Ugwu Emeka Benjamin – Assessments

As A Man Thinketh
Assessment by Ugwu Emeka Benjamin (Nigeria)

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

Wow! I have never seen a brilliant book, well crafted like “As a Man Thinketh.”

Going through the book line by line, pages by pages and chapter by chapter made me pause to take a very big look in my life. The book sent me on a soul searching mission (the mission to discover my true inner self). So if am to rate this book, I will give it 98%.

The main idea that the author (James Allen) conveyed with this book is that of mind preservation, self-discovery, mastering of thoughts, character understanding, knowing that our thoughts controls virtually all aspects of our actions and that our inner mind will accept anything, be it good or evil thus the need to guard and protect it. The author went on to say that our mind is like that of a garden which if watered and taken care of will of by the owner will breed good fruit but if left unattended or left in the hands of a bad owner will grow weeds and other unwanted harvests. Our inner mind is the engine controlling our outer world. For us to effectively utilize our mind for good purpose, we must cultivate good deeds, sow joy, peace, happiness, dream big, work hard and be contented with whatever we have, live a life of pureness, meekness, offer selfless services and righteousness, because only when these deeds is cultivated in our minds through our thoughts will our outer self, character, relationship with people, reactions to circumstances will change from bad to good and from weakness to strength, from poor to riches and from sick to health. The book equally elaborated that our thoughts, minds and character is inter-related and the reaction of one depends on the other. When we only cultivate bad thoughts, lustful thoughts and wickedness thoughts in our minds, our mind will fertilize and breed it to manufacture into distasteful and destroying character which will manifest in our outer world. Our mind is fertile and should be guarded and cultivated with good deeds, desire to see a better and peaceful world, desire for self improvement, desire for self awareness, self analysis, self-control and understanding. Its only when we have succeeded in doing so, can we truly witness consistent upward improvements in our lives. Let me summarize the importance of our minds with these quotes from the author. According to the author “thought in the mind hath made us. Whatever we are by thought was wrought and built. If a man mind hath evil thought, pains comes on him as comes the wheel the ox behind. If one endures in purity of thought, joy follows him as his own shadow”. “a man is the master of thought, moulder of character, and the maker and shaper of condition, environment and destiny.”

2. What were the seven ideas which were personally most important to you and why? List these seven ideas followed by an explanation after each one as to why it was important to you. Use personal examples from your own life.

The seven ideas are:

A. Thinking (Thoughts)

This is the most critical of all the ideas. Our thoughts determine the direction of our lives just like the saying “As a Man Thinketh.” It’s very important to me because I have never been deeply exposed to the power of our thoughts. Now I fully understand how powerful and impactful it is in our lives. I have taken closer looks into my life and have now realized how my past thoughts have shaped my life and affected my decisions. Now I have decided to closely and dutifully cultivate and accommodate only good thoughts in my mind.

B. Self-Discovery

According to my own understanding, this is a journey taken to discover one’s self, understand his strengths, weakness, his capacity and limits and to understand what works best for him. This is important to me because for me to achieve my life goals, impact my society, I have to first discover myself. Understand why am here, my purpose on earth, what am here to achieve, what I need to do in order to achieve it and pathways I need to take to arrive at my destination(dreams). Its only after answering these inner questions, will I be able to discover the true me and give the world my true potentials. So for me as an individual, am still in the journey for self discovery and this book have helped to answer some of the questions I seek.

C. Practice (Self-Control)

This is simply preserving your minds through your thoughts and actions. This paths are equally elaborated to be the continuous act of training and mastering your thoughts and minds in other to affect any circumstances. The book made me understand that attaining success alone is not the ultimate goal for any man but continuously working on our minds through our thoughts even when we have attained success because when we stop working on our thoughts, the success we have attained could easily be lost. So the act of self analysis, self control should be a continuous process which every individual that seeks to succeed in life will have to imbibe.

D. Understanding

This is the act of learning how the universe works, how its structured and governed and how it operates. Understanding teaches one to know that we were created equally not as slave or free born and that its only our thoughts through our actions and inactions will one be called a slave and the other a free born. Its only when we understand the only thing that differentiates a man from another is his thoughts, his deeds, his mindset, life principles etc. so understanding is a very important aspect for me.

E. Wisdom

Wisdom is the ability to understand the seen and unseen, the visible and the invisible. Wisdom enables man to understand that his actions, deeds and thoughts determine how his life will turn out to be and how he will be remembered. This is very important to me because wisdom will aid me in making good life decisions that will not only affect my life but that of my immediate society.

F. Power (Law)

In every institution, organization or society, there is always some set of rules and guidelines guarding the affairs of that particular environment, so is the universe. Through this book, I understood there is a strong power guarding the whole universe. “The visible is governed by the invisible” aptly captures it and my understanding is that people actions, moves, reactions, affiliations etc, is as a result of the invisible (the inner life, thoughts). This inner life is what manifests in the outer life and the world in general. So for me, understanding the power of these inner (invisible) lives will increase my life understanding.

G. Patience

This is simply persevering in the face of daunting challenges and difficult times, staying focus to your set rules, dreams when things are not working as planned. This is one key area that I seriously want to work in myself. I have given up too easily in the past.

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?

I strongly believe that all the seven ideas will help to improve my personal life and the personal improvement will be manifested in my thoughts, relationships and interactions with people which will go a long way in making the world a better place. When I cultivate and accommodate only good thoughts in my mind, it will increase my usefulness; my knowledge, abilities and this will in turn increase my integrity and reputation and impact my society more.

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.

“Let a man radically alter his thoughts, and he will be astonished at the rapid transformation that will affect in the material condition of his life. Bestial thoughts crystallize into habits of drunkenness and sensuality, which solidify into circumstances of destitution and diseases.”

Lazy thoughts crystallize into weak, habits of un-cleanliness and dishonesty, which solidify into circumstances of foulness and beggary. 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.”

“A particular train of thought persisted in, be it good or bad cannot fail to produce result on the character and circumstances. A man cannot directly choose his circumstances but he can choose his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances.”

This statement summarizes the whole essence of this book to my life. For me to reap good deeds I have to sow good seeds through my thoughts and for me to reap bad deeds, I have to sow bad seeds. In which ever decision I take, I need to guard and preserve my thoughts for effective results.

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

No.

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

No.

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

Effect of Thoughts on Health and Body

This chapter surprised me a lot when is said that our body is the servant of our minds and that disease and health like all circumstances is rooted in thoughts. That sickly thoughts will express themselves out through sickly body. And that man will continue to have impure and poisoned blood, so long as they propagate unclean thoughts. This chapter unlike any other got me thinking and I have decided to accommodate only strong, pure and happy thoughts in other to build up my vigor and grace.

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? 9
C. How easy was it to understand? 7
D. Would you recommend it to others? 10
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 9

 

 

Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Assessment by Ugwu Emeka Benjamin (Nigeria)

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

The main idea the author is conveying with this book is that nothing limits one from succeeding in life provided you are willing to work hard into achieving it. This can simply be summarize by first knowing yourself first, your purpose on earth, what makes you happy and what you can happily do without been paid. This can be said to be passion. When one knows his/her purpose and is passionate about it, achieving it will be much easy. Jonathan Livingston Seagull had passion for flying and was always delighted whenever he is on the air. This he greatly pursued even without eating sometimes and against the advice of his parents too. The main idea I got from this book is that purpose and passion is the greatest tool one needs to succeed provided you are willing to work hard.

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. Know Yourself

There is a famous saying that a man without destination gets nowhere. The study of live and the whole universe start with knowledge. Just like in the bible, God commanded us to know and obey him and to equally keep his commandments. And one only gets to know the commandments by first studying it. With these illustrations, there is no gainsaying that for any human to succeed in life, impact his society and leave behind a good legacy, he must first discover himself. The study of self discovery helps man to know his strengths and weakness and to equally know what he is good at (passion) and the opposite. All over the world, great men have been known to discover their passion and channeled every resource at their disposal into achieving that.

When I discovered the importance of this self discovery, I undertook a deep and sincere study about my life and existence. I first started listing all the activities I love doing and that I can do without been paid or ask to do and likewise other things that does not interest me. At the end, I discovered that I love motivating young people and I love providing solutions to issues. This led me to contest for a leadership position during my university years which I won. And this has been the guiding principle behind my career paths today. Am most happy when am able to put smile on a kids face and am delighted when someone calls or write to tell me that he/she is a changed person because of the impact of my actions, speech or discussion.

B. Background is no excuse

After I discovered my passion, one big challenge I faces was that of my background. I was raised in a lovely family of four (two boys and two girls). My growing up was that of “if you don’t work, you will not eat”. I hawked and small sachet of water popularly called “pure water” coupled with selling oranges, banana and newspaper on the streets. All these I did after school hours in other to support my family. These early challenges never for once stopped me from dreaming big and running after my dreams (After all, dreams is free), rather my background encouraged me to work harder stay focused with my eyes fixed on my dreams. Today, I have graduated from the university and I pioneered a weekly youth radio program on Unity Fm, Abakaliki (the radio station gets across to approximately 20,000 listeners). In addition to that, I have organized series of seminars for young people and won grants from UNFPA (Pakistan), YAC (Italy), Youth Dividend(Pakistan) in 2011 to conduct an enlightenment campaign here in Nigeria which was a huge success. Today, even though it seems I have done well, I have not reached my ultimate dream yet which are to be a global motivational speaker and a visionary leader and a God fearing husband to my wife and kids.

C. Yes You Can (Positive Attitude)

This is simply defined as having the right attitude. In the book, Jonathan was able to succeed because he had the right attitude, albeit positive one (the can do attitude) even when he was disowned and banished from his family, he still maintained his positive attitude. Personally, I just concluded a training here in Nigeria called “General Health Safety and Environment, and Health Safety and Environment competent Development Level 3.” The training was organized by Institute of Safety Professionals of Nigeria (ISPON) and now qualifies me as a Safety Officer in any industry especially the Nigerian Oil and Gas. Why I mentioned this training is because I undertook it against all advice from family and friends and against daunting challenges. I went on empty stomach to see that I achieved this and was discourage at some point but the fact that I have the picture of my tomorrow in my mind and my dreams boldly inscribed in my forehead. I had to maintain a positive attitude all through the training which saw me through. So the importance of positive attitude can never be over emphasized because when every other thing seems not to be working, the only two things that will keep you going is your passion and attitude. The great Wiston Churchill on many occasion elaborated on the importance of attitude. He once said that “Discipline (attitude) is the soul of any soldier”. That discipline makes a small number of soldiers mighty in battles. I have been applying this positive attitude in all my life endeavors and it has not failed me.

D. Never Stop Learning.

There is a saying which goes like “a person life is evaluated by the books he reads and the association he keeps.” Having said that, for one to succeed, he needs to constantly read, these readings can come in form of newspaper, journals, text books etc. this is because the world is fast becoming a global village and one does not need to go to Paris in other to learn and speak French, you can learn French by just seating in the comfort of your home in Nigeria and reading French dictionaries and textbooks. I studied Applied and Environmental Biology in the university but my quest for knowledge has taken me to areas that are entirely different from my academic qualifications. Today, I have equipped myself with issues like democracy and good governance, policy formulations, implementations and evaluation. All these I have done in my quest to acquire new knowledge. This was equally elaborated in the book when Jonathan will always try new flight moves in other to learn new skills and this exposed him to skills that hitherto were unknown to him. When one seeks to learn more, it pushes him beyond his immediate environment and exposes him to new discoveries and new boundaries. This was aptly captured in the book when Jonathan was told that “one school finishes, another one opens.”

E. Team up with people of the same goal.

“Iron sharpens iron and birds of the same feathers, always fly together.” This saying was best captured when Jonathan teamed up with his new family (Sullivan, Chiang and the other flocks). Knowledge is best acquired and appreciated when one surrounds himself with people that share the same goals and vision and intelligent minds. This is because it’s only in the presence of such minds will one develop himself better. A successful man was once asked about his success and he simply said that “I succeeded because I stood on the shoulders of those that have gone before him”. In my quest for knowledge and skills, I recently volunteered as an intern with the two best youth NGO’s in Nigeria (Youngstars Foundation and LeapAfrica) in some of their annual events. This internship exposed me to the workings of NGO’s and the impacts it can make on the lives of people. It gave me the opportunity to interact and share ideas with young people. I equally anchored a weekly youth radio program on 101.5 Unity Fm, Abakaliki and was a campus writer for campus life newspaper which circulates all over Nigeria every Thursday. The experiences from these few internships have helped me become partly who I am today. Presently, am the project manager of a youth led organization “ugreen foundation.” I over see the day to day activities of the organization and we currently running two projects (a creativity writing class and an essay competition) all in the bid to empower more young people.

F. Practice makes perfect.

A great athlete is as good as his training and a good military man is as good as his marksmanship. Practices prepare us for what lies ahead, to embrace and triumph over it. In the book, Jonathan became great through painstakingly trainings. He never for once stopped learning from people that were more intelligent than him and equally teaching those below him. Having known these, I have continued to train myself through constant seminars, workshops, meetings and conferences. These have taken me to greater heights and gave me the opportunity to meets and interact with my role models. These individuals take time off their busy schedules to mentor us on the importance of the life we have chosen. Today, I mentor young people on how to speak and participate in formulations of government policies and to monitor these policies in other to entrench due process and good governance which will lead to infrastructural development and transformations.

G. Always Forgive.

When we don’t forgive our oppressors, we end up oppressing our selves. Nelson Mandela was able to rule South Africa because of his true forgiveness of the apartheid oppressors. When we forgive, we free ourselves from bitterness, jealousy and antagonism and it’s only then that we can progress and reach our goals and dreams. I have cultivated these habits in my daily lives and it has helped me in no small measures. Jonathan demonstrated this when he forgave his flock and gladly accepted to teach them his skills.

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?

All these ideas has helped me in my daily lives and has contributed in getting me this far. I have equipped myself through workshops and have gained job experience by working with people that share the same goals with me. This has seen me grow into a position where I now mentor young people on the ways to improve their lives. I am a youth advocate with a strong passion for democracy and good governance because I strongly believe that the challenges Nigeria and Africa are facing today is tied to its leadership. Its only when we as Africans resolve the leadership issues through free and fair elections, can we get true development and transformations.

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.

None.

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

No.

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

No.

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

No.

Please rate the following questions on a scale from 1 to 10. Ten is good and one is poor.

A. How interesting was it to read? 6
B. How helpful were the contents? 6
C. How easy was it to understand? 7
D. Would you recommend it to others? 10
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 7