As A Man Thinketh
Assessment by Adeyemi Johnson Adetunji

What ideas were personally most important to you in this book?

Man's character is a photograph of his thought.
The idea of thought and character is important to me. I have found that man's character is rooted in his thought. Whatever a man exhibit as his character, is a product of his thought. Character is simply image formed in the mind. It is what is engraved in man's heart. The strength of one's character determines his or her destiny. Any deficient in character is as a result of deficiency in thought. I have discovered that for any of my character that is unacceptable all I need to do is to alter my thought and such unacceptable character will be altered. Therefore to alter man's character you must alter his thought. For as a man thinketh in his heart so he act. This idea really helped me a lot on the need to really influence people from within rather than focus the outside. Any changes in character outside are as a result of changes within. Therefore I cannot change any man's character unless I can change their thought or changed what is engraved in their heart.

Intension and action are inseparable.
Another idea that struck my mind is the relationship between intension and action. Intension has to do with mind while action is a fruit of intention. Although some argues each time they misbehave that it is not intentional that is not from their heart but more than 90% of man's action or character is a reflection of their mind. To tackle misbehaviors therefore we must think before we act.

Right and wrong thinking.
I have found that every thought produce after its kind. Right thinking will always produce right character while wrong or impure thought will produce wrong character. Everybody desire and cherish good or pure thought but it does not jump on man, it has to be consciously cultivated. Everybody can think right for we can master our thought and control it. It is what you behave that you become. Therefore what determines man's destiny is his heart or mind. Thought determines your character while your character determines your destiny. It dawned on me that character is not a gift. It is a choice. It leaves me with personal responsibility to cultivate it by cultivating a right thought.

Mind is a metaphor of computer.
I have found that mind is like a computer. It is garbage in garbage out. It is what you input that determines the output. If you input into it honesty its output will be honesty, if love its output will be love, if virtue its output will be virtue. At the same time if you input into it virus of vice its output will be vice, if lying its output will be lying. Therefore it's what you input into your thought that will determine what it will produce. You cannot show seed of evil in it and reap seed of good. It is important for us to consciously watch and control what we input into the computer of our mind. We need to prevent virus of evil from entering into our heart so that our life will not crash.

Fight the causes and not the effect.
Through the book the idea of law of cause and effect becomes more real to me. I have found out that most of what we are doing is fighting the effect of happenings in our life rather than fix the cause and proffer a lasting solution. Whenever any of my children is sick I would not border to find out why, the next thing I do is looking for drug to cure the sickness and times without number such a sickness repeats itself because I have not deal with the cause. Some of the sickness may be due to poor hygienic condition. Instead of fighting the poor hygienic condition I am fighting the effect. Times without number we prefer curative to preventive. You prevent occurrence of some thing when you deal with the cause and you cure when you are fighting the effect. Fix and fight the cause and there will be no effect to fight.

You can shape your circumstances.
Circumstances are rooted in our thought. We are masters at pinning our circumstance on others or environment. Our circumstances time without number has noting to do with others or environment but with ourselves. We have all it takes to deal with the root of our circumstances by control our thought which is the place where most of our circumstance grows before they manifest. Therefore you can shape your circumstance by control your thought. Our circumstance will never improve if we continue to pin it on others or environment. The circumstance is the servant of the thought; it obeys the operation of the thought. What circumstance does is it reveals a man and a man is his thought. Therefore as a man is so is his thought. As a man thought is so is his circumstance. Every man's circumstance is a reflection of his thought. If we are experiencing negative circumstance it might be the negative thought that is germinating. Negative thought are bound to result in negative circumstance while positive thought are bound to result in positive circumstance. Therefore everyman is to a greater extent the architect of his circumstance for we can determine it by the kind of thought we choose.

Like attract like.
The law of attraction is another idea that becomes real to me in this book. Your thought towards other will determine their thought towards you. Thought has a natural affinity. If I send out a negative thought into the world around me I will draw back negative results to myself and if I alters my thought towards the world around me the world around me will alters towards me.

Health is rooted in thought.
There is a strong connection between thought and health. The interaction of mind and body is real. Unhealthy thought will result in unhealthy body while healthy thought will result in healthy body. All illness is a reflection of thought. See yourself as a well, normal, healthy person and you will live healthy. If you hold a strong thought of yourself as a healthy strong person your susceptibility to illness is virtually zero. If you can think health, you truly can be healthy. I have been to hospital only once in my life and I don't use drug, my thought of health had been producing their physical counterparts. Healthy or sickness free thought is a major key ingredient to good health. Also I found that fear undermine the body's ability to fend of diseases. Illness is more likely to follow anxiety. One should not fear disease but it should be confronted with healthy thought. It is think healthy, stay healthy.

Focus your thought on your purpose.
Thought has to do with using the mind actively and deliberately. Therefore if one's mind has to be focus on a purpose and how accomplish it. Any purpose that is not at the centre of man's thought is not likely to be accomplished. Purpose is life. Life without purpose is death in disguise. It is purpose that you focus your thought on that will be accomplished. Purpose comes from within. I found that I need to see myself achieving my purpose. After locating a purpose one must focus his or her thought on it.

Man's achievement is a direct result of his thoughts.
This is another idea in the book that is very important to me. I have found that I will never rise above the level of my thought. My thought determines my success. This idea is of great importance. Workers in most establishments see themselves as slaves and this slavery thought is what is holding them at the same level of achievement year in year out. If this slavery thought can be dealt with I am sure their level of achievement will rise. Therefore one's thought must be directed towards a goal in order to be accomplished.

Dream and vision.
Dream and vision is another idea in the book that is important to me. Dreams are seeds. They are thoughts. Every great enterprise starts as a dream. Therefore every dream and vision is achievable. I found out that I must not stop dreaming and I must dream big as well as celebrated my dream for one day they will become a reality, I will one day live my dream and fulfill my vision.

2. Can you relate the ideas or concepts in the book to your personal circumstances in life as your relationships, your beliefs, your goals, your values e.t.c.

The idea or concepts in this book are related to my personal circumstances. In the first instance, I found the need to alter my mind so as to alter some of deficient in my character and the need to think deeply before I act so that I will have no cause to regret henceforth on how I react to some issues. Equally I need to consciously cultivate right thought so as to produce right kind of behavior in order not to crash my destiny. Also my mind need to be filled with right kind of information and be guided with all diligence for out of it is issues of life.

The idea of cause and effect in the book is of tremendous impact. For whatever happens as from now I have made up my mind to dig deep into the root cause rather than looking at the effect. This book taught me the preventive approach to issues rather than curative. I can now handle and shape my circumstance by shaping my thought. For any circumstance I now looked inward first and foremost rather than pinning my circumstance on others or environment.

With regards to my relationship I can now see beyond the physical. It now dawned on me that for me to alter people's character, their mind need to be altered and that everyman's action is rooted in their thought.

In addition whatever I concentrate my thought on is what will happen. If on health I will enjoy a sickness free life. If on a dream or purpose they will becomes a reality and my level of achievement will be determine by the height of my thought.

3. What are the most important new ideas or concepts you learned from this book? Please explain.

I have learnt a lot of new ideas in this book. The idea of effect of thought on circumstances is important to me. It now dawn on me that most of the circumstance I am facing is rooted in my thought. They are reflection of my thought. As a Christian I have been praying to overcome some circumstance but they still persist not knowing that if I can control and shape my thought such a circumstance can be shaped.

The idea of cause and effect taught me to focus on cause of any circumstance to proffer solution to them once and for all rather than treating the effect each time they surface. Also I have seen the need to celebrate my vision for it is what you celebrate that will make you a celebrity. I have made up mind to give my vision the required time and energy.

4. Has this book challenged or changed your thinking in any way? If so explain how?

This book challenged me and changed my thinking in many ways. It changed my thinking of attributing my circumstance to others or environment. I have the habit of attributing my financial status to my employer. It is clear to me now that I am the architect of my own life. My employer is not to blame for my plight. It is my choice.

I have equally found that I can shape my circumstance by taking charge and control of my mind. There is no circumstance that I cannot handle or shape by shaping and control my thought.

5. Are there ideas in the book that you totally disagree with? If so why?

I agreed with all the ideas in the book.

6. What did you find most helpful and least helpful in this book?

Every single idea in this book is most helpful. No least helpful idea.

7. In 50 words or less, please describe the main idea the whole book is trying to convey.

Our lives are determined by our thoughts. Nobody can get from life than what his or her thought pattern presents. Man's thought is the battle ground for the conflicts of life and every man is a captive of his or her thoughts. Man's thought will either make him or break him.

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 content 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 98%.

Jonathan livingston seagull.
Assessment by Adeyemi Johnson Adetunji

1. What ideas were personally most important to you in this book?

Do the uncommon.
To get uncommon result one must do the uncommon. Doing the uncommon is what it takes to stand out in the midst of the crowd. Jonathan Seagull did the uncommon; he faulted, stalled, unashamed stretching his wings. This is what took him out of motley class of seagulls. He did the uncommon things which seagulls never did. This idea enables me to see the need to carry out my assignment in an unusual way and to improve on the way I have been doing it so as to get an unusual result. If I continue to do it the way others are doing it, I will continue to get the same results others are getting. For whatever one is doing there is a better way of doing it. One can improve his performance, for the largest room on Earth is the room for improvement.

Discover your purpose.
Jonathan discovered a higher purpose for living than study food and how to get it or fight for bits of food. Although food is one of the basic need of man but there is a higher purpose for living. Man does not live by food alone, we eat to live; we are not living to eat. There is a higher purpose. It is ignorance of the higher purpose for living that keeps a man in the position of meeting the basic need for food for long. From experience, this mentality of working for food only kept me in the same position for long and it is still even one of the hindrances to moving a step further in life. I always thought that, if take certain risk, how would I feed myself and my family, it has now dawned on me that lurking inside a higher purpose is food to eat. Higher purpose when pursued takes care of the basic needs for food, clothes and shelter.

Therefore there is the need to go for higher purpose. Why? Every individual is yet to be all what they are going to be, they are yet to achieve all they are to achieve. How would you feel if everything you were ever going to be, you are right now? If everything you are going to achieve, you have already achieved? Life would be meaningless, wouldn't it?

There is nothing more important than finding a purpose that inspires and motivates you and gives your life meaning and direction. Man is lifeless without purpose. A wise man says 'you are either running with a vision, going on a mission, or burning with a passion, if you do not belong to any of any of these, life is reduced to a burden'. To drift through life with nothing to strife for, no goal, no ambition is soul destroying.

Do what you love.
Jonathan Seagull loved to fly. People rarely succeed unless they are doing what they love. Until people start to do what they love, their success, joy and fulfillment are not in view. Jonathan's success is rooted in doing what he loved-flying. For my joy to be full and to be fulfilled I need to fully concentrate on what is giving me the greatest joy and fulfillment. I have equally discovered that obstacles and challenges are nothing to a man who is doing what he loves. If a man is doing what he loved obstacles are nothing but a stepping stone to greater height. No wonder Jonathan ignored all obstacles and used them as a stepping stone.

You are unique.
Jonathan was pressurized by his parents to be like others but he choose to be different. He tapped into the originality and creative genius of God in his life. He refused to come up to the standards of anyone else. He was himself and refused to copy other seagulls. If Jonathan accepted to be like the rest of the flock as counseled by his mother, he would not have stood out of the crowd by doing the uncommon. I have discovered that every individual is unique and special and we are free to choose our destiny and responsible for our own actions. I am special and unique. There is only one you. Your face and features, voice, style, smile, characteristics, viewpoint, palm prints, fingerprints is found in only one individual-You. My vision and mission on earth is different from other people. Therefore to start copying others and refused to admit my own uniqueness is to end up running other people's vision. I need not to come up to the standard of anyone else. All I need is be myself and stop cheating myself out of what God has called me to be and to do.

Keep learning.
Jonathan was always learning to fly. The more you learn, the more you see the need to learn more. Jonathan opened his mind to learn to learn more and more and receive from others. That is one of the secret behind his outstanding achievements. Learning is a life long event. One should keep on learning to come to more knowledge of the truth. Learning is the master key to living. I see the need to keep on learning so as to become an outstanding leader for learners are leaders.

Never Give Up.
Jonathan Seagull after setting a world speed record for seagulls experienced a disaster; he exploded in midair and smashed down into a brick hard sea. As a result he decided to give up but later braced up and refired.

In the course of pursuing God's plan for my life I have given up times without number in the face of failure. But with Jonathan's experience, I have discovered that failure is not final, it is not the end of the journey. It will never leave you the same way. It will either leave one flat on the ground or become a stepping stone to greatness depending on one's perspective. Failure is just an event. It only comes to pass not to stay. It does not have power to stick to you except you embrace it. Jonathan's failure came only to pass, he refused to embrace it.

Equally I discovered the best approach to failure through Jonathan action after he failed. He broke the promise he had made to himself not to engage in flying again and to accept the ordinary. He responds to failure rather than reacting to it. Response is positive while reacting is negative. Those who respond to failure are made by failure why those who react are broken by it. I have promised myself to refire whenever I am tired rather than retire on my vision and mission on Earth.

Silencing the inner critic.
The inner critic is the little voice inside your head that constantly condemns. It is the voice that sows doubt. If you let thoughts such as these go unchallenged it will destroy your confidence and lower your self esteem. This is what Jon experienced when he experienced disaster. A strange hollow voice sounded within him which lowered his self esteem and made to agreed that he was no better than other seagulls. I am no longer afraid of negative thoughts, knowing them for what they are-not the truth, just negative thoughts. I have learnt to shut it up and go away and change the thoughts to something positive.

Give up approval seeking behavior.
Approval seeking behavior implies going along with what you think others expects out of fear that they won’t like you. It means being concerned with what others think. Jon subscribed to approval seeking behavior when he vowed to be a normal gull and to make everyone happier. Later on, he gave up approval seeking behavior and that was why he was able to break the new ground.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to be liked and accepted but it becomes a problem when you allow other people's approval to dictate how you feel about yourself. Times without number, I hurt myself all in an attempt to receive others approval and if they are not happy with me or approve whatever I am doing, I used to feel bad and my spirit dampened.

Never surrender your dream to criticism.
In the course of wanting to share the truth Jon had found about the nature of Seagulls with other, he was humiliated and accused of violating the dignity and tradition of gull family and eventually became an outcast. But he refused to surrender his dream to criticism. Criticism is going to come, they are part of the price to pay for leaping past mediocrity. The only way to escape criticism is to do nothing and be nothing. Jon stirs criticism from other gulls. Criticisms always present the best avenue to proclaim the truth. Most of the time, people who are critical are either jealous or uninformed. You can't stop criticism but you can learn to handle it. You have the choice of how to respond to other's expectation. If other's don't like what you are doing that is their problem not yours.

Beware of tradition trap.
Tradition, a wise man says is the enemy of civilization. The elders among the seagulls always emphasize that Jon is breaking seagulls' tradition by flying. There are some traditions that we need to break in order to breakthrough. Jon wouldn't have been able to set world record for gull if he holds on to tradition. Any tradition or law that stands against freedom must be set aside. Tradition or law should uphold freedom. If it is not, then it is a negative tradition. Most of the tradition in our society just like in gull society is negative. It is vital to let go of tradition which is against our freedom. The elders among the gulls hold on to tradition. Tradition or laws are made for man and not man for tradition. They can be re-evaluated and updated. The true law is that which leads to freedom.

Invest in others.
Jonathan Seagull, despite the criticism, took time to teach other seagulls the art of flying. He helped them to come up to another level. He took an active interest in others. He sought to discover best in others. I have discovered that one of the best ways of bringing out the best in ourselves is to discover the best in others. Like Jon helped other seagulls to see best in themselves. Jon demonstrated love by teaching them the truth that he had seen and handled. I have learnt not to blame those who are operating in ignorance but to train them. As a result I have arrived at the conclusion 'Train them don't blame them'.

No limitation.
Human beings resorts to use their being limited by nature to justify their failure. They will never see it that they are limited by nature until they experience failure. When Jon experienced failure, he attributed it to being limited by nature. There is the need to understand one's nature; otherwise we will keep on operating below potentials. We need to understand who we are so as to maximize life. Our nature is not against us, it is on our side. There is no limitation anywhere every man's limitation is his ignorance. Sky is not our limit; it is time to reach for heaven. To move on to perfection. I have found that our limitation is dependent upon our thought. Whatever we cannot conceive in our mind we cannot achieve. Our body is at the mercy of our thought. Our body is bound to respond to our thought.

No price no gain.
Jonathan paid price for is prize. He sacrificed his time, energy and food to the extent that he became bone and feathers. Food became secondary in his priority list. His pain eventually became his gain. It dawned on me that a higher purpose requires a higher price, a price that is higher than what I am paying for my present level. The level of laboring only to get food is a comfort zone, it requires little sacrifice. It is a level we are not expected to remain in for long. The question is how comfortable is the comfort zone. One needs to be uncomfortable with the comfort zone and become an enemy of average.

Practice makes perfection.
What you don't practice you cannot perfect. Jon was fond of practicing every now and then. No wonder he was able to set a world speed record for seagulls.
He was always experimenting, making hundreds of low level glides, stretching his wings and stalling. With time what he experiments become his experience. What you don't experiment will never become your experience. The move onto perfection is rooted in constant practice. The idea practice is important to me for I have been involved in the world of study than practice. It is time to act my study before talking of perfection. I need to test what I have been studying so as to triumph in it. For any idea you don't test you cannot triumph in it.

Human opinion does not have to become your reality.
To some extent Jon was influenced by his parents' opinion and other seagulls that he should give up the idea of flying. Their opinion at the beginning nearly became his reality. What I have learnt about human opinion is that I am not bound to take it, it does not have to become my reality. Equally everybody is entitled to his or her opinion. Those who make changes in their generation were never discouraged by human opinion and voices. Ninety eight percent of human voices and opinion are discouraging only about two percent are encouraging. That is why one must learn to encourage himself rather than depending on people's opinion. The fact that they are many does not mean they are right. If ninety eight people say something foolish it's still foolish, if two people say something right it's right. Truth is not a function of consensus opinion.

Mind the company you keep.
Jon was always alone before his breakthrough. I have found that it is better to be alone than in the wrong company. One needs to steer clear of negative thinking experts. Those people can never bring out the best in us. They will never influence us to become better. Jon became an outcast for proclaiming the truth. It is better to become an outcast in the name of proclaiming the truth than to be acceptable in the wrong company of the mediocre.

2. Can you relate the idea or concept in this book to your personal circumstances in life such as your relationships, your beliefs, your goal, your values etc.

The idea in the book, Jonathan Livingston Seagull has a lot in common with my personal circumstance especially the idea of finding a higher purpose and living it. I have equally found a higher purpose but I have not been fully living it as a result of some obstacles such as how would I meet the basic things of life such as food, clothes, shelter e.t.c. But with this book I have discovered that life goes beyond meeting the basic things of life. There s a higher purpose to find and live for.

Equally I have found the need to overcome all obstacles such as inner critics, criticism from outside as well as the need to break the tradition trap and the need to experiment what I have been studying.

3. What are the most important new ideas or concepts you have learned from this book?

The most important new ideas or concepts I learned from the book are:
* Find a purpose and live it just like Jon.
* Do what you love. Do what you love is one of the major secret of success for people can only succeed doing what they love. When one is doing what he or she loves boredom will never have its way in that persons life and to such a man obstacles is but a stepping stone to higher ground.
* Avoid the trap of tradition. I learnt that most of the traditional rules are enemies to our breaking new ground in life. The limit us and keep us in bondage. Therefore I have resolved that any tradition that does not guarantee my freedom or limits the use of my potential I am breaking them.

4. Has this book challenged or change your thinking in any way?

This book has challenged me and has affected my thinking in the following ways. I have seen the need to steer clear of negative thinking experts and to erase mediocre thinking and leave the company of mediocre just like Jon. The need to live my dream irrespective of challenges and obstacles dawned on me.

It is now clear to me that nobody can limit me but I and nobody can limit me without my consent. My thinking is challenged on the need to help others to see the best in themselves and bring out the best in them.

5. Are there ideas in the book that you totally disagree with? If so, why?

I agreed with all the ideas in the book. Every statement is a complete message.

6. What did you find most helpful and least helpful in this book?

I found everything in the book most helpful.

7. In 50 words or less, please describe the main idea the book is trying to convey.

Finding a higher purpose and living it. There is more to life than eating. Although in the course of living a higher purpose one will face challenges but one should not be discouraged but see them as a stepping stone rather than a stumbling block.

Please rate the following question 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