we have seen very powerful project through powerful thinking and we are happy about it also we have seen terrible results out of thinking, we have mafias whose thoughts is all about evil things, so we need to be very careful on our to tame our thinking, our brain is like a garden that needs to be weeded and nurtured if left without doing that weeds will grow and the outcome will be worse, remember even a garden if it is not well kept we do not expect good harvest, same with our brains we think critically and people will appreciate our reasoning, what we read, what we listen and watch makes our brain grow either positively or negatively, you cannot plant beans and expect to harvest maize, we will harvest what we have planted, negative thoughts will never give you positive thoughts.
2. What were the seven ideas which were personally most important to you and why? List these seven ideas followed by an explanation after each one as to why it was important to you. Use personal examples from your own life.
i. Keep your hands firmly upon the helm of thoughts
We have the power to control our thoughts without asking permission, the only powerful tool we have that nobody can control is our thoughts, it happens in the brain and nobody can dictate what we are thinking about.
Right thoughts are mastery, calmness is power, say unto your heart, peace be still.
ii. We have efforts, results and strength of the effort
The author states that the fruits of the efforts are powers, materials, intellectual and spiritual possessions are the fruits of the effort, they are thoughts completed, objects accomplished vision realised in short the brain is the powerhouse of our lives, we need to take good care of our brain and thoughts to have a good results in life.
iii. A man may rise to higher success in the world.
We have seen people raise to a higher level in success and at the end descend into weakness and wretchedness by allowing arrogance, selfish and corrupt thoughts to take possession of him, this is very true and practical here in Kenya our leaders once they ascend in power they become more possessed with it to an extent they become arrogant, right away we have that issue in our courts whereby our leaders after becoming drunk with power and arrogance he is facing impeachment motion, also in the world we have seen leaders who have ascended and at the end descend badly due to the utterance they make in public, we need to be more careful with what comes out of our brains after being processed in our mind and thoughts, we have to ask ourselves hard questions, is it just, is it fair, is it authentic is it necessary will it add value in our lives will it create peace or conflict, if it doesn’t add any value then we need to either stop it and rethink again.
iv. Our dreams/dreamers
The dreamers are the saviors of the world. The visible world is sustained by the invisible so men through all trials and sins and sordid vocations, are nourished by the beautiful visions of their solitary dreamers. When we dream, we make our brains work and give it a task to achieve the dream, we have seen dreams come true. Remember Martin Luther King, he had a dream for Americans and it came to pass. The future belongs to the beauty of those who believe in their dreams.
v. Sacrifices
There can be no progress, no achievement without sacrifice we have to sacrifice to achieve our desires in life, we need to train our brain, in a positive manner in order for us to achieve what we want, people spend many hours and time in reading doing research for a particular thing, they sacrifices their time, sleepless night in order to come up with something substantial it doesn’t come on silver plate, all good things we see there was a sacrifices for them to be in place.
vi. Results of our thinking
All that a person achieve and all that a person fails to achieve is the direct result thinking, we achieve a lot though our thinking or we fail to achieve through also our thinking, if we think negatively nothing being we can achieve but if we think positively we achieve a lot, if we ask those successful people and have maintained their success they will tell you having a positive mental attitude to whatever you do is the key to success, nothing comes easily we have to put effort on it.
vii. Our purpose in life
When we link our thoughts with our purpose then we have a direction in what we want. There is no intelligent accomplishment, with the majority the bark of thought is allowed to drift upon the ocean of life, aimlessness is a vice and such drifting must not continue for him who would steer clear of catastrophe and destruction.
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?
When the brain dies, there is no life, once oxygen is not supplied to the brain the brain dies and the person dies, so this is a book that helps us to understand that our brain is a vital part of our body and we should nature it train it and feed it with a balance diet, the ideas will help me more to understand my brain and how to take good care of it.
4. Quotes: Are there any statements which the author made that particularly got your attention? If so, please quote them and comment as to why they were important to you.
“Impure thoughts of every kind crystallize into enervating and confusing habits, which solidify into distracting and adverse circumstances: thoughts of fear, doubt, and indecision crystallize into weak, unmanly, and irresolute habits, which solidify into circumstances of failure, indigence, and slavish dependence: lazy thoughts crystallize into habits of uncleanliness and dishonesty, which solidify into circumstances of foulness and beggary: hateful and condemnatory thoughts crystallize into habits of accusation and violence, which solidify into circumstances of injury and persecution: selfish thoughts of all kinds crystallize into habits of self-seeking, which solidify into circumstances more or less distressing. On the other hand, beautiful thoughts of all kinds crystallize into habits of grace and kindliness, which solidify into genial and sunny circumstances: pure thoughts crystallize into habits of temperance and self-control, which solidify into circumstances of repose and peace: thoughts of courage, self-reliance, and decision crystallize into manly habits, which solidify into circumstances of success, plenty, and freedom: energetic thoughts crystallize into habits of cleanliness and industry, which solidify into circumstances of pleasantness.”
“Man is made or unmade by himself; in the armory of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself; he also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace.”
“Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves.”
“The strength of character gained will be the measure of his true success, and this will form a new starting-point for future power and triumph.”
“Man is buffeted by circumstances so long as he believes himself to be the creature of outside conditions, but when he realizes that he is a creative power, and that he may command the hidden soil and seeds of his being out of which circumstances grow, he then becomes the rightful master of himself.”
“Let a man radically alter his thoughts, and he will be astonished at the rapid transformation it will effect in the material conditions of his life.”
“The soul attracts that which it secretly harbors; that which it loves, and also that which it fears.”
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?
The books is well covered and clearly easy to understand
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 book is a reminder that we need to take good care of our brain and thoughts without it we are going nowhere, it is a lifetime experience and exercise
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.
The book is very clear, and direct to the point.
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? 10
D. Would you recommend it to others? 10
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 10
Jonathan Livinston Seagull
Assessment by Kevin Wambua (Kenya)
1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
The author uses animals to convey the massage to us human beings, this book is all about human nature not about animals, we are all faced in this circumstances whereby we do not want to move outside our comfort zone, we act in a unique way to please those in power and makes us be under dogs, when seagull was determined to fly higher, he was ousted out of the other flocks, and was named a misfit to the society, same situation which happen on today’s life if you try doing something unique you are named rebellious and the society will be harsh to you, even your family members will be against you, we need to stand tall and do what we feel is good to us, sometimes we have to go against the waves and do what we feel is good for us, we are gifted differently and we should exploit our opportunities to the maximum, when you do something for the first time, and people do not believe in you, first of all you have to accept challenges and nobody will support you until the outcome is evident, when we see in this book, critically other Seagull never wanted to be associated with him, but when they saw the outcome they started admiring him and wanted to be part and parcel of the journey, they wanted to learn because they saw the benefits of flying higher and higher, same thing here in our society, when you do something which is not popular, first you will be alone until people are convinced that what you are doing is workable, nobody will support you until they see the result. It is very true here that someone can have good ideas and good project strategies, nobody will support that idea until it is actualized, that is when they will come and ask how you can partner with them.
A true story my friend had a good business proposal, took it to different banks and nobody wanted to fund him, because they feared if they finance him how will he be able to pay back the loan, after going from bank to bank and denied a loan, he approached a good friend who was financially well off and even him was not ready to lend him money until he was given collateral for the same, so the guys started his business and it went well and was recognized with different business sector, and became the benchmark of other businesses, same bank that denied him loan today they beg him to partner with them and give him a loan of any amount without strict payment plans, at the moment he commands whatever he wants, that is the bitter truth of 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.
i. Most gulls don’t bother to learn more than the simplest facts of flight.
Their main purpose of flight is to move to the shore to get food and back again. This is very true to our lives, there are people who are employed there main purpose is to go to work and get paid nothing more nothing less, they don’t push themselves beyond working hours, you will see then once there time is up, no matter what they were doing is not done, they will stand up and leave it there, there main purpose is money you pay me i work you don’t pay me i don’t work no more no less
ii. Do not expect to be popular
The moment you do something different from the norms, expect challenges expect stones to be thrown to you and be ready to face rejection and discrimination, nobody will want to be associated with you or be part of you, so be ready to carry the burden until you fulfil your heart desire otherwise if you are not strong you will give up even before you start the journey.
iii. Be determined at all cost
“I don’t mind being bones and feathers, I just want to know what I can do in the air and what I can’t. That’s all, I just want to know. This is determination and being focused on whatever you want. Nothing will come out easily if you are not determined and pay for it.
Even in practical life we have to be determined to achieve what we want and anything good doesn’t come easily. We have to work for it.
iv. Never compare yourself with others
“Why is it so hard to be like the rest of the flocks.” When you start comparing yourself to be like others that is when you fail, because we are all unique and gifted differently, this practically happened during our school time, there is a time being an accountant was a good career, people knew that once you have that career automatically you get a good paying job, so any student was forced to do it whether you like it or not, even failure did that, at the end they wasted resources because they never gave the student a chance to do what they liked. We are different and should appreciate ourselves in that way and work harder to be who we want to be.
v. Conflicting forces within
A strange hollow voice sounded within him, there was no way around it, I am a seagull, I am limited by my nature. If I were meant to learn so much about flying I could not be a seagull. It is very normal to have such thoughts but once you are determined you avoid them and have an affirmative voice that i can make it no matter who i am and all in all you will achieve it.
vi. Lifting ourselves out of ignorance
We can be able to achieve what we want if we stop being ignorant, when the seagull determined to fly he ignored so many things for him to achieve what he wanted, it was not easy but he was determined until he achieved it, ignorance was with other seagull and they had that myopic thinking that the only thing good in flying is getting food no more no less, and they did not know that once they have good skills of flying they will get fresh food and fresh air.
vii. Swallow the price of being misunderstood
When you are being misunderstood, accept to be called names and be braided a traitor, it happened to seagull when he was even send out of the flock and being disowned, be ready to swallow that price, even in our current society there are people who have been barred and even deported for having different views against the government, some have been hiding in different countries so that they cannot be assassinated however, even when in the outside world they still raise their voice in a positive manner to make changes in the world.
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 understand myself better and know that I have a responsibility to work harder in my personal life and encourage my community to see beyond their comfort zone.
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.
“We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill. We can be free! We can learn to fly!”
Jonathan was not bone and feather but a perfect idea of freedom and flight, limited by nothing at all.
“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 will see the way to fly.
“To fly as fast as thought, you must begin by knowing that you have already arrived.
Your whole body, from wingtip to wingtip, gives you freedom of the sky.”
“You have the freedom to be yourself, your true self, here and now, and nothing can stand in your way.”
“Break the chains of your thoughts, and you break the chains of your body.”
“The only true law is that which leads to freedom.”
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 fine life indeed.
“You don’t love hatred and evil, of course. You have to practice and see the real gull, the good in every one of them, and to help them see it in themselves.”
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?
This is a nice book and direct to the point speaking reality of life
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?
Life transformation is a life experience journey which it is a learning process on a daily 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.
The book is easy to understand and it is straight forward.
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? 10
D. Would you recommend it to others? 10
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 10