As A Man Thinketh
Assessment by Rwamatwara Egide

1. What Ideas were personally most important to you in this book? Do not simply list the ideas, but explain or discuss why they were important to you, using personal examples.

The main and important ideas that I found in this book basically turn around the role of the thoughts in shaping a human being's character and behavior, success and/or failure; and his/her capacity to mold, improve and/or worsen his life by simply working on his thoughts accordingly. In other words, the text implies that a person owns his destiny and can alter it and orient it towards a certain direction of his/her own choice. I have two positions regarding this approach, meaning that I am in favor of the whole idea, but one should also recognize that some circumstances are beyond individual's control.

I buy the idea that in general, and all things being equal, positive thinking accompanied with hard working lead to positive results and individual progress. By positive thinking, one's mind is trained to believe that there is no place for total failure. By this positive thinking, high self esteem is developed which allows an individual to set up his/her goals and work hard to attain them. With this attitude even failure is considered temporary and as an incentive to adjust the strategies. The individual is not discouraged because the mind does not recognize total failure. For example, I personally believed that I couldn't fail in school when I have regularly participated in the lectures; and indeed I have never failed!

The idea which I concur with is that when you train your mind to be joyous, smiling, respectful and helpful, you end up, as individual, becoming ever smiling, happy and sociable. The opposite is also true that when you continually feed your mind with negative and black ideas, you will end up acting and behaving badly.

However, this is in a normal environment enabling every one to choose to be good and behave positively. There are circumstances where an individual is not given this chance. Where the text tells us that the person is always master of his thoughts and hence of his outcome is not always true. We all know that an individual does not live in isolation. He/she lives in constant interactions with friends, family members, church fellows, school mates and the wider society. All this entourage has a share in nurturing and molding the mind of the person. Thus, although we can say that the individual still retains the capacity of resisting the influence of his/her entourage to mold as he/she pleases we can't lose sight of the effect of these outside influences. However, outside influence plays both ways, it can positively help the individual mold his/her attitude as it can affect negatively his/her thinking, hence her life.

The other strong idea that I fully support is that for one to succeed, he/she has to dream (think) about that success and give it a shape already in the mind then work towards its achievement. I agree with the author when he says that there are some people who lament that they are poor but stay the whole day loitering around doing nothing. The example of workers who lament that their grades and salaries are low but spend an entire day doing nothing is very common. Where do they think that their increment will come from if they do not work hard to increase the company's income?

Others believe in miracles which will one day make them rich. The only miracle that brings wealth is dreaming of that worth, setting up strategies and hard working towards that dream's realization. Again one may argue quite rightly that there are some people who are hard workers but do not succeed and others who put less effort and still succeed. Here I would concur with the author's position that it is not enough to have good thought to succeed but also hard working. Inversely speaking, it is not enough to work hard, there is also need to work systematically and towards a purpose, a goal.

I also like and concur with the idea that a true man will have to seat down and reflect on his life. Only after doing this exercise can he adjust his life and improve it. Thus he will not accuse others of being the cause of his failures as if they entirely control his life. However, we are again talking about normal circumstances. We know very well that some people can block others and make sure they do not succeed. I know of some people who have been forced to resign from the jobs they were performing pretty well, and others who have been forced to drop the deal bid with a death threat. I don't even mention those who have been killed because of their success or to eliminate them from the competition.

The other idea that I enjoyed reading is that lazy thoughts create weak and unsuccessful people who turn into awkward lifestyle of begging, stealing, prostitution and other unlawful acts. On the other hand, people with thoughts of dignity, courage, self-reliance and combativity make it in life. Even when faced with difficulties, they handle them accordingly and do not panic. Thus, I like the advice of preparing one's mind, feeding it with positive thoughts throughout one's life. This way the chances are high for the person to succeed in life.

The idea that clean thoughts or positive ones make clean/positive habits is great. By cultivating positive thinking, one trains the mind to be positive and this translated into actions and behavior. I believe that when a person sees the world around him positively, mourn less about his/her shortfalls but strive to redress and correct his/her mistakes whenever they occur, such a person will have less trouble and will succeed in life.

I also agree that effort and practice are the core factors of success. You don't sleep and wake up a lawyer, a doctor, a soccer player or a pilot. You simply tell yourself that you want to be a lawyer and start working towards that by raising money for schooling and reading hard to get the degree. This effort and practice brings perfection, but to reach this end, the road is full of barriers and difficulties that one has to handle efficiently. This concludes in the saying that where there is will there is might.

2. Can you relate the ideas or concepts in this book to your personal circumstances in life such as your relationships, your beliefs, your goals, your values, etc? Please use personal examples in your explanation.

Most of the ideas in this text translate my own beliefs. For example, I believe in hard work for any success, and I am a hard worker. I have told myself from the very young age that where there is no pain there is no gain. My hard working has always been rewarded. Of course some times you may not get exactly what you struggled to get but at least, so I say, you must say to yourself, 'I gave the best of my self, I put all my effort, this is the best I could do'. If with this you still don't get there you double the effort and surely at the end you will get what you aim for.

The other idea is to continually clean one's mind by feeding it with positive thinking. I believe that when you want to be good, despite difficulties of life, you will always be good. If you tell your mind that you shouldn't be angry with anything, then you will handle unfair situations and actions without necessarily being angry. By removing the spirit of violence, hatred, selfishness and bitterness from your mind, this will translate into your words, into your actions and behavior. No one is born violent, brutal, mean or cruel. Or these vices are developed and end up become second nature.

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

I wouldn't call it a new idea but the whole idea of training the mind by feeding it with positive thoughts so as to mold one's behavior and actions was original. I had a vague idea of this ideology but the text was so articulate and explanatory that the whole idea became clearer and more practical to me.

The idea of conquering fear, weakness and failure for a high self esteem and success was also original and it strengthened my belief in the same direction.

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

It rather strengthened my beliefs in terms of positive thinking.

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

There are some ideas that I consider to be exaggerated and that should be taken with some moderation. For example, I did not totally agree with the idea that disease and ill hearth or good health are rooted in thought. This idea implies that those who fall sick are those with bad thoughts; and vice versa, those with clean thoughts never fall sick. This is too ideological and goes against natural laws and scientific proofs. Sickness is biological degradation or pathological state of the body which can befall positive thinkers and negative ones alike. I wouldn't buy the idea that with positive thinking one will never fall sick. If the author is talking about psychiatric cases of illness may be he can have a point. Some mental illnesses stem from spiritual failure or the state of the mind with negative thoughts. Madness can also be interpreted as originating from wrong representation of the environment around the patient or simply the failure of the mind. However, this idea cannot be generalized to all types of illnesses.

I also take with some measure of realism the idea that with positive thinking one never get old, that at ninety a positive thinker looks very young whereas at forty a negative thinker looks ninety. I believe that with positive thinking, ever smiling, one keeps his/her face clean and looks younger than the age, but this should not be exaggerated.

Moreover, the author is putting all the blame on the individual, forgetting that the environment contribute a great deal of shaping the mind of the individual. I consider that the text overemphasized the power of the individual at the expense of the nature and the society within which the individual is found. The dual influence between society and individual is neglected.

I also recognize the strengths but also the limits, be it temporary or permanent, of the individual. Thus, the truism that the text put across that many men cannot be enslaved by one man is too simplistic. I believe that one individual can amass worth and power, built fortresses and army to conquer and subjugate entire population. Until this population come up with superior force to overthrow tyranny and subjugation, the latter remains the truth and reality.

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

Determination: The idea that a man should conceive of a legitimate purpose in his heart, and set out to accomplish it is what I call determination and which is the mother of all successes. Thus I agree with the position that those with no central purpose in their life fall an easy prey to petty worries, fears, troubles, and self-pitying, all which are indications of weakness and which leads to failure, unhappiness and loss.

Hope: The idea that he who conquered fear and doubt has conquered failure. With faith and belief in oneself the sky is the limit.

Positivism: One has to look at the environment around him with a positive thinking.

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

The book tells us that what a person has in his/her mind is what comes out in what he/she says and what he/she does. Our actions and behaviors translate our thinking. Thus, by molding one's mind feeding it with a certain type of thoughts, one is shaping his personality.

Please Rate this book 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? 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? 8

Comments - Feel free to share any additional comments about the book or about the ratings:

I personally enjoyed reading the book. It is full of moral lessons and should be recommended to all schools in order to shape the minds of growing children. I admit I could have said a lot in the assessment about the book but time was not on my side. I also wish to have others' comments about the book.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Assessment by Rwamatwara Egide (Congo)

1. What Ideas were personally most important to you in this book? Do not simply list the ideas, but explain or discuss why they were important to you, using personal examples.

This book is full of important ideas. I have captured the following ones:

Goals: In life one needs to set up goals and objectives and strive to attain/achieve them. Jonathan had set up a goal of learning how to fly and to excel in flying high and diving. He struggled to achieve this goal and finally he made it. Working towards a fixed objective helps to measure one's achievements and failures. Lack of clear objective makes an individual a follower and never a leader. Such an individual is not even capable of giving a direction to his/her own life as he/she just follows others. A clear goal makes you change some of the routines in order to be able to reach the target; and change is important and fundamental to any development.

Sacrifice: The struggle to achieve one's goal is never straightforward. The road towards success is full of potholes, humps and barriers. It also involves sacrifices and requires extreme effort. Those who accept to make the sacrifices and the suffering that extreme effort involves make it to their final goal. Jonathan made the biggest sacrifice by accepting to be outcasted by his group in order to pursue his goal. His heavy sacrifice was rewarded by his achievement. At the end he was the star and role model within his folk. He commended respect for the same gulls who once saw in him a rebellious and deviant fellow.

Removing constraining traditional/cultural taboos, myths and beliefs: Some times our cultural beliefs constitute barriers to our development and restrain our personal/individual achievement. Some individuals who are courageous enough to go against these constraining beliefs in pursuit of their goal succeed in life although they face the challenge of being punished by the custodians of cultural norms. Society exercise a lot of pressure on individuals, however, some individuals transform the society by their brave and adventurous actions. Jonathan had to break the group's rules in order to achieve his ambition and he did indeed achieve his goals at the price of being cursed by the elders and the whole group.

Hard work: The struggle to achieve a goal requires hard work. Many of us do not use all our physical and intellectual capacities to achieve our ambitions. Some even say that it is impossible before they give it a try. Jonathan proves us that nothing is impossible when you convince yourself that you can do it and make all your effort to do it.

Positivism: In every action you take to achieve your goal, you need to be positive. Failures and mistake should not discourage our effort but should be means for our improvement. Jonathan proved this point. Whenever he was about to give up because of failures and conflicting beliefs in his way, he decided to carry on until he reached his goal.

Sharing: the book also tells us that it is no point being successful or being knowledgeable if you don't share with others. The more you share, the more you gain in terms of knowledge and ownership. After achieving his objective, Jonathan did not keep his knowledge to himself. His next goal was to change his fellow gulls and to raise their self esteem. He taught them what he knew and what he had practiced.

Love and care: We are all called to love one another, especially our group and strive to see our community members improving. Jonathan had learned that his kin have the major problem of low self esteem and passivity. He decided to combat that problem first and day by day he managed to change many of them.

2. Can you relate the ideas or concepts in this book to your personal circumstances in life such as your relationships, your beliefs, your goals, your values, etc? Please use personal examples in your explanation.

The ideas in Jonathan portray many of my personal beliefs. For example, I believe that if you do not take up your destiny in your own hands, no matter how others help you, you will never stand on your own feet. One needs to set up his goal and strive to achieve it. The outside support comes to complement our own effort. I also believe that effort and hard work lead to success. Like Jonathan, I believe in removing some traditional beliefs that constitute barriers to some communities' development. I also know that some individuals, groups and communities need people like Jonathan who inspire them and lead them towards progress and development.

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

I wouldn't call them new but most of the main ideas in the text reinforced my beliefs. For example, the idea of setting up a goal and work hard toward its achievement is not new to me. However, the way it is illustrated through the life of Jonathan is unique. The ideas in the text look simple and straightforward but very deep in their meaning. When you read the text, it drives to other personal experiences and with that its so rich.

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

Yes and No. I had not realized to what extent traditional beliefs can constitute barriers to development. I used to think that every community must develop from its traditional ideologies and cultural beliefs. In this book, development and progress comes about by detaching oneself, or rather by being chassed, from one's group and its cultural beliefs. The good thing is that this detachment is not permanent. It is temporary, just the time to prove to the fellow kinsmen that by changing this and that one can do better. Jonathan experience is clear. Had he obeyed the tradition and listened to the elders, he would have never been able to exploit his talent and to realize his dream. This happens in our every day lives. Many times we give up some thing simply because doing it would make some one or the entire community unhappy; or else we do this just to please some one or our group even when inside we are not convinced that it is right. Courageous people like Jonathan accept to break the rules to satisfy their noble ambitions and/or to serve the community.

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

The stubbornness of the community saying that if you go against the tradition you have to leave the group. I find this cultural practice too extreme infringes individual rights. With such belief, there wouldn't be any progress because progress means change. Change in ways of doing things in order to be more effective; change in believes and behaviours, etc.
The other idea to which I don't disagree totally but which needs to be taken with some moderation is the idea of adventure and/or rebelling. These can yield positive results but some times they can drive straight into catastrophe. It is true that one is free to lead his/her life the way he/she pleases in pursuit of his goals and objectives but a minimum respect of societal norms of conduct is necessary. Furthermore, we need the support of the society in our ventures and in most cases being out casted can affect our achievement. The success is not always guarantied but its always worth a try.

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

The most helpful is the whole idea of being positive and working hard towards one's objective. The least helpful is the idea of chasing someone just because he disagrees with a certain belief, especially when his/her disagreement does not harm any body.

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

The main idea this book is trying to put across is that in life one needs to have a goal, develop strategies to attain it and work had to achieve it. Success cannot just come from no where; it derives from one's effort and steadiness in pursuit of an objective.

Please rate each of the following questions on a scale from 1 to 10. Ten is high and one is low.
A. How interesting was it to read? 9
B. How helpful were the contents? 8
C. How easy was it to understand? 6
D. Would you recommend it to others? 9
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 8

Comments: For those whose English is not the mother tongue, the book can be kind of difficult. It requires a certain level of education to be able to detect the ideas behind what is said.

The New Dynamics Of Winning
Assessment by Egide Rwamatwara (DR Congo)

1. What Ideas were personally most important to you in this book? Do not simply list the ideas, but explain or discuss why they were important to you, using personal examples.

The most inspiring idea on which the whole book is built is the idea that we all have the potential to live up to our dreams. What makes us different, successful or failure in life is not necessarily talent or lack of it but the way we use and apply our capacities to achieve our objectives. The author uses sport performance techniques to demonstrate this idea. The idea of focusing on peak performance while striving to reach our objectives is commendable.

The second point that I find important in one's struggle to reach the highest performance and to succeed in life is the equation: desire and action equal motivation. This complements the first idea by telling us that it is not enough to have a dream but most of all we need to have the desire and the willingness to work hard towards its achievement. The other idea closely linked to this one and that I find quite original is the idea that nobody else is going to take you fishing. It is true that we all need a hand and support; care and sympathy, however, the major part leading to one's success and fame must be played by the individual him/herself. As the author clearly demonstrates it, should that expected support, care or sympathy not come by, we should not quit the race but instead we should proceed firmly towards the finishing line which is the achievement of our dream.

The other inspiring idea is that the road towards success is not smooth and straight, rather it is full of humps and barriers. What makes a difference is how one develops strategies of overcoming these challenges encountered on the road leading to success. The secret proposed by the author - and which I agree with - in order to successfully overcome these barriers is to train thoroughly and to act intelligently. It is not a matter of how much resources at our disposal but how best and intelligently do we make use of the little resources we have. To make a difference one needs to look deep inside him/her and find that rare and scarce talent or resource and exploit it to the maximum. The example proposed by the author about LeMonde, the cyclist champion, can be found in every field of competition and profession environment; basically in everyday life.

In addition to coming up with good strategies to win the competition, says the author, one needs to be willing to pay the price it takes to get to the finishing line. This, he says, involves enduring pain, having guts and determination and never giving up when occasional failures, setbacks and shortfalls occur. I find this idea so much encouraging and real for someone who really wants to achieve his/her objectives.

The other idea that I fully share and recommend is that for any success to come by one needs to be prepared mentally to go all the way through and to be convinced that it is possible and that “I” am capable of doing it. This helps in enduring the pain, stress, frustration and shortfalls involved. It also helps one to keep away from discouraging comments and the cheers and woos from the fans and supporters of the temporary winning competitor. With mental preparedness, one knows that he/she is constantly in the middle of a competition. We are all surrounded by different types of people, some support us, others wish and work towards our downfall, and others are not bothered of whatever we become. The onus rests on each and every one of us to set up objectives and strive to achieve them regardless of the sympathy or enmity that we are likely to encounter on the way. The driving force must be the final destination which is the achievement of our ultimate goal. In this situation, as the author rightly says, one is required to put together his/her physical, technical, intellectual and mental capacities in order to pull through the challenging environment of competition. As the author also says, one's mind must be in control of any other intervening force so as to bring the whole body in harmony towards one and unique destination which is the achievement of the set objective.

The other inspiring idea is the symbolic representation of commitment which, says the author, is like riding a bicycle. Indeed riding a bicycle towards the top of a hill requires a continuous effort and keeping on pedaling, otherwise you fall down or you go back to the bottom of the hill. Likewise, the struggle to success requires such a commitment to enable you not only to reach the top but also and most importantly stay there. This struggle also requires endurance, perseverance, discipline and above all patience. For example, you don't dream of becoming a medical doctor and wake up treating patients and making money. Rather, once you make this dream and convince yourself that this is what you want to become, a long race is set up which is likely to last several years of hard work, stress and frustration. Throughout these years leading to graduation as medical doctor you have to work hard, pass innumerable tests and exams, source funds for school fees and books, and sacrifice most of your social and leisure time for you to prepare your exams. Your reward is not only that medical degree that you get at the end but also the personality, the respect and the social status that the title of Doctor brings to its holder. However, that's not enough because that status must be protected through hard work so as to remain the best and respected physician. This requires some rigueur, professionalism, continuous research which forces you to sacrifice some of your social and leisure time.

The other idea that inspired me in this book is the approach to self-esteem or lack of it. I agree with the author when he says that no opinion is greater than that which you hold of yourself. Indeed we are all our best judges and hence no one else should be allowed to control your dreams or change the course of your path towards your goal. As the author rightly says, you hold the key to your personal success and happiness. As such, continues the author, you can be your own worst enemy, or your own best friend. With this in mind the sky is the limit for someone committed to success.

The debate on fame, fortune and integrity was also inspiring to me. I fully agree with the author that honesty, consistency and commitment in all one's relationships is greater than fame and fortune. Our attitude counts a great deal towards our success. Behavior breeds behavior we always say. Thus, the more we respect others is the same way they will respect us regardless of their or our own social status or position in the company. I like the observation that no matter how much wealth or recognition the world lays at your feet don't allow your personal integrity to be contracted by your behavior in any area of your life. It is not just a matter of preserving your reputation. It is a matter of living life with character. To me this observation says it all, especially in terms of leadership. Honesty, integrity and loyalty make a difference among professional competitors and these characteristics can easily lead one to fame and success.

The approach to what makes a good leader was so inspiring. I liked the simplification of qualities of a good leader that good leaders are never so big that they can't bend down to help someone else; that they (good leaders) are never so wise that they don't remember who taught them; that they are never so gifted that they won't share their skills with others; that they are never so fearless that they don't play by the rules and live by the law; that they are never such big winners that they forget what it feels like to loose. This looks like the biblical teaching which says that if you want to be big, make yourself the smallest of all and if you want to be a good leader make yourself a slave of your followers.

The idea of team work and leadership was also inspiring, especially the observation that leadership is not based on theory or technique. It depends on your ability to subordinate your own ego for the good of the team. In fact leadership is not dictatorship. As the author rightly puts it, authentic leaders listen and learn. They ask questions before they offer opinion. In short, as the author concludes, the foundation of real leadership is empowerment, which is the desire to understand the needs of the people who are depending upon you, and the ability to create an environment in which they themselves can fulfill those needs.

2. Can you relate the ideas or concepts in this book to your personal circumstances in life such as your relationships, your beliefs, your goals, your values, etc? Please use personal examples in your explanation.

Most of the ideas discussed in this book reflect my own conviction, beliefs and values. For example, I treasure values such as honesty, loyalty, care and selflessness in my various social settings and activities. I also cherish values such as integrity and professionalism in my work environment, in my social entourage and in my family.

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

I wouldn't say that this or that idea was completely new to me. It's the way it was explained or the illustrations that accompanied an idea that was most of the time quite original. Fore example the definition of a leader through the good qualities of a leader.

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

It has not changed my thinking; it rather reinforced my thought regarding hard work and commitment for success or toward achieving one's objective.

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

I wouldn't say that I totally disagree but find that one or the other idea was exaggerated or did not consider the other side of the coin. For example the idea of not punishing mistakes is to be taken with caution. Part of the idea is noble, whereby you encourage your subordinates to learn from their mistakes so as to avoid them and report every mistake so that it can be corrected. The other side of the coin would be that when subordinates know that they will not be punished if they make mistakes they lose precaution and focus in their work and this can lead to catastrophe. After all, rules and laws are there to be respected and the role of reward and punishment is to enforce their compliance by rewarding those who observe them and punishing those who breach them.

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

All ideas that I found in the book were helpful; I singled out the following as the most helpful ideas:

Commitment: this idea is well developed in the book and gives hope that with tenacity, perseverance and consistency, the end result is success. Without it, no matter how attractive is the dream, it will never be achieved.

Self-esteem and confidence: This is the mother of success. In addition to commitment one needs to believe in him/herself and be convinced that it is possible and “I” can do it.

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

The book tells us that the path to success starts with a dream and the commitment to fulfill it. However, this path is not smooth, there is pain and frustration, but with perseverance and hard work that pain becomes joy when we reap the fruit of our effort.

Please Rate this book 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? 10
D. Would you recommend it to others? 10
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 10

Comments - Feel free to share any additional comments about the book or about the ratings:

Success Through A Positive Mental Attitude
Assessment by Egide Rwamatwara (Congo)

1. What Ideas were personally most important to you in this book? Do not simply list the ideas, but explain or discuss why they were important to you, using personal examples.

The whole idea of Positive Mental Attitude (PMA) and its opposite counterpart Negative Mental Attitude was inspiring (NMA). For a person with PMA everything becomes easy and/or possible and inversely speaking a person with NMA finds it hard to succeed even when all elements are gathered for him to succeed. The PMA helps a willing person to determine his/her fate and destiny by being active and proactive rather than passive while dealing with the hardships of his/her environment.

I liked the idea of Fuller's mother that we are poor not because of God. We are poor because we don't want to change and liberate ourselves from poverty chains. These poverty chains take different forms ranging from cultural and religious beliefs or simply ignorance. It can be applicable to one individual or to an entire community. Until this individual or the community wake up and develop strategies to free themselves from the chains of poverty they will remain poor blaming God and the world for their misery. I am very much convinced by this idea, although some circumstances beyond the individual or community's control can be the cause of their poverty. These circumstances can for instance stem from bad leadership or political strategies aimed at keeping an individual or a group of people in a state of poverty. However, an individual with PMA will always find a way of escaping these limitations and make it.

Another idea that captured my attention and which goes in line with my beliefs and conviction is the idea that any thing in life that is worth having is worth working for. Its goes also in line with another truism that no pain no gain. Most of the time we blame the world for our failures and misery forgetting to evaluate our own effort towards our success or failure. Most of us want to always have everything readily made and served on a silver plate. We expect everything from the government, from our parents, relatives or friends without making our own effort to contribute towards the production of the wealth that generates what we want. With such attitude we miss the joy and pride of being the master of our own life and the architects of our success.

Moreover, with the attitude of expecting everything from others, we loose the spirit of ownership and responsibility. That's where you see people wasting or being careless because they don't value things since they have not sweated to have them. They know or think that when these things get damaged or old, new ones will be provided. This spirit is found in many public services where equipments are not well taken care of because the users do not participate in generating them or are not affected individually when these equipments get damaged or old. It is different in private companies where any waste or damage constitutes a loss to the company and hence affect the benefit of the entire staff of the company. Because of that, every staff in private companies seems to be careful, proactive, hardworking and responsible. I believe that the same spirit should be developed by all staff regardless of their status or type of their company. Every staff member should be proud of meriting the salary that he/she gets at the end of the month. In other words, one's services should be worth the remuneration that he/she gets. Furthermore, if one wants to get something he/she should work hard to get it and not folding his/her arms and waits for God or others to provide.

Another inspiring idea is the one according to which, every adversity has the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit. It is a reality that most of our modern inventions were made during periods of wars or serious disasters and crises. It is a situation where an individual or a community faced with a serious crisis works hard to develop mechanisms of protecting oneself. The example given in the book where Tom Dempsey, with his wooden foot, kicked the longest field goal ever kicked in a professional football game says it all. Many instances testify this reality. For instance, several reports in USA and elsewhere have shown that children of new immigrants, despite their modest family background and other limiting factors of new socio-cultural and economic hardships, do better in schools and business than local children. This is because the former have no one else to rely on but themselves. They know that their parents have little means to support them and that their future is in their hands, hence they work extra hard to succeed in school and in business. This is because sometimes problems can be a source of inspiration and problems may be good because repeated victories over our problems are the rungs on our ladder of success. However, adversity can transform us into monsters. As it is rightly said in the book, necessity/adversity is the mother of invention and the father of crime.

The other inspiring idea is the hard and continuous work and trials to achieve one's goals. It is well said that greatness comes to those who develop a burning desire to achieve high goals. That success is achieved and maintained by those who try and keep on trying with PMA. That to become an expert achiever in any human activity, it take continuous practice. All these are true realities and I associate them with another inspiring idea that we need to read books and keep on learning from others' experiences and from casual events in our daily lives as did Abraham Lincoln. It is true, as testified in the book, that when you seek success with PMA, you keep trying, you keep searching to find something more. Failure is experienced by those who, when they experience defeat, stop trying to find the something more.

The other important idea is that we are different and that everyone has many talents for succeeding or surmounting his special problems. I liked this quote: 'In all the history of the world there was never anyone else exactly like you, and in all the infinity of time to come, there will never be another'. This is true and this difference we make should be materialized in our daily actions by using our various talents to maximize the opportunities towards our success.

The other interesting idea is the one saying, 'your world will change whether or not you choose to change it. But you have the power to choose its direction'. This is in line with the idea that we give a meaning to our life, to our world and our decisions and behaviours shape our future. I agree with the statement that if a man is right, his world will be right. If you are unhappy with your world and want to change it, the place to start is yourself. To have peace, be peaceful; to be loved, love first.

The other inspirational idea from the book is the role of motivation. As well said in the book, one of the greatest services you can render to children is to motivate them and compliment them whenever they accomplish or perform a good action. Criticism is inimical to development. The example of that mother who helped her blind son to feel content and succeed despite his impaired sight is commendable. It is important to instill in children the sense of striving to succeed. It is also important to help them to select the right kind of friends and associates. As rightly said, to motivate others, give them confidence in themselves.

The other commendable idea is to develop inspirational dissatisfaction which is the state of feeling constantly the urge to improve and perfect not only yourself, but also the world around you.

2. Can you relate the ideas or concepts in this book to your personal circumstances in life such as your relationships, your beliefs, your goals, your values, etc? Please use personal examples in your explanation.

Most of these ideas discussed above match perfectly well with my own conviction, beliefs and the values I treasure most. For instance the idea that any thing worth having is worth working for is my philosophy. I believe in this philosophy and I try to live by it. Before I seek assistance, I have to make first my own effort and only when I find that I have exhausted my own resources do I call for help. The other idea that I cherish is the inspirational dissatisfaction whereby I strive to improve every bit of my life and the environment within which I live.

The other idea that meets my cherished values is the idea and importance of living the virtues. Although it is not always possible to be perfect and that some virtues may conflict, it is important to internalize these virtues and try to live by them. This helps to care for others and to lead a selfless but satisfying life.

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

I can't say that this or that idea was new to me but the formulation of all ideas and the examples taken from various areas and settings of life was original. However, the concept of PMA and NMA were new to me.

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

I can't say that it has challenged or changed my thinking but it gave me new directions and ways of visualizing the world around me. It also reinforced my views and philosophy towards setting goals and striving to achieve them.

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

I can't say that I disagree with the idea but I found this idea repelling to some people. I found that the book refers several times to the Bible. I have no problem with that and I am a Christian but I think of those who are not believers or those who are not Christians. They may find the book unnecessarily discriminatory yet the ideas referring to the Bible could have been put across in another way without necessarily referring to the Bible and offending or repelling a certain group of readers.

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

The whole idea of developing a Positive Mental Attitude and eliminating the Negative Mental Attitude was helpful.

The idea of nearsightedness versus farsightedness was original. It is true that most of the time we go very far to look for opportunities that are right before us; and other times we confine ourselves to the surrounding opportunities ignoring greater opportunities obtainable far away. A balance in short and far sightedness is important.

The other idea that I find helpful is the whole idea that every adversity has the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit. Problems teach us endurance and patience which are key elements to success.

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

The book talks about how to succeed and surmount problems by developing positive attitude. With PMA one succeeds where others have failed. With PMA one leads a satisfying and complete life. With NMA the opposite happens.

Please Rate this book 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? 10
D. Would you recommend it to others? 10
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 10

Psycho-Cybernetics 2000
Assessment by Rwamatwara Egide (Congo)

1. What Ideas were personally most important to you in this book? Do not simply list the ideas, but explain or discuss why they were important to you, using personal examples.

The book has several inspiring ideas. The ideas that I find most important are those that orient the reader to searching the reasons and root causes of his/her failures. The book helps us dig down in our historical past to find causes of our present troubles and disorders, especially the status of our self-esteem, which is a key factor to any individual's success or failure. As the author says, our self-image reflects or is directly affected by the way we were brought up.

For example the author warns parents about what they tell or say to their children. The author says, “be careful what you say to your children. They may agree with you. Before calling a child 'stupid' or clumsy' or 'bad' or 'a disappointment', it is important for a parent to consider the question, 'Is this how I wish my child to experience him-or herein is holding us back self?'” This is very important because most of us parents wrongly believe that we are allowed to call our children all sorts of names according to our mood forgetting that the poor children who look at us as their role model believe in what we tell them, good and bad, and end up internalizing it for future use. Childhood is a critical time for a human being as it is during this period that we accumulate the knowledge which serves as a foundation for our future development. Thus, if we are taught and treated positively in our childhood we grow up with positive thinking and behavior and when we are always treated negatively and criticized all the time during our childhood the chances are that we loose our self-esteem and positive thinking throughout our life.

The author goes on to say that our belief systems begin in early childhood with reflections we receive from our parents. These reflections serve as our first indicators of our personal worth. As we grow and develop, other mirrors are held up to us by family members, peers and teachers. These reflections form the basis of our self image as we grow to maturity. By challenging our false beliefs and using our imagination to create new ones-new memories, in effect- we can change our attitudes and behavior and discover new abilities within ourselves.

This is also true in as much as our parents, teachers and peers tend to influence our thinking and behaviors. If we are always told that we are weak, we tend to believe so and this affects our performance and achievement. Yet when we are told that we are strong or intelligent we tend to believe so and strive to succeed in everything. It is important, as the author says, to scrutinize our beliefs so as to be sure that they reflect the reality especially if these beliefs affect our performance and success.

This happens very often in our working environment or in schools. A bad manager who always criticizes an employee turns the latter into a failure. In fact he/she blocks the employees' learning and improvement mechanisms. The employee is hypnotized. Same applies to a teacher who rebukes pupils when they make mistakes. He/she switches off their ignition of initiative and adventure. It becomes a serious problem when the victims of these criticisms believe that they are not worth any thing. As the author says, 'every human being is hypnotized to some extent, either by ideas he has uncritically accepted from others, or ideas he has repeated to himself or convinced himself are true. These negative ideas have exactly the same effect on our behavior as the negative ideas implanted into the mind of a hypnotized subject'. However, the author proposes a remedy to such unfortunate situations which is to free oneself by getting rid of ideas and beliefs that affect our self-image and lead us into failure.

The other important idea that I find in this book is the way the author advises us about the goal setting process and the way to strive to achieve the goals we set for ourselves. He says that our automatic mechanism needs a goal to strive for. If false beliefs keep us from setting goals, it becomes impossible for us to reach any. Yet often the only thing that keeps us from breaking out of our confining life patterns is a belief that a chain is holding us back. It doesn't matter where the belief comes from. Once it's planted in our subconscious mind we accept it as true and behave in a manner consistent with.

This is very important because it is the core element of our success or failure in life. In fact, it is one thing to set up goals and another to achieve them. Many of us have brilliant ideas and dreams but we never achieve them simply because in our subconscious some thing holds us back. Some times this thing is luck or guts and a spirit of adventure. Achieving goals requires risk taking and relentless effort. Moreover, the path that leads to achieving one's goals is never straight; it is full of obstacles, failures and setbacks.

The author warns us to remember that no path is absolutely straight. Life doesn't work that way. The moment you start pursuing your course, you're likely to find yourself veering off target. Don't let it be an excuse for procrastination or self-punishment. Trust your automatic mechanism to make the necessary corrections. Keep vivid in your imagination the image of what you wish to make happen in your life while at the same time remaining open to the adjustments you may have to make along the way. If you set goals that are sincere and follow a specific action plan, you'll deserve the success and happiness you'll get. If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got. The trick is to remember that goals are a process, not a place to be. You will encounter slowdowns, obstacles and diversions during the process, but there are steps you can take to anticipate, recognize and move past them. This simply means that it is worthy it to keep on trying and ignore criticisms and discouraging comments.

As the author puts it, nothing worthwhile happens overnight. He also advises us not to be discouraged if we encounter setbacks. Often these “setbacks” are nothing more than worry over what might happen. The author also warns about the mistakes that every human being is likely to make in his/her path towards achieving his/her goals. He says that instead of learning from our mistakes, we tend to let them intimidate us. He advises us to regard our mistakes not as indicators of failure but as steps on the road to success. I personally find this advice the most important of all in one's life.

The other important idea put across by the author in this book is that before setting a goal one has to sit down and evaluate the resources available to achieve the goal. This means that we have to be realistic when we set our goals. It is good to dream but when it comes to set up goals in life, the latter should be realistic, measurable and attainable. The author says, “by combining practical considerations with your dreams and desires, you can get an idea of what's most important to you”. He goes on to say that, “when you sit down to determine your goals, start by considering all the areas of your life in which you want to make changes-job, career, romantic satisfaction, health, family life, education, creative endeavors, community work, spiritual development-whatever is important to you. Don't neglect your life's wish, the goal you wrote down as the one you'd most like to achieve”. This is very important because most of the time we make dreams and not goals. It is good to have dreams because they stimulate action but for dreams to be transformed into achievable goals one needs to have, or first gather, the required skills and resources to achieve the set goals. It is one thing to dream, it is another to make the dream come true.

The other important idea in this book is that of telling the reader that he/she is the master of his/her life, including the choice of goals we set. As the author says, we should keep in mind that we don't need outside help to make us aware of our need for change, to guide us in identifying the beliefs that keep us following negative habits, to teach us how to relax, to set goals for us or to direct us through the procedures. All we need is the willingness to change and the patience to allow Psycho-cybernetics to take effect.

This is very true because most of us tend to sit there waiting for a promotion to come by or a relative to set business for us or our parents to decide for us the school program to take. We forget that the true happiness comes from a success or achievement of which we have conceived and executed the plan. Most of us lack that spirit of responsibility and ownership of our dreams and achievement. We tend to be always at the receiving end and lack creativity. We also want things to happen overnight forgetting that real success must follow a continuous line. In this regard, the following author's statement is quite inspiring: “the word success comes from a Latin word meaning “to follow”. It's a future oriented concept. If you don't consider what's ahead when pursuing your goals, you may reach the place where you thought you would find success only to discover that it's not there.

2. Can you relate the ideas or concepts in this book to your personal circumstances in life such as your relationships, your beliefs, your goals, your values, etc? Please use personal examples in your explanation.

I agree with the author's observation and affirmation that every one of us always acts, feels, and behaves in a way that is consistent with our self-image-regardless of the reality of that image. I believe that when one is convinced that he/she is capable and well equipped to carry out a certain task, the chances are that he/she will make it and the opposite is also true that when a person is convinced that he/she cannot make it, the chances are that he/she will fail some where somehow. I have always lived by this principle. When I am convinced that I am capable of performing a certain task it may take long or a lot of effort and energy but at the end I make it through. This idea has always been my guiding principle in my academic and professional work.

I also agree with the author when he says that our body reacts according to what we tell it. When we convince ourselves that we are tired and cannot do any thing more, our body behaves likewise. My experience is that when we are put in a difficult environment of survival of the fittest, those with a high esteem and who believe in their strength survive and those with low esteem and fragile in their beliefs don't make it. For example when we tell ourselves that we are not good enough to qualify for that job, we cannot pass the test and interview for that particular job. Inversely speaking, when we convince ourselves that we are capable of achieving a certain goal, despite the obstacles and barriers towards its achievement the chances are that we achieve that goal. This is my guiding principle and it always bear fruits for me.

I also share the author's belief that surrounding oneself with people who want you to succeed makes a difference. In fact many people pretend to care but the advice they give us tend to scare us from venturing into our dreamed life and we loose opportunities by being faithful to their advices. Thus I agree with the author's advice to first think of people to call, write or spend time with who can help us toward our goal-people in positions of influence, people who have achieved the goal we're striving for, people who know people. For example, I personally enjoy participating in conferences with high caliber speakers because I learn not only from what they say but mainly from their personality and their achievement. They become my role models. We all learn from success stories and strive to follow the footsteps of successful stars in different fields of life.

Moreover, friends and people we hang around with contribute immensely towards our shaping ideas, dreams goals. Therefore I agree with the author's advice to make a point of being with people who are supportive and avoiding people who will discourage us. However, it is not that simple because, as the author rightly says, “it may be that the people most hostile to our goal are our family or closest friends. Our goal may be in conflict with theirs. They may be jealous of our goals or fearful of changes in our relationship. It's important to not to allow guilt to throw roadblocks in our way. We have to be ourselves and stand to what we believe is satisfying to us even if it may not satisfy our close friends and/or parents.

I also like the author's approach that successful personalities have some interest in and regard for other people. They have a respect for other's problems and needs. They respect the dignity of the human personality and deal with other people as if they were human beings, rather than as pawns in their own game. I personally believe that true success should be oriented towards serving others, the community we live in or the humanity at large.

Humility is a virtue that every successful person should have otherwise the so called success becomes vanity. No matter how successful we are, we should strive to look at other people as human beings who deserve respect and support. As the author rightly says, if you frequently find yourself judging and condemning others for their opinions, attitudes and errors, it's probably a sign that you don't think much of your own worthiness either. For example, the famous and successful people like Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Mandela and others take their fame not from selfishness but from their generous sacrifice to their communities and to humankind at large. Thus, the author's observation and recommendation to listen with regard when others talk. Give your time and energy to others; let others have their way; do things for reasons other than furthering your own needs. Develop an attitude of love, because love erases the imaginary boundaries between self, others and the world is the deepest philosophy I want to live by.

The following statement of the author is also commendable, “The cornerstone of happiness is accepting yourself as a worthy human being. The most miserable and tortured people in the world are those who are continually straining and striving to convince themselves and others that they are something other than what they basically are. And there is no relief or satisfaction like that that comes when one finally gives up the shams and pretenses and is willing to be himself.

I also agree with the author's recommendation to appreciate our body. We are all different in size and shape and this variety is what makes the beauty of our universe. It is a shame to be ashamed by one's body. As he rightly says, To be ashamed of our bodies or to refuse to accept them takes away from our wholeness as human beings, just as much as if we were ashamed of our spirits or our minds.

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

I wouldn't call it new ideas but the way the author uses the concept of cybernetics and links it with the psychological notion of sub-conscious mind is quite original.

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

It did not challenged any of my ways of thinking but it introduced a new way of looking at my beliefs and the world around me by introducing the notion of cybernetics and the role of the sub-conscious storage of ideas and beliefs in our life.

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

Not really, only that the whole idea of cybernetics may not be understood by the common reader or lay person. I find it too scientific and some of exercises prescribed by the author may look unpractical to many readers.

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

The most helpful idea is the advice that the author gives to the reader to scrutinize his/her beliefs to make sure that they do not hold him/her back in the achievement of his/her objectives and that the goals he/she sets are practical in accordance with available resources and prevailing circumstances.

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

The book is about how to look critically inside ourselves to dig up that belief that forbids us from achieving our desired goal. The author gives us a way of framing our goals and the process to plan their achievement.

Please Rate this book on a scale from 1 to 10. Ten is good and one is poor.
A. How interesting was it to read? 8
B. How helpful were the contents? 9
C. How easy was it to understand? 7
D. Would you recommend it to others? 7
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 8

Comments - The book is good but I have a feeling that it is not user friendly. Some people may not understand the whole message. It requires a certain level of understanding and appreciating the science of psychology and cybernetics.

Keys to Success
Assessment by Rwamatwara Egide (Congo)

1. What Ideas were personally most important to you in this book? Do not simply list the ideas, but explain or discuss why they were important to you, using personal examples.

The idea that definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement is very important. Indeed to achieve any goal, it has to be clearly defined and visualized. Before embarking on a road toward success, one must know the destination and the purpose of the journey. The idea of the author that definiteness of purpose develops self-reliance, personal initiative, imagination, enthusiasm, self discipline and concentrated effort was quite inspiring. In fact, once these characteristics are developed, nothing can stop the progress toward achievement.

The other important idea developed in this book is the necessity of developing an attractive personality in order to achieve lasting success. Without a continuous positive mental attitude the progress made toward the achievement is not maintained and it becomes difficult to achieve sustainable success. I also liked the characteristics associated with attractive personality which lead to success. One of them is flexibility. The author is right when he says that to achieve sustainable success one needs to be able to adapt quickly to changing circumstances and emergencies without panic or loss of temper. Flexibility must also be accompanied with commitment to one's major purpose. When you are convinced of your goal, what the author calls sincerity of the purpose, it becomes easy to overcome obstacles on the way toward success. I liked the example given on sincerity of purpose when a new employee, Charles M. Schwab dissuaded his boss, Carnegie, of taking a decision which would have led the company to a great loss. Because of sincerity and confidence in the new employee, the boss took the advice and saved the company. This happens in our every day life. When we are convinced of our ideas, it becomes easy to convince others especially in a decision making process.

Moreover, I liked the approach of the author towards the importance of courtesy in our lives. He describes courtesy as the habit of respecting other people's feeling under all circumstances; the habit of going out of one's way to help the less fortunate, and the habit of controlling selfishness in all forms. He rightly observes that courtesy is scarce today and that's why we experience all sorts of conflicts and unrest in our lives. Likewise, the value of tolerance is scarce and this causes all sorts of problem in the world today. The author describes tolerance as the disposition to be patient and fair toward those whose opinions, practices, and beliefs differ from ours. Another important idea is the spirit of justice which is necessary for success. He says that unless you deal justly with others, you cannot hope either to cultivate an attractive personality or to succeed in your definite major purpose. Indeed, while struggling toward the achievement of one's goal, there are others' interests that need to be respected and protected. As the author puts it, a keen sense of justice discourages avarice and selfishness and gives you a much better understanding of your rights, privileges, and responsibilities.

Another idea that was important to me in the book is the one according to which if you render more and better service than you are paid for, sooner or later you will receive compound interest from your investment. The idea of personal initiative as put forward by the author is also commendable. He quotes Andrew Carnegie who says that there are two types of people who never amount to anything. There are those who never do anything except what they are told to do. And there are those who cannot even do what they are told to do. The people who get ahead do the things that should be done without being told. And they don't stop there. They go the extra mile and do much more than is expected of them.” This is very true because without those people who are creative, inventions would hardly come by. Without people with a spirit of creativity and initiative, we would run short of leaders and decision makers. Those who go the extra mile make a difference. They are not affected by shortfalls and failures, because it is through mistakes and failures that we reach perfection. The author gave a good example of Edison who made thousands of tries and fails before making a perfect bulb light.

The author focuses on the importance of developing positive mental attitude (PMA) and its benefits. He rightly says that with PMA no one can hurt your feelings, make you angry, or frighten you without your full cooperation and consent. This is important because many a time we allow others influence our actions and determine our destiny. I agree with the author that PMA enables us to take our destiny in our hands.

The author also rightly points out that what we consider as downfalls may be windows of opportunity. He encourages us to relate to every circumstance in our life as something that has happened for the best, for it may be that your saddest experience will bring you your greatest assets if you give time a chance to mellow your distress.

I also liked the author's reminder that personal power does not come from the possession of material things alone. The example of Mahatma Ghandi to illustrate this idea is quite convincing. He also makes a very commendable advice to reinforce the habit of tolerance, and keep an open mind on all subjects and toward all people no matter what their race or creed. He says, 'learn to like people just as they are, instead of demanding that they be just as you want them to be'. I personally believe in this philosophy although it is hard to keep all the time. As human beings we all have this natural habit of wanting that people behave the way we want in accordance with our own interests. This is a human natural selfishness which is difficult to control. The author also says that it is important to welcome friendly criticism instead of reacting to it negatively. 'Do not fear criticism; encourage it', he says. Although this is a very positive attitude and helpful for one's success, it is however difficult to observe all the time. We all tend to feel embarrassed when we are criticized and happy when we are appraised. I liked his recommendation to embrace any opportunity to learn how others see you, and use it to take inventory of yourself and look for things which need improvement.

Furthermore, his idea of grasping the differences between wishing, hoping, desiring, and having a burning desire to achieve our goals is commendable. Indeed, it is one thing to have a dream and another to work towards its realization. He is right when he says that only a burning desire gives you a driving motivation, and it can be fueled only by a positive mental attitude. I also agree with the author's advice about self-discipline. He says that self-discipline harnesses and controls all emotions, both positive and negative, allowing you to guard against the dissipation of energy through either expressing your negative emotions or neglecting to use your positive ones. Indeed, without discipline no matter how much effort we put in, it becomes difficult to reach success. Without discipline the achieved success easily slips away. Many people have lost high positions because of lack of discipline, especially uncontrolled drinking habit and fornication. Many people have lost their lives or have killed others because of lack of discipline in drinking and driving or getting HIV/AIDS and infecting others, including the loved ones.

2. Can you relate the ideas or concepts in this book to your personal circumstances in life such as your relationships, your beliefs, your goals, your values, etc? Please use personal examples in your explanation.

Most of the ideas developed in the book are in line with my conviction, beliefs and values. For example the whole idea of taking our destiny in our hands is my motto. For example the author's idea that success is something you create for yourself, is my own belief. It is true that we all need support from various sources to succeed but the major part is played by ourselves.

The author's advice to be humble and generous in our everyday life is also my personal philosophy.

Another idea that meets my belief is the author's approach to self-discipline, especially the ways and means as well as tools that the author proposes for achievement of success. For instance when he says that controlled attention, self-discipline, accurate thinking, personal initiative, learning from defeat, and going the extra mile all are mental tools you can use to organize and carry out your plan.

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

All these ideas developed in the book are not completely new to me but the approach of the author in explaining how best to plan and organize one's life to pursue a clearly defined goal or the steps to follow for the attainment of success was original.

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

The book gave me some more hints on how to frame my beliefs and enhance my values. It has strengthened my philosophy on living positively. It also gave me some new guidance on how to plan my path towards achieving my pursued goals.

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

I do not entirely disagree with the idea but I find it too exaggerated. The author's idea that the objects on which you deliberately concentrate your attention become the dominating influences in your environment. If your thoughts are fixed on poverty or the physical signs of poverty, these influences are transferred to your subconscious by autosuggestion. If you continue to concentrate on poverty, you will condition your mind to accept poverty as an unavoidable circumstance, and you will eventually become poverty-conscious. I agree that by concentrating on negative ideas one ends up acting and behaving negatively. However, saying that millions of people who live in abject poverty around the world are to blame for it is unacceptable. We all know that many factors cause poverty. Some are natural such as environmental degradation. Others are man made, namely, bad policies, corruption, mismanagement, lack of access to resources, etc. Indeed many poor people want to get out of it and work hard towards that goal but the socio-cultural, economic political and/or physical environment within which they live do not allow them to move upward.

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

The principles proposed by the author for personal achievement are very helpful. Most advices given by the author are quite helpful. I noted the advice of humility, generosity, care, discipline, controlled emotions, etc. However, some are hard to live by. For example, when the author says that all employees have to see themselves as executives and managers see themselves as subordinates; the idea is great but it requires a lot of humility for managers to live by this advice.

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

The book talks about the habits and behaviors which lead to success and those which can affect negatively any attempts to success and which we must get rid of if we want to succeed. Te main idea is that success lies in our hands.

Please Rate this book 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? 10
D. Would you recommend it to others? 10
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 10

Giant Steps
Assessment by Rwamatwara Egide (Congo)

1. What Ideas were personally most important to you in this book? Do not simply list the ideas, but explain or discuss why they were important to you, using personal examples.

The idea that the floodgates can be opened by one decision, bringing us joy or sorrow, prosperity or poverty, companionship or solitude, long life or early death was very important. Indeed history is full of examples of people who took decisions that affected humanity for the good or the bad. In addition of Mahatma Gandhi and Rosa Parks that the author rightly quotes as people who made decisions that changed the destiny of a people and the entire world for the better, we have Hitler and Georges Bush with their disastrous decisions that cost and continue to cost millions of lives. Thus when the author urges us to make decisions now, I think he should add that these decisions must first be well thought of and their future effects well weighed so as to ascertain that they are worth taking.

I also liked the advice of the author when he says that we must commit to learning from our mistakes instead of agonizing over them, or we are destined to repeat our errors in the future. Unfortunately, the world seams not to learn from the mistakes of the past. The wrong decisions that have cost millions of lives are being repeated every day. The case of Iraq is a clear example.

Moreover, the idea of the author regarding creativity and initiative or risk taking was inspiring. I agree with him that it is true that success belongs to those who dare because the talents which are not put to test never reveal themselves. Thus the adage quoted by the author is commendable: success is the result of good judgment, good judgment is the result of experience, and experience is often the result of bad judgment. However, sometimes we don't live long enough to learn from our mistakes when we make deadly and disastrous decisions. Hitler could not survive his hecatomb in order to learn from his unimaginable mistake. Thus, although daring and making simple decisions, say at individual, family level is commendable, decisions that affect the entire community or humanity at large require careful thought and consultations before they are made.

I also admired the author's definition of success which is to live your life in a way that causes you to consistently feel an immense amount of pleasure and very little pain - and because of your style, to have the people around you consistently feel a lot more pleasure and very little pain. He says that to do this, we must grow and contribute. This is so true because many of us work hard towards success but do not clearly define what success is or should be. Some of us think that money constitutes the ultimate success, but do not define how much money constitutes success. Others consider success at a highest level of their career or the highest position in the hierarchy of their organization/company. Others instead, consider academic achievement as their success land mark. Others also mix all these achievements, namely money, position, academic to mark their success. However, to many it is difficult to draw the limit to their search of success. When we reach one stage we want the one higher. Nevertheless, some people like mother Theresa, Luther King and others like them found pleasure and success in helping the weak and the oppressed, bringing justice and the like. Thus as the author says, it is important to define what gives one pleasure, satisfaction and success. Once this is done, it becomes easier to evaluate whether we have succeeded or failed in life or where we are on the roadmap towards achieving our success. Thus, as the author rightly concludes, one of the best ways to enrich your life is to expand your emotional range, so that your judgment of success or failure is not based on one thing but a wide range of emotional experiences.

The author's question and answer about achievement is commendable. He asks the following question, 'what is the force that determines what we try or fail to try to accomplish in our lives?' the answer he gives is 'it is our beliefs-about what we are capable of, about what's possible or impossible, about who we are. Indeed, this is what makes a difference in people's lives with regard success. The first step to achieve success is to believe in it and one's capability to achieve it, and then act towards its achievement. Those who think they cannot get there without even giving it a try will never get there. Thus I share the author's idea that success belongs to those who believe in themselves and dare take the first step. The following statement of the author was touching: beliefs separate a Mozart from a Manson, causing some individuals to become heroes while others resign themselves to wondering what could have been. However, as the author acknowledges, beliefs can play both positive and negative roles. In the author's words, 'beliefs have the power to create and the power to destroy', especially when we base them on wrong premises or misinterpretation of the past or of the world around us. After all Hitler had a belief and was convinced it was the best in the same way as Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi did.

As the author says, a belief is nothing more than a feeling of certainty about what some thing means. For example, if you believe you are intelligent, it's more than just an idea, you feel certain you are intelligent. This applies also when you think that what you are doing is right even when it will have negative or disastrous consequences on others. According to the author, this happens because the passion they inspire in us, beliefs and convictions propel us to action.

I also liked the author's approach that success is all about a commitment to gradual, consistent improvement. As he rightly puts it, the only true security in life comes from knowing that every single day you are improving yourself in some way. One author once said that if you keep on singing your prowess of yesterday, it means today you did not achieve any. Thus our level of success should be maintained otherwise we fall back to the level before it or we are overtaken by events. Another instructor told us that achievement is like riding a bicycle climbing a mountain, we have to keep on pedaling otherwise the bicycle goes back or we fall.

2. Can you relate the ideas or concepts in this book to your personal circumstances in life such as your relationships, your beliefs, your goals, your values, etc? Please use personal examples in your explanation.

I share the author's idea that words have the power to start wars or create peace, destroy relationships or strengthen them. It is my belief that most of the conflicts stem from misunderstanding when we don't use appropriate words or language. We have to know the person or the audience we are talking to so that we select appropriate words in order to avoid unnecessary conflicts due to misunderstanding or misinterpretation. I personally know several relationships which were destroyed by a simple statement by one partner and up to now the partners do not realize what caused their breaking up. Thus I agree with Mark Twain's statement that 'a powerful agent is the right word. Whenever we come upon one of those intensely right words….the resulting effect is physical as well as spiritual, and electrical prompt.'

I also admired the author's approach to emotions. I support his observation that we are the source of all our emotions and that any moment we can create or change them. Indeed most of us keep on searching for satisfaction when we can simply decide to feel good by the mere fact that we are alive, educated (literate), can see, walk, speak, feel, love, have a family, …, that others so much struggle to have or cannot have even with money. This is my conviction that we are masters of our emotions. We can decide to be content with a little or decide to look for more for our satisfaction.

I also find the author's explanation of action signal applicable to me and to my personal experience in my career and academic performance. As he says, I feel guilty and frustrated when I have violated one of my highest standards, principles or values. I feel that I should immediately do something to correct the situation and keep myself from ever violating it again. For example, I cherish values of humility, respect, royalty, and honesty. When something happens that I feel that I have missed or violated one of these values I feel guilty and try to find ways of fixing that shortfall on my part and mechanisms for it to never happen again.

Moreover, like the author, I believe that it is important to cultivate the emotions of appreciation and gratitude. I agree with the author that these are among the most spiritual motions we can have, and they enhance our lives more than almost anything. Indeed simple words like thank you or I appreciate look small but mean a lot to our friends or people around us.

I also shared his command to cultivate curiosity. As he rightly says, if you want to grow in your lifetime, learn to be inquisitive as a child. I have come to the conclusion that learning is all about searching for the hidden truth and being inquisitive for the mysteries of our lives. All discoveries that we enjoy today depend on people's curiosity and their eagerness to find explanations or solutions to our everyday problems.

His sense of altruism and humanism was touching and I concur with his reasoning when he says, there is no richer emotion than the sense of contribution: feeling that who you are as a person, how you've lived your life, what you've said and done, has touched others in a deep and meaningful manner is the ultimate gift in life. I believe that if people developed this approach there would be fewer suffering in the world today. He is quite right when he says that the secret to living is giving.

The author's statement that the power of reading a great book is that you start thinking like the author reflects my personal experience. In fact, when I read a book with interesting story or which proposes solutions that I have been looking for I feel satisfied and want to practice the teachings of the book. As the author says, the books' references become my own, and I carry these with me long after I've turned the last page.

I also agree with the author when he says that many people make a mistake of thinking that all the problems in their life would disappear if they just had enough money. I came to notice that money is not everything in life. I saw people with a lot of money but lead a miserable life and don't show any sign of joy and satisfaction; yet some others with little of no money at all show joy and happiness in their homes. Of course everyone needs a minimum amount of money to survive but it is true that pleasure or happiness does not depend on the amount of money that we possess.

I also believe like the author that all achievements at individual, family, national and global levels are the accumulation of a host of small decisions we make as individuals, a family, a community, a society and a species. Thus, it is my belief that if everyone could commit him/herself to eliminate global pollution and injustice or to eradicate poverty, everyone according to our means and capacity, the world would experience a tremendous transformation. As the author says, the capacity to do the right thing, to dare to take a stand and make a difference, is within every one of us. It is also my belief that the history of the world, positive or negative, is simply a chronicle of the deeds of a small number of ordinary people who had extraordinary levels of commitment. Indeed all these people we call heroes or great were ordinary people. The author defines a hero as a person who courageously contributes under even the most trying circumstances; a hero is an individual who acts unselfishly and who demands more from himself or herself than others would expect; a hero is someone who defies adversity by doing what he or she believes is right in spite of fear. However, as the author rightly says, a hero is not someone who is perfect; otherwise we would have no heroes if this were our standard. We all make mistakes, but that doesn't invalidate the contributions we make in the course of our lives. I conquer with the author's conclusion that perfection is not heroism that humanity is.

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

All ideas in the book were not new to me but the way the author explain them and advise us to put them in practice was original. For example when he asks to write down a number of ideas, feelings, emotions refer to them every time one of them happens to us. Other examples consisted of how to rehearse several times in order to internalize an idea.

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

Not really. The book helped me to revisited my beliefs and values and strengthened my way of thinking especially regarding issues such as success goal setting and achievement, creativity, curiosity and initiative. Most of all, it strengthened my beliefs on humanism.

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

Not really, only that some of the practice proposed by the author are not easy to follow. They tend to be too theoretical.

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

Most if not all the ideas in the book are helpful. It depends on each individual's interests. I personally liked his approach on success and the concept of “hero” or “heroism”.

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

The books talks about human behaviors, feelings and emotions and their effects both positive and negative at individual, family, community and global level. The author guides us on how to organize these behavioral assets to make right decisions for the betterment of our own lives and of those around us.

Please Rate this book on a scale from 1 to 10. Ten is good and one is poor.
A. How interesting was it to read? 6
B. How helpful were the contents? 7
C. How easy was it to understand? 7
D. Would you recommend it to others? 8
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 7

What to say When you talk to your self
Assessment by Rwamatwara Egide (Congo)


1. What Ideas were personally most important to you in this book? Do not simply list the ideas, but explain or discuss why they were important to you, using personal examples.

This book reminded me with concrete illustrations about the impact and effects of what is said to us when we are young on our success or failure as we grow up. The author puts it this way, “what adults tell us as children has an incredibly important effect on us. It forms what we believe about most of what is going on around us and almost every thing that we come to believe about ourselves”. As he argues quite rightly, our brain is comparable to a computer equipped with programs that capture and internalize what goes around us and are activated according to circumstances that we find ourselves in. Depending on what we have in our control center and how we perceive the circumstance before us we give commands that make us feel good, feel satisfied, work hard, respond aggressively, etc. I found this illustration quite inspiring. Thus, I agree with the author when he concludes that whatever you put into your mind is what you will get back out. This applies to what we tell young children, they end up internalizing it and behave accordingly. As the author says, once ideas, beliefs and convictions are internalized they become our second nature unless the programming we receive is erased or replaced by with different programming, it will stay with us permanently and affect and direct everything we do for the rest of our lives.

I also liked the idea put across by the author that 'repetition is a convincing argument'. We start by listening to what we are told, we then believe that it is true and behave accordingly. With time by repeatedly hearing the same words, watching the same actions, attitudes and behaviors we end up internalizing them and consider them as true. This is so true when we consider the times we have been told what could not do or what we could not accomplish and end up believing that we are incapable or that such or such a thing is impossible. Of course there are people who like ventures and daring who will defy what others tell them. Many a discovery came about because some people had the guts of going against what is considered in the family or in the society as impossible or should not be even tried.

At individual level, this internalized belief plays a significant role in our life. The picture we have of ourselves and the world around us determines our success or failure. As the author puts it, in time we become what we most believed about ourselves. And in so doing, we create a wall, which for most of us will stand invisibly but powerfully between us and our unlimited futures for as long as our old programming remains in force. Hence I agree with the author's simple conclusion that 'you will become what you think about most; your success or failure in anything, large or small, will depend on your programming - what you accept from others, and what you say when you talk to yourself”.

2. Can you relate the ideas or concepts in this book to your personal circumstances in life such as your relationships, your beliefs, your goals, your values, etc? Please use personal examples in your explanation.

Most of the ideas contained in this book reflect my personal beliefs. However, some have inspired me most. For example, the author's approach to self-management sequence and his five steps that control our success or failure. On behavior he considers that the step that most directly controls our success or failure is our behavior - what we do or do not do, I would add how we behave, how we react to the circumstances around us on a daily basis. He uses a good example of our behavior towards our job. He says that if you like your job, do the right thing the right time, and keep at it, there is a good chance that your job will do well for you. This is my own belief and in my career I have always told myself that I have to offer the best of myself to do my job as best as I can and I can assure you it has paid. I always see colleagues who spend the whole day complaining or doing little on their job yet expect their salaries to be increased and to be promoted to higher grades. These are the types of behaviors which lead straight into failures. On feelings, the author says that every action we take is first filtered through our feelings. How we feel about something will always determine or affect what we do and how well we do it. The example of job is again applicable here. If you don't like your job you will always find excuses to not do it properly and if you like your job even if it does not pay that well you enjoy the satisfaction of doing what you like and by doing it well it ends up paying well. As the author rightly puts it, our feelings will directly influence our actions. On attitudes, the author says that whatever attitude we have about any thing will affect how we feel about it, which in turn determines how we will act about it and that in turn determines whether or not we will do well. So our attitudes play a very important part in helping us become successful. I agree with the author on this as it reflects what I experience with my friends. Some of them always see things in a negative way and when you look at their performance at work, at school or even in the family this is reflected in their accomplishments. I also liked the author's summary of the five sequences that Programming creates beliefs, beliefs create attitudes, attitudes create feelings, feelings determine actions and actions create results.

The author's idea of positive thinking also goes in line with my belief. As he rightly explains positive thinking require erasing and replacing all old negative thinking habits. I agree with him when he says that positive thinking can work if the negative thoughts we are told to avoid are immediately replaced with opposite. Indeed many people take decisions to change their lives to the better by setting up great and enviable objectives. But with time they fall back to their old negative habits because they did not erase them in their minds. This happen quite often among the people around us, for example when someone decides to quit smoking because the group urge him to do so but later on you see him smoking. It simply means that the decision to quit was not from his internal self and the smoking habit was not replaced completely hence it strikes back on any smallest occasion that presents itself.

I also liked and agree with the author's analysis on managing others. He says if you truly want to reach them, work first with their self-talk. I personally have experience in this field. In my free time I like working with refugees trying to help them orient their lives towards a brighter and promising future. However, although they are willing and eager to learn how to change their lives, they are always blocked or pulled back by the ideas that they have internalized associated with their conditions, especially how they are viewed and view themselves within the society.

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

I can't call it a new idea but the way it was presented was so inspiring and I believe it will help me a great deal. It is about putting self-talk into practice and the secret of effective management. The author says, “Effective management always begins with successful self-management. You can be a graduate student of management and never attain the essential skills of managing others if you do not first master the management of yourself. True leaders have their own selves in control; they are in command of their actions, their feelings, their attitudes, and their perspectives. The second essential ingredient of being a good manager is knowing how to develop the qualities and skills of others”. I liked this because it explains some of the questions I asked myself about how some leaders who are not that much educated lead better than many others who hold high degrees.

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

Not really, it rather strengthened my way of looking at some of my beliefs and the world around me by helping me reflect on my behavior, attitude, and feelings and how these impact on my success.

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

No although some may be put in a different way than my own way of thinking.

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

The whole idea of controlling what goes in our minds and to regulate our behaviors, attitudes and feelings. Also the idea of self-managing and managing others was quite inspiring and helpful.

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

This book talks about how what we are told from our early age become part of our lives and affect positively or negatively our future. What we are told to believe and what we think of ourselves and the world around us determine our success or failure in life.

Please Rate this book 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? 10
D. Would you recommend it to others? 10
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 9

Comments
This book is very helpful especially to young people in search of inspiration to pave their way through the multiple challenges of the world we live in today.

Real Magic
Assessment by Rwamatwara Egide (Congo)

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

As the title tells, the book is about creating miracles in one's life. It is basically about changing one's way of thinking and having a clear purpose in one's life. It is about going beyond the usual five senses to think and see beyond the ordinary and common sense. The book shows how miracles are created every day. For example, when an idea, a belief or a way of living which had been considered as unquestionable truth over centuries are changed over night and replaced by the opposite. This is the case of communist ideology, apartheid, etc. The book also talks about the power of thought. Indeed, thoughts have created most of what we see today and thoughts can change everything, to the better but also to the worse. The book focuses on the spiritual dimension of the human nature and the miracles that one can create by simply turning from a non spiritual to a spiritual behavior.

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

Several ideas in this book were important to me but the following can be listed as the seven most important:

1. I liked the analysis of the three paths toward enlightenment, namely, enlightenment through suffering, enlightenment through outcome and enlightenment through purpose. On the first path, as the author rightly puts it, we tend to feel singled out and unfairly treated when we go through difficult moments or real suffering. When we manage to successfully overcome these difficulties we feel good and realize that they were necessary for us to learn a lesson or grow mature. This is why we say that wisdom and experience come with time and trying moments. This reflects my life and experience. I went through trying moments due to political turmoil that occurred in my country in the 1990s. I lost close relatives and friends, disrupted my university studies for a couple of years and many more sour experiences. At a point I always asked myself why this happens at this particular moment of crucial time of my life. Why my country? Why me? But after I managed to pull through and reorganize my life I could appreciate the hard lessons that I owe to these difficult moments of my life. I also agree with the author when he says that many people remain at this stage and spend their entire life mourning and blaming everyone for their misery without noticing the window of opportunity that each difficult moment brings. Indeed, I was not the only one affected by the events in my country, practically everyone was negatively affected by the war but many could not get up and carry on. As the author rightly says, those who move to the next path of enlightenment through outcome develop the spirit of saying that everything that happens to us happens for a purpose. Instead of mourning they try to find the positive message that the trying moment is carrying to them and how to make use of the experience gained and lessons learned. In my own experience, the trying moments of my life have equipped me with skills and experience which helped to plan and orient my life in a positive direction. On the third path of enlightenment through purpose, as the author says, one needs to see himself/herself as having a mission to accomplish and to work hard towards accomplishing it. I entirely agree with the author. With a clear objective to attain and continuous effort to achieve it we successfully go through hard times and trying moments.

2. The second idea which I liked from the book is about the true meaning of success and happiness between spiritual versus non spiritual beings. I enjoyed the statement of the author which summarizes it all , “one simply must know that there is much more to life than achievement, performance and acquisitions and that the measure of a life is not in what is accumulated, but rather in what is given to others”. I have never understood how some people enjoy keeping in banks and shareholdings billions of dollars when there is poverty, hunger and misery around the world. I have also seen how happy are those who give and care for others and how they get blessed. The conclusion of the author that, “the spiritual being knows that he showed up here with nothing material and leaves the same way” is touching and commendable. However, the practical lesson that the author conveys in the following statement was inspiring to me: “When you fight evil by employing the methods of hatred and violence, you are part of the hatred and violence of evil itself, despite the rightness of your position in your own mind. If all the people in the world who are against terrorism and war were to shift their perspective to supporting and working for peace, terrorism and war would be eliminated”.

3. The third idea that I found interesting in the book is when the author tells us not to let a tired person move into our bodies under any circumstances. He explains this with practical explanations by saying that if you want to be energetic and you act fatigued, you are sabotaging your own vision. Even if you look into the mirror and see wrinkles and other evidence of fatigue, he says, you must begin to act as if your vision of being energetic were already here. Indeed most of us tend to claim tiredness simply to avoid taking more responsibilities or doing more work. With extra effort and time there is always room for extra work which makes a difference. In my neighborhood, I see people whose sole activity after work is drinking and relaxing, yet there is a lot to do to improve the neighborhood.

4. The other powerful idea that I found quite enlightening is the power of thought. The author portrays well, from a historical background, how thoughts have shown their power. Indeed, it took one person's thought to destroy an entire race but also it took one person's thought to liberate an entire Nation besieged by apartheid! This I found quite inspiring and encouraging because it means that if each and every one of us could develop positive thinking there would be less, if at all, sufferings and deprivation in the world.

5. Another reassuring idea is where the author says that for every act of unkindness, there are a million kind acts, that there is a network of good guys out there who are truly making a difference…. However, most of the time one person or a few people evil minded are more powerful than a million kind people. This is why Iraq was bombarded despite the opposition by a multitude of people around the world. The genocide in Rwanda, Cambodia, ex Yugoslavia and elsewhere was consumed before the watching world! Was it because of unwillingness to assist the victims or incapacity to do so? That's why the advice of Einstein “the significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them” is true and commendable. It is not enough to think positively, there is need to think in unity and solidarity to combat evil thinking which is equally powerful.

6. The other idea that I also found quite spiritual is the author's advice to move past anger and bitterness. As he so well explains continuing to be angry and hateful does not do us any good. As he says, whatever act angers us, the event has happened; it cannot unhappen in our physical world, the only way to get rid of its effects is to replace anger and hatred by love. I personally believe that when a person angers you and you show that you are hurt you make the person win because this was the intention but if you instead return love and show no sign of being hurt then the evil minded has missed the objective and has lost.

7. Finally, the idea that I treasure most is what the author calls “the secret to changing your life is in your intentions”. As he rightly explains, wishing, hoping and goal setting cannot accomplish change without intentions. You need to shift from the inert energy of wanting to the active energy of doing and intentions. This happens to me quite often with my various tasks and responsibilities. My friends usually tell me that I give myself a lot of tasks that I will not handle and sometimes I nearly convince myself that I am not being realistic. Yet when I decide to concentrate and accomplish all my tasks I realize that it was actually very easy to the point I could even add some more activities on top. Thus, I agree with the author that what makes a difference is going beyond wishing and setting goals. It is striving to reach those goals.

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?

These ideas helped me look into my own life to see what I could change or reorganize to