As A Man Thinketh

“As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.”    ~ James Allen

In 1902, a British philosopher, James Allen wrote a literary essay As the Man Thinketh, based on the notion that man’s character is the sum of his thoughts. He believed that man’s thoughts had ability to affect his circumstances. Allen’s essay offers readers the opportunity to change their circumstances if took hold of their thinking in a positive manner.

The title itself, originates from a verse in the Bible from the Book of Proverbs chapter 23 verse 7, that says “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” When his book was published, it received great attention and acclaim. Even today, his book has influenced many who seek inspiration in their lives.

His book focuses on man’s endless possibilities to experience both joy and pain. It was up to man to choose which emotion he wanted to attract in his life. He was the master of his thoughts. His thoughts made the man. His thoughts had the potential of changing his circumstances.

In short, Allen believed man was his own creation. With every thought, he was creating his own inner reality. Therefore, he was responsible for the circumstances that befall him. Allen utilized the responsibility assumption that basically states that man’s mental focus on his own experience is greater than is normally thought. This goes back to his overarching notion of choosing to experience pain or joy. He offers man the awareness and ability to change his circumstances simply by changing his thought process.

Throughout his book, Allen reiterates the importance of cause and effect. To become what or whom you desire, you must make the effort to do so. Allen calls this “right thinking.” According to Allen, “A noble and Godlike character is not a thing of favor or chance, but is the natural result of continued effort in right thinking, the effect of long-cherished association with Godlike thoughts. An ignoble and bestial character, by the same process, is the result of the continued harboring of groveling thoughts.”

Man’s inner state consists of his mind. That said, he has the potential of destroying or building his character with his thoughts. Man’s greatest gift is also his greatest enemy. Making the right choice leads him closer to his destined goal. Making the wrong choice leads down a path of great pain. The choices in between give man nuances between success and failure.

Download the Free Audio book: As A Man Thinketh

As A Man Thinketh

“They themselves are makers of themselves”    ~ James Allen

Tempted to give in to difficult circumstances, man hardly believes that his thoughts have the ability to change his current situation. Though, this is exactly what James Allen stated in his small book As the Man Thinketh (1902). He believed that man was “literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.”

His book caused a stir back then. A century later, it still continues to inspire many. His ideas that man, in a sense, has the capacity to change their destiny profoundly amaze people. They learn about the true power they inherently hold within them. If thoughts are what create man, then what man thinks creates his inner reality. If this is true, then man has the ability to change his circumstance with his thoughts. This is what Allen referred to as “right thinking.” If man made consistent efforts to think positively, then the natural result had to be positive.

According to Allen, “man is the master of thought, the molder of character, and maker and shaper of condition, environment, and destiny.” Faced with constant changes in circumstances, man must remember that his mind controls his fate. He has the power to dictate the outcome through his inner being. His will yields him forward or backward. It is solely his decision to call upon his mind. Allen believed in the strength of character and power of transformation in every circumstance.

When man finds himself in a somewhat hopeless state of affairs, Allen states “Man is always the master, even in his weakest and most abandoned state; but in his weakness and degradation he is the foolish master who misgoverns his “household.” But, man also has the possibility of moving forward. When he examines his situation and begins to take on a new perspective, he changes his position. He no longer misguides himself; he seeks answers within himself. Man discovers his own path.

When this journey begins, man not only changes himself but the lives of others. He practices cause and effect, attains knowledge, and patiently pays attention to the opportunities that come his way.

What Does Tony Robbins Have In Common With Dr. Norman Vincent Peale and Dr. Denis Waitley?

Could it just be that Robbins, Peale, and Waitley are great motivators?  That would be too obvious, but you will figure out the answer shortly.

As A Man Thinketh haw a great message for everyone.  It was written by James Allen in 1902 and is based on his meditations on Proverbs 23:7.  Your mind is like a garden, it will bring forth.  If you cultivate it, it will produce good results, results that you want.  If you let anything grow then your results will be the same as if you let your garden grow – you will get weeds.

It is important that you cultivate your vital thoughts.  This is a law that is fixed you reap what you sew.  “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he.”  There is great insight to be gained from doing your own meditation on that verse.

Circumstances grow out of your thoughts, when you sincerely seek to remedy the problems in your character, which was produced by your thoughts, you will see a rapid improvement in your circumstances.  Right thinking draws you to a life of prosperity and achievement.  Keep your mind on the things you seek.  This is another statement of the law of attraction.  The book contains all the elements of the law and it’s study will help you advance in that study.

Allen talks of mental harmony where your mind and thoughts are not torn by competing ideas.  When we allow ideas to be planted by others, by media, then we are not being good gardeners and may even become share croppers with others controlling us by the messages we allowed them to implant.

Limiting beliefs plague everyman and as we cultivate our thoughts we need to examine these.  Beliefs can both protect us and hold us back.  That is why we must understand why we hold our beliefs and should we keep them..

Allen says: “A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.”  That is very clear and one of the main themes of the book. Our thoughts bring our environment and our environment becomes a looking glass into our minds.  If we cannot make ourselves do the things we think we should do then we need to look deeper in to what is being planted in our subconscious.  We have to cultivate the beliefs that will cause us to take action in the ways we want, in the ways that will benefit us.

The answer to the question about what Robbins has in common with Peale, and Waitley is that they were all greatly influenced by “As A Man Thinketh.”  Were you looking for a more profound answer?  Alright, they were all profoundly influenced by “As A Man Thinketh” as many thousands or millions have been.

Read and listen to “As A Man Thinketh” there is a free downloadable audio and ebook from the links on this site.

“As A Man Thinketh” James Allen is sometimes called “As A Man Thinks.”

“Peace, be still!”

Serenity

The result of applying the principles of As A Man Thinketh. Of recognizing that your thoughts are the creators of your world. James Allen writes:

Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom. It is the
result of long and patient effort in self-control. Its presence is
an indication of ripened experience, and of a more than ordinary
knowledge of the laws and operations of thought.

The things that you think about are what you become. If you think empowering thoughts, if you see the result that you want, then not only will you have achieved but you will gain serenity. Allen in As A Man Thinketh echo’s many of the same ideas that Wallace Wattles expressed in The Science of Getting Rich. The idea of thoughts controlling your experience in the world is a common theme in the books. These two books go together in putting your mind and actions in harmony with the law of attraction.

Earl Nightingale expressed it as: “you become what you think about all day long.” Earl has a wonderful presentation called “The Greatest Secret” that also picks up the theme and echo’s Allen’s words. Earl talks about the heard mentality that exists whereby we do the same things we see the other guy do. At the end of it all we have passed through life but haven’t really contributed to it. We grow old watching TV after a hard day at work. Not much to show for 80 or so years of life.

So in what way should we turn, James Allen says it all comes down to your thinking. Examine your life and think about what you want to accomplish. Really examine it. Remember what Socrates said, “An unexamined life is not worth living.” Examine your life and it’s trajectory. Perhaps you want to pick a new target, start visualizing that target and being grateful that you have already hit it.

The belief that it is already done will give you confidence to take the action you need to take and lead you to the serenity that Allen writes about in chapter seven. He ends the chapter with the words of Jesus, “Peace Be Still.” Words to keep in mind when the storms of life hit. Words that Jesus used to still the waters, words that have been handed down to you still energized with power. Serenity is yours: “Peace Be Still!”

As A Man Thinketh challenges us to raise the level of our thoughts. James Allen describes some of our thoughts as “animal thoughts.” These are thoughts centered on survival and centered on momentary wants and comforts. Allen suggest that we raise the level of our thoughts and sacrifice many of these animal thoughts. A certain level of these animal thoughts are necessary for survival but other than that our thoughts should be turned to higher things. The Thought Factor In Achievement describes how raising the level of our thoughts will lead us to success.

You have responsibility for every aspect of your life. Circumstance may have contributed but you alone have the responsibility for where you are and certainly on how you will change things.

All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts

Allen discusses those who do not understand the process but only see the result and call it luck. Most people allow things to happen not aware that they can and should take the helm of the ship of life – these people settle for only these lower, survival thoughts. A ship may be tossed by the sea – and certainly there are bigger forces in life than ourselves but a good captain can navigate life’s storms and make the journey successfully.

There can be no progress, no achievement without sacrifice, and a
man’s worldly success will be in the measure that he sacrifices his
confused animal thoughts, and fixes his mind on the development of
his plans, and the strengthening of his resolution and
self-reliance. And the higher he lifts his thoughts, the more manly,
upright, and righteous he becomes, the greater will be his success,
the more blessed and enduring will be his achievements.

If you sacrifice some of your self-centered “animal thoughts” in favor of science, theology, sports, medicine, engineering, or anything of a higher purpose you will achieve in that area. The mind is a great goal seeking mechanism but a mind focused only on survival and the needs of the moment will not accomplish outside of that small area.

Look for achievement and you will find it. As A Man Thinketh is always talking about the quality of your thoughts. The Thought Factor in Achievement leads you to higher ground if you want to do great things in life.

]]> http://www.therealmikegriffin.com/1134/notes-on-as-a-man-thinketh-chapter-5-the-thought-factor-in-achievement/feed/ 0 http://www.therealmikegriffin.com/983/notes-on-as-a-man-thinketh-chapter2-effect-of-thought-on-circumstances-part-2/ http://www.therealmikegriffin.com/983/notes-on-as-a-man-thinketh-chapter2-effect-of-thought-on-circumstances-part-2/#comments Fri, 09 Jan 2009 15:19:25 +0000 Mike Griffin http://www.therealmikegriffin.com/?p=983

By Michael Griffin

Jan 9th 2009 Podcast

How To Your thoughts create and control your circumstances

Can you see yourself a year from now, walking on the beach – the beautiful blue ocean out before you. The water is so clear you can see the fishes, small ones, larger ones, and some big ones. It is a wonderful day, perhaps you’ll take a swim later but now you are just taking it all in. You are here because a year ago you got some ideas and you immediately took action and put them to work in your business, in your life — now you are here on the beach on a perfect day.

Do you get that?

Thoughts + action taken = results

This is the underlying theme of “As A Man Thinketh.”

What kinds of thoughts is your mind churning out? It probably depends on what has gone into your head. Are you hearing how business is bad and no one has a chance. Perhaps you heard it on the news or even from some marketer who wants to use scare tactics and have you believe that his product is the only way out of your business dilemma.

The fact is the human mind is the most powerful goal seeking system on the planet. A question properly phrased, an instruction to find the answer, and the understanding and underlying belief that the result will come. In the case of the news and the marketer, information was planted in you mind by someone other than yourself. In the case of the marketer he had in mind actions that he would like you to take. In the case of the news report, perhaps a reporters bias of the facts, or a government agency, or something that is just wrong, has skewed the report causing confusion and inaction.

You have to take control of the information that feeds your mind. You have to examine what has gone into your mind that is driving the decisions you are taking today and that those decisions are driving your tomorrow.

Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results; bad
thoughts and actions can never produce good results. This is but
saying that nothing can come from corn but corn, nothing from
nettles but nettles. Men understand this law in the natural world,
and work with it; but few understand it in the mental and moral
world (though its operation there is just as simple and
undeviating), and they, therefore, do not co-operate with it.

Could your thoughts bring such great results to your life?

Allen says:

The soul attracts that which it secretly harbours; that which it
loves, and also that which it fears; it reaches the height of its
cherished aspirations; it falls to the level of its unchastened
desires,–and circumstances are the means by which the soul receives
its own.

A person must come to a decision about his life that he (he or she) is responsible for it. At that point he must begin to examine his thoughts and recognize the powerful goal seeking system that is his mind. He must look at the beliefs that would have him not make that extra sales call, or watch three or four hours of TV instead of looking for ways to produce the income that will give him the perfect days at the beach, that will insure his future.

TV wasn’t a part of the picture when Allen wrote As A Man Thinketh but there have always been plenty of ways to ‘sew nettles’ in the fertile field of the mind. The point is what beliefs are running your mind and therefore your life that would cause you to spend so much time in a way that will cause you to be only a very ordinary person? Earl Nightingale discusses this very issue, he calls it “The Strangest Secret.”

How They Laughed When I Said – my thoughts create and control my circumstances

What is it that you want to do that you’ve had on the back-burner so long that you hardly think of it at all anymore? Perhaps you bought a course quietly, to study in private, so people wouldn’t see you reach for the stars? So people wouldn’t laugh? Where did that thought – that people will laugh – come from? Is it your thought or is it just one of those thoughts generally held that keep people mindlessly doing the same thing as everyone else and causing them to trail down the road of life one-after-the-other like cattle to the slaughter?

New Thought Will Help You Put the law of attraction to work in your life, bringing you the things you want rather than what society has for normal people.

Let a man radically alter his thoughts, and he will be astonished at
the rapid transformation it will effect in the material conditions
of his life.

If you direct your mind – if you tell it to seek the things that you want by holding a clear and definite picture of the outcome you want, then it will begin to target that result and not the results that people all around you are getting.

Nature helps every man to the gratification of the thoughts, which
he most encourages, and opportunities are presented which will most
speedily bring to the surface both the good and evil thoughts.

Remember that your mind is a powerful goal seeking system. Unless you want to wind up somewhere else – you need to take over what goes into it yourself, you need to be the programmer. Allen has also, without saying so, introduced the law of attraction into the mix. This is a step beyond the simple cause and effect relationship that we spoke about in part 1 of this post and have continued until now. “Nature helps every man” and from the previous quote: “rapid transformation.” These are acknowledgments of the larger force at work as we have been discussing in Wallace Wattles “The Science of Getting Rich.” We will develop the idea more as we examine the later chapters of the book but will not focus too much on it for now.

The Effect of Thought on Circumstance – As A Man Thinketh – This is the message, take charge of your thoughts and you will take charge of your life.

Next time we’ll pick up with chapter 3 of James Allen’s “As A Man Thinketh.”

By Michael Griffin

Jan 8th 2009 Podcast

The Great Books – Ideas Held In Common

The Science of Getting Rich, Think and Grow Rich, and now As A Man Thinketh share the common idea that what you think has a profound affect on your external world. There are several levels on which you can think of this, several levels on which you may or may not choose to accept and agree with the idea.

First it is not much of a stretch to realize that a person who walks around like Eyore in the Winnie the Pooh stories (Eyore is the donkey with the rain cloud that follows him) will not see the good around him nor can he because he is constantly filtering it out. There is so much happening in the world around us that we cannot take it all in and the conscious mind filters parts which it considers unimportant. And so the mind will see the things it is looking for. It will seek them out to find them just like the guidance system on a heat seeking missile it will find what is programmed into it.

On one level, this is what James Allen is saying, our thoughts help us tune into those things in the world that will either empower us or cause us to turn away like Eyore. Eyore either won’t see or doesn’t think he is worthy. So tune up your thoughts to be able to see opportunity and tune up your thoughts to grab opportunities – grab them even if you don’t have the whole answer to it when you do Grab them. Successful entrepreneur after successful entrepreneur tells stories of getting into things that they didn’t have all the information or skills to accomplish and yet they pushed through and found the resources. This is different from not beginning because you notice some little block in the road.

Zig Ziglar uses the analogy of traffic lights. If you are going somewhere do you sit at home and wait for all the lights to turn green before you leave? Next time you have concerns about something down the road on your journey through life think about that a little, it is really quite profound.

That is the first level of accepting what Allen has to say in As A Man Thinketh. Is that something that makes sense, that our mind at the very least filters the world according to what we have put into it. That if we are expecting the worst, we will notice mostly things that are not working out and will have less inclination to try the new thing for ourselves.

Who Has Planted Your Garden?

Allen says that those filters in your mind are as if someone planted weeds in your garden.

Man’s mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently
cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or
neglected, it must, and will, _bring forth._ If no useful seeds are
_put _into it, then an abundance of useless weed-seeds will _fall
_therein, and will continue to produce their kind.

Allen makes the case for examining the thoughts, what is going on in your mind and why. Where did the thoughts come from, are they leftover from childhood, wrong information from a teacher, a pastor, a parent, a friend, something you saw on TV, or words from a song that you liked?

Can you take charge of those thoughts and begin to weed out the ones that stop you, the ones that cause you to believe that circumstance is responsible for your condition?

Man is buffeted by circumstances so long as he believes himself to
be the creature of outside conditions, but when he realizes that he
is a creative power, and that he may command the hidden soil and
seeds of his being out of which circumstances grow, he then becomes
the rightful master of himself.

Allen says: “Circumstances grow out of thought.” As we are saying here, you find what you are looking for. Change what you are looking for and find something different.

A particular train of thought persisted in, be it good or bad,
cannot fail to produce its results on the character and
circumstances. A man cannot _directly_ choose his circumstances, but
he can choose his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his
circumstances.

In the light of this truth, what, then, is the meaning of “fighting
against circumstances?” It means that a man is continually revolting
against an _effect_ without, while all the time he is nourishing and
preserving its _cause_ in his heart. That cause may take the form of
a conscious vice or an unconscious weakness; but whatever it is, it
stubbornly retards the efforts of its possessor, and thus calls
aloud for remedy.

Change your thoughts and change your circumstances

Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to
improve themselves; they therefore remain bound.

As I said, this is the first level of accepting the ideas of As A Man Thinketh. I don’t believe it is too much of a stretch to accept this. Earl Nightingale put it: “we become what we think about all day long.” He called it “The Strangest Secret“. If you accept this then you are well on your way to a life of accomplishment.

“Only himself manicles man” says Allen. Isn’t it time to put off the manacles and live life on your terms?

We will leave it there for now and pick up again next time in chapter 2.

by Michael Griffin

Jan 6th 2009 Podcast

What do you believe and why do you believe it? What part of what you believe is true? Have you examined your beliefs?

“Every act of a man springs from the hidden seeds of thought”

Is this why some people, after reading books like Napoleon Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich” do become rich – new seeds of thought have been planted? Has Hill provided information that the person didn’t know or has Hill unleashed their thinking, allowing them to dream beyond the present conditions. It’s not an either-or proposition is it, clearly Hill provides both conditions to the reader.

Why then doesn’t Think and Grow Rich cause everyone who reads it to become rich? Isn’t life just a crap shoot? Some who Read Think and Grow Rich believe it and to others the words just pass by. What is magical is not the book or the words but the effect those words have on the mind that recieves them. And how open that mind is to believe that “thoughts become things” and “anything the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”

Does the reader have so much junk stored in his mind that he cannot get to the beliefs necessary to move forward? Those seeds of thought can be good seeds and bad. Earl Nightingale talked about seeds of the deadly poison plant, nightshade, being planted and those seeds growing to full pushing out the good crop. And this is what Allen is saying in “As A Man Thinketh”

The seeds of thought planted in our minds first by our parents, our families, our friends, the media, what kinds of seeds are those? Even church and religious services of all kinds, what seeds are these really bringing. In the Christian traditions there is the preaching of fire, damnation, and judgment – of a God of retribution — and there is the teaching of a God of love who intends the very best for you. All of these ideas taken from the same book. So it is in life, one person sees life as an endless opportunity while another sees life as a struggle for existence. One sees and participates in an abundant feast while another sees only the scraps that fall to the floor.

Why is this? Allen says, quoting scripture: “as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” When a person picks up Think and Grow Rich and begins to read through with what eye is he seeing the book? What beliefs does he have to overcome to accept the ideas that if he changes his thinking then the whole world opens to him. What has gone into that mind before these new ideas? What mental baggage has to be overcome? How much does he “know” that just isn’t true?

Before the great runner Roger Bannister everyone knew it was impossible to break the four minute mile. Yet within weeks of Bannister’s record other runners had beaten it. Since then the record has even been broken in high school events. Many point to this as a psychological barrier that runners couldn’t cross. Then after the idea was out, after the belief was in the minds of the runners then their training, their work was able to attain new levels of performance.

“We become what we think about all day long,” as Earl Nightingale put it. We generally think about things that have been put there by family, friends, teachers, media — have we examined those thoughts? People shook with and were paralyzed by fear in their homes after hearing Orson Well’s 1938 broadcast of “War of The Worlds,” and believing that Martians were actually invading the world. What might you believe about your business that isn’t true? Do you believe in a bad economy that your business can’t grow? If so why would you get up and try? The fact is plenty of people are going to get rich in bad times while others will loose out. What do you believe about the challenges of the economy, about the challenges of life?

Are challenges supposed to destroy us or are they a way to make us stronger? “As A Man Thinketh” says:

The act is the blossom of thought and joy and suffering are it’s fruits – thus does a man enjoy the sweet and bitter fruitage of his own husbandry.

What will your act be in response to a challenge? Will you hunker down in your house in fear? Or will you go out to discover what the truth about it is? Allen quotes scripture when he says:

He that seeketh findeth and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Thats a promise of a way, of an answer if you are looking for a way to meet the challenges. But if you shiver in your home, if the covers are pulled up over your head as you wait for – what is it you are waiting for? If you are waiting then you are not looking, you are not seeking, and nothing good can come of it. Your mind will take on the mantra of the world, of the media.

As A Man Thinketh is a challenge to all to examine your thoughts, they are probably not even your thoughts. You will be controlled by those thoughts, by that message, you will act in accordance: “the act is the blossom of thought…” If you are not happy with your life, with circumstance, put some new thoughts in.

Do you believe that change is bad or is it opportunity? Is a crisis bad or is it an opportunity? Shakespeare said, “there is nothing either good or bad, but only thinking makes it so.” Do you want to go back to the good old days, or are these the good old days?

Change and crisis are forces in the world that beckon us to look again at what we believe. To look at the habitual thoughts that cycle through our conciousness, drive our actions, and produce our results in the world.

“Thought and character are one”
James Allen

Jan 5th 2009 Podcast

As a Man Thinketh, Gettting Your Mind Into The Law of Attraction

As A Man Thinketh is a great little book published in 1902 by James Allen. Allen arrived at the philosophy of the book through observation and meditation. Allen was profoundly impacted by Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he… Allen argues that a man who works on himself inside first will soon see the changes reflected in his outer world.

As A Man Thinketh is a powerful philosophy that will help you achieve by changing and purifying your thoughts. The book will show you how to transform your thoughts into concrete actions that will result in the achievement of anything that you deeply desire in your heart.

As a Man Thinketh by James Allen argues that a man is his dream: that what a man thinks about is what he becomes. In the book, readers are introduced to effect of thought on circumstances; effect of thought on health and body; thought and purpose; thought factor in achievement; vision and ideals and serenity. It is another statement of the law of attraction.

Download As A Man Thinketh

In this post you’ll find the complete audio book and links to the text also on this site. We’ll be providing a download with the complete audio and also will include the chapters in the podcast. Likewise we will be providing a download of the EBook. Keep watch in the resources section for these items.

Throughout this week we’ll have posts about this book and will resume our regular podcast.

Download The Audiobook

You can read the book here

Foreword

Thought and Character

Effect of Thought on Circumstances

Effect of Thought on Health and the Body

Thought and Purpose

The Thought-Factor in Achievement

Visions and Ideals

Serenity

Download The Ebook

This Book Is Sometimes Called “As You Think” by James Allen

As A Man Thinketh or As You Think, both titles refer to the same great book by James Allen.

It is interesting how the success books of the first part of the 20th Century all tie into each other. Like today the authors were up on what other writers are doing. Learning from each other and refining their ideas. So it is with James Allen’s As A Man Thinketh.

It’s a great little book that I first read about 15 years ago. I’m sorry to say that I couldn’t relate to it, I read it and said, “OK,” and went on. On picking it up again I am amazed by all that I missed.

If you lay it along side “The Science of Getting Rich,” and “Think and Grow Rich” it highlights and enhances them. Each of these books brings out different points in the others.

On January 5th, 2009 when I pick up the podcast again, I will begin publishing the audio book of “As A Man Thinketh” and try to bring correlation between it and the other two books. It is an interesting comparison. Here is a preview of chapter 1:

Thought and Character

Look for this new series and new podcasts on www.TheRealMikeGriffin.com and Have a great new year.