As A Man Thinketh
Assessment by Theophilus Tawiah (Ghana)

1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
The author James Allen conveys in his book “As a man thinketh” how thoughts of human beings are of supreme interest and important. That thought of a man has effect on his or her life, in respect of spiritual, social, economic, political and others. He conveys the presumption that man is entirely what he thinks. The book indicates that our thoughts affect our disposition, our health and body, circumstances, purpose, achievement, visions, ideals and every area of our lives. It is of the respectful view that man is made or unmade by himself, and thought rules the world. Good thought produce good results and bad thoughts has end product of bad results. Emphasis lies in whether you will succeed or not largely depends on our thoughts. How we think every day influence our circumstances, characters, conditions, environment and destinies. With reference to” In the armory of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself. He also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace. By the right choice and true application of thought, man ascends to the divine perfection. By the abuse and wrong application of thought he descends below the level of the beast”

Also, the author suggests that although thought is the bedrock of success or failure, man has the power to choose his thoughts. Unlike the environment which he has no control over but to adapt to the changes in the legal, technological, socio-cultural, political and the economic environment.

For example, negative or positive scenes and thoughts exist in the environment within which man exist but one has the option to dwell on the positive or negative thought whichever he or she elect will affect his character, material possession, spiritual, condition and circumstances.
That man can control his thoughts but not the environment from which negative or positive information originate. In conclusion, we must guide our thoughts because it can make or unmake us.

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

THOUGHT AFFECTS CHARACTER
Thought affect our character negatively or positively. That man is what he thinks. Thus if you think in your heart that you are a bad person, it invariably reflects in your character, and if you hold the considered opinion that you are a good person, it manifest in your disposition.
Conscious and deliberate efforts in thinking rightly, justly, nobly and gracefully give good character but unconscious, non-deliberate efforts in thinking wrongly has negative effects on character. For example, in my everyday life, I must think of good things in respect of my character, which will manifest with time once the inner being thinks good of himself. I should think I have energy, respect people, caring, intelligent and gentle. Perhaps that may not be my character but as time wore on my character will reflect such thoughts.

THOUGHT HAS EFFECT ON OUR CIRCUMSTANCES
“The outer world of circumstances shapes itself to the inner world of thought, and both pleasant and unpleasant external conditions are factors which make for the ultimate good of the individual. As the reaper of his own harvest, man learns both of suffering and bliss”. Our thoughts have impact on our circumstances. This idea is important to me because it teaches me how I can improve my circumstances. If a man feeds himself with good thoughts he can achieve anything he sets his mind on which will improve his situation, state of affairs, position and status. For example, people who have a can-do-thought have achieved a lot in society and have improved their financial lots. In my respectful view, this idea teaches me to change my attitude and thoughts and press on toward what I have set to achieve in life and I shall definitely achieved them though on the path I may have difficulties.

This is evident in this statements bestial thoughts crystallize into habits of drunkenness and sensuality, which solidify into circumstances of destitution and disease, impure thoughts of every kind crystallize into enervating and confusing habits, which solidify into distracting and adverse circumstances, thought of fear, doubt, indecision crystallize into weak, unmanly and irresolute habits, which solidify into circumstances of failure, indigence, and solidify into circumstance and beautiful thoughts of all kinds crystallize into habits of grace and kindliness, which solidify into genial and sunny circumstances and others.

THOUGHT AFFECTS HEALTH AND BODY
Good thoughts affect the body and our health and bad thoughts affect the body and our health. Disease and health are rooted in our thoughts. Sickly and unhealthy thoughts manifest into sick body and on the other hand, strong, pure and happy thoughts build up the body in vigor and grace. This idea teaches me to have pure, graceful and strong thoughts. In my life, I have to think that I am strong; I have the strength that I need for each day, sound mind, etc.

THOUGHT & PURPOSE
Purpose is an intention or aim that an individual or an organization has. It provides direction for individuals and organization. This idea suggests that I should link thought with purpose until then that there will be intelligent accomplishments. Good thoughts enrich purposes and prevent us from deviations. It also leaps to my eyes to conceive legitimate purpose in my heart and set out to accomplish it and that purpose should be nucleus to my thoughts, taking cognizance that difficulty will lie but staying focus will yield success. With reference to the weakest soul knowing its own weakness, and believing this truth-that strength can only be developed by effort and practice will, thus believing, at once begin to exert itself. And, adding effort to effort, patience to patience, and strength, will never cease to develop and add will at last grow divinely strong. Doubts and fear should be rigorously excluded when purpose is set. This is because doubts and fear throw purposes out of cinch. For example, if I set my mind to write certified public accounting (CPA) exams to qualify as an accountant I should eschew doubts and success and be fixated about success.

THE THOUGHT FACTOR IN ACHIEVEMENT
Whether a man will achieve success or failure largely depends on his thought. Thinking big
creates big achievement and a mediocre thinking results in small or no achievement. With reference to “A man can only rise, conquer, and achieve by lifting up his thoughts. He can only remain weak, abject and miserably by refusing to lift up his thoughts.” This idea is paramount to me because it teaches me to lift my thoughts above slavish animal indulgence and to make sacrifices. He who wants to succeed must sacrifice more to get good results and that little sacrifice yields poor results.

VISIONS AND IDEALS
Vision is the promise of what you will one day become or do and ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil. This idea suggests that we should have vision and ideals since they are sine quo non for success. A vision statement provides a sense of purpose and a platform for evaluation. Great achievements started with visions. Pursing ones vision may see setbacks but striving hard will finally produce results. With reference to “In the human affairs there are efforts, and there are results. The strength of the effort is the measure of the result.”

SERENITY
This idea suggests how self control and calmness can be of advantage to an individual. That the more a man has self control the better his successes and vice versa. Calmness of a person attracts people to him because the public share the view that he is good, honest and hence earns respect, which has the tendency of increasing the financial resources of the person. This is because people prefer to deal with him,

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?

* To have a vision and ideals to provide a sense of direction so that I can evaluate from time to time as the progress made.

* To have self control and be calmness in attitude which create an ocean of respect, honesty, influence and power which will increase my financial status because the vast majority of people will tend to deal with me.

* To learn to sacrifice in my quest to achieve my purpose in life because the level of strength backing efforts lend itself to success.

* Think positive in all things because my thoughts affect my character, purpose, circumstances and achievements.

* Thinking big lends itself to greater achievement and the mediocre thinking results in mediocrity therefore I should raise my thoughts to achieve a lot.
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4. Quotes: Are there any statements which the author made that particularly got your attention? If so, please quote them and comment as to why they were important to you.

This is no such profound statements in the book as a man thinketh that impresses me but the author made several profound statements for which I would like to quote a few:

* Only the wise man, only he whose thoughts are controlled and purified, makes the winds and the storms of the soul obey him.

* Into your hands will be placed the exact results of your own thoughts

* The vision that you glorify in your mind, the ideal that you enthrone in your heart; with this you will build your life; this you will become.

* He who has conquered doubts and fear has conquered failure.

* Men do not attract that which they want, but that which they are

5. Is there anything in the book that you do not understand or are unclear about, or are there ideas which you disagree with and, if so, why?

No. This book was understandable and straightforward in my opinion.

6. Did the book contain exercises for the reader to complete? If so, did you complete all of the exercises and did you find them helpful?

No. There was no exercise for me to complete.

7. Was there anything you read in the book that you would like to comment on that was not covered in the previous questions? If so, please comment.

No such that I would comment.

Please rate the following questions on a scale from 1 to 10. Ten is good and one is poor.

A. How interesting was it to read? 10
B. How helpful were the contents? 10
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? 85%

Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Assessment by Theophilus Tawiah (Ghana)

1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
The main idea that the author is pressing upon us in respect of the book Jonathan Livingston Seagull is moving beyond the limitations and striving for excellence. The author wants us to learn to explore beyond the traditional ways of doing things and to identify programmes, methods and means of improving our lives. This is vivid in the book by Jonathan seagull exploring and practising how to fly, which was not within the imagination of the gulls as something possible. The traditional activities of the gulls included chasing after fishes at the sea. The author further intimates that in going beyond the limitations and striving for excellence we must strictly comply with these principles such as walking in love, perseverance, raising leaders, eschewing boredom, fear and anger, guiding our thoughts and being conscious.

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

PRINCIPLE OF OUT OF IGNORANCE
This suggests that individuals should strive for knowledge to reach the full potential of their abilities. This is supported by the fact that the seagulls had no idea that they could fly beyond the traditional chasing after fishes at the sea, but Jonathan Seagull pursued knowledge and he identified their ability to fly. With reference to “We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence. ”This idea teaches me to pursue excellence in everything I do, by trying to identify new opportunities and innovation to improve my family`s lives and that of humanity as a whole.

PRINCIPLE OF ESCHEW BOREDOM, FEAR AND ANGER
Boredom, fear and anger affect our pursuit in life negatively. They have the tendency to destroy our visions, missions, purposes and goals whether at the corporate, district, municipal, metropolitan, national and at the individual levels. They throw our goals out of sync and make it non-accomplishable, thus debilitating our economic state. With reference to “Jonathan seagull discovered that boredom and fear and anger are the reasons that a gull`s life is so short, and with these gone from his thought, he lived a long and fine life indeed.” This is evidenced in the fact that when Jonathan Seagull identified the potential to fly, if he had allowed fear, boredom and anger to affect him he would not have known the abilities of gulls. This idea in my respectful view teaches me to avoid fear in everything I do and think positively as well as forgive one another. It further suggests to me not to allow the negative disposition of others to thwart my vision and mission statements and whatever goals I have set for myself.

PRINCIPLE OF THOUGHT IS ALL
This idea is personally important to me because it suggests that thought rules the world. It indicates that our thoughts affect us in everything we do. Thought can affect our vision and ideals, achievements, circumstances, body and health, character, purposes and every aspect of our lives. With reference to “Your whole body, from wingtip to wingtip, ”Jonathan would say, other time” “Is nothing more than your thought, in a form you can see. Good thoughts bring light to the body and bad thoughts bring darkness to the body. “The outer world of circumstances shapes itself to the inner world of thought, and both pleasant and unpleasant external conditions are factors which make for the ultimate good of the individual. As the reaper of his own harvest, man learns both of suffering and bliss”. Our thoughts have impact on our circumstance s. This idea is important to me because it teaches me how I can improve my circumstances. If a man feeds himself with good thoughts he can achieve anything he sets his mind on, which will improve his situation, state of affairs, position and status. For example, people who have a can-do-thought have achieved a lot in society and have improved their financial lot. It further leaps to my eyes to change my thoughts, break the chains of my thoughts and break the chains of my body and I can achieve hordes of things in the world.

THE PRINCIPLE OF LOVE
Love plays a crucial role if one is to be seen as a good leader. Many a time, when people are pursuing goods which are not common to his colleagues, they tend to scorn, discourage and hate the goal pursuers but the ability of the goal pursuer to bring them along is significant. One should love and try to bring his colleagues to the path for which he has identified. When Jonathan Seagull was practising how to fly at the expense of chasing after fishes which was mundane to the gull family, they deemed him as an outcast and a disgrace to the family but he demonstrated love by showing them the truth about the potentials of gulls without consider what they had done to him. He was willing to help any of his family who later became an outcast to realize his potential. With reference to 'You have to practice and see the real gull, the good in every one of them, and to help them see it in themselves. That`s what I mean by love.”
In my life, it teaches me to walk in love and not consider so much the hurt by people that may come my way in pursuit of excellence in life but show others to know the light.

THE PRINCIPLE OF CONSCIOUSNESS
This idea suggests that one should be meticulous and focus in everything and know that once you are pursuing a goal failure or success may come your way so make an inroad to that effect. This is evident in the many failures Jonathan Seagull encountered in his quest to identify the potentials of seagulls to fly but eventually he saw the light. “With reference to “What you did manage to do was to change your level of consciousness rather abruptly''. It teaches me to know that in pursuit of excellence, there may be obstacles in the way but striving harder will produce results.

THE PRINCIPLE OF PERSEVERANCE
Perseverance is nucleus if one is to achieve success. This idea suggests we should persevere in all our endeavours. Jonathan Seagull sought to learn how to fly which was not the common nature of work of seagulls, but as he started he had a lot of setbacks such as exploding in midair and being smashed down into a brick-hard sea. Irrespective of the setbacks, Jonathan Seagull continued in his quest to fly and perfected with time. He never allowed the problems he encountered to limit him. In my life, this principle teaches me to stay unwavering, relentless and immovable when hit with setbacks but continue striving to achieve the set goals

THE PRINCIPLE OF RAISING LEADERS
“It takes a leader to raise up a leader”- John C. Maxwell. This principle affirms the quote of the aforementioned writer that good leader only try to raise leaders because it is said that it is lonely at the top. In respect of the book Jonathan Seagull, it became apparent the principle of grooming others to be leaders. Jonathan Seagull was at the side of each of his students demonstrating, suggesting, pressuring and guiding them; this resulted in Fletcher Gull becoming an instructor to train his colleagues. With reference to “Fletcher turned to his instructor, and there was a moment of fright in his eyes. “ Me leading? What do you mean, me leading? You are the instructor here. You couldn`t leave!”

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?

* To preserve in all my ways in respect of goals I set for myself and I shall surely achieve me.

* To walk in love and not consider so much the hurt by people that may come in pursuit of excellence in life but show others to know the light.

* To change my Thought so that I can affect my vision and ideals, achievements, circumstances, body and health, character, purposes and every aspect of our lives

* To avoid fear in everything I do and think positively as well as forgive one another. It further suggest to me not to allow the negative disposition of other to thwart my vision and mission statements and whatever goals I have set for myself.

* To make conscious efforts to raise leader so that together we can affect our generation.

4. Quotes: Are there any statements which the author made that particularly got your attention? If so, please quote them and comment as to why they were important to you.

“We`re free to go where we wish and to be what we are.”
This quote affirms our fundamental right to make choices in life and not to be limited by so call traditions and norms that hinders our freedom. We have the freedom to choose any career, goals, association and others.

“The only true law is that which leads to freedom”
Emphasises the relationship legislations, customs or norms with freedom. It suggests that laws made should not entangle the choice and freedom of man. Any law which does yield such freedom is no law and we have the option to set it aside.

5. Is there anything in the book that you do not understand or are unclear about, or are there ideas which you disagree with and, if so, why?

No. There book was understanding and straightforward in my opinion.

6. Did the book contain exercises for the reader to complete? If so, did you complete all of the exercises and did you find them helpful?

No. There was no exercise for me to complete.

7. Was there anything you read in the book that you would like to comment on that was not covered in the previous questions? If so, please comment.

No such that I would comment.

Please rate the following questions on a scale from 1 to 10. Ten is good and one is poor.

A. How interesting was it to read? 7
B. How helpful were the contents? 6
C. How easy was it to understand? 6
D. Would you recommend it to others? 8
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 73%

Success Through Positive Mental Attitude
Assessment by Theophilus Tawiah (Ghana)

1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
There are many ideas the authors convey to the reader but all these ideas can be sum up in a major idea. Some of these ideas put across include; developing a positive mental attitude, connecting one's self to a divine force to help expedite wealth making and many other important ideas. However the main idea is that 'success or failure is a choice, both depending on the individual's mental attitude'. Positive mental attitude attracts success (riches) but negative mental attitude repels success. For example if an individual or organization is facing every challenge and necessity with a positive mental attitude and optimism, success is sure for such an individual or organization. However if the same individual or organization should turn on the other side of his or its talisman he or it will surely turn from attracting success to poverty or losses in the business. The other side of the talisman is a negative mental attitude. To be sure of success one must treat every situation or person with a positive mental attitude for that certainly creates opportunities for one's God given and acquired abilities to be well demonstrated to accumulate wealth.

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

SELF DISCIPLINE
Self-discipline is a training of ones'self that produces self control to unaccepted behaviors or beliefs. To always save 'a dime out of every dollar made', one will need self discipline and determination. If this is done together with the habit of investing and reinvesting, I am sure to create a better world for myself. This idea suggests that if one wants to be successful he should be determined to pay the price irrespective of its difficulties. For example the first step to success is to identify one's personality (To know he or she is born a champion and can make it in life) and clean the cobwebs in one's thinking. Every one will agree that it is not easy to let go of theories one has held on to over the years because someone calls them 'cobwebs or inhibitors in my thinking', it will take self discipline. Self discipline is one of the ideas which is most important to me because it helps me to do things I know are good and should be done irrespective of how difficult it might be. Initially, getting things done was my major setback in life but with self discipline mixed with hard work is unimaginably moving me ahead in life. I can now say no to any evil or even laziness and also to all NMAs.

DEFINITENESS OF PURPOSE
This idea suggests that every individual or company must in every way have a goal which once set cannot be changed except after it has been achieved. Whenever a definite goal is set it should always go hand in hand with a definite plan. A definite goal with a definite plan is a key which opens the door of success. If a goal is set by a company to increase its sales, that is nice but if that goal is not definite it can be broken when the storms blow. Before I read the book, I knew about goal setting but not how to make it definite. I could easily change my goals but I now know every goal must be written down with a specific plan and a deadline. This is now my commitment, making this idea very important to my heart. My goals are now irrevocable.

CREATING A PLEASING PERSONALITY
This idea is very important because I now know that to make my world well and wealthy, I must make myself well and wealthy especially in integrity. I have therefore made a resolution to develop a sound and pleasing character in order to attract wealth for that I believe is a sure way to success. A pleasing personality undoubtedly wins the respect of people and that in turn provides opportunities for the individual to expand his/her assets. For example taken two salesmen with contrasting characters, it would be seen that the one with a pleasing and respectful attitude believes in 'the customer is always right' and therefore makes the most sales. It is therefore true that 'A PLEASING PERSONALITY ' is a requisite for wealth making.

A POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE
Positive mental attitude (PMA) simply means making doing the right thing in every situation a true character. A PMA is undoubtedly a sure way to success and a also a sure key to many doors of opportunities. My spirit is determined to always be positive minded. Thinking and dreaming big with a determination to transmute the dreams into their physical equivalent has become my priority. This idea has become and will always be very important to me, for PMA to me, is a requirement for life.

BUDGETING TIME AND MONEY
'Time and tides waits for no man' is a famous adage which is a fact that no man can repudiate. Therefore time, just as money must be budgeted. This idea is very significant to me because it teaches me to 'save every dime out of every dollar' and also to proportion my time well to have enough sleep. Having enough sleep means long life, simply meaning more hope for accumulation of more money. Every hour of man should be used appropriately to prevent idleness and that has become a concern for my life after learning this idea.

GOING THE EXTRA MILE
In every assignment distinction should be an expectation. If distinction is always expected in an organization, workers begin to work extra hard to achieve distinction and that will definitely attract success to the company. Working the extra mile is very essential to possessing much more than expected. Man should never be tired of working either with the mind or hand, even the sea still continues to receive water when it rains. This is very important to me because more than enough for the growth of my company and this is very important. The sky is always the limit as many believe but with knowledge of 'going the extra mile', the moon has become my tourist destination.

LEARNING FROM DEFEAT
I and many others at least have once suffered defeat but that should never be a problem. It is taught in the book that 'every adversity can be transformed into its physical equivalent' and this means a lot to my future. Defeat, like failure is always a stepping stone to success and this is very essential to anyone who wants to be successful especially me.

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 will help me;

a. To always see the good aspect of every situation with a PMA.
b. To always set goals and have a burning desire to achieve them after developing a crystal-clear plan to achieve it.
c. To make it my aim to develop a character of integrity and respect for others by daily respecting the people I meet and being honest to them.
d. To develop a great commitment to my God and his word in quest of divine help needed to be successful. This is a daily task which is very important in many dimensions.
e. To work inexorably with both my hand and mind above average daily in my personal life.
f. To make perseverance a part and parcel of my daily activities irrespective of the number of failures encountered.
g. To always save 'a dime out of every dollar made'. If this is done together with the habit of investing and reinvesting, I am sure to make a better world for myself.

4. Quotes: Are there any statements which the author made that particularly got your attention? If so, please quote them and comment as to why they were important to you.

a. 'What the mind of man can conceive and believe with PMA, man can achieve it. 'This is important to me because it steers me to dream big since the feasibility of any dream cannot be repudiated.

b.' God is always a good God'. This quote makes me strengthen my faith and trust in the good God I serve.

c. 'Do it now'. This self- motivator is very important to me because after practice it is realized it really is an antidote for procrastination which is an obstacle to wealth making.

d. 'If the man is well, his world will definitely be well'. This is very essential to both my social and spiritual life. It teaches me to add to whatever I have as a person virtue which in every way attracts God's favor and blessings which is required for success.

e. 'If you share misery and unhappiness, you will surely attract misery and unhappiness to yourself. This suggests that I should always motivate others and make them happy and I will get motivation and happiness back to myself.

5. Is there anything in the book that you do not understand or are unclear about, or are there ideas which you disagree with and, if so, why?

The book is superb and its principles and ideas are very lucid, feasible and simple. I therefore agree with everything written in the book.

6. Did the book contain exercises for the reader to complete? If so, did you complete all of the exercises and did you find them helpful?

Yes. I made sure to complete each and every question in the book due to my passionate interest in the book.

7. Was there anything you read in the book that you would like to comment on that was not covered in the previous questions? If so, please comment.

I am satisfied with the questions since I am pleased with the book. I would not like to comment on the book for all is already said.

Please rate the following questions on a scale from 1 to 10. Ten is good and one is poor.

A. How interesting was it to read? 10
B. How helpful were the contents? 10
C. How easy was it to understand? 9
D. Would you recommend it to others 10
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 9

Keys To Success
Assessment by Theophilus Tawiah (Ghana)

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

The author is pressing upon us at to how we can achieve success through 17 Principle s of Success which he was able to establish on the lives and experiences of those who had achieved lasting accomplishments in history. The 17 principles of success are ; develop definiteness of purpose, establish a mastermind alliance, assemble an attractive personality, use applied faith, go the extra mile, create personal initiative, build a positive mental attitude, control your attention, inspire teamwork, learn from adversity and defeat, cultivate creative vision, maintain sound health, budget your time and money, and use cosmic habit force. He suggests that when we put these principles to use and couple it with hard work, positive thoughts and prayers we will achieve anything we set our hearts to do in this world. Also, he intimates that applying these principles will save our time and prevent us from making mistakes that ruined others lives.

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

DEVELOP OF DEFINTENESS OF PURPOSE
Developing a definiteness of purpose is a key for providing direction for organizations and individuals. Individuals like corporate organizations should have a mission statements and vision statements by which all efforts are geared towards achieving them. Individuals that have developed and stated their purposes are most likely to succeed in life than those who do not. Defining your purpose is a starting point for all achievements. Developing a definiteness of purpose suggests that craft a goal for everything you want to do in life. The goals should be simple, measurable, realistic, and attainable and time bound. This enable the goal setter to measure and evaluate actual results against expected plan. Setting or developing the purpose is not enough; the developer of the purpose or goal should make conscious efforts to follow it. Developing a definite of purpose encourages you to specialise, to budget time and financial resources, alerts and creates opportunities, helps in decision making, develops confidence in your integrity and character, opens ones minds to faith and makes one success conscious.
The principle teaches me to define my purpose and that I should make conscious efforts to follow it, and I will achieve great success and attract among other things favourable attention from others and inspire cooperation.

ESTABLISH A MASTERMIND ALLIANCE
Master alliance is a group of people working together to achieve a common goal. In other words, it is two or more people working in pursuit of a common goal. The principle suggests the use of the full strength of experience, training, and knowledge of other people as though they were your own. Individuals who perceive that they can do all things by themselves without the recourse to the experiences, training and knowledge are not likely to realise their full potential. Forming a mastermind alliance in every area of our life will yield success in every area of our lives in respect of marriage, at workplace, education, religion and politics. The principle suggests that it is not enough to just form a mastermind alliance but develop a purpose for the alliance. Selecting members of the alliance is a key to your success. Select people who can greatly help you achieve your purpose. Selection should be based on competency, cooperation and determination of the members to succeed. This principle presses upon me that I should form alliance that will help me achieve my goals in life. The achievement of my goal in relation to my mastermind alliance largely depends on the members of the alliance.

ASSEMBLE AN ATTRACTIVE PERSONALITY
The third step in achieving lasting success is to develop an attractive personality. A pleasant personality is a well- rounded person. An attractive personality should have a positive mental attitude, tact, nice tone of voice, humility, a keen sense of justice, emotional control, versatility, fondness for people, effective showmanship, clean sportsmanship, personal magnetism, a keen sense of humour, tolerance, the habit of smiling, promptness of decision making, flexibility, courtesy, faith in infinite intelligence and effective communication skills. This principle suggests that attractive personality is a sine quo non for success and that individuals should make conscious efforts to develop attractive personalities.

GO THE EXTRA MILE
This is one of the principles of success that individuals should learn to practise although it may not be easy. “Render more and better services than you are paid for, and sooner or later you will receive compound interest from your investment. It is inevitable that every seed of useful service you sow will sprout and reward you with an abundant harvest.” Go the extra mile suggests that going beyond what you are traditionally bound to do. Making sacrifices besides what you have been assigned to do. What makes this principle yield success is that many a time people are only willing to do what they have been asked to do without exercising personal initiative and doing more than enough. The principle involves hardship but helps you to be aware of all the different benefits it will bring. The associated benefits are favourable attention, you become indispensable, you improve yourself, brings opportunities, gives you a pleasing attitude, gives you self confidence, helps you to overcome procrastination and helps you to be initiative. The principle teaches me to be doing more than I am paid for provided it is within the confines of the law.

LEARN FROM ADVERSITY AND DEFEAT
This principle suggests that in pursuit of our goals, we may or not be defeated so when we are confronted with defeat, we should learn some lessons from it. Every defeat carries the seed of an equivalent benefits so we should learn from it. Defeat is not as a result of sin but it may befall anybody so that we can learn lessons from. However, it is suicidal that if you a struck by defeat you will not lessons from it to achieve success. Some of the causes of defeats include among other things lack of definiteness of purpose, childhood influences, negative mental attitude, lack of emotional control, desire to get something for nothing, lack of self discipline, disloyalty, lack of vision and imagination, egotism and vanity, desire for revenge, poor selection of a spouse. This principle teaches me to learn from defeat and adversity that befall me and that of others. This is because defeat reveals and breaks bad habits, makes one humble, causes you to make evaluation and provides a challenge to greater effort.

MAINTAIN SOUND HEALTH
There are so many things we can do when we have life hence the essence to maintain a sound health. Sound health includes maintaining a positive mental attitude, thought and physical health. It is of no essence to achieve a lot in life and you have a lot of benefits at your disposal but you cannot enjoy them because of ill health. Your mind influences your health so think positive in respect of your health. For example, if you are always obsessed that you have a bad health, it will translate to reality and if you think you have good health you will have a good one. Fear and anxiety may create a situation which never existed. In the book of Job, Job said 'things I feared have come upon me'. Therefore we should eschew fear in every area of our life. We should have good eating habit; have rhythms in relaxation, enough sleep and regular exercise of the body, heart and mind. This principle teaches me to pay attention to my health by exercising my body, having enough sleep and good eating habits.

BUDGET YOUR TIME AND MONEY
Budgeting is making allocation of existing resources with constraint. This principle is essential to success so those individuals who have developed the definiteness of purpose should take an inventory of the resources and make allocation as to time and financial resources. Many a time people who do not budget time end up not achieving anything for a day/week or month. Most individuals do not make budget for the spending of their money hence living above their means which throws them into debts. This principle teaches us to make planning for my time and money. For example, our money could be budgeted in terms of utilities, accommodation, education, contingencies expenditure, investments, etc. We can also allocate the 24 hours at our disposal among work hours, sleeping hours, relaxation and personal development.

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?

* To sit in a serene environment to provoke my thinking to have new ideas to improve the life of humanity.
* To pay attention to my health by exercising my body, having enough sleep and good eating habits.
* To define my purpose and make conscious efforts to follow it, and I will achieve great success and attract among other things favourable attention from others and inspire cooperation
* I should form alliance that will help me achieve my goals in life. The achievement of my goal in relation to my mastermind alliance largely depends on the members of the alliance
* To do more than I am paid for provided it is within the confines of the law.
* Attractive personality is a sine quo non for success and that individuals should make conscious efforts to develop a attractive personality.
* Every defeat carries the seed of an equivalent benefits so I should learn from every defeat that befall me.
* I should always hold in my hand a note pad so that I can write ideas that drop in my mind at any place.
* I should affirm my definiteness of purpose with prayers always.

4. Quotes: Are there any statements which the author made that particularly got your attention? If so, please quote them and comment as to why they were important to you.

“There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; omitted, all the voyage of theirs is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat; and we must take the current when it serves, or lose our venture”. This teaches me to take opportunity when it is available and learn and stand on the shoulders of those who have gone ahead of me.

“Strength and struggle go hand in hand” It suggests that good efforts and hard work brings success and power.

“Know what you wish to say, say it with all the feeling you command, and then sit down.” It teaches me to communicate effectively.

5. Is there anything in the book that you do not understand or are unclear about, or are there ideas which you disagree with and, if so, why?

No. The ideas are concise, precise and simple. I therefore agree with everything written in the book.

6. Did the book contain exercises for the reader to complete? If so, did you complete all of the exercises and did you find them helpful?

Yes. I made sure to complete each and every question in the book due to my intense interest in the book.

7. Was there anything you read in the book that you would like to comment on that was not covered in the previous questions? If so, please comment.

I am satisfied with the questions since I am pleased with the book.

Psycho- Cybernetics
Assessment by Theophilus Tawiah (Ghana)

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

The author is trying to convey the idea of achieving personal fulfilment through the self -image enhancement. He suggests that our self image sets the limits for what we can and cannot achieve. The author teaches among other things deprogram yourself from self-doubt and negative self- evaluations, achieving a happier, healthier love life, expanding the scope of your personal and professional goals, overcoming procrastination, excessive inhibition and irrational fears, become more assertive in personal and work-related situations.

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

LIVE LIFE BY YOUR OWN SCRIPT: HOW TO CHOOSE AND SET GOALS
In psycho-cybernetic, it suggests the principle of living life by your script, which means live life by your own goals. This principle suggests that the starting point for success is to set goals. Setting the goals become nucleus what you want to in life.

“ A man or a woman without a goal is like a ship without a rudder, each will drift and not drive. Each will end up on the beaches of despair, defeat, and despondency.” In this quotation, It leaps to our eyes that if you don't set goals for your life, you will wander about in this life, thus living by others script or aspirations. There is a relationship between our goals and self conditions.

The images we have about ourselves determine the goals we set. It is appropriate to determine what goals you need for your life. For example, somebody may elect to set the goal of becoming a minister of finance based on his and capability. It is proper to think through what you want to do with your life rather than what other want you to do with your life. In determining what goals are apt for your life, you must learn to trust your intuition. After determining your goals, you must take an inventory of your skills. You should take critical assessment of the skills you have and the ones you have not yet identified. It is important to note that skills can be learnt both through formal and informal education. It is purpose that you may need certain skills for your goals which you may not have identified yet. You can make conscious efforts to develop those skills. It is worthwhile to identify and write down your goals.
This reminds you of the direction you heading, so that you can assess yourself from time to time. It is not enough to set the goals only, you must set date for achievement of those goals. Apply the SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threat) to the goals. Follow through your plans of action to make headway toward achieving the goals. Surround yourself with people who want you to succeed. In short the goals should be realistic, time bound, specific, actionable and measurable.

MOVING AHEAD: FROM GOAL SETTING TO GAOL GETTING
Life is moving vehicle with no brakes, if you spend too much time looking in the rear view mirror, you will hit a tree. That is why your window is bigger than your rear view mirror. If you set realistic goals and balance self-support with appropriate self-criticism, you will stay on the road. This principle suggests that it is not enough to set goals, but worthwhile when achieved. Once you set goals it is proper to follow through the action plan, however procrastination may rump on the way. Therefore, conscious effort must be made to overcome procrastination. The principle established says to move ahead toward goal achievement.

1. Focus on your action plan daily-develop an action for each goal and follow it religiously. Make periodic assessment and amendment
2. Set up a self monitoring system. Develop a monitoring system to keep track of your progress on achieving the goals.
3. Make a contract with friends and co-workers; Another way to stay on course is to share your goal with a trusted to keep you on track or monitor your progress
4. Develop your own system of motivational rewards; after setting goals, you must stay on course. In the short and long term, review your action plan and reward for target achieved.
5. Control burnout by setting priorities and narrowing your focus; his suggests we prioritize to avoid drifting away.

This principle teaches me to moving once I have set my goals. This is because setting goals alone is not to achieve success.

HEEDING THE DANGER SIGNALS: HOW TO AVOID FAILURE
This principle suggests that we must heed to warning to avoid failure. Many a time, before one will fail, there are indications that failure is looming but it is ignored. The warning signals of failure are frustrations, aggressiveness, insecurity, loneliness, uncertainty, resentment and emptiness. In the story of Titanic, Titanic was the largest ship to have been in history. At its first sailing, a lot of people had paid enough to be on board. In heat of the sailing on the sea, a captain of another ship indicated to the captain of Titanic the danger of ice ahead but ignored it on the pretext that the ship was big enough to overcome any obstacle. Eventually, the supposed overcoming ship was wrecked.

Frustration is one of the failure signals. It makes your goals less likely to be attained only when you fail to respond to it as warning signal. It is possible to be frustrated once your goals become out of cinch, but you must review your goals and take steps that are pragmatic to achieve them.
Aggressiveness is also a sign that we must heed to avoid failure. It is a consequence of frustration. The secret for avoiding failure lies in changing aggressiveness into assertiveness. Aggressive personality uses such tactics as yelling, blame-casting, badgering and bullying to go after what he wants with no regard for anyone else. Aggressiveness can be changed into assertiveness by paying attention to our body language, paying attention to our voices, control anger, allow others to disagree, be sincere, use alternative to aggressive talk and pay attention to our words.

Insecurity is also a danger signal we must heed to. A sense of insecurity can endanger our success. This may be a result of false belief we have about ourselves. Other signs are loneliness, uncertainty, resentment, and emptiness.

This principle teaches that our automatic mechanism reaches its goals by responding to these signals not as indications of failure but as guideposts to corrective action.

FREE YOURSELF FROM FALSE BELIEFS
Your self-image may be conditioned and your capabilities constrained by false and negative beliefs about yourself based on subconscious memories of early-childhood experiences. Our behaviour is conditioned by the beliefs about ourselves. If your have a false beliefs about yourself, you will behaviour negatively and if you have good beliefs about yourself, you will behaviour positively.

The principle teaches as to how you can free yourself from false beliefs so that you can achieve success in every area of our lives. With respect to “ That 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.” Some of these negative ideas have thwarted us from reaching our full potential. These false beliefs stem from our environment, what others have said about us, our names/nicknames, statements from our family and sometimes family history,
The principle suggests that to free yourself from false belief is to challenge the belief and limit belief system to understand that you are human being who deserves better.

The next step is to remember that false beliefs are nothing more than habits you have learned. Also apply the CRAFT process-cancel memories of your old, negative beliefs, replace them with new, positive beliefs, affirm your new concept of yourself, focus on specific images of success and train to accept new beliefs.

Finally use rational thinking to tune out negative beliefs. This principle has taught me to have good beliefs about myself.

FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT: IMAGING YOUR WAY TO SUCCESS
Your attitudes, feelings and behaviour change in the direction of what you believe to be true. “You are responsible for the thoughts you have in your head at any given time. You have the capacity to think whatever you choose, and virtually all your self-defeating attitudes and behaviours originate in the way you choose to think.”

This principle suggests that you must imagine yourself being successful by faking it till it becomes reality. This because our behaviour is conditioned by what we imagine to be true, and can change our behaviour by focusing your imagination. This principle has been proven to be true because successful people in business, sport, art, and politics had use mental imaging to create positive conditions for their successes.

It also suggests that our subconscious mind can’t tell the difference between a real experience and one that is vividly imagined. It agrees with every suggestion the conscious mind gives it, thus the need to fake it with images of expected success until it becomes true.

There is the need to develop a fake-it-till-you-make-it attitude. Choose the same time each day for your mental picturing, make sure there will be no interruptions and accept all positive images as valid and helpful. In a nutshell, fake it till you make it,- act as if you have already achieved success and your feelings, attitudes and behaviour will become consistent with actual self-image.

DEVELOP A POSITIVE SELF IMAGE
“ Self-esteem is the likeliest candidate for a social vaccine, something that empowers us to live responsibly and that inoculates us against the lure of crime, violence, substance abuse, teenage pregnancy, child abuse, chronic welfare dependency, and educational failure. The lack of self-esteem is central to most personal and social ills plaguing our states and nations as we approach the end of the twentieth century.”

This principle suggests that self image is paramount to our success. Self image is key to our personality. 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.

Self image is a determinant of our success or failure. If you have bad self image, you will not achieve your full potential and on the other hand, if you have a good self image you are likely to achieve your full potential.

This principle has taught me to develop a positive self image.

PROGRAM YOUR SUCCESS MECHANISM
“The creative mechanism within you is impersonal. It will work automatically and impersonally to achieve goals of success and happiness and failure, depending on the goals which you yourself set for it.”

This principle suggests that we should program our success mechanism. Programming your success starts with having a positive self-image. Break old habits that keep you crunning up against curbs and installing new habits that will lead to happiness and success. Use CRAFT process to eliminate old negative self-image. Programming your success mechanism also starts with setting goals. Visualise yourself as the person you want to be, select positive new data for your reprogramming, access the part of your brain that will best help you in using your power of imagination and visualization are some of the ways of programming your success.

Others are identifying your negative programming and be aware of its falseness, use relaxation to optimize the efficiency of your creative mechanism, select goals for your success mechanism to achieve, be sensitive to positive feedback that reassures you that you are on course toward your goals and make the best use of negative feedback to correct errors in your course toward your goals.

This principle has taught me to use CRAFT process to re-evaluate and replace old habits of attitude and behaviour.

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?

* To use CRAFT process to re-evaluate and replace old habits of attitude and behaviour
* To develop a positive self image.
* That our automatic mechanism reaches its goals by responding to these signals not as indications of failure but as guideposts to corrective action.
* To set 15 minute aside each day for visualization.
* To set goals with its action plan to achieve success.
* To Live life my own script
* To develop respect for diversity

4. Quotes: Are there any statements which the author made that particularly got your attention? If so, please quote them and comment as to why they were important to you.

We are engineered as goal-seeking mechanisms. We are built that way. When we have no personal goal which we are interested in and which mean something to us, we are apt to go around in circles, ”feel lost” and find life itself aimless...People who say that life is not worthwhile are really saying that they themselves have no personal goals which are worthwhile.”

This quote is important to me because it teaches to have a goal for life and I will find life worthwhile.

You are responsible for the thoughts you have in your head at any given time. You have the capacity to think whatever you choose, and virtually all your self-defeating attitudes and behaviours originates in the way you choose to think.
This quote is also important to me because it teaches me I have control over my thoughts so I should think positively.

5. Is there anything in the book that you do not understand or are unclear about, or are there ideas which you disagree with and, if so, why?

The book is superb and its principles and ideas are very lucid, feasible and simple. I therefore agree with everything written in the book.

6. Did the book contain exercises for the reader to complete? If so, did you complete all of the exercises and did you find them helpful?

Yes. I made sure to complete each and every question in the book due to my passionate interest in the book.

7. Was there anything you read in the book that you would like to comment on that was not covered in the previous questions? If so, please comment.

I am satisfied with the questions since I am pleased with the book. I would not like to comment on the book for all is already said.

Please rate the following questions on a scale from 1 to 10. Ten is good and one is poor.

A. How interesting was it to read? 8
B. How helpful were the contents? 9
C. How easy was it to understand? 8
D. Would you recommend it to others? 9
E. What is the overall rating you would give it 9