As A Man Thinketh
Assessment by Thato Koogotsitse (Botswana)

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

When growing up you are told that you are in control of your life, your future, but you never really know to what extent, it never occurred to me that who I am today and my circumstances could be my own doing or even because of my thoughts.

As human beings we tend to find fault with our upbringing, our parents' inability to take us to the best schools, for our failures and when you think of those individuals who had it worse than us but managed to improve their circumstances and who they are then the question how they managed to do that comes and we never have an answer, sometimes we think they are using muti or traditional doctors to be where they are. From reading this book I would say the message the author is trying to pass onto the audience is that; man and his thoughts is the master of his universe and whatever he thinks it shall be. The circumstances that we find ourselves in are our own doing. This he made clear by saying “man is the master of thought, the molder of character, and the maker and shaper of condition, environment and destiny”. No one besides ourselves is responsible for who we are whether we are in the best shape of our lives or not, content with who we are and where you are either emotionally or physically, no outside force plays a role in what will become of an individual in the future.

For us to have any chance in the future it all depends on our thoughts “a man's mind maybe 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”, our thoughts need to be fed with positivism for prosperous results without that we are only going to have wants and wishes which will never be fulfilled, because you can always want but without you pushing for what you want and thinking you have no capability to get it you will never get it.

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 man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts; as a student I always want to get a particular grade at the end of the semester but I have realized that as much as I would want that grade, no matter how hard I work I never get it, I might get something close and I have always wondered how this could be, until I read the above statement, now I understand because all these times there was always a voice inside my head saying ' you've got to be kidding you actually think you are intelligent enough to get such a grade only certain individuals can get that grade not you' my thoughts were my worst enemy. I gotten to the point where I thought maybe I was not praying or not tithing enough and that was the reason for my inability to get the grade I wanted.

* Man is made or unmade by himself. In the armory of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself. He also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace; the above statement hit a cord, because now I realize that I have the power to be whatever I want. I have control of my circumstances and whether they turn out to be great or not is all up to my thoughts, how are frame them to where I want to be. It is also important to me because I'm at a stage in my life where I'm discovering who I am and my being able to know that I can mold myself to whatever I want is both a scary and exciting idea, as if I turn out to be loser I won't have anyone but myself to blame and it will be very difficult to take responsibility for my failures but if it goes the other way I can always say its all me and be proud of myself as I would know that I did not have to trick anyone to be where I am or had an advantage because I knew someone at the top especially when it comes to employment.

* Only by much searching and mining are gold and diamonds obtained, and man can find every truth connected with his being, if he will dig deep into the mine of his soul; life is a funny thing because you will have people going to the highs and lows to find truth and die in vain without realizing that all this time they were searching for something that's already inside of them. This comes as an enlightment to me because now I know that any pot of honey that I want to find the answer is in me all I have to do is look within myself not to the outside as the outside will only give me more questions to ask.

* Circumstances does not make the man; it reveals him to himself: this statement comes as a revelation because growing up I always believed that circumstances determine who an individual is and their future but now everything makes sense as I now realize that our character is revealed when we find ourselves in certain situations.

* Let a man radically alter his thoughts and he will be astonished at the rapid transformation it will effect in the material conditions of his. This statement is important to me because it tells me that whatever I think of myself will materialize if I think my life will be a success story then that's exactly how it will be and if I think I will never amount to anything I never will

* A man can only rise, conquer, and achieve by lifting up his thoughts. He can only remain weak, abject, and miserable by refusing to lift up his thoughts.

* By the aid of self-control, resolution, purity, righteousness, and well directed thought a man ascends. By the aid of animality, indolence, impurity, corruption, and confusion of thought a man descends.

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?

For one thing these lessons will help me to lessen my blaming the next person or circumstances for my misfortunes, funny enough all my successes I tend to acknowledge myself for all of them, for instance, I have been friends with this young woman for almost all of my life and I believe its because we have a certain understanding of each other, as much as that might be true whenever something goes wrong, I look at her for blame I forget the saying it takes two to tango. Over the past two years she's been doing her studies in a South African Universities so I had to develop acquaintances with other individuals and most of them tend not to last but whatever the reason for them falling apart, I always make myself out to be the good guy, when it comes to the relationship with people of a different gender its even worse I'll always go; he didn't call me enough, didn't give me the attention I deserve, when the truth is really I get bored quickly of relationships especially those that involve spending every second together but I avoid that issue and that maybe it didn't work because I was not doing something right in the relationship.

I read a motivational book once and it was talking about being the right partner not looking for the right partner, now I realize that what I think of myself will and carry myself will determine the kind of friends I will have and how those friends treat me because I teach people how to treat me, this also comes from a motivational book. The problem with motivational books they will tell you be the right partner or you teach people how to treat you and they leave you hanging you won't know where to begin, you start wondering should I start smiling or do I toughen up so I won't have everyone stepping all over me. These lessons give insight, that just lift your thoughts a little higher and they will be a dramatic change in your life whether you are in business, still in school or working it still applies. And of course these thoughts have a ripple effect that starts with you as an individual and your circumstances and moves to the people around you as they say, the best advertisement you can get is through people that is mouth to mouth, after reading something like these and applying it my life and it has a positive impact in my life, like it already has over the past couple of weeks, I'm going to recommend it to a number of my friends and them to theirs and it will go on and they will be a lot of success stories to be told.

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.

To put away aimlessness and weakness and to begin to think with purpose is to enter the ranks of those strong ones who only recognize failure as one of the pathways to attainment.

Thought allied fearlessly to purpose becomes a creative force. He who knows this is ready to become something higher and stronger than a bundle of wavering thoughts and fluctuating sensations. He who does this has become the conscious and intelligent wielder of his mental powers.

Cherish your vision; your ideals. Cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your drapes your purest thoughts. For out of them will grow all delightful conditions, all heavenly environment of these if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built.

From the above mentioned quotes one can get that they are all about purpose and one's vision because after reading this book, I realize that we are only good as our thoughts, what we think of ourselves and that will determine the things we think we are good enough to achieve. The measure of how we think of ourselves will be revealed by the kind of dreams we have for ourselves and the purpose our lives hold. Our dreams or visions and purpose are our driving force; how hard we work will be the result of these.

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 would just like to say the author has put a new light onto my thinking of what makes an individual successful and it makes sense, so there is nothing I'm not unclear about or that I disagree with and I understood what the author was saying.

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?

Besides the assessment that I was supposed to do there were no other exercises that I came across that I was supposed to do.

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.

I think the previous questions covered everything that needs to be said and I have no extra comment I would want to add.

Ratings

A. How interesting was it to read? 9
B. How helpful were the contents? 9
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? 7

Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Assessment by Thato Koogotsitse (Botswana)

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

A lot of times we tend to limit our own abilities so much that it has become human nature, and we always have reasons why we can't, it could be because we do not have enough money or we were not fortunate enough to go to universities or colleges or the best one, would be us thinking my grandparents or my parents didn't make what makes us think we can, some call it the generational curse, a many a times I have read motivational books and most of them spread the same message, that we came into this world pregnant with potential and we have been endowed we so much talent, of course its not going to come to you as an individual presenting itself to you saying here I am use me, we have to go out into the world, test yourself to see what you can and cannot do but I've always thought when we start listing our abilities or who we think we are in terms of, when you are in an interview we are actually limiting ourselves and Richard Bach seems to agree with me, I believe we can be whatever we want and can do anything we put our mind to, all it takes is a little hard work and perseverance and us thinking out of the box which is what I think is the main idea in this here book.

The message that is being conveyed by this book is we are beings with limitless capabilities and we have the power to be what ever we want, as long as we are willing to take the risks, there would not be any Bill Gates or Donald Trumps, if these man had not taken a stand and said I'm going to do this no matter the risk. As people we are so afraid of making mistakes, that we lock ourselves in our own little box afraid that if we take peek out of it we will be hurt, disappointed or we might fall and even the thought of trying is just to scary for us. It took me a while for me to apply for this programme because I was scared and even when receiving the confirmation that my application has been accepted and the fact that I would be the first Botswana to have applied and accepted, scared the living daylights out of me because I started putting all the responsibility on my shoulders, that I was a representation of all Botswana and what if I don't do well it won't be a good representation but I realized the only thing that's going to make this work out for Botswana would be for me, not to take that step and follow through with this programme, for me to be a better leader of tomorrow, and that if I had any plans of bringing any kind of change this would be a great start.

If we are all going to hide in our little box how do we expect to experience all the wonderful things in this world? Obviously not, Of course getting out of the box is just the start we must be ready for all challenges we will face, the scorn from the people around us, the failures we will go through. The truth is those people who will be so quick to criticize will be the same ones who cannot even try so they will try pull you down, to the level that they are at, when you think of it the worst thing you can do would be not to try as with every failure a lesson is learnt, the only thing that will keep you going will be your goals and the spirit of perseverance; be willing to try over and over again.

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.

We can list ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill. We can be free! We can learn to fly;

Our lack of knowledge or information is just one of the many enemies, keeping us from reaching our level best. Failure for us to realize that, there is more to life than the little things that we do daily that's not going to get us anywhere fast, denies us the opportunities out there in the world, just waiting for us to grab onto. During my first year at university I lived in my own little world, with no care of what was going on in the world around me, did the same old thing everyday I would go to school, attend the few lessons I had during the day and go home, that was the story of my life. I hit an all time low and it helped me, in that when I lifted myself from it I realized that there was more to life than what I was doing, that moment and how I was not only denying myself but a whole lot of people who were in need of my services and how I can bring so much good into their lives. I did not want to have people at my funeral saying the same things they say at funerals, just to humor those related to the deceased talking about how good somebody was when, we know that's not the case I want people to say such and mean them and tell of the changes I've brought to their lives. And I know now that there is so much to learn in this world that you can never say it's enough. There is this gentleman who is in Uganda almost a 100 years but he is going to school and that just an example of how we should not let anything stop us from reaching excellence in our lifetime.

Most of us came along ever so slowly, we went from one world into another that was almost exactly like it, forgetting right away where we had come from not caring where we were headed, living for the moment;

As young person living today you find that we seem to put the idea of having fun before anything else, there is this saying that we tend to use often when someone comes along to try give us guidance, which is don't worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will take care of itself, which is a misuse of it as it wasn't meant to be used in that context. We are more into living for the now and don't care about how the future will be.

We choose our next world through what we learn in this one. Learn nothing and the next world is the same as this one all the same limitations lead weights to overcome;

The reason behind every risk being taken is to make a mistake and learn from that mistake for better performance on the next trial, being afraid to make a mistake, is being afraid to learn, which the result is being stuck in one place for the rest of our lives with no improvement.

Any number is a limit and perfection doesn't have limits;

Like I gave an example of a man in Uganda who is going to school at almost 100 nothing should be of a limit to us when you start feeling comfortable where you are that's when you should start worrying as comfort will not enable us to try something different

The gulls who scorn perfection for the sake of travel go nowhere, slowly. Those who put aside travel for the sake of perfection go anywhere instantly:

The trick in life is to know how to do something to the best of your abilities not to do it aimlessly.

Each of us is in truth an idea of the great gull, and unlimited idea of freedom and precision flying is a step toward expressing our real nature. Everything that limits us where we have to put aside;

I would not want to believe that we were brought in this world to have other people succeed and others fail we are filled with potential, when we arrived in this world it all depends on how far we era willing to go to release that potential, despite the limitations that may come as our fears, doubts and just our believe that we cannot surpass those who came before us.

Break the chains of your thought, and you break the chains of your body;

I think I have underestimated the power of my thought now I realize just how my thoughts are holding me down to be the best I can be.

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 first thing I will take from these lessons is that I can be whatever I want to be if I remove all the limits I have created in front of me I should not let my human body set limits for me and of course all of these limits can be overcome with much practice

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.

The trick was to know that his true nature lived, as perfect as an unwritten number, everywhere at once across space and time.

If our friendship depends on things like space and time, then when we finally overcome space and time, we've destroyed our own brotherhood! But overcome space, and all we have left is here. Overcome time, and all we have left is now. And in the middle of here and now, don't you think that we might see each other once or twice.

The gull sees farthest who flies highest

You have freedom to be yourself, your true self, here and now, and nothing can stand in your way.

The above statements were especially important to me as they talk about how we come into this world with a whole lot of potential, and how we have a choice to live as the rest of the world or tap into that potential to reveal our limitless abilities.

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'm not clear about and no ideas that I disagree with.

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?

There were no exercises in this book that required my doing.

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.

At this particular juncture I have no other comments that I would like to add on to what has already been said.

A. How interesting was it to read? 9
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? 8