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Assessment by Joseph Moses Ayodele ... As A Man Thinketh 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. A man is what he literally thinks. Thought is what makes a man. God-like character is a thing that comes through continued effort in right thinking. Man is made or unmade by what he thinks. According to the book, by the wrong and abuse application of thought, a man degenerates. Man is the master of thoughts, he is the builder, moulder and sharper of condition, environment and his destiny. This is to say that everything depends on man in his environment. He can fashion it the way he likes by his own thoughts. This implies that man has been given the ability to create his own world the way he wants it through his thoughts. His success and failure depends largely on what he does with his thoughts. Personally, this idea is important to me because I have actually understood that if I must succeed in life I must pattern my thought flow in such a way that will generate energy that would bring about growth and success for me instead of failure. I have therefore learnt that if I cultivate positive mental picture about what I want to achieve in life, I can always have it. This aspect has tremendously helped me ever since 1986 when I came across “The Power of Positive Thinking” by Vincent. Before this time I used to be skeptical and afraid of failure but thereafter, I developed a strong confidence. I have also realized that the concept of having positive thoughts always help a great deal. Each time I strongly believe that I have already obtained something I desire, it always ends up being so. In Part II of the book, a man's mind was likened to a garden. It is like a Garden that is cultivated intelligently or left to fallow. It means that a man's mind is capable of producing whatever is planted on it or destroying it entirely. The mind can be fertile or barren. The mind can be productive or unproductive but all these depend on the man himself. Whatever, a man allow to enter into his mind would eventually produce a result whether it be positive or negative. If you put useless things into it, it will produce useless things. Part of very important things I also learn from this book is that thought and characters are one. Your thought line is what gives birth to your behaviour. A man's thought is what give expression into character. What a man thinks about constantly is what he will eventually become. If a man often thinks about success as a center point in his life he will soon become successful. When he thinks failure he will also receive failure. Another crucial thing I learnt is that the soul attracts what it secretly harbours. That is, the soul of a man will only attract whatever you keep in it at all times. If the mind is often empty, there is nothing it can obtain or produce. According to As A Man Thinketh, the soul attracts that which it loves and also that which it fears. This is important to me in the sense that I have seen it happen to me. I have come to the realization that I have the power to dictate what happens to me through my thought pattern per time. The book went further to also say that circumstances do not make a man but that, it reveals him to himself. Through circumstances of life a man will be able to know what stuff he is made up of. He is able to decipher if he is strong or weak. He is able to know if he is making progress or not. Men do not attract that which they want. They only attract what they are by reason of what is always in their minds. If a man is fond of thinking negatively he is bound by his thought to reap negative results always too and vice versa. If you ponder all the time on positive thoughts and things that give joy and fulfillment, success is sure for such a person. The book explains that “man is limited only by his own self. Thoughts and actions are jailors of fate”. He said that man is manacled only by himself. That is to say, man is the one who limits himself by his thought. No wonder, the Bible says that “guard your heart with all diligence because out of it are the issues of life”. Whatever you desire if it is not registered and rooted in your heart it will not reach your hands. The moment what you want becomes a strong desire in your heart, the moment you'll receive the answer. It is not wishing that delivers a request into your hands but a heartfelt desire. You are what you desire. What you are is what you receive. So, when what you want becomes what you are that is when you'll receive what you want. He further opined that even at the level of man's weakest state, he is
still a master of his destiny. The author is of the opinion that man is the
one who determines what happens to him. Wherever a man finds himself is a place meant for his learning and development. 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? Yes. Actually, the ideas and concepts enumerated and expounded in this book are quite applicable to one's life. They could be related to one's personal life. Take for instance; it is quite possible to learn to think positively. In 1987 when I needed to write an important examination which would determine the direction of my educational career, having learnt that there isn't anything I can not achieve if I so desire through the power of positive thinking I was able to surmount the challenge and came out with flying colours. I decided and desired the exact number of papers I wanted to pass and so it was. I made it. Also, in my undergraduate, there was an Economics course that was Mathematical and was giving me much problems to pass after I had carried it over twice; I remembered that the success or failure all depended on me. So, I made up my mind and the course was not able to hold me back from graduating. After my graduation in 1994, I was to go for my National Youth Service Corp to serve the nation, in my country every university and Polytechnic graduates must serve the nation for one year in a state different from his own, so, I hadn't even the money for transportation to my station. With positive thought and belief that I would get the money before the closing date, I was able to get the money. This has helped my relationship a great deal too, in that; it has helped me to always have a better out look about people. It has helped me to give people the benefit of doubt. Having cultivated the habit of always having positive thoughts, I have been able to exercise faith in the possibility of all things. For instance, as a person, my motto is “all things are possible”. I so much believe this statement that I do believe that there is no problem that cannot be solved. I believe that I can always find the best and lasting solutions to problems. So, it has helped to have a perspective of success. I do not believe I can fail completely. And even, if I fail in an issue I can always succeed if I do not give up. In relating the Idea of positive thinking to my personal goals in life, it has really helped me a lot to achieve my set goals. It has also enabled me to have values for people and things in my environment so much so that I have been able to discover that one major thing I am destined to do is to seek to create values and to promote excellence through high level integrity. The value I have is such that would develop people and help them get out of the gullies of life. It is highly essential that these ideas that are in this book are known to people because it will change people's life for the better. It will make the less privileged to become privileged and the poor to become rich. The uneducated will suddenly become well informed and would be able to change the world around to a better place to live in. A man is a growth by law according to “As a Man Thinketh”. I understand it to mean that, man is never made a static being. He is made with energy to keep growing and improving. Growth will happen through continuous and concerted efforts in right thinking. The kind of growth a man would experience depends on the kind of thoughts that constantly goes on in his mind. If the thought in a man's heart is constantly positive, the resultant effect would be success. However, if the thought is constantly negative, the effect would be failure. In my personal circumstances I have found that positive thinking is an antidote to failure. In my relationship with others positive mind brings friendship, cordiality and harmony. Take for instance, I do not believe whatever any negative thing anybody say to me about the third person until perhaps when the person behave or exhibit the same characteristics to me. It heals wounds. In beliefs it energizes and lubricates your success. 3. What are the most important new ideas or concepts you learned from this book? Please Explain. A man is a growth by law according to “As a Man Thinketh”. I understand
it to mean that man is never made a static being. He is made with energy to
keep growing and improving. Growth will happen through continuous and
concerted efforts in right thinking. The kind of growth a man would
experience depends on the kind of thoughts that constantly goes on in his
heart. If the thought in a man's heart is constantly positive, the resultant
effect would be success. However, if the thought is constantly negative, the
effect would be negative. Man is made or unmade by himself. He is able to
create the weapons with which he makes or destroys himself through the kind
of thoughts he allow to take possession of his mind. By the right or wrong
application of thought, a man would ascend or descend in life. Whatever
happens in a man's life is a replica of what situate inside his mind. Another very important new idea or a concept I have learnt in this book is that “a man is the master of his own thoughts.” This simply means that a man has final say over what goes on in his mind per time. He can decide to allow positive thoughts to always pervade his mind or allow negative thoughts. As a man thinks so is he. The thought line in a man's heart determines the success or failure he gets. A man success or failure, beauty or ugliness of behaviour can not be separated completely from the way he thinks. If a man thinks about beautiful things his life would always look beautiful. There is nothing a man settles his mind to constantly think upon that he won't finally exhibit. The moment a person begins to reflect and ponder upon his condition and search very frantically for the law, upon which his destiny is established, he will then begin to realize the success that he deserves. As a Man thinketh also made me to understand that thoughts and characters are one. What you build into your heart is what you exhibit in form of character. He also of the opinion that every man is where he is by the law of his being and that there is no element of chance in the arrangement of his life. Man himself is a creative power. He should there not believe that he is a
creature of outside conditions. That is, a man should rather believe that
his creature is by the inner man. Another important idea is that “the outer world of circumstances shapes itself to the inner world of thought”. This implies that no matter what may be going on in the surrounding, if what is the mind does not tally with that it can affect the person. “Man is the causer of o his circumstances”. This statement is an important idea to me. This is so because many there are who do not know that whatever they experience or are experiencing were all caused at one time in their lives. Take for instance, an employer who adopts crooked measures to avoid paying the salaries and in the hope of making larger profits, reduces the wages of his workpeople. Such a man is altogether unfit for prosperity. And he is bound to be bankrupt. I have also learnt that “suffering is always the effect of wrong thought in some direction. It is an indication that the individual is out of harmony with himself, with the law of his being. The book also has taught me that the sole and supreme use of suffering is to purify, to burn out all that is useless and impure. Suffering from him who is pure and perfectly pure and enlightened being can not suffer. “A man may be cursed and rich; he may be blessed and poor”. Blessedness
not material possessions is the result of right thought; while wretchedness
not lack of material possessions is the measure of wrong thought.
Blessedness and riches are only joined together when the riches are rightly
and wisely used. The poor man on the other hand would only descent into the
wretchedness only when he regards his lot as a burden unjustly imposed upon
him. A man only begin to be a man when he ceases to whine and revile, and commences to search for the hidden justice which regulates his life. When he adapts his mind to these regulating factors and then stops accusing others for his failures and shortcomings. A man should use obstacles as aids to his more rapid progress. I have also learnt that thoughts of fear, doubt and indecision would crystallize into weak, unmanly and irresolute habits that will in turn solidify into situations of failures. 4. Has this book challenged or changed your thinking in any way? If so, explain how. Yes. In actual fact the book has really challenged and changed my general perspective about life. For example, this book has really helped me to know for sure that I can achieve whatever I really want to achieve in life. It has helped me to see that there is no any obstacle anywhere against my getting to my goal except the ones I allow. It has therefore reinforced my belief that there is no circumstances of life that can hold me back from my goal. Already, my heart is ignited by a kind of fire within my heart for my ultimate goal which is to become one of the richest man that ever lived on planet earth. I am already on course to achieving this feat. Why I love to become very rich is to be able to assist the poor and less privileged and for the expansion of God's Kingdom on earth. As a result of reading this book, I am filled with great passion for success more than before. 5. Are there ideas in this book that you totally disagree with? If so, why? None. 6. What did you find most helpful and least helpful in this book? What I find most helpful is that the book is resourceful, down to earth and relevant to real life situation. Take for instance, the three illustrations where he used the wretchedly poor, a sickly rich man and an employer. These are real to life. Currently there are some employers who are so greedy that they adopt crooked measures to avoid paying the wage of their staff. They go to the extent of reducing their workers for many years without substantial increment, allowance or promotion. The thing I find list helpful is that the book is a bit not easy to read. You need to pay more attention and read over and over. 7. In 50 words or less, please describe the main idea the whole book is trying to convey. A man's mind is like a garden. It is where thoughts are sowed and germinates to give the kind of fruit it aught to produce. That with your thoughts you can create your world of success or failure. Let the heart be right and every other things will be alright. Please rate the following questions on a scale from 1 to 10. Ten is good
and one is poor. Comments Jonathan Livingston Seagull 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 is full of copious ideas. I am thrilled by the ideas. It has really taught me a lot about life and achieving goals. One of the ideas is identification of oneself. That is, I should identify who exactly I am and what I really want to achieve in life. Another very crucial idea is learning process. Learning has a process. It is not without sacrifices and discomforts. But if actually I have a goal to achieve, I can't but learn all that is needed to get me to where I actually want to be. That I must put aside issue of comfort and luxuries to pursue worthwhile ventures that will launch me into my world of fame and accomplishment. Seagull makes it very clear that there may be many myths and beliefs, but that what I choose to believe is what will make me become what I aught to be and not another man's opinion. Though, there may be temptations and frightening fears of looming death, that death in actual sense only come to them who dare not to try to survive it's anguish stretch. The book makes me understand that with my faith in place I can fatally abase the tantrums of fear and failure. Another important idea I grasped is determination. Here I understand that I must always remain resolute in the pursuit of my goal. I must be undaunted in the pursuit of the things that give me satisfaction and fulfillments in spite of all odds. I learnt that I must do only what I like doing and leave that which do not appeal to my sense of satisfaction irrespective of the price I might have to pay and whoever is involved. He taught me not to settle for the average. It is only with determination that I can move against the tides and typhoon of life. According to Seagull, it may take tremendous strength but it will eventually work. Perfection comes only through persistent, concerted and calculated efforts geared towards the realization of your goals. In a nut shell, I have understood from the study that boredom, fear and anger are the results of frustrations which lead to untimely shortening of life span. The Seagull demonstrates the guts that are rare among the equals and as a result, he was outstanding. Though, that kind of mettle was misjudged as mere whim and caprices and was never accepted by his peers and the elders, yet he went on. He was never deterred. He did not allow the comments and chides to debar him from continuing. He was injured by the rigor of the whole exercise of wanting to improve himself and yet he didn't give up. He was labelled an outcast, yet he remained unperturbed. He was successful even in the face of strict and stiff oppositions. So, from here, I learnt that there are no strong enough reasons for my failing to attain my goals in life. That in the course of my wanting to obtain my desired goal, there would be plenty inner witnesses that will tell me to the contrary that I can't make it but if I do not give in I would definitely make it. You must believe in the possibilities of all things rather than being skeptical and allowing the skeptics to inform your decision making. I have personally learnt that people naturally do not want to believe new things or new ideas; they prefer to stay and sink in their state and even perish. Through this book, my belief in this aspect has been strengthened. Another very crucial idea I found in this book is that when you stop learning you start shrinking. This means that when one stops learning he starts to degenerate in value. The person will become static. Seagull has made me understand that whenever one has the opportunity to learn one should learn all there is to learn and not just learning but to also seek to impart the knowledge on others with a view to improving or building them. I learnt from this book the idea that heaven is perfection which is timeless and limitless. According to him the only thing you put in to get there is also perfection. For this reason, there are certain things you must set aside in order to get there. Things that will distract and tie you down must be rejected. We can start working with time. However, you will only able to begin the most difficult, the most powerful and the most fun of all when you are ready to do it with kindness and love. Take for example, I have found out today, in real world situation that men have really become lovers of themselves than lovers of God and their fellow men. They love money so much that they can afford to tell lies and scheme out all manner of arbitrary theories and fake principles just to satisfy or accomplish their long designed goal even at the expense of the life and progress of others. Employers even in the so call God's vineyard, lie and hypocritically treat their staff to unmerited calumny and degradation. The staff are seen only as stooges and implements for amassing wealth. It may be hard to believe but that is real. Wealth creation has so much taken over the sense of reasoning that God is not a wicked God . He designed a life of dignity and affluence for His creatures right from the beginning. Some so called leaders of today would make promises many times and yet not fulfill them. On the altar, they would present another picture but in the office they wear another cloak of the virulent capitalist who is ready to kill others while they continue living. Sordid as it may sound, that is the present state in some quarters in the world today. 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. Relationships: To be considerate and seek to carry others along in your
pursuits. Seagull, listened, though he tried to accede to the daunting
cajoles of his friends and relations but he suddenly realized that he won't
be fair to himself if he abandoned his own belief for others'. Beliefs: My belief is in the possibility of actualizing whatever I set my heart at achieving in life. Then I go all out for it irrespective of who is not happy about my decision. I hate mediocrity and hypocrisy. So, like Jonathan Seagull, I try to avoid whatever wants to lure me into the trap of giving up. Values: I discovered that my mission as a person is “to create values and promote excellence with impeccable honesty through high quality services to mankind.” So, you'll find out that Jonathan Seagull's opinion too is similar to this. He believed in creating value by trying to show his colleagues the way to be dynamic rather than keeping the status quo and remaining a mediocre. He therefore tried to improve himself and also ventured to help others see his reasons and the attendant benefits they stand to derive from learning new ways of life. The concept of being fearless in your pursuit is also an encouraging factor that must also be imbibed. Jonathan portrayed that to be fearful is to be stagnated. To be fearful is to put yourself perpetually under emotional stress. Through this study, I realize that you can't continue to be afraid of people who say you should not go forward. That so long as you continue to fear these people you will remain in the same position. There is a place where it is an offence for a staff to want to go for self improvement by applying for further studies. The belief of such an organization is that the productivity of the organization will suffer but in actual fact failed to realize that the growth and betterment of the organization depends largely on the conglomerate strength of the staff. The organization does not believe that it aught to help the staff to develop themselves. Once you start a further studies and the organization discovers the person losses his appointment or he is transferred far away to another station where he would not find it convenient to continue the programme as a deterrent. The people in that organization are apprehensive. They are cowed and subjected to all manner of human degradation in the form of subversion through stagnation. The staff salaries are never willingly reviewed upwardly and whenever it is done, it is done painstakingly. In this same organization there are many staff that work late and yet with meager salaries. 3. What are the most important new ideas or concepts you learned from this book? Please Explain. Friendship must transcend space and time limit or else when space and
time is overcome brotherhood would have been destroyed. ii. Living not for the moment: I should endeavor to live for the future. One must not be selfish but must think of others and what you could do for them. iii. Finding the Purpose for living and find perfection that is embedded in that purpose. There is no purpose without its perfection but it will take curious search to find it and being able to bring it out. Whatever we learn now will determine how successful we will be in the future most especially if we should per adventure come across similar assignment. To cross the rubicon wee need a measure of grace and courage to lift up our feet. Whatever knowledge, whatever power and belief you have is all meant for the development of others around you. They are not meant to destroy them. There is no vision in itself without the primary purpose to develop and improve others. No belief there is that is not originally made for man's emancipation. Whatever vision we have must symbolize perfect freedom and fight that is limited by nothing. Any vision without human face is anti human is not from God. 4. Has this book challenged or changed your thinking in any way? If so, explain how? ANSWER: Yes. The book has really challenged me a great deal. It has actually shown me that I need not go into a venture I do not like. And that no matter what in life, what matter most, is that, you can achieve what you want to achieve if you really set your heart at it and pursue it vigorously. No man there is, who can not succeed if he dare believe he can. I have learnt that there shouldn't be any one I should allow to discourage me in whatever way from doing what I strongly believe in. 5. Are there ideas in the book that you totally disagree with? If so, why? Yes, in Part Two where he says “Heaven is not a place, and it is not a time”. I disagree with this statement. I believe that heaven is a place and there is time there too. Heaven is just another place like the earth where God, His son, The Patriarchs and the angels lives. If heaven is not a place Jesus won't have said “In my father's house there are many mansions: If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” (See the Bible, St. John Chapter 14 verse 2). He went further by saying “And if go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (Verse 3). So, Heaven is a place. However, it requires perfection to get there. “Leviticus 11:44, God says there that “….Ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy:” Sanctify here means to clean or purify oneself. Another idea I disagree with is where Chiang in the same Part 2 said “forget about faith…you didn't need faith to fly you needed understanding”. I see this as mere expression of fiction which is not applicable to real life situation. Why? It's because in whatever you do the underlying factor for success or failure is whether the person have faith or not. The belief that you have that make you set out to begin a venture in itself is faith. Without faith which is an inner belief or a confidence about a thing. The person can not make it no matter how hard he or she may try. Faith, however, can not work in isolation. Faith will work with something, and that thing is knowledge and understanding. When your faith in a thing is mixed with your knowledge and understanding about a venture, success is sure. What Jonathan Seagull exhibited is faith in what he could do. He believed strongly that he would make it and that's what happened. 6. What did you find most helpful and least helpful in this book? What I found most helpful: The book is easy to understand. The picture the book is painting can be related to life although; the author is only using life in animal kingdom to illustrate circumstances in the real life of mankind. Flying in essence connotes success in the kingdom of men. It is figurative and very cogent in passing home it message in an appropriate manner. 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 convey is that man can achieve whatever he desires to achieve most especially if set his heart at it and really pursues it very vigorously. And that a goal should be pursued with love and kindness with a view to improving others. Please rate the following questions on a scale from 1 to 10. Ten is good
and one is poor. Comments - Feel free to share any additional comments about the book or about the ratings: Comment: Success Through A Positive Mental Attitude. 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 ideas are numerous. The number one idea I found personally important to me is that the most important living person is me. This is to mean that no one else in the world is like me. The second important idea I got from this book is that every man is made of two talismans namely Positive Mental Attitude and Negative Mental Attitude. According to this book, Positive Mental Attitude is that right side of a person that attracts such things as wealth, success, happiness, and health. Negative Mental Attitude is defined as that aspect of a person that is negatively inclined. This side of a person repels those attributes such as wealth, success, happiness and health. By the estimation of the authors, Positive Mental Attitude makes a man in life, whereas, Negative Mental Attitude destroys him. Napoleon Hill is saying here that PMA specifically tells us on how to use our brain in a most effective and productive way to achieve our goal. According to this book, with positive mental attitude there is nothing we can not achieve on individual basis most especially when it is combined with certain values such as desire, definiteness of purpose, integrity, planning and divine guidance. I learned that with desire coupled with definiteness of purpose and PMA, I can achieve whatever I want to achieve so long it is not against the laws of God or society. A man is poor not because of God but because he has no desire to be rich. “Greatness comes to those who develop a burning desire to achieve high goals. To become an expert achiever in any human activity, it takes practice…. Practice… practice”. He opined that knowing what you want is one thing; to know how to obtain it is another thing. I learned that success is achieved and maintained only by constantly trying with Positive Mental Attitude. I have therefore understood that adversity is not an inhibitor. That in every adversity there is a seed of equivalent or greater benefit for those who are motivated with Positive Mental Attitude. The authors explained further that when our attitude towards ourselves is big and our attitude towards others is generous and merciful we also attract big and generous portions of success to ourselves. Every man's PMA is his advantage. A person with Positive Mental Attitude aims high for high goals and constantly strives to achieve it. PMA is the catalyst which makes every success principle work. Another very crucial idea I have obtained from the study of this book is that I can change my world. This is to say that it is possible to turn the world around positively for good if I can change my own personal orientation about everything in life. The changing of the world the book is talking about does not mean by revolutionary attack, but by positive influence and contributions. I have also understood from this book that if I am right my world will be right. Definiteness of purpose with PMA is the starting point of all achievement. This explains the fact that every achievement begins with having a well defined goal from the on-set. If you are to achieve anything at all, you must first of all have your goal identified and well defined in such a way that you will become so certain of the exact thing you want to achieve. “What the mind of man can conceive and believe the mind of man can
achieve with positive mental attitude. According to the above quotation from the book, it means that there is not any limiting factor as to what a man can achieve except the state of his own mind, his attitude, the timing factor and the inability to think deeply on the subject matter of your interest. Another very important idea I learned from this book is Master Mind. I understood that it is a “coordination of knowledge and effort in a spirit of harmony between two or more people for the attainment of a definite purpose”. This explains the power that lies in the force of unity among people irrespective of geographic frontiers. That is to say, once the minds are able to reach agreement and have an epicentric cohesion on a defined challenge, solutions are sure. The epicenter I am talking about here is symbolical. In the sense that it represents that point on the surface above the point where problems could erupt. The force of unity takes those that are bounded by the same far above a point of challenge and are therefore able to proffer solutions in good time. Another Idea of great importance to me is the idea of “DO IT NOW”. From this, I learned that a decision to act immediately on certain issues could sometimes make one's dream come through. That it is actually possible to become what you want to become if you act promptly with PMA. There are tremendous ideas in this book. One of the ideas I have grabbed from this book is that the burden of learning is upon the person who wants to learn and that if actually you want to learn how to achieve anything in life it does not necessarily makes you to violate the laws of God or the right of your fellow men. Until you know the principles that can motivate you, you don't know the principles that can motivate others. Emotions are controlled through the combination of reasoning and action. This is to mean that emotions can be put under check by reasoning and also taking actions. I also learned that in order to achieve my goals I must always remember to write down my goal, give myself a timeline, set my standard high and aim high. When I write down my goal it will help to create an indelible impression in my memory. A timeline here means the definite date you want the goal fully achieved. Timeline will give me a specify time for my achieving my objective. The more I set my goals high, the more concentrated will my effort to achieve it be. 'Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude' has also thought me that I will not succeed consistently unless I know and understand the rules. And that I will not continuously succeed unless I applied the rules. Concerning credit facility, I understood through this book that if I do not have money to embark on business or my project I could use other people's money (OPM) provided I am honest enough to return their money back even with interest. The reason the author gave is that a dishonest person is not entitled to credit. Actually, this I would say is the major problem facing majority of people who wants to start business in Africa. It is actually not easy raising capital except where you have collateral to collect loan from banks. But what of someone who do not have any property to use as collateral? I have also found out from this book that “it is the lack of a satisfactory credit system within a country that keeps backward nations back.” In African countries especially the West African nations, credit system is a mirage. The countries are backward in development. The reason for this problem may be due to the high level of corruption in some of the countries. This is because you'll find out that though there are some very rich ones, yet they are not obliged to help. Honesty actually pays. “Honesty and reputation, credit and success in business are all intermixed”. I have personally discovered that when you are known to be honest, people tend to prefer dealing with you in business than the person who is known to be dishonest. The more you share the more you have. This is an idea known from the Bible. This is rather more than just an idea. It is more of a universal law. It is as potent as life itself. It is quite relevant to all whether Christian, Muslim, Hindus, or whatever religion inclination. The law is applicable to all and in all cases. I personally have experienced the resultant effect of the law. I have practiced and have found it work like fire. I discovered that if you want to have money give money to others and you won't lack money. If it is cloth you want, give clothes and you'll have more of it. So, it is whatever you give you'll receive in return. On how to raise your energy, I got an idea that “the more civilized,
cultured, and refined you are, the easier you can control your emotions and
feelings-if you choose to do so”. Truly, civilization helps a man to control
his emotion. But in real life situation I have found that education does not
necessarily makes a man to be civilized. This is because I have come across
educated illiterates. To my mind a man is an educated illiterate if all he
learnt he can not apply for the benefit of his fellow human beings.
Education is a source of enlightenment which in a nut shell brings about
civilization and civilization is all about development and progress. 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. Relationships: The most important living person is me. This is one of the numerous Ideas embedded in this great book by Hill. I halted a little while reading the book and got to this Idea. I thought about it and pondered upon the fact. I then found that it is true. That really there is no one human being that is me. That I am indeed a unique person. It has helped me this little time I discovered this book to have a changed perspective in relating with others. It has helped me to appreciate other people better than before. I have been able to realized why people behave the way they do. This idea has helped me also in my belief in the sense that it has reinforced the belief that God made me in His own image. In planning my goals, it has also helped me to know that I could achieve what ever I want to achieve since there isn't any other person who could really execute my plan for me except myself. That whatever idea I might have, if I do not make others to understand it and show them the way to pursuing it, it may remain in the bud. Another important idea is every man is made of two talismans namely Positive Mental Attitude and Negative Mental Attitude. I have found personally that every man has the chance to either use his PMA or NMA. However, I have chosen to always learn how to constantly use my PMA rather than my NMA. My PMA has helped me a great deal to tackled problems. It has helped me to look at problems or challenges with and found possible ways to handle them. With Positive Mental Attitude all things are possible. This has helped me in my relationship with others. It will further strengthen my relationship with people and not only that, it will help me to help others that are in need. In relating this idea to my belief, it is factual. The essence of my
belief is unlimited possibilities. So, this is all about being positively
minded. I serve and worship God who is positively minded. PMA would help me
through out my life time. It will also help me to help others. Just recently
I learnt of somebody who was sick and was treated but unfortunately had a
side effect and due to this he became despaired and tired of life itself and
gave up the fight. He died. I said they should have called me to meet with
such a person when they were experiencing all that. I would have been able
to speak life into the person. I would have been able to help the person see
the reasons why he should continued to live. With Positive Mental Attitude
one can overcome sickness. But with negative Mental Attitude a man can lose
his life. “What the mind of man can conceive and believe the mind of man can achieve with positive mental attitude”. This idea implies that all things are really possible to him who sees it so. That is whatever kind of relationship a man can conceive in his mind it is possible. If you choose to get along with people well you will be able to achieve that. In relation to my belief, it is quite acceptable. It is a fact. As it is already written that all things are possible to them that believe. Concerning goals, this idea is an antidote to failure. It is a tonic that will ginger one to pursue and conquer his fear. In general, the ideas in this book are very relevant to life circumstances. If all could be imbibed, practiced and applied I know that the world will become a better place for all of us to live in. 3. What are the most important new ideas or concepts you learned from this book? Please Explain. “The most important living person is you”: This means that I should see
myself as most important since there is no such person as myself. That I was
created uniquely for a particular purpose and until I begin to see myself
that way and take responsibility to pursue what I am supposed to pursue, it
may not be possible to achieve what I want to achieve. To achieve my set
goals, I must be able to see myself in the same light in which the Creator
sees me. I must be able to see myself as being able to achieve my goals.
Seeing myself as a unique being will always help me to be confident to
pursue my goals until I achieve it. ii. Definiteness of purpose with PMA is the starting point of all achievement. Here the author makes me understand that I must be definite about what I want to do, how I want to do it, when I want to do it. According to him, this alone is lubricant that will help to lubricate the wheel to achieve success. To have success my goals must be well defined. It must be given a time frame. It must also be very realistic. iii. Success is achieved by those who try and maintained focus. It is achieved by those who keep trying with PMA. Success is not automatic. It is only achieved by those who keep at trying. Failure may happen, but it must not be allowed to deter you from continuing. iv. “Sometimes…the price to be paid on a given job is too high in relation to the goal which it will purchase. And if such a job should happen to be yours, change your job. For, if you are unhappy at your job, the poisons of this dissatisfaction spread into every phase of living.” v. “You will find satisfaction in routine chores only when you see them as stepping stones. Each chore a stone, leading in a direction that you choose.” A man can find solace in a chore so long as he is able to see that particular routine chores as leading him to his higher goal. If not the person is bound to be frustrated. vi. “One could be happy on any job if one wanted to. The thing to do was to adopt the right attitude”. That is no matter how bad a job may look a person can still be happy with it if the person decide to be happy any way. vii. “I would urge that you be dissatisfied. Not dissatisfied in the sense of disgruntlement, but dissatisfied in the sense of that 'divine discontent' which throughout the history of the world has produced all real progress and reform. I hope you will never be satisfied. I hope you will constantly feel the urge to improve and perfect not only yourself, but the world around you”. This explains the fact that you that has goal of excellence to achieve you must not be contented with mediocrity and average that a circumstance may want to impose on you. You are to say no and reject the situation you don't like. He the authors said that you should always remember that words will become flesh. 4. Has this book challenged or changed your thinking in any way? If so, explain how? Yes. The book has really challenged me a great deal. It has taught me like never before that all things I could conceive in my mind are possible. I would urge that you be dissatisfied. It has taught me to be dissatisfied with mediocrity and injustice. It has really taught me to become dissatisfied with average. This book has challenged me to be definite about my goal and what I really want out of life. The book has changed my thinking concerning routine chores. For instance, the book says “you will find satisfaction in routine chores only when you see them as stepping stones. Each chore a stone, leading in a direction that you choose.” That is to mean that routine chores could be stepping stones needed to help one get to where he is going. Routine chores could be part of divine arrangement and plans for a man to acquire certain relevant experiences for where he is ultimately going. I used to hate routine chores with passion. I am a dynamic individual who loves doing new things but since I read this book, it has changed my thinking on this matter. “One could be happy on any job if one wanted to. The thing to do was to adopt the right attitude” 5. Are there ideas in the book that you totally disagree with? If so, why? Yes, I totally disagree with the idea that “One could be happy on any job if one wanted to. The thing to do was to adopt the right attitude”. The reason why I disagree with this idea is that what of even when you adopt the right attitude and the people you are working with are bent on frustrating you by constantly making things difficult for you. What of a situation where you work with a boss who never sees anything good in whatever you do? What of a situation where your boss would tell blatant lies against you to the chairman just because he wants to edge you out for no just reason? How does one adopt a right attitude under this type of circumstances and continue? I think what I believe in regard to this is that the person should change his job in support of the idea that “Sometimes…the price to be paid on a given job is too high in relation to the goal which it will purchase. And if such a job should happen to be yours, change your job. If you are unhappy at your job, the poisons of this dissatisfaction spread into every phase of living.” 6. What did you find most helpful and least helpful in this book? What I found most helpful: The book is easy to understand. The ideas in the book are quite practicable. The book is more like a manual and a guide to achieving success in life. The book is highly motivational. I am looking forward to a time in all the nations most especially, Africa nations where most of these motivational and inspirational books would be adopted for use as Literature texts in Secondary schools. This is because there is no person who is exposed early enough in life let's say from age ten, that will not do better in life and the society at large will become a better place to live in. If these type of books are taught and analyzed in schools, most of the principles in the books would be imbibed by the students and definitely it will generate resultant positive effects on the growth and development of the society. In the world today, there is a high level of corruption which stemmed from inadequate or lack of social and economic development. Take for instance, some countries are not even aware of the importance of credit system in relation to their economic development hence the backwardness of such countries. The only thing I found least helpful is the font size used in the book.
The fonts are too small. It is not every body that would be able read tiny
letters without using glasses. For those who might be having eye challenges
it may not be easy to ready. 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 convey is that a man can achieve whatever he desires and wants to become in life with Positive Mental Attitude. Whatever the mind can conceive the mind can also achieve it with the application of success principles and positive mental attitude. Please rate the following questions on a scale from 1 to 10. Ten is good
and one is poor. Comment: The New Dynamics of Winning 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 is full of good ideas really. The number one idea I found personally important to me is that “most of our hurdles in life are self-imposed limitations that can be overcome if we never, ever give up”. I understand quite well from this statement that I can achieve whatever I want to achieve if I am determined. There is no obstacle that is great enough to stop me from achieving my goal. The second important idea is that “nothing in the world can take the place of determination. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent, and unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” This means that if there is anything so important for a man's success is determination. With determination and hard work a man can always achieve whatever he set as goal. The third important idea is cognitive dissonance. I have come to the understanding of why some people do what they do from this principle. It has taught me that I must guide my relationship jealously with integrity so as not to deviate from the truth in whatever I do. According to the definition in this book, cognitive dissonance is a state of mind of an individual whose actions contradict his or her own principles of right and wrong. This in effect is a conflict of thoughts and actions. Dissonance denotes a state of insincerity of a person to what he claims. It explains the state of conceit of a leader who preaches one thing and does another. It is a departure from care for the welfare of his followers. The individual denies the essence of his claims. In real life situation, examples abound. Take for instance, employer-employee relationship, some employers would promise their employees a raise in salary and improved welfare but would deny it at the point of execution. This is due to the problem of cognitive dissonance. Another idea is that “you get what you pay for”. This I understand that I have to put in the effort, the hours, or even the years that are required to master a skill. This is to say that one has to pay the price for whatever ideal one wants to achieve in life. You have to sacrifice for your goal in order to succeed. You have to devote every spare moment to the field you have chosen. According to this book, losers like to engage in pleasurable activities with no particular result in mind. On the other hand, winners choose activities that will give them long-term positive results. I have also learned that I must find the courage to enter my own arena and embrace the risk that every champion takes. He said, success in developing any skill requires a basic trust in your ability that should never be allowed to waver. True confidence doesn't precedes this trust, but is built upon it. Another very interesting idea is that one should “expect the best, plan for the worst and be prepared for a surprise''. This is self explanatory in itself. Another very crucial idea is I got from this book is “No pain, no gain”. This means that there is no gain without a measure of pain through exerted effort. You can't rule out the possibility of making loses when you want to make gains. So it is very pertinent that one must necessarily prepare his or her mind with this knowledge. It will help to cushion the stress effects if ever it comes. Losers let it happen while winners make it happen. He said, it is not who you are that holds you back, it's what you think you are not. “Failure is really a matter of conceit. People don't work hard because, in their conceit, they imagine they'll succeed without ever making an effort. Most people believe that they'll wake up some day and find themselves rich.” It is from this book I have learned that “quite simply, the people who read the most are the most successful, regardless of occupation.” This implies that it is those who read most that are most successful in life. There are various examples of people in this regard. Reading has also impacted me positively towards success as a person. It has helped me a great deal to find my bearing in life. “There are no rewards in anything unless you try.” This idea tells you and me that until you try a thing you can't know the benefit that is inherent in it. The writer explained further that you have to sacrifice for your goal if you want to succeed. The less you try to impress, the more impressive you are. According to the writer, your own sense of value determines the quality of your performance. He said that performance is only a reflection of internal worth, not the measure of it. Another most important idea to me from this book is “As a leader, be sensitive to opportunities for welcoming someone who feels estranged, to accept the other person's point of view before passing judgment. A real leader appreciates the differences among individuals, and finds value in those differences that enhance all our lives”. The writer explained further that there are certain fundamental principles we all must imbibe in order to succeed in life. One, he said that you must be aware that self-esteem, or the lack of it, is at the root of all behaviour, both positive and negative. Simply there is nothing so important than self-esteem in determining success or failure. To explain further, the author makes me understand that self-worth is simply the feeling of being glad that you are you, with your genes, your body, and your background. Self-trust is the functional belief in your own ability positively and effectively to control what happens to you in a world of uncertainty. I have learnt that there is authentic and inauthentic leadership.
Authentic leadership is that one that listens and learns. They ask questions
even before they offer opinions. Whereas the inauthentic leadership is that
type which is old fashioned. It is control-oriented, authoritarian leaders.
He described further the inauthentic leadership as that type which tries to
get what they want with power and aggressiveness. They think fear-based
motivation tactics succeed brilliantly. But while their subordinates hurry
to do their bidding for the moment, deep resentments are being created. The
short-term gains of dictator-style leader represent disaster in the making. A real leader leads by first listening and then sparks the internal values in others to gain decisive movement toward accomplishing the common goals. A leader has to lead well. He must necessarily impart others in the process of leading them. I also believe that a person can not be more blessed than he blessed others. The book further taught me that good leadership would motivate others to
their highest level by offering opportunities and not obligations. The book also advised to “always remember that you have two people inside of you: the one you are now and the one you will become.” This is essentially true, because, you are what you are now physically speaking, but in actual facts, there is always an aspiration in every man to become somebody to be reckoned with in the society. The book also have taught me that I should realize that there is no opinion and no judgment that is vitally important to my own growth and development as that which I hold of myself. From this book-The New Dynamics of Winning, that it is possible for me to
be my own best friend or my own worst enemy. Although, he did not expatiate
on this any way. But I think what I understood he meant by this is that
there are some people who do not love themselves by reason of the way they
treat themselves. They pretend to love what they know they do not love deep
inside 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. “Most of our hurdles in life are self-imposed limitations that can be overcome if we never, ever give up”. This idea is quite relevant to me in the sense that at one time in my life I used to think that it is impossible for me to learn how to use computer. “Quite simply, the people who read the most are the most successful, regardless of occupation.” In real life I have seen this statement to be true. I can conveniently site example of people. Reading has also impacted me positively towards success as a person. It has helped me a great deal to know that greatness and a life of affluence is not meant for a particular group of people but for whoever care and want to be affluent. “Quit being so careful! Go after the hitter! Get ahead in that count!” So many people are just too careful. They are too careful that they are afraid of venturing into investments. They are so careful that it is so difficult for them to establish a business. Yet they keep wishing and wishing that their state is changed for the better. “You are your own important Judge. There is no opinion as important to your performance and well-being as the opinion you have of yourself. The most important meetings, briefings, coaching sessions, and conversations you'll ever have are the conversations you have with yourself.” This idea can be related to my real life situation in the sense that I know that no opinion of any one that is more important than the one I hold of my ownself most especially when such opinion is negative. “Always remember that you have two people inside of you: the one you are now and the one you will become.” I strongly believe that there is a great potential inside of me in relation to the fact that there are two persons residing inside of me. “An incremental, stair-step approach is by far the best way to ensure
success.” In a bid to succeed, there must necessarily be plans in place. The
plans must be put into actions; the actions must be evaluated and
reevaluated periodically to ensure that there is a steady progress. 3. What are the most important new ideas or concepts you learned from this book? Please Explain. Authentic leadership “Expect the best, plan for the worst and be prepared for a surprise''.
Cognitive dissonance “Losers let it happen while winners make it happen” “You get what you pay for” “Good leadership motivates others to their highest levels by offering
opportunities, not obligations” There are many leaders who are very brutal. They are brutal in the sense that they lack compassion and human feelings for the followers. Many are self centered. They are power drunk and care less for the welfare of the led. They discourage the led instead of motivating them. This is real life situation and not fiction. There are false and impossible leaders today who believe that whatever vision they have is more important than the soul of their fellow men. Such leaders do not know that every vision without human face is baseless and ungodly. Why? It is because every vision in its whole essence is for the development of mankind. Every vision is made available for man to thrive on earth and not that man is made for vision to thrive. If any vision is thriving, the essence is to address the needs of mankind on earth. Some so called leaders can do anything even when it is contrary to the welfare of the people bearing the vision, so long their whims and caprices are met and satisfied. I think this is why there are lots of problems in the world today. People are pursuing their visions at the detriment of human and societal goals. “Courage isn't the absence of fear but action in the presence of fear” People rise to meet the beliefs of the significant individuals in their lives. The essence of leadership I believe is to grow the men under you. To make them eventually become what they want to become in life. Real power comes by empowering others The key to authentic leadership is to listen to your followers, and then
open the door for them to lead themselves. The greatest risk is the fear of taking action Civilization is justice fostered in all human endeavours 4. Has this book challenged or changed your thinking in any way? If so, explain how? Yes. It has greatly challenged me. It has challenged me to be a very good leader. It has also changed my thinking too. The book has helped me to be able to see clearly that it is not enough to be a leader but if one must be a leader, one should be a good leader and not a tyrant. 6. What did you find most helpful and least helpful in this book? The things I find most helpful are the ideas embedded in the book. I do not think there is anything I find to be least helpful. 7. In 50 words or less, please describe the main idea the whole book is trying to convey. The book is trying to convey the idea that when you focus your mind for peak performance with principles of goal setting you can achieve your aim. The book said “maximum success is built upon mini goals. Please rate the following questions on a scale from 1 to 10. Ten is good
and one is poor. Comment: Psycho-Cybernetics 2000 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. Teleology: purpose, design, goal-centeredness. It is used to describe the way the human mind works. Self-esteem is a social vaccine: “Building an adequate self-image is recognized today as a necessary strategy in the empowerment of individuals and a promising step toward the correction of social ills”. Though capital and technology are important resources, it is people that makes or breaks a company. You can change your self-image and resultantly your behaviour and feeling. Psycho-Cybernetic is a programme for developing a self-image you can live with. No matter how old one may be it is possible to add more life to oneself life. The self-image is the key to a better life. Another important idea is “programme yourself for success. That it is possible to reprogramme the way you think about yourself by consciously casting out negative data and replacing it with new information that will keep your automatic mechanism locked on to success. Another one is “imagine your way to success. According to this book,
people tend to feel, act and even behave in line to what they imagine to be
true about themselves and their circumstances. That happens because the
subconscious can not tell the difference between the real experience and the
one that is clearly imagined. The book says through creative imagination one
can create images of success which through incorporating into your
self-image, it can be turned into actual success in real life. I have also learned from this book that “relaxation is the key to activating our creative imagination”. People whose self-image is positive finds it easy to develop and nurture success-type personality concept. According to Maltz, self-image is the key to a better life. “If we watch limits instead of destinations we bump into the limits”. This means that we should rather look at the destination of our calling instead of looking at the barriers. Looking at problems only draw us backward instead of forward. Somebody once said that it is impossible for one to look down and look up at the same time. But that if you must necessarily succeed you must always look up. “Relaxation is the key to activating our creative imagination”. This means that relaxation is very important in enabling and enforcing creative imagination and consequently becoming very creative. There is not much a man can achieve if his creative imagination is inactive. This is why it is highly essential that we see how important it is not to trifle with the issue of relaxation. The writer also opined that most unfortunately we are conditioned to respond to events in our lives in ways and manner that leads to increased stress. We can eliminate stumbling blocks placed in our consciousness by our old and destructive self-image from our ways by creating a mental picture of the way we wish to be. By constantly practicing, it is possible for our subconscious mind to provide agreement and movement in the direction of our new images formed. 'Broken record' is another vital idea I have just learnt from this book. According to Maltz, 'broken record' restate the negative comment in a non-negative way, coupling it with the message you want the other person to hear, and you repeat it the same way every time. Success breeds success. To succeed and keep succeeding, we all need to constantly changing our mental pictures and definitely, we are bound to get our feelings and behaviours changed. Every negative experienced or perceived to have been stamped upon our right brains can be changed. It can be changed by constantly reaffirming repeatedly that one is capable of the positive. According to this book, by visualizing one's self as successful, we would be able to make our subconscious mind agree and comply with the notion that we can be successful. Developing a Fake-It-Till-You-Make-It Attitude is another important idea that has changed my orientation about success pursuit. I have learnt that by simply keeping conscious attention on my new self-image and then keep on behaving as though I have already achieved it I will achieve the goal. There are also three guidelines for creating new images: They are using of the same time each day for mental picturing, making sure there will be no interruptions and accepting all positive images as valid and helpful. Under the first guideline, I have learnt that you can create a new image for yourself by choosing a particular time of the day when you do your mental picturing and then be consistent about it until it will all become a habit. The exercise of the imagination will soon become a regular habit. This is because it is through daily repetitive mental practice that the new image will be accepted by the right brain. The other guideline is that you can change your image into a new one by avoiding interruptions of whatever. The third is that as the right brain brings up the good visual images already formed, the left brain will try to drop the programme back to logic thereby making you relapsed. You must say no and let the right brain do the job. He further explained that you should not be discouraged if you encounter setbacks. I have learnt that in place of “if” use “okay so, If”. The subconscious mind always believes whatever the conscious mind tells it. Repetition will always tend your believe towards your new belief and also lead you to behave in a manner that is consistent with the new belief. The summary of this is that your subconscious mind shifts away from the negative to believing the positive. By changing “what if?” to “so, what if?” and adding “next time” … you shift your sub-conscious mind away from anxiety and toward control. I also have learnt that I can turn my mistakes into steps on the road to Success. Here, I found that mistakes should not be regarded as indications of failure but rather as steps on the road to success. We must not allow mistakes to intimidate us in any way. I have also understood that present self-image is based not on reality but it is based on what we imagine to be reality. Be opportunity focused. He is of the opinion that one must be ready to move in new directions as change requires. I have also learnt that there are prerequisites for creating change. 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. Self-esteem is a social vaccine: “Building an adequate self-image is
recognized today as a necessary strategy in the empowerment of individuals
and a promising step toward the correction of social ills”. “Though capital and technology are important resources, it is people that makes or breaks a company”. No matter how great the technology and resources of any company, without people, such great resources would be useless. The reason is because it is the human resources that will appropriate the judicious use of those other resources. So, in actual fact, technology and resources can not maximize themselves for economic, political and social profits without the adequate presence of people. The companies where people's importance is played down, in most cases don't stand the test of time before they collapsed. There is no any success that can be achieved by machine without the input of human beings. Take for instance, the computer systems were invented and manufactured by man. Although, the computer is said to operate like man's brain and it's capable of carrying out so many works, yet, it will only function to the level to which it is put to use by man. In other words, it is what man computes into the computer that it will process and then brought out as out-put. Thus, the place of people in the progress of any company is pivotal to its success and sustainability any where in the world. No company can stand and run without people. Any company that doesn't seem to pay serious attention to its staff welfare is biding only for imminent collapse which definitely would happen one day if the owner does not change his operational strategy. “You can change your self-image and resultantly your behaviour and feeling.” True. It is very possible in life. You change from failing to success and vice versa. There is no situation that can not be change so long as the person wants to change. I have seen somebody who used to fail in all her grade examinations but at the point of realization that she could do better, she started doing very well. Today, the person is a successful business woman. “If we watch limits instead of destinations we bump into the limits”. Bumps are always on the ground. So, when you keep your focus on the bumps you are literally keeping your eyes on the ground which disallows you from looking at where you are going thereby running into any on-coming vehicle. When you take off your eyes from the bumps you are able to keep moving forward and forward towards your destination. We must take away our eyes from the things that does easily beset us and focus on the actual thing we want to achieve. This is the only way to getting to where we want to get to in life. Maltz said that, stress is inner disturbing, or opposite of tranquility. He explains further that stress is nearly always caused by over response and or a too sensitive alarm reaction. Which way out? He recommended an antidote “you create a built-in tranquilizer, or psychic screen between yourself and the disturbing stimulus.” 3. What are the most important new ideas or concepts you learned from this book? Please Explain. i. Three ways to make my new memories last. ii. “Your present self-image is based not on “reality” but on iii. Turning Stumbling blocks into stepping stones. Here you can create a mental picture of the way you wish to be. iv. The subconscious mind can't evaluate the information it receives; it will only agree and comply with what the conscious mind tells it. So, by playing back images of inadequacy and failure, you programme yourself to fail. By constantly challenging this and replacing it with the picture of competence and success, you cancel your negative beliefs and replace them with positive ones. iv. Stress: Private enemy number one. Stress causes a lot of break down of health thereby bringing open door to many diseases and health impairments such as heart disease, impairment of learning and memory. v. Relaxation is an aid to health and problem solving. vi. Six habitual thoughts that signal stress: All the above enumerated points are very important to me because they all have enabled me to have a grasp of how to understand when stress is setting in. And I feel it is good I show others. However, Maltz explains that the above points may not be exhaustive in enabling quick understanding of stress until perhaps you are able to look through the following points most especially when one has become so used to the presence of stress. Therefore he suggested that you can prevent burn out by being aware of five warning signals as enumerated below: 1. Changes in sleeping: This means when you start having difficulties in
falling asleep at your usual time. According to Alvin Toffler as indicated in Psycho-Cybernetis 2000, “the illiterates of the future are not those who can not read and write but those who cannot learn, unlearn and re-learn”. Another very important idea I want to ever remember and use is the one found on page 239 and 240. “Be aware”. Here, Maltz explains that the mind is like parachute which only works when it is opened. He further said that one should be aligned with one's goals and then develop one's action plan accordingly. 4. Has this book challenged or changed your thinking in any way? If so, explain how? Yes. It has really challenged me in the sense that there were a lot of things I did not know before until I read this book. Take for instance, I did not know really that “the subconscious mind can't evaluate the information it receives; it will only agree and comply with what the conscious mind tells it. So, by playing back images of inadequacy and failure, you programme yourself to fail. By constantly challenging this and replacing it with the picture of competence and success, you cancel your negative beliefs and replace them with positive ones” Secondly, I now know through this book that it is very possible to change one's self-image. “Relaxation is the key to activating our creative imagination”. 6. What did you find most helpful and least helpful in this book? The book is very easy to read and understand. 7. In 50 words or less, please describe the main idea the whole book is trying to convey. Psycho-Cybernetic talk mainly about developing a self-image you can live with. It teaches on how this objective could be achieved in a most practical. 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 Comment: Giant Steps | |
