As a Man Thinketh by James Allen (Book Summary)
You will be as happy as you make up your mind to be. Life is what a man thinks about all day. We often hear these phrases, but what do they really mean? Let’s start with a few questions.
Do you want to become stronger? Or is there a goal that you want to achieve? Is it running that next marathon or finishing your first book? Often a lot of self-help books will teach you to break down your goals into manageable pieces. They will teach you how you can achieve more if you declutter your desk and organize your life. They will ask you to take that communications course to improve your chances of success. However, in As A Man Thinketh by James Allen, you’ll come across something different.
This book will help you see the potential that already exists inside you. It will help you recognize that potential that you’re unable to see for yourself. You’ll learn how your thoughts influence your destiny. How your thoughts influence every single aspect of your life whether it’s your financial situation, your work satisfaction, your relationships, or even your health.
You will learn in this summary how your mind is like a garden and needs to be continuously cultivated. You’ll learn how you can better manage the aging process. And you’ll also learn why it’s absolutely vital to be a dreamer!
We can transform our lives if only we can control our thoughts!
Have you ever thought about what makes you different than all the other species on the planet? It is your capacity to think and reason which makes you different! It is your capacity to change your life that makes you special! You, at any moment in time, have the potential to change. After all, you’re not a tree who can’t move around if it doesn’t like the weather or the soil!
Your thoughts are immensely powerful. Just as a flower sprouts from a tiny seed, every action that we take in life stems from a tiny seed of thought. If you do something often enough, that becomes a habit and your habits in turn shape your character. You would agree that the kind of person that you are to a large extent shapes the kind of rewards the you gain in life. So if you were to look at it causally, wouldn’t you agree that the situation you are currently in life is a direct result of the kind of thoughts you have in your mind?
This is a natural law. As you sow, so shall you reap. If a person has a negative and pessimistic attitude, you will see that they often tend to give up easily on any challenge or difficulty they come across. This is more a result of what they believe about themselves rather than the nature of the challenge itself. Thought and action are intricately linked together. Because they think they can’t overcome something, they convince themselves that they can’t and then take actions that sabotage their own progress. As Henry Ford once said, if you think that you can or you think that you can’t, you’re right.
The impact of your attitude and thoughts can be tremendous but you can learn to harness this wonderful capability. If your thoughts shape your actions and eventually the kind of person that you become, isn’t it absolutely critical that we stand guard at the door of our minds and stop negative things from entering it? If we change our mind, we can change our life. If we change the way we look at things, the things we look at will change. The way you spend your life will be largely dependent on how and what you think.
By controlling your thoughts and making sure they serve you instead of hurt you, you can develop more mental strength. Not only will you atttact more peace and tranquility into your life, you will also be happier as a result! For as Shakespeare said, there is nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so! You really will be as happy as you make up your mind to be! So why not change your mind today and start reaping the rewards that you know are waiting for you?
One actionable piece of advice before you begin is to consider your mind like a garden. If you don’t cater to a garden with the right nutrients and soil, it will wither. However, the weeds will grow despite whether you pay attention or not! Similarly, if you don’t feed your mind with the right ideas and the right company, your most valuable asset will wither! However, weeds, or in this case negative thinking, will even grow through the side cracks! So zealously guard the door of your mind and make sure you don’t let anything negative enter into your consciousness.
Not only does the world shape us but we shape our world!
Have you ever failed at something and blamed others for what happened? That’s human nature. We’re all guilty of failing to take full responsibility for what we accomplish in life. Even though this approach serves us in the short term by giving us some temporary relief, it comes back to haunt us in the long run. Why? Because if we’re brutally honest with ourselves, we’ll recognize that regardless of wherever we find ourselves in life, we often willingly or unwillingly went along with it. We chose not to take full responsibility. We chose not to exercise our power of choice.
The situation we face ourselves in shapes our character. However, it is important to remember that this relationship is much deeper than we believe! Our character shapes the situation that we are in. The world is really a looking glass that reveals a man’s thoughts to himself. The way we think about ourselves and others will influence how we interact with them and that in turn will influence the situation we find ourselves in. The consequences we face will be a direct result of those situations!
Every action that we take was once a tiny thought that gradually but definitely grew in our mind. A criminal doesn’t commit a crime out of the blue, it is the result of a thought that has been harvested for a long time before it comes to fruition. A person does not go to jail because the world inherently has something against them; it is more a result of the kinds of thoughts they have had and the actions they have taken in conformity with those thoughts!
It might be hard to differentiate the impact your character has had on your consequences. We probably know dozens of people who are living tremendously successful lives even though they are incredibly mean and selfish. On the contrary, the kindest people in the world might be going through the worst of times. Therefore, it is not wise to judge someone’s true character by the situation you find them in. As it’s often said, there is bad in the best of us and good in the worst of us.
By changing your thoughts, you can not only improve your health but also achieve your wildest goals!
It is not the situation that affects you but the way you interpret that situation. While many people may be terrified of aging, others look at it as an opportunity for becoming more than they currently are. Rather than handling it with fear, they handle the difficult realities of life with grace.
You will be surprised to know that your thoughts can influence not only your health but even the wrinkles on your face! If you continue to harbor negative thoughts, you will face all sorts of adverse negative conditions including but not limited to a raised heart rate, troubled sleep, and even massive headaches. Even your physical characteristics such as your face can be negatively affected as a result of negative thinking. Ask yourself, is the price really worth it?
Now, if you simply switch the channel and force yourself to think positively, not only will you feel much better about life but you will also attract health and happiness! You will find yourself feeling renewed, having all the energy that you need to face the challenges you encounter in life. Therefore, if you want to feel better about your life, use your thoughts wisely!
At the same time, if you want to achieve your goals, you will have to control and almost always silence the negative thoughts that make you doubt yourself. You need to tell those voices to shut up and instead you will have to force yourself to think the right kind of thoughts. It will be incredibly difficult at first but the price will be worth it! And remember, your mind is like a muscle — the more you exercise it in the right manner, the stronger it will get. While this is great news, this is a double-edged sword. Your mind does not differentiate between good or bad — it will get stronger and more ingrained in the direction of what you feed it.
Think big and take responsibility for your success!
If we want to accomplish something in life, it is absolutely vital that we take 100% responsibility for ourselves! This also means that you don’t fall for the trap of the self-fulfilling prophecy. If you think that you are a victim and life has done you wrong, you will act accordingly and eventually bring that thought into existence! Other people will also treat you like a victim and the cycle will further reinforce itself!
However, if you take full responsibility, you can break free from this trap and gain your personal power. Also, remember never to compromise on your principles and values in attaining your dreams. Dream big and keep on dreaming despite how much you fail. As the author suggests, it is because of the dreamers that the world is so beautiful. Can you imagine living in a world where people never put in the effort to develop their talents? Life is beautiful because of the dreamers! It is the poets and the painters and the writers that make life beautiful and worth living! Many of the world’s best inventions started out as thoughts. We wouldn’t know the world as we know it today if it wasn’t for the dreamers! So be one! The world needs more people who have the courage to follow their dreams!
If you control your thoughts, you can not only change your character but also your circumstances. Focus on the things that you want instead of the things that you don’t want. Focus on what you can control. That will help you live a life of tranquility because you would have learned what it means to truly live.
Final Summary
The main message of As a Man Thinketh is that our thoughts influence the kinds of lives we lead, whether for good or bad. We are who we are because of the thoughts we think. If you want to change who we are, we need to change what we think. Life and death is in the mind. If we change our mind, we can change our life.
