russia has launched a full-scale war in Ukraine! Headway asks you to donate to the charity fund to protect Ukraine and the world’s peace.

Support Ukraine

logo

Is Headway the right choice for you? Take the quiz and discover!

Start the quiz
library / 
book
4.7 (680 reviews)

Summary of As a Man Thinketh 

Short summary

Some books manage to pass the test of time and then some; “As a Man Thinketh” is certainly one of them. Originally published in 1903, the book delves into the reasons why your thoughts might actually have more control over your destiny than you think. So, by changing your thoughts, can you change your destiny? James Allen certainly thinks so! Author of “From Passion to Peace”, Allen has helped millions of people around the world to achieve their greatest desires, all by changing the way they think and focusing on positivity and purity. Based on “as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he” from the Bible, Proverbs, Chapter 23, Verse 7, this is a book which shows you that you really can build your own destiny and the building blocks are in your mind.

Key points

1

Your future is in your hands

You might think that outside influences shape your destiny, or that everything is almost pre-designed, but if you think that way you’re missing out on something pretty huge. “As a Man Thinketh” teaches us that your destiny isn’t written in the stars, as romantic as it sounds, but instead it is in your own hands. You get to shape it, you get to write it, you get to create it.
They themselves are makers of themselves. ~ James Allen
Everything that you are, everything you hold dear to you, comes from what you think. This includes the things which are planned and the things which happen spontaneously. Allen tells us that if you make the right choices in life and you put forth the effort, you will go to heaven. If you don’t, and if you abuse life and place effort in the wrong places, you will go to hell.
You are in control of your own destiny with your thoughts and actions. Wake up and realize it before it’s too late!
That basically means that the keys to your destiny, both in life and beyond it, are in your hands and you get to decide what you’re going to do with them. Even when things aren’t going so well, your attitude and decisions shape your future.

Did you know? The true meaning of the Bible passage “as a man thinketh, so is he” relates to a person’s true nature and that what you see isn’t always what you get. It’s about what they are on the inside.
2

Negative thoughts will poison your mind

Your circumstances certainly affect your mind, but you can choose your actions. Allen compares this situation to a garden. You can either choose to look after the garden, tend to it, weed it, water it regularly, or you can leave it to grow into a state of disarray. If you choose the former, the garden will bloom with flowers and look fantastic. However, if you leave it to fall into ruin, the garden will become overrun with weeds and become unruly. Your mind is the same.
book
Continue reading with Headway app
Continue the summary
Other chapters are waiting for you in the app
3

Bad health = bad thoughts, good health = good thoughts

4

Everyone needs a purpose in life, what is yours?

5

If at first, you don’t succeed, it’s your own fault!

6

If you achieve serenity, you know you’ve made it

7

Conclusion

Buy full book on AmazonContinue the summary

What is As a Man Thinketh about?

Who should read As a Man Thinketh

Topics in As a Man Thinketh

book
book

Enjoy summarized nonfiction bestsellers

Grasp the book’s key ideas in less than 15 minutes

Get started

Get new knowledge easily

Let’s check how many titles you can finish in a month with Headway! Tell us how much time you’d like to spend on reading:

2 min/day
5 min/day
10 min/day
15 min/day
20 min/day
30 min/day
45 min/day
4 titles/month
10 titles/month
20 titles/month
30 titles/month
40 titles/month
60 titles/month
90 titles/month
image
image
image
image
image
image
image
image
image
image
image
image
image
image
image
image
image
4 titles/month
10 titles/month
20 titles/month
30 titles/month
40 titles/month
60 titles/month
90 titles/month
image
image
image
image
image
image
image
image
image
image
image
image
image
image
image
image
image
image

Join 30+ million learners around the world

60K5 reviews on App Store and Google Play
icon

Everything you need to be motivate, to learn & to self improves is all here. I actually do appreciate the reminders because otherwise this wouldn’t work for me. Thank you

icon

sandypantalones

icon

Headway is the answer! No longer accumulating books I never read. With Headway, I initially chose the areas important to me such as productivity, time management, etc., and each day I'm provided several book summaries from which I devote 20 minutes or more each day reading. All of this on my phone! My life has improved with Headway. Truly my most useful app.

icon

Carol Slinker

icon

An excellent concept, executed well. Headway can help you retain what you've read while introducing you to the essential core of new information. It's an easier way to stay inspired, and to be reminded of the mental tools you've learned

icon

Fuse Henry

icon

In today’s world, we rarely have time. Between our jobs, our families are social obligations, when do we have time to grow and develop ourselves? Headway is an excellent app that gives you that time it gives you those little snippets of information that you need to direct your focus in on your life. Headway gives you a chance to find out the meat of a book that you might want to purchase and read or listen to in-depth without wasting a lot of time trying to figure out is this book for me? I highly recommend the app.

icon

sleepy sprite

icon

The selections are on point and the summaries are excellent! I listen while I walk my pup 🐶 and have in turn, ordered a few selections! REALLY loving the app, it’s layout, daily selections and features!

icon

JuicyBaby328

icon

I've gotten multiple books out of the library with the intent to read them, but always have a hard time finding the time. This app has helped me finally be able to get to them. Summarized, yes, and thank goodness too! Just short enough I can finish one on my way picking kids up from school/practice, or while I'm cooking dinner. I can't wait to listen to them over the summer when we visit the beach!

icon

Jillian Emmert

icon

It amazed me! There is the possibility to highlight the most important points of each book and instantly translate unfamiliar vocabulary. With the ability to review the searched words. It's a great way to learn more about English as well. The price is great.

icon

Fiamma

icon

I’m enjoying what I’m learning on headway.each summary comes with quotes at the end which you can save to help you remember key points. You can listen or read, I’ve found that reading puts me to sleep before I can finish but the listening feature keeps me engaged and I can finish in a brief amount of time if not one session.

icon

Epic waters

icon

The app it’s so easy to use. I use it while driving or cooking and is great. I love the fact that the chapters are short, so you can finish them quickly. Very knowledgeable.

icon

kathytaveras

icon

The best app for self development.It helps to keep pace with your reading and also suggests the kind of reading material you might like.It is fun as you can switch from reading to listening and vice-versa as per your convenience .Just get started and partake of the treasure of knowledge at your fingertips .I feel lucky to have spotted the app.It has helped me become self-disciplined and much better informed.The audio track is excellent.

icon

anita yadav

icon

Exactly what I need! I always have booklist to read, but can't committed enough to finish/start bc of too much pages. Headway is really helpful and concise with their summary. What I love the most is that the essence of the book is well crafted, so I don't only read the key points, but also there's the story and how personality of the author still well shown through the summary. Well done!

icon

Feninda Amalia

icon

This is outstanding best app ever and honestly whoever came up with is my app is an absolute genius kudos my gratitude definitely goes out and I’m only on my first week free trial and I’m certainly going to purchase this app annually. Now that I have it, I can’t even imagine living without it.

icon

Darlin NIKKIDOLL0923