As a Man Thinketh Summary - James Allen | Happy Investors
As a Man Thinketh is a classic from self-help literature. It emphasizes how a man is what he thinks. He is the one who makes the circumstances and not the circumstances that make him. The summary of As a Man Thinketh is: you are what you think.
This book presents the principles one should follow to transform their life. It remains one of the most influential self-help books of all time. Here, you will find a summary of As a Man Thinketh and the key concepts from the book.
About the book
The self-help classic "As A Man Thinketh" makes the case that using the power of your thoughts to control your life will enable you to develop the mindset and outlook of a successful, optimistic person.
Allen made sure that his book was short and easy to grasp. That way, everyone could understand the arguments he was attempting to make about how having control over your ideas gives you control over your life.
At Happy Investors, we believe very strongly in personal development and Mindset as the basis to any form of success. We became financially free because we first developed our way of thinking. From positive thoughts to self-confidence. This is the basis of any successful strategy, whether it is stock investing, career building or working on your personal relationships.
About the author
James Allen was a British philosophical writer known for his poetry, and inspirational books, and for pioneering the self-help movement. His best-known work, As a Man Thinks, has been widely publicized since its publication in 1903. This book has been a source of inspiration for self-help and motivational authors.
As a Man Thinketh Summary - Character
“As the plant springs from, and could not be without, the seed, so every act of a man springs from the hidden seeds of thought, and could not have appeared without them.”
According to the early twentieth century thinkers and the old proverbs your character is nothing more than the cohesion of all your thoughts. The set of actions you execute daily has a precise correlation with them. That transcends spontaneous attitudes and those that are not.
When the human being expresses moments of happiness or sadness, he is not doing anything other than to show what is inside them. Hence, the phrase: "you will reap your crops ". A man forges himself from thought, that is, from his mind.
So, when one makes a reference to a character as admirable or tough, it is necessarily alluding to the accumulation of thoughts that forged it. Consequently, it will be the mind itself that will build happiness and well-being.
As in all things, there are good and bad extremes, finding in the middle many different categories of character that have been forged by the man himself. He is his lord and master.
When the human being discovers the laws of thought, he analyzes himself based on his experience. He transcends toward wisdom. At this point is where he knows that he is capable of forging his destiny through total control of his thoughts.
In our online investing course, we also pay a lot of attention to "our thoughts. Learning to invest content to become financially wealthy is fairly easy (if you know how it works). We teach you the practical side. Such as how to deal with emotions when the stock market does not do what you want. It is in these moments that investing in stocks and ETFs can be tough, but it is precisely then that you should think positively in the form of "what opportunities do these stock market crashes represent?".
How to work on positive thoughts
“Until thoughts are linked with purpose, there is no intelligent accomplishment.”
An important topic in the summary of As a Man Thinketh is creating a positive mindset.
The genuine expression of happiness starts from the essential work of the mind. Cleaning your thoughts, leaving aside those that only refer to harm, impurity, and uselessness, is fundamental to build a happy life. In this sense, happiness depends on the perspective with which you look at it. For example, what makes some people happy can cause others sadness, bitterness, or another feeling.
The feeling of failure, feeling constantly besieged by the outside world is a construction of human thought. When you transcend that posture to create your challenges, you learn to look at the world from another perspective and find full happiness.
In this sense, man is the constructor of himself. That is why it people say you should not feel tied to life's circumstances. These will be good or bad and will largely depend on your attitudes. This is an important element for those who want to develop a growth mindset.
Although sometimes the dishonest indeed achieve great fortunes or the honest live in misery; that appreciation does not transcend a superficial aspect of reality. The first can lose everything overnight with illnesses, debts, ambitions, etc. While the second can improve their condition if they create the opportunities or feel happy in they position. Therefore, living in suffering will depend on how you look at things, your actions and attitudes.
In all cases, the measures of happiness and suffering refer to the emotional state and not the economic and social position of each human being. You can find rich people living in bitterness or poor people overflowing with joy.
In this sense, a human being is prosperous and healthy when his mind is healthy.
Thought and habits
"Before a man can achieve anything, even in worldly things, he must lift his thoughts above slavish animal indulgence. He may not, to succeed, give up all animality and selfishness, by any means; but a portion of it must, at least, be sacrificed."
All the previous premises lead to the affirmation that good or bad habits depend on thoughts. The human being externally shows the state of his mind constantly. When they have kind thoughts, they show kindness, courtesy, etc. On the contrary, impurity only translates into destruction, hostile, weak habits.
The retrospective analysis becomes a necessary tool to work on the thoughts and habits of the human being.
Thought and idealism
"A 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."
Another form of human thought that exists in this world is that of the idealists. That means those who think of all things in their highest expression of perfection. The poets, sculptors, composers, etc., work from a higher thought of reality. That is why they can express in their works those noble or harsh feelings, just as they are reproduced in their minds.
For example, Buddha led to a thought rooted in spiritual balance, where peace and harmony reign. He proposes meditation as a path that leads to that state of perfection and balance.
For those who believe in the existence of God, there is also an inner world balanced in the love of Christ and the neighbor. Considering that man is the image and likeness of God, they work during their lives to become more and more like their Father.
In this way, life is built based on the dreams to which man aspires to his maximum splendor of happiness. These materialize in good actions in daily life, providing a state of mind and spiritual peace, harmony, and balance between mind and body: between the inner and outer world.
In short, the human being is what he wants to be, according to the work he has done with his thoughts. The eternal expression of his mind expresses through character. To achieve joy and happiness, you must purge yourself of negative thoughts.
Changing habits is a hard work that leads everyone to be a better person.
That means that every day, you can make small steps towards becoming a better person in a systematic way. That will lead to success and future well-being.
These are important insights from the summary of As a Man Thinketh. The book is worth buying and studying. It can change your life forever, in a positive sense of the word. And as a true Happy Investor, we sincerely hope you will want to use the insights from this book for personal growth