Name: As A Man Thinketh
Rating: 4.3 (270 reviews)
Author: James Allen

What’s in it for me? Become aware of your power and take responsibility for your life.

Do you want to become powerful? Or is there a specific goal you want to achieve, like writing your first book? Typically, advice literature will tell you to pursue your goals by following deliberate steps and taking certain actions: listing your priorities, cleaning and organizing your desk or practicing your networking skills at the next conference. Well, that’s the kind of advice you won’t find in these blinks.

Instead, As a Man Thinketh aims to help you realize the power you already possess. Reading these blinks, you’ll find out how everything in your life, from your strength of character and your physical health to your artistic achievements and your life circumstances, are determined by your thoughts. And you’ll find out how to make the most of this unbounded freedom.

Reading these blinks, you’ll also learn

why your mind is like a garden;
that your thoughts can make you look older than you are; and
what’s so great about being a dreamer.

By mastering our thoughts, we can change our lives.

Ever sat and wondered what makes us humans what we are? It’s a puzzling question, so here’s a clue to start you off: man is the sum of his thoughts.

Just as a plant sprouts from a tiny seed, each action we perform is an outgrowth of our thoughts. From these actions, patterns emerge. In turn, these patterns come to constitute our character. Our character or personality begins with our thoughts. But why is this important?

Well, have you ever known someone who always seemed to give up on projects or relationships, and at the same time had a pretty pessimistic attitude? You guessed it: those two things – attitude and action – are closely related. Underachievers tend to disappoint themselves because they think very little of themselves to begin with. Attitude problems often snowball and have severe consequences. Yet, there’s a very simple solution.

If our thoughts shape our character, it’s only logical that changing our thoughts will change our character, too. By changing the nature of their thoughts, pessimistic people might find that they have a bit more to smile about.

Anyone who attempts to master his thoughts can do much more than eliminate negative character traits. By working on his thoughts the right way, an individual can even obtain what the author refers to as Divine Perfection. In other words, by weeding out bad or useless thoughts, a person can bring joy, strength, peace and wisdom to his life.

Those are some pretty attractive benefits! So why not start mastering your thoughts today? The alternative, after all, isn’t pretty. Unmanaged thoughts can make you into your biggest obstacle; negative attitudes literally have the power to destroy the things you cherish and love.

The world we live in doesn’t just shape us – we shape it, too!

Ever failed miserably at something and blamed it on the weather, the unpleasant phone call you had with your mother that day or on some particularly nasty childhood experience? Blaming failure on external factors is something we’re all guilty of. It might make us feel better, but it only sets us back.

Our circumstances – that is, all those external factors that impact our lives – are closely linked to our character. But they aren’t linked in the way you might first assume. It’s all too easy to think that our experiences and our living conditions shape who we are. But the truth is: we shape our world just as much as it shapes us!

Work toward better health and other goals by cultivating positive thoughts.

Some of us age gracefully, while some of us – to put it lightly! – do not. Bad habits, lack of access to healthcare and unfortunate genes all play a role. But there’s one factor we often forget to consider: our attitude.

We’ve already seen what a powerful influence our thoughts have on both our character and the conditions we face. It should come as no surprise, then, that our thoughts impact our bodies, too. Unhappy thoughts have a slew of unfortunate side effects: a higher heart rate, poorer sleep, headaches, and yes, wrinkles from all that frowning!

We are solely responsible for our ability to succeed, so dream big!

In the second blink, we learned that external factors aren’t to blame for the way we are or the mistakes we make. This may seem like a great burden, however. Are we solely to blame for our failures?

This doesn’t seem like a very helpful attitude, so let’s change our perspective. If we think we’re being victimized, we’re bound to feel and act like victims, and continue being oppressed. Yet, if we don’t let ourselves feel like victims, it’s harder for others to make us their victims. Therefore, it’s crucial that we understand that our ability to free ourselves lies in our hands.

Key ideas in As A Man Thinketh