As A Man Thinketh
Assessment by Zivanemoyo Chinzara (Australia)
1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
The main idea that the author is trying convey is the power of thoughts. The author highlights that anyone’s destiny, be it in terms of career, health, relationships, etc is a result of their thought process. The author goes on to show that our successes or failures are not determined by our circumstances, but are attributed to the inner thoughts within us. This is because, as “masters of our own thoughts and directors of our own life”, we have the power to alter our thoughts in such a manner that we can change the undesirable situations/circumstances. The author however advises that thoughts can only yield meaningful results if they are linked to a well defined purpose. According to the author, any persons, no matter how weak, can succeed in life if they set a meaningful purpose and then patiently channel their thoughts and actions towards this purpose.
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 from this book that I view as most important are as follows:
a. The starting point of the journey to success is positive thinking: Often people fail to reach their full potential because they do not think positively. Their mind tells them they are not good enough and for this reason people tend to give up. I find this very applicable to me. At the moment I feel that I could have been higher than where I am in terms of my career and my contribution to a better world, but due the failure to think positively I have not progressed well.
b. Circumstances cannot be blamed for certain outcome: Often people do something they regret and they in turn blame circumstances. For instance, people abuse drugs and alcohol because the circumstances are such that people around them are doing this. I, for once, have done some things because they seemed fashionable among my friends. For instance, I would go out drinking with friends when I had some assignment deadlines to meet. When I realized that my studies are taking a knock because of this, I started blaming the environment that I was in. However, reading this book made me realize I am responsible for every outcome of my life. Since I finished reading this book, I have become more responsible, I have quit drinking, I have devoted my life to Christ, and I now spend much of the time I used to spend drinking studying, building my career, and doing voluntary work.
c. No accomplishments can be made without equal effort and sacrifice: This is one of the greatest lessons I learnt from this book. Most people have great dreams about life. However, because they are not willing to sacrifice anything, they never achieve these dreams. Often people look at successful people without looking at the sacrifices that they have made to reach their success. As people we normally tend to view success as a consequence of chance and luck. However, we fail to appreciate that even if it is a question of chance, we cannot succeed if we do not take advantage of the chances we get in life. Taking advantage of a chance/opportunity requires great sacrifice. Many great leaders have shown that achievements can only be reached when one is willing to sacrifice. One of the greatest leaders in the history of mankind, Jesus Christ sacrificed his life to achieve the forgiveness of people’s sins. Martin Luther King sacrificed his life for civil rights. Nelson Mandela sacrificed more than twenty seven years of his freedom to bring freedom and democracy to South Africa. These are heavy prices to pay, but people fail to make even little sacrifices. After reading this book, I have started making some sacrifices not only for my own benefit but also aimed at contributing towards a better world.
d. Thought without purpose does not lead us anywhere: This is another interesting idea by the author. Having a sense of purpose and mission about what you want to achieve in life helps you to tailor your thoughts and actions towards that purpose. Lack of purpose normally leads to confusion and to wandering around and about without any sense of direction. No matter how hard you work and no matter how positive you think, if you do not have a sense of direction or a mission you are working towards you are as good as someone who is doing nothing. The author goes on to make the point that even the weakest of weaker can achieve their dreams if they set a purpose and work towards it.
e. A strong man cannot help a weaker unless the weaker is willing to be helped: This idea is similar to the old adage that ‘you can take a horse to the river, but you cannot force it to drink.” People normally tend to blame lack of assistance for their failures. For instance, in 2007, when I was writing my Masters Degree thesis, I had the habit of thinking that my supervisor was not giving me enough help. However, when I realized that I need to work and learn on my own and let my supervisor be my guide, everything started going well. To date I still thank my supervisor for his approach because most of the things I learnt and discovered on my own are the ones that I am now an expert in.
f. Dreamers are Achievers: It is often difficult to achieve something if you do not dream and envision it. Thoughts and effort are easy to channel towards something that you dream about. If you dream about being the best researcher, you are likely to tailor your thought towards achieving this.
g. People should exercise self control: Lack of self-restraint not only lead people into trouble, but it can also result in loss of something you cherish and desire. Self control can be in many aspects. For instance, if your goal is to win an Olympic gold medal, you are unlikely to achieve this goal, if you do not stick to training schedules and good eating habits. Self control can also be in terms of your own character and how you relate to people around you. For example, a manager is less likely to command the respect of his subordinates if he shouts at them. Self control can also be in the form of morality. For instance, many young people on the African continent have fallen prey to HIV and AIDS, and other diseases due to lack of self control and faithfulness. Furthermore, there are cases where relationships and/or marriages ended because people fail to exercise restraint during an argument and say words they do not mean to their partners.
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 lessons from “As the man thinketh” have many practical applications to my life. The basic lesson that I find practical and I have already started applying in my life is the lesson that every consequence is a result of a thought process. I have analyzed some of my own bad experiences in life and I realized that they were, in fact, a result of poor application of the thought process. I have therefore started purifying my thoughts and making better choices. Secondly, the idea that our destiny is solely determined by us has thought me that I have to take responsibility for my own thoughts, decisions and actions, and the resulting consequences. Previously, I have blamed some people or some circumstances for my bad choices. However, from the book I managed to learn that circumstances only shape the nature of the consequences of our thought process. The book also taught me that, as an intelligent being, through careful and good thought process, I am capable of changing bad circumstances. For instance, I do not have to abuse alcohol because I am around people who find it fashionable to abuse alcohol. The third lesson that I found applicable is that for us to succeed, we have to make equal amount of sacrifice. Previously, I had some career goals which I failed to achieve. When I read the book, I realized that my failure to achieve these goals was because I failed to make enough sacrifice. For this reason, I have started making a number of sacrifices in my life. For instance, I have realized that I have to reduce my sleeping hours and use much of my time studying and volunteering. I have also sacrificed going out more often to save money to help my family and others. The fourth practical lesson that I have learnt and started applying in life is having a purpose in life. I have set out missions and objectives for life. I have divided these into physical, emotional, relationship, intellectual goals and this has helped me to come up with a summary plan of how I am going to achieve these goals. This has also helped me to channel my thought process towards these and make corrective actions where along the way.
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.
These are some of the quotes that caught my mind:
a. “As he thinks, so he is; as he continues to think, so he remains.” This is really a touching statement. It teaches us that our destiny depends on our thoughts. What we are is exactly what we think. It also teaches us that we cannot change the outcomes of our lives if we do not change our thought process.
b. “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. And he adapts his mind to that regulating factor, he ceases to accuse others as the cause of his condition, and builds himself up in strong and noble thoughts; ceases to kick against circumstances, but begins to use them as aids to his more rapid progress, and as a means of the hidden powers and possibilities within himself.”: I find this quote very interesting because it teaches me to have a sense of self-responsibility rather than blaming others for the outcomes of my life. Taking responsibility for my own life is important because it makes me think of the consequences of my actions and it will then enable me to screen thought with bad outcomes from thoughts with good outcomes. Another quote that gives a similar idea as this is: “No man is hindered by another; he is only hindered by himself. No man suffers because of another; he suffers only because of himself.”
c. “He who would accomplish little need sacrifice little; he who would achieve much must sacrifice much. He who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly.” This quote taught me that if I want to achieve greater things, I have to sacrifice greater things. When I read this statement, I stopped and searched for the summary history of some of the people I consider as great leaders. After reading their biographies, I actually realized that most of them are not great by chance, but because they made huge sacrifices.
d. “Circumstance does not make the man; it reveals him to himself”: This is an important statement that taught me that I have to stop blaming circumstances for some of the bad decisions I have made in life. I have since started taking responsibility for whatever I do.
e. “A man’s mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind.” This is also a very good quote that also helps reinforce the idea that we can control the outcomes of our lives through our thoughts and actions. If we have good and positive thoughts, we succeed, if we have bad thoughts we get bad and regretful consequences.
Other quotes that are very touching and which captures the same idea as point e is:
“Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results; bad thoughts
and actions can never produce good results … We understand this law in
the natural world, and work with it; but few understand it in the mental
and moral world-although its operation there is just as simple and undeviating-
and they, therefore, do not cooperate with it.”
“The law of harvest is to reap more than you sow. Sow an act, and you reap a habit. Sow a habit and you reap a character. Sow a character and you reap a destiny. ”
“A man can only rise, conquer, and achieve by lifting up his thoughts.”
f. “Cease to be a disobedient child in the school of experience, and begin to learn, with humility and patience, the lessons that are set for your ultimate perfection.” This quote taught me that no matter how many mistakes we make in life, with patience and humility we can revise our thoughts and actually reach perfection. It teaches me that there is a second chance for everyone.
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 understood the book. It is quite simple to understand. The ideas and the lessons are quite clear and very applicable to anyone’s life. I must say this is the best book I have ever read. I also like the idea that it was derived from the Bible book of Proverbs. I am one person who believes that the bible has practical lesson which will lead to a better life for everyone and to a better world if everyone is willing to live according to these practical lessons.
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 it does not 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.
No.
Rating
A. How interesting was it to read? 10
B. How helpful were the contents? 9
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
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Assessment by Zivanemoyo Chinzara (Australia)
1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
The book is trying to convey three main messages. The first message is that nothing should limit us from achieving whatever we want to achieve. This means that we cannot use our physical abilities, background, culture, fear of reprisal, etc as excuses to stop us from achieving better things. Jonathan faced opposition from every angle, from family, council of elders, friends, physical abilities, but this did not stop him from pursuing his dreams. The second lesson is that to achieve perfection in whatever you do continuous learning is needed. Most often people fail to reach perfection because they feel they have learnt enough. Henry Ford argued “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.” No matter how perfect Jonathan thought he was, he never stopped learning new things. Learning does not necessarily have to be learning skills, but also learning to love and forgive. Among everything that Jonathan taught his students, teaching them that they should love and forgive those who have done wrong against them is one of the greatest lessons that he gave to his students. Most often in life people fail to reach their full potential because they harbor personal hatred towards someone/something and leaning to let go is the greatest achievement that anyone can make. The third lesson that the book gives is that if we have learnt something that is likely to benefit others, we have a responsibility to teach other potential beneficiaries instead of being selfish.
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 from this book that I view as most important are as follows:
a) You do not have to be afraid to do anything that is out of the ordinary: Sometimes certain norms that exist in society may stop us from doing something new. Cultural beliefs are one of the barriers to achieving a better world, especially in some of the African and Arab societies. For instance, there are some cultural norms that dictate that women should not do certain jobs, or young people should not contribute to debates that shape society. While some of the norms may be good for the society, most of them trump on freedom of citizens and keep societies primitive. The story of Jonathan Livingston is motivating to the extent that he managed to defy all the norms and by so doing he managed to discover new things that ended up benefiting the entire society. Thus for the betterment of society, people need to rise beyond society norms, culture, etc.
b) Those that succeed are able to stand up to opposition: Jonathan faced a lot of opposition from his family to the elders but he did not give up because of this. Nowadays, people who seek to stand up against the elite ruling classes have been subjected to political persecutions through violence, political imprisonment, negative media campaigns etc. Jonathan’s story teaches us we have to be prepared for this. People like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, etc are good examples of people who stood up to opposition and persecution. Recent events in the Middle East region have also shown that if people stand together they can achieve their goals no matter how much brutal force the elite class can use.
c) Do not be afraid to start new things: Most often we are afraid to start new things because we fear failure. For instance, many people have ideas to start businesses but because they are afraid of the consequences of failure they never realize their dreams. This book has taught me to realize that temporary failures may occur along the path to success. For this reason failures should never discourage anyone. Most often we look at successful people and we just think they reached where they are because of luck. We often fail to look at what they went through to achieve what they achieved.
d) Success does not depend on natural abilities/ or family background but depends on continuous practice: Often people fail to reach their full potential because they think success in life depends on people you know, your background and your natural abilities. Political systems in countries like those in Africa have also created a situation where the rich and the politically connected are the beneficiaries of countries’ resource. Because of this, some people are afraid to do things because they are not connected. However, the story of Jonathan gives hope in that it teaches us that anything can be achieved.
e) Never stop learning: People fail to reach full greatness because they stop learning. Also people tend to associate learning with level of education. However, learning should never end. Because the environment we leave keeps on demanding new ideas, our knowledge is never adequate. You can be an expert in one area but there could be other areas where you lack knowledge. Therefore the need to learn never ends.
f) Give back to your community: Education, learning, wealth, etc has no value unless it is used for the betterment of the entire community and not to scorn or oppress others. There are many examples of people in Africa who were educated in highly distinguished world universities, but instead of using their knowledge to help their fellow beings, they have used such knowledge to help dictators to craft policies that are meant to oppress the masses. This should not be the purpose of learning.
g) Learn to forgive: Forgiveness is the best lesson that anyone can learn. Normally we fail to reach full potential because we failed to forgive ourselves for mistakes that we have done in the past or the deeds that other people have committed against us in the past. Forgiving ourselves and forgiving those who have sinned against us makes us to move on. As a Christian, I know the power of forgiveness. Jesus asked God to forgive those who had persecuted him, and the Bible tells us God is ready to forgive us if we repent. A living example of someone who forgave his persecutors is Nelson Mandela.
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 ideas I listed above and many others that I learnt from this book will be important in shaping my daily life going forward. Firstly, to become a leader, I will keep learning and inspiring others to keep learning. Secondly, there are some things that I have been afraid to do because I felt that they are not possible, and that there are for certain people who were created with special abilities. However, this book has inspired me. I now know that I can be anything I want to be if I keep on learning and practicing. My goal is to become one of the world leading economists focusing on issues around poverty eradication and this book made me feel more determined to achieve this. I feel that nothing will stop me now. Even if I fail along the way, even if people who are already the world top economists belittle my work, I will keep improving until I reach perfection. I also hope to assist people in my community in Zimbabwe to reach their full potential by starting an organization that is aimed at financially helping and mentoring needy students.
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.
These are some of the quotes that caught my mind:
a. “Do you have any idea how many lives we must have gone through before we even gore the first idea that there is more to life than eating, or fighting, or power in the flock? A thousand lives, Jon…” This quote is particularly important to me. It teaches us that society will not develop if no one tries to change some of its norms.
b. “Don’t let them spread silly rumors about me, or make me a God. O.K., Fletch? I’m a seagull. I like to fly…” Despite the admiration that other gulls had for Jonathan, he continued to be humble. This is a great lesson. Most often, when people succeed, they act like they have done the impossible, and that they have special skills that others do not have. They also become boastful and immoral. This has two main effects. Firstly, other people are often reluctant to learn from people who are arrogant and immoral. Secondly, by portraying yourself as special, you make others think what you have done is not achievable. Thus your achievements will fail to inspire others.
c. “Your whole body, from wingtip to wingtip,” Jonathan said would say, other times, is nothing more than your thought itself, in a form you can see. Break your chains of your thoughts and the chains of your body…” Normally we fail to do things because we have negative thought. Thinking positively will help us to achieve greatness.
d. “ To fly as fast as thought, to anywhere that is,” he said,” you must begin by knowing that you have already arrived…” This to me sounds the same thing as strategic planning. Once you know what you want to achieve in the future, you are motivated and more determined to move towards achieving it. Thus, to counter negative thoughts, look at how the future achievements are going to benefit you and to benefit the entire world. This can then work as self motivation.
e. “…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. That’s what it means by love. It’s fun when you get the knack of it.” This quotation teaches us that sometimes to realize that people love you, you have to show that you are concerned about them.
f. “Each of us is in truth an idea of the Great Gull, an unlimited idea of freedom,” As a Christian I interpret this quotation as meaning that every human being is an image of our greatest and highness God. The quotation thus tells us that it is God’s wish that we be free people.
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. I understood the book. It is quite simple to understand. The ideas and the lessons are quite clear and very applicable to almost everyone’s life. I must say this book has changed my life in a great way.
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 it does not 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.
No.
Rating
A. How interesting was it to read? 8
B. How helpful were the contents? 7
C. How easy was it to understand? 8
D. Would you recommend it to others? 9
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 8