As A Man Thinketh
Assessment by Mabu Samuel from Cameroon

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

The author is trying to let us know here that everything we do comes from our mind. That is our Success will only depend on my mind’s reflection, in other words what i do, act and speak as my character comes from my mind. So the author is making me know here that my character and way of thinking is what exactly I am. Not something else.

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. That my mind must be put to the right use to deliver the goal it deserved. So if I decide to think the wrong way I will equally achieve a wrong goal though we are not praying for that and if I do the right way then I will achieve my goals in life. I can not expect to have an orange and working towards a pear. These are two different things that don’t share any common identity. What I mean here is that If our goals are define well then we will work towards that. Reasoning is the key to every success. As we reason so shall our outfit- that is the way our community will see us.

b. Anything I do as action has already been conceive in mind before putting it into action. So if I portray a very good action, character, and thoughts I will act well in society and people will get to interact with me not fearing who i am. This will be a positive image of me this shows that we should always try to portray a positive reasoning mind, this will greatly increase our personality as inspired leaders.

c. If I aspire for something great in life I will have it. So if I dream of having being a good leader tomorrow and back it with right thinking, character and behavior. I will possibly achieve my goals. This can not be done without you working for it. We need to work and educate the community on the importance having a vision for something and backed it properly.

d. And the dreams or victories if achieve should be properly follow up to the highest level.
This is because achieving a dream and not following up may skip away along the line as the mind will keep thinking of certain other things. So follow up is vital in any thing we do.

e. Also that if we have a sound mental thought so as our health. If our mind is disturbed then our health will not be in a good condition and will keep on depreciating. So we should always keep our minds at ease in order to have a sound health.

f. I also noticed that in order to achieve success in life I must past through difficulties. No success have ever been achieve without passing through hardness or difficulties and opposition. That is why I learned from the previous novel Jonathan Seagull who distinguished himself from other birds and had to undergo opposition from his own father and others. Since he knew what he was out for he continued tirelessly to his success. This is a big lesson for me and others that anything that is conceived is worth working for.

g. I have equally learnt that since I am out to create change, my mind needs to be flexible. I need to be dynamic to change and welcome it. If I want my society to change I must listen to other peoples ideas and deduct the right one which I know can change the lives of the societies. I know people will tend to judge your personality so while mingling with people in the society, I need to be tactful, creative and adapt to change. All these can not be done without the mind being dynamic.

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 have learnt that my mind is the product of my character. So this has called for some careful reasoning and straight thinking which can make me look gentle and calm. This will depict who I am, not who are you. I will equally know how to mold my character and thoughts to face the challenges of life. Many people suffer because they don’t know how to mold their character to deliver the goal required of them So I will use this ideas to influence them for a better world.

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

“that man is the master of thought, the molder of character, and the maker and shaper of condition, environ” this makes me know that what ever thing I do depends on me, That is my destiny lies in my hands. So if my mind reason well and I develop a good character and behavior in public, I will never regret provided I keep on with it. Many people in our society today are having difficulties with life because they don’t know what is required of them As inspired leaders we need to raise these innocent groups of people to see the light of the day. This can not be done without making the innocent to know the implication of certain types of behavior that keep them on a stand point. We need to tell educate and train a person on the way life functions. If this is done then we are preparing the person towards a better lifestyle, we will thereby achieving our mission with IIGL.

“Spiritual achievements are the consummation of holy aspirations’ Here I know that if I really want success in life I need to work hand in hand with the Divine intervention. That is what ever thing I need I should first put it into prayers before starting it. Also I conceive positive thoughts I will succeed in life. Our society may be growing backward because they are still relying on traditional beliefs. Not paying attention to the Holy Bible. From this Bible that is where our destiny lies. So many people in our society don’t seem to thank God for the life provided to them and knell before at any one point when he/she has problems. If we always give our allegiance to God, then success will always come our way. Whatever think that come our way, we should always thank God because HE knows why things happen the way there... ‘He is the Light, Way and the Truth and anyone that come to HIM will be save.

"One man is an oppressor because many are slaves; let us despise the slaves." If we use our talents well, we will achieve our goals. We have many God given talents and we are not exploiting them. If we exploit them the right way we will be oppress. So we turn to be where we are not because we want is because we don’t want change. If we accept change then we will free a mighty people who are behind us and who are under bondage, and this can only be done the way our mind response to the changing world. They are many people in our community today who need to be delivered from bondage but since many people have failed them they tend to loss confident from those around them. When need to give our community the confident they deserve so as to serve them well. This is the reason why IIGL has set up this program to raise a generation of new empowered leaders to deliver and lead our society the way it suppose to be. As per this reason we will not fail IIGL since it has sacrifices a lot and to see their dreams come true, we just need to execute what we are learning.

“our character being the complete sum of all his thoughts” If we want to be known well in society for being what we are, it starts from our character. Our thoughts greatly determines our character. We should always learn to put on a responsible character and thoughts so as to catch the attention of the public. Not only catching the attention of the public but delivering the goals the public needs from us. What ever we do we should try to portray a responsible image so as to always have the confident of the public

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?

Nothing. I read and understood the contents and there were straight to the point

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?

Yes, all the exercises were completed as it is my priority to do so.

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. I understood what I read.

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? 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? 9

Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Assessment by Mabu Samuel from Cameroon

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

The author is trying to make it known here that despite the old believe of doing things, one needs to experiment to see how he or she can create change in life. That is why we see Jonathan seagull behave in a different manner from other birds. He did not only sit and depend on the old tradition where birds had their limitation but went further to experiment.. He believed in making success and this was achieved in the way his mind reasoned and his character pursuit him to act in that direction. So he became a leader in his domain. As human being we also fall into this category too If we will like to break the chains that we are in enjoy our society then all depend on us. We need to work hard for success to come our way.

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. There’s a reason to life! We can lift 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. The more we practice to do this we will become use to it. Jonathan seagull had set an example for other birds to follow rather than limiting their selves to tradition. We should also learn to give back what ever thing we see can lead to development. If we conceived any meaningful idea that can impact development in our area we should share it with mates rather than keeping it to ourselves since people have different developing talents and this when combined with others will speed up development in different spheres.. So my plea here is that we should try as much as possible to raise talented leaders who can perform the required goals rather than picking people like leaders who will tend up not delivering the goals.

b. There is more to life than doing the same thing all the time and expecting different result. Leaders take risks. As a matter of fact what we are striving for is change. if we take the risk and break the bounds, we will always rejoice as a good leader must always take risk in life to achieve his goals, thus distinct ourselves. We should not depend on what was handed to us by our forefathers. We should always try to create a change in our lives. Is because what we think is right for us might not be all that right, so we should try to break bounds by creating a change as Jonathan did.

c. I have had this that I should not even think of failure. That what ever thing I try to do I should pray first for success before doing that so as to attain my goals with ease. This is because if I pay attention to failure, I will always be thinking to that effect. So failure will always follow those who think and concentrate on it. I know failure is something that doesn’t have any specific time but we should wipe it off our mind.

d. Hard work leads to success
What we need to be or to do, we need to understand it well. This is important because if we don’t know this will always fail. Rather than depending on the old tradition, Jonathan livingston Seagull was inspired to carry out a venture of which he succeeded in doing just what he needed in life. So we should copy this as an example. Many people will depend on faith thereby limiting their chances of ever succeeding in life. Since life as a dynamic concept we need to adjust to it regularly not depending on the old tradition. Jonathan’s experience clearly tells us this.

e. We should learn to be creative as the book tells us.

f. We should always attain our goals no matter what the course may be.
Also I have come to learn that each and every one of us has the ability of learning in his or her own way. There is no one way of learning and understanding. What we need from what we are out for is doing the right thing at the right time. So if we constantly practice to do something and having interest in the thing we will eventually do it. After much practice and the interest Jonathan had in his experience as we see this quote in the book. "But you, Jon." he said, "learned so much at one time that you don't have to go through a thousand lives to reach this one." This equally show that if we have the interest to learn for change it will take us no extra mile to achieve our goal as thus Jonathan.

g. We should share our experience for the benefit of the community which needs change. Lastly I have come to realize that we don’t need to depend only on our limitations. We need to break bounds and make a change. If we only depend on our past glories we will tend to suffer. We need to exploit the world, our lives and create change. We need to be dynamic once this is done then we will realize changes in our present lives Before this is done, at any point where we know we don’t understand something we should always call for some body to instruct us. This will add more impetus to our success. For example Jonathan Seagull did not just end at his level. Since he was out to learn much he met Sullivan and Chiang to teach him what he did not know when he went to heaven to learn more about flying. This too had made me to know knowledge is broad. No one can know everything that is way we have teachers who can lead us to the right direction

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 learned here will help me know how to associate and interact with people of different mentality. Since many people in the society are not creative despite our spiritual gifts, many in the society tend to rely on traditional beliefs. So I will know how to use creative gifts to explore the world and create change for the new generation, rather than relying on traditional beliefs. What we need here is to have a world free of social ills, a free society. So no matter how many times we will face opposition in life, we should strive for change.

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

“But the speed was power, and the speed was joy, and the speed was pure beauty”. “Perfect speed, my son, is being there." At times we need to be heady for ideas we see can create change. Jonathan proved his worth despite all the criticism he had. He experimented, enjoyed the smooth mode in which he was carrying out his activities and was congratulated by those who were against him when they saw him bringing new ideas to the society.

"It always works, when you know what you're doing” If we know exactly what we are out for and the challenges, nobody will ever disturbed us from going through. They can only delay us from getting there but can never disturbed us from reaching our destination.

"keep working on love." If we will like to have a world that is free for every one then we should learned to dissimilate our achievements even to the common man on the street. We need to teach, educate the our society for a reason for change.

“Break the chains of your thought, and you break the chains of your body, too.” Here I have learn that though we have limitations, what we need to do is to open up our minds and body for change to come. If we follow this principle, then we will succeed as our limitations will be dealt with.

“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 and lead weights to overcome.” If we will succeed in life, we need to start working hard today. This is because lazy people will never like to change their present status and will remain poor. So in other to have a sound world we need to work very hard to have us success tomorrow. We need to teach, educate the our society for a reason for change.

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?

Yes. The contents of the book was at first ticklish. But how ever I managed to adapt.

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?

Yes, all the exercises were completed

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? 9
B. How helpful were the contents? 9
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? 9