Mr.

Advancement Management institute

MBA Program -2006

ADVANCED HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

AS A MAN THINKETH

A STUDY ON JAMES ALLEN'S BOOK.

Contents

Abstract 2

Introduction: James Allen Biography....... 3

Lessons learned and main ideas found 4

Quotes from the book to be remembered 6

Conclusion. 7

Abstract

James Allen proves that it is possible to pack dozens of valuable nuggets in a small package. The language is often lofty and dated, which in other works detracts from the material. In this case it reads like the writings of a wise old scholar, enhancing the content and its weight.

More than just an essay on positive thinking, Allen walks the reader through applications for personal growth, putting thought into action, using personal gifts to achieve right purposes, persevering to develop character, sacrificing and putting forth your full effort.

In what is following, I will try to summarize some of the main ideas and lessons I learned while reading the book.

Introduction: James Allen Biography

An unrewarded genius....

James Allen (November 28, 1864 - 1912) was a writer of inspirational books and poetry. Born in Leicester, England, James was 15 when his father, a businessman, was robbed and murdered. He left school to work full-time in several British manufacturing firms to help support the family. Eventually he married and became an executive secretary for a large company. At age 38, he retired from employment and he and his wife moved to a small cottage in Ilfracombe, of Devon, England to pursue a simple life of contemplation. There he wrote for 9 years producing over 20 works. James Allen died in 1912, at age 48.

Allen's most famous book, As a Man Thinketh, was published in 1902. It is now considered a classic self-help book. Its underlying premise is that noble thoughts make a noble person; lowly thoughts make a miserable person. In short: you are what you think. As A Man Thinketh has influenced many contemporary writers including Norman Vincent Peale, Earl Nightingale, Denis Waitley and Tony Robbins, among others.

His "little volume", as he called it, has been translated into five major languages, inspiring millions of readers to recognize that man's visions can become reality, simply through the power of thought.

The book is now in the public domain within the United States and most other countries. It was released the 1st of October 2003 as a Project Gutenberg eText edition.

The book opens with the statement:

"Mind is the Master power that moulds and makes,

And Man is Mind, and evermore he takes

The tool of Thought, and, shaping what he wills,

Brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills:--

He thinks in secret, and it comes to pass:

Environment is but his looking-glass"

A philosophical writer of British nationality who remains a hardly recognized author, James Allen's books illustrates the power of thought to have immense capabilities. Although he never achieved great fame or wealth, his works continue to influence people around the world.

Lessons learned and main ideas found

As A Man Thinketh was Allen's second book. Despite its subsequent popularity he was dissatisfied with it. Even though it was his most concise and eloquent work, the book that best embodied his thought, he somehow failed to recognize its value. His wife Lily had to persuade him to publish it

The book encompasses the idea "All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts." James Allen expressively explains how our thoughts generate our reality and "In a justly ordered universe, where loss of equipoise would mean total destruction, individual responsibility must be absolute. A man's weakness and strength, purity and impurity, are his own and not another man's." A question one may always have is to what extent our thoughts played in the creation of our experience. We could always believe we can do whatever we put our minds to, though we are unsure of what extent we could exercise control in the creation of our experience and by what means does one actively create? After reading this book, these questions might be answered and life can take on a whole new perspective. A world of possibilities become apparent with the realization that through an effort in right thinking and observation of circumstance one can begin to experiment to see just what exactly he can create. This same observation would bring clarity to how negative thinking affects reality and what role it has in learning and progress.

The book also insists upon the power of the individual to form his own character and to create his own happiness. Thought and character are one, the author says, and as character can only manifest and discover itself through environment and circumstance, the outer conditions of a person's life will always be found to be harmoniously related to his inner state. This does not mean that a man's circumstances at any given time are an indication of his entire character, but that those circumstances are so intimately connected with some vital thought element within him that, for the time being, they are indispensable to his development

Circumstance does not make the man; it reveals him to himself. "Good