Book Review: As a man thinketh
The book in 3 sentence
As a Man Thinketh is a self-help book written by James Allen and published in 1903.
The book is based on the premise that a person’s thoughts determine their character and actions.
The book discusses the power of thoughts to shape a person’s life and encourages readers to cultivate positive thoughts in order to achieve success and happiness.
How I discovered it
Through recommendations based on my book searches from multiple online stores
Who should read it?
I think anyone who is in search to be the best version of his self and wants to understand how to live the life that he or she wants. This is the foundation you need to understand and apply in order to move forward.
How did the book change me?
The content in this book wasn’t new to me. A bunch of authors took this as their foundation and build their vision of it to help people from their perspective and expertise. I believe you can create what you think because if you can not create your vision in your mind and put that in paper or on a digital document, you can not create it in real life. Image Porsche building a car without a plan, without creating a concept, without putting it in a wind tunnel to see if the aerodynamics are perfect. Without a vision, you don’t have a goal. Without a goal, you can not create a pathway to your goal or goals. You will end up making a labyrinth that leads to nowhere.
Top 3 Quotes
“Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results; bad thoughts and actions never produce good results.”
“Thoughts of fear have been known to kill a man as speedily as a bullet, and they are continually killing thousands of people just surely though less rapidly. The people who live in fear of disease are the people who get it. Anxiety quickly demoralizes the whole body, and lays it open to the entrance of disease; while impure thoughts, even if not physically indulged, will soon shatter the nervous system.”
“A man can only rise, conquer, and achieve by lifting up his thoughts. He can only remain weak, and abject, and miserable by refusing to lift up his thoughts.”
Summary continuous after the podcast links and image
My Podcast links
My summary, notes, interpretation.
As a Man Thinketh is a self-help book written by James Allen and published in 1903. The book is based on the premise that a person’s thoughts determine their character and actions. The book discusses the power of thoughts to shape a person’s life and encourages readers to cultivate positive thoughts in order to achieve success and happiness. Allen suggests people can achieve their goals and overcome obstacles by simply changing their thoughts and beliefs. He also emphasizes the importance of self-control and discipline in shaping one’s thoughts and actions. Overall, As a Man Thinketh is a classic self-help book that promotes the power of positive thinking and encourages readers to take control of their lives through their thoughts and actions.
Thought and Character”A man is the master of thought, the molder of character, and the maker and shaper of condition, environment, and destiny. Even in his weaker and most abandoned, he is the foolish master who misgoverns his household. He that seeks will find. Only by patience, practise, and ceaseless importunity can a man enter the door of the temple of knowledge.“Mastering your mind is easier said than done. But, if you have the patience, you can practice mastering it little by little. You can become who and whatever you want and you will not allow conditions or environment to limit you.
Effect of thought on circumstances
Imagine your garden is nice and neat. What if you stopped taking care of your garden? What will happen to it? It will start growing weed. If you do nothing about it, that weed will grow and grow and your garden will have all these useless weeds. Why not take action and clean up your garden and take good care of it? Your mind is not that different. Take care of it nurture it. Be the master of your soul and director of your life. Your thoughts and decisions brought you to where you are today. According to James Allen there is no element of chance. Every man is where he is by the laws of its being, the thoughts which he has built into his character. Every decision you made brought you there, and it opened up new circumstances. The moment you realize you have creative power, then you will open the secret door where you can grow new circumstances and become the master of yourself.
I want to close this chapter with a quote: “Indigence (meaning: extreme poverty) and indulgence (meaning: fulfillment, buying stuff you don’t need is a good example of indulgence) are the two extremes of wretchedness (meaning: unhealthy state of mental or physical suffering). They are both equally unnatural and the result of mental disorder. A man is not rightly conditioned until he is a happy, healthy, and prosperous being; and happiness, health, and prosperity are the result of a harmonious adjustment of the inner with the outer, of the man with his surroundings (read: energy, vibrations or vibes).” My interpretation of this quote. It doesn’t matter rich or poor if your mind and physical condition are not right, there is nothing on earth that can make you happy. First, be happy with yourself inside and out and be thankful. Just then, you can be in the positive energy or vibration.
Effect of thought on health and the body
This quote says it all about the relationship of mind and body: “Thoughts of fear have been known to kill a man as speedily as a bullet, and they are continually killing thousands of people just surely though less rapidly. The people who live in fear of disease are the people who get it. Anxiety quickly demoralizes the whole body, and lays it open to the entrance of disease; while impure thoughts, even if not physically indulged, will soon shatter the nervous system.” Followed by: “Thoughts of malice (wrongful intention) envy, disappointment, despondency, rob the body of its health and grace.”I have nothing more to add in this chapter, actually.
Thought and purpose
Without a purpose in life, you are exposed to fears, troubles, and self-pitying. which will lead to failure, unhappiness, and loss. Your purpose should be legitimate and from the heart. My purpose is to help people deal with anxiety, to conquer anxiety based on everything I learned from books, therapists, and my life coach. I really think I can contribute to those who are afraid to seek help. I make these summaries so you don’t have to put in countless hours in to reading every book out there, but if really interested you can purchase the book to study it thoroughly. My thoughts are based on my purpose and I make my path accordingly. Every time I lay a new brick to my purpose, I’m thankful for that and find happiness and peace inside and out. Doubts and fears never did any good to anyone, so exclude those thoughts.
The thought factor in achievement
Every achievement of a person directly results from his thoughts. You can blame no one. You are responsible for your own achievement. Find a way or the strength to lift up your thoughts. Weak thoughts will destroy a person if he refuses to lift up his thoughts. The first time I read this book, I didn’t underline or highlighted the sentence I’m about to quote. While scanning through the book to refresh my memories to write this summary, I was telling myself this for quite some time, but in other words, obviously. “A man whose first thought is indulgence could neither think clearly nor plan methodically; he could not find and develop his talent resources, and would fail in any undertaking.” Meaning if your starting point is chasing money, everything you do will fail. You have to change that thought (period). Myself and probably thousands of others have failed by chasing money. Your purpose is wrong, that’s why you fail. “Achievement, of whatever kind, is the crown of effort, the diadem of thought.” Think good, achieve good, think bad, achieve bad. This is for every part of life.
Visions and ideals
If I say “I have a dream” everyone thinks of Martin Luther King. He had a vision, and he stood for it. There are so many examples of dreamers who affected our world and our lives as we know it. Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone, now we can’t think of a world without it. Henry Ford wanted to build an affordable car for mass production. His engineers failed multiple times, but Henry knew it and he pushed the technology back then to his limits to achieve his dream. Elon Musk also had a dream of electric cars. Now Tesla is a thing. Everything starts with a vision or idea.Stephen Covey writes in his book that everything is created twice. First in your mind, then in reality. If you have a beautiful vision, cherish it, embrace it. One day you will realize it. “To desire is to obtain; to aspire is to achieve.” You want to achieve.
Serenity
What’s left to say? Stay calm, calmness is power. Control yourself. Self-control is strength. Think good. Thinking good is mastering the mind.
Quotes in this summary are from the book “As a man thinketh by James Allen.”