Olalekan Olatunbosun Onaopemipo – Assessments – International Institute for Global Leadership

As a Man Thinketh
Assessment by Olalekan Olatunbosun Onaopemipo (Nigeria)

1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?

The book “As a Man Thinketh” is an exposé on the power of thought and how man can adopt the weapon of thought to make or mar his life. The book in its main idea emphasizes on the power of thought and the consequence on the good or misuse of it. It also went ahead to lay emphasis on different areas which the thought can affect the affairs of man.

Quoting from the part of the Scriptures which says that, “as a man thinketh in his heart so is he” is a pointer to the fact that man is a product of his thought and the consequences thereof. It is an important part of a man who affect reality and controls certain events in his life. The book proves that thought is a powerful weapon which emphasizes that the thought can be a good master and a bad servant which means that the thoughts can be adopted wisely and if misused can actually lead to a fall or have a negative effect.

The piece as poignantly elucidate the importance of positive thinking. The book extensively explains areas by which man’s thought can affect his life. All about man starts from his thinking faculty. Man ascends to divine perfection by the right choice and true application of his thought and by the abuse and wrong application of thoughts, he decides below the level of the best.

The above aphorism obviously explains that is dependent on. How he maximize his thoughts positively and effectively. Man’s reflection as a greater percentage of effect on his ramifications. As noted from the book, ‘nothing can come from corn but corn”.

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. Thought a Powerful Agent

We say thought a powerful agent, then a powerful agent of what?. Thought is a powerful agent of: Depression, Discouragement, failure, procrastination, lust. thoughts are dreadful and very dangerous an must be handled with wisdom.

ii. Negative thought and its fruit.

Negative thought is been pessimistic, when you think towards something in a dire manner, its fruits are: discouragement, depression, failure, disappointment, disgrace, doubts, regret, disobedient to GOD, wasted time etc. change your thoughts today and have a new shape!…”thoughts are free and subject to no rule, on them rests the freedom of man, and they tower above the light of nature, it create a new firmament, a new source of energy from which new arts flow.”
iii. Positive Thoughts And Its Fruits

Positive thought is the optimistic way of thinking, when you have the thoughts of good, the thought to change the world. its fruits are: success, great achievement, someone with optimistic thoughts is subjected to leadership, ability to impact on others, encouragement. I therefore charge you all to be optimistic in thought so as to be fruitful and have a good success. “Man fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth, more than ruin, more than death, thought is destructive, terrible, merciless to privilege. thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid, thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world and the chief glory of man.”

iv. Your Thoughts And Your Character

Our thoughts have greater effect on your demeanors than the way you’re brought up or the environment you grew. Your mind is like a garden, your thoughts are like seeds sown in it. When it blossoms, it bear fruits. Good thoughts bear good fruits and vice versa.
A man is literally what he thinks by the virtue of his thoughtsn his characters being the sum of all his thoughts. Man is made or unmade by himself. By the virtue of his thought, he fashions the weapons by which he wreck himself. Whatever you think in your heart, you finds you self exhibiting it consciously or unconsciously.

v. Your Thoughts and What Becomes of You

Regardless of perfect process or expedition of self discovery, your thoughts are capable of making or marring your future. By the right choice and true application of your thought, you ascend to divine perfection and by the abuse and wrong application of your thought, you ascend below the level of best. Beware of this fact by an anoymous thinker, ‘ Every ma is where he is by the law of his being, the thoughts which he has built’. Of you can’t in your mind, you can never. Whatever becomes of you, either good or bad, its the result of the thoughts you permitted in your life. Encourage good thoughts and no hard fate will bind you sown to wretchedness.

vi. Your Thoughts And Your Achievement

Whether you achieve greatly or little, whatever the outcome of self discovery is, its the effect of your thoughts. Thoughts of doubt can never accomplish anything than failure! All that you achieve are actually the result of your own thoughts. “Intellectual achievements are the result of thoughts consecrated to the search of knowledge.”

vii. Your Thoughts and your Health/Body

I was forced to believe that, “People who live in fear of disease are those who get it.”
We see people get bedridden after small symptoms of an illness. Some with awful thoughts, when they had stomachache resulting from congestion in their tommy or the food they took, they’ll think its Ulcer and call it Ulcer and end up having Ulcer.
From all indications, anxieties quickly demoralizes the whole body and lays it open to the entrant of diseases.

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?

Without much ado, these ideas are important catalyst that I can adopt in my life and career endeavors to bring about the change that I desire. These ideas are basics on how to use my thoughts wisely to generate positive outcome in all my endeavors and actions in the cause of my pursuit in life. These will serve as important notion if well adopted and utilized to get results. These notions on the use of thoughts will help me build positive expectations in all areas of my 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 were important to you.

“Humankind is always the master, even in their weaker and most abandoned state; but in their weakness and degradation they are the foolish masters who misgovern their household. When they begin to reflect upon their condition, and to search diligently for the Law upon which their being is established, they then become the wise master, directing their energies with intelligence, and fashioning their thoughts to fruitful issues.”

This teaches me the uniqueness and excellence attached to man. Man a peculiar entity with so much grace endowed.

“It does not matter whether it rains or shines, or what changes come to those possessing these blessings, for they are always sweet, serene, and calm. That exquisite poise of character, which we call serenity is the last lesson of culture, the fruitage of the soul. It is precious as wisdom, more to be desired than gold – yea, than even fine gold. How insignificant mere money seeking looks in comparison with a serene life – a life that dwells in the ocean of Truth, beneath the waves, beyond the reach of tempests, in the Eternal Calm!”

A statement filled with undiluted truth of what an ideal life should look like.

“You may be keeping accounts, and presently you shall walk out of the door that for so long has seemed to you the barrier of your ideals, and shall find yourself before an
Audience; the pen still behind your ear, the ink stains on your fingers and then and there shall pour out the torrent of your inspiration. You may be driving sheep, and you shall wander to the city-bucolic and open-mouthed; shall wander under the intrepid guidance of the spirit into the studio of the master, and after a time he shall say, ‘I have nothing more to teach you. And now you have become the master, who did so recently dream of great things while driving sheep. You shall lay down the saw and the plane to take upon yourself the regeneration of the world.”

An expose on the subject of growth. This is inspiring to make an ideal person.

“Every thought-seed sown or allowed to fall into the mind, and to take root there, produces its own, blossoming sooner or later into act, and bearing its own fruitage of opportunity and circumstance.”

This is so important to me and has really made me conscious of my thought so as not to exhibit demeanors that are uncalled for. This statement as made to carefully select the kind of thought I harbor in mind, to dominate the characters I portray.

“A man only begins to be a man when he ceases to whine and revile, and commences to search for the hidden justice which regulates his life.”

This is so fascinating and as really influence my inner man to cease the petulant complaints to search for the justice which regulates my life.

“Sickly thoughts will express themselves through a sickly body.”

This lesson as really forced to monitor my usually sickly thoughts which often result to my sick and deteriorating health. This aphorism is beyond a reasonable doubt.

5. Is there anything in the book that you do not understand or are unclear about, or are there ideas which you disagree with and, if so, why?

There is nothing I disagree with or not clear.

6. Did the book contain exercises for the reader to complete? If so, did you complete all of the exercises and did you find them helpful?

No. The book doesn’t contain any exercises.

7. Was there anything you read in the book that you would like to comment on that was not covered in the previous questions? If so, please comment.

None.

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? 8
D. Would you recommend it to others? 8
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 8

Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Assessment by Olalekan Olatunbosun Onaopemipo (Nigeria)

1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?

At some point in our lives, some of us are faced with certain circumstances, conditions or situations that limit our abilities, prowess, and visions and capacity. The book projected the subject of rising above limitations. The book emphasizes the need to explode beyond our present conditions and do exploits that our capacities and instant empowers us to do.

The book places and emphasis and challenges us to do more than live. It emphasizes that we can dig deep into the conundrum of why we live, how we are wired and what we are meant to be. The story revolves around a journey to attain passion, quest for perfection. Throughout the story Jonathan faces many impediments and several inhibitions but he transcends all of them to live the ideal he cherished. It is the story of self discovery, a story of every living legend in this world. It is a fable every achiever has lived in reality throughout his life. It is about people who have dared to differ from the norm, who have gone against the society to achieve their special place in it. It is a story every person can connect to, a story which can strike at the core of an individual’s existence for we all have at some point of our life tried to break free from the chains which keep us down, which make us tow a line and tried to do things differently, the way we see them

i. Self Discovery

The piece revolves around a journey to self discovery. A good part of self-discovery is about understanding your nature that you are in your essence, this understanding is then used to burn through all the “hang ups” you have in your human nature, which you’ve created through holding on to fear-based/limiting thoughts, and thus realize your authentic expression. Each of us is unique in our human nature, and so this discovery is very personal. Only you can explore this discovery in yourself, you can’t trust anyone else with it because only you can meet yourself 100%, no-one else can do that for you.
The deal is that in order to discover yourself you have to be willing to be fearless of what you discover, and how your life will change with these discoveries. Of course, the more you discover yourself the more aligned you feel, and the more abundant your experience of life becomes.

ii. Living without limits

There are no limits in this world, there are no limits to what we can be and what we can achieve, only those we choose to impose on ourself and we have a choice to chose how our life will be built and how our own person will be sculpted. Just the simple act of thinking about it, just the simple act of thinking about the things we would love to have, and the person we would like to become can help us remove many of the limiting beliefs, many of blocks that we have built over the years, beliefs and blocks that keep us stuck in a place that we don’t want to be, away from our greatness and away from the life we have always dreamed of.

iii. Thinking out of the box

This means going beyond the accepted limits of imagination and daring to explore new possibilities. Jonathan Livingston Seagull was such an out-of-the-box thinker.
He discovered that for those who dare to dream, even the sky is not the limit. Jonathan lived as all seagulls do in a flock. This flock was quite nothing to write home about. Seagulls are basically scavengers that stays at seashore, feeding off the debris that the sea throws out. Like all other seagulls, the members of this flock fed, bred and flew south in the cold winter months. But Jonathan sensed, in the core of his being, that there could be more to life. Much more. That discovering the Great Seagull’s secrets could have been the result of diligent effort and seeking did not occur to these seagulls. They preferred to put the responsibility of their future on a Being which they did not understand and did not try to emulate. The Great Seagull, however, did not come.

iv. Believe in Yourself

The biggest difference between successful people and unsuccessful people isn’t intelligence or opportunity or resources. It’s the belief that they can make their goals happen. We all deal with vulnerability, uncertainty, and failure. Some of us trust that if we move forward anyway, then we will figure it out.

v. Listen to your Inner Voice

There is a faint but firm voice inside us; afirming, directing or re-proofing . In the book, Jonathan was bent on listening to his inner voice that he can do something greater than what an average gull can do and not hearkening to the random opinions of others that he is just waiting his time learning how to fly. This is important to learn that we must at all times be in touch with our instinct on certain matters. This has to do with listening to our inner man, a tiny voice that give directives. The lesson is important to me because it teaches me to be decisive enough and not adhere to random opinions and/or criticisms.

vi. Keep learning

Every day is a learning experience. We stop living the day we stopped learning. The ability to learn without being weary is another idea trapped from the piece. The book plot as emphasized on learning. This idea as become what I deemed fit to observe as the process or act widens ones scope, knowledge and exposure.

vii. Make impact: your footprint on the sand of time.

The beauty of life does not depends on how happy you are but how happy you can impact to the people of your own immediate environment; and how best you can put smile on there lips. When Jonathan Seagull got to heaven, he should have not thought of coming back to his former habitat. He ought to forget them. But the reverse was the case. He got there. Learn more from those who had the experience and capacity than him. And he decided to go back and teach other gulls. What he was enjoying in heaven is enough for him to say he his not going back. But he didn’t. He went back, takes the role of leadership. He saw younger gulls as a project he must accomplish by teaching them what he knows. Perfection is not in living with all the wealth and fame. It is in satisfaction and fulfillment in what you do to yourself and in building others.

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 lessons are important catalyst that can propel me to scale new heights. It’s avocations call to break limit or exceed one and keep striving.

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.

“Any number is a limit, and perfection doesn’t have limits.”

This is an important quote to me personally. It tells us that whatever that has to be limitless must not have any iota of limitations. Perfections does not have limit it means exceeding limit, breaking embargo, and exceeding expectations.

“I am limited by my nature.”

This quote is important to me because it emphasizes on the fact that we are the limit we can have ourselves. The limit that we have is what lies within us and not before us or outside us. The nature here explains that it is all about us our nature, our strength our capacities, our visions and our actions are the only things that can limit us

“But Jonathan Livingston Seagull, unashamed, stretching his wings again in that trembling hard curve; slowly, slowly, and stalling once more was no ordinary bird.”

Those point explained Jonathan and someone who is confident and not ashamed to take small bold steps that lead to his growth and excellence. That explains that he was not ashamed to take bold steps. This is important to me to pick up my actions follow my mind and chase my dreams without any quota of shame regardless of what I had to do in the name achieving the goal, the dream and putting into practice all I can do for myself and for my generation

“We can lift ourselves out of ignorance. We can find ourselves as, the creatures of excellence, intelligence and skills.”

This is very important to me because it tells me that I am the major determinant of what I suffer. I can actually lift myself out of ignorance if I make effort to that I am naturally a creature of excellence attended and skills and to make them feasible.

“Break the chain of your thought and you will break the chain of your body.”

This path here emphasizes on the fact that our thoughts affect us in a very large extent.. It means that when we have a limiting belief towards shamed or taught of shackles then in reality we will also be in shackles and limitation. This means that when we have a champion mindset and make efforts, the results will also be the same