You Are What You Think You Are:
A Guide to Positive Thinking and Self-Motivation
by
Latywa Edwards
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Copyright © 2011, Latywa Edwards
Smashwords Edition
Smashwords Editions, License Notes
This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
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This book is dedicated to AJ and Jordon, who inspire me daily.
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Legal Notice: The author and publisher of this book and the accompanying materials have used their best efforts in preparing this book. The author and publisher make no representation or warranties with respect to the accuracy, applicability, fitness, or completeness of the contents of this book. The information contained in this book is strictly for educational purposes. Therefore, if you wish to apply ideas contained in this book, you are taking full responsibility for your actions. The author and publisher disclaim any warranties (express or implied), merchantability, or fitness for any particular purpose. The author and publisher shall in no event be held liable to any party for any direct, indirect, punitive, special, incidental or other consequential damages arising directly or indirectly from any use of this material, which is provided “as is”, and without warranties. As always, the advice of a competent professional should be sought.
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Table of Contents
Chapter 2-Keeping Good Company
Chapter 5-The Power of Positive Thinking
Chapter 11-Share Your Knowledge
Chapter 12-Why Negative Thoughts Have Power
Chapter 13-Building Motivational Habits
Chapter 14-Give Yourself a Break
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What is motivation? Motivation is what keeps us going. It is the reason people succeed or fail. There are a lot of factors that can influence the level of motivation that a person has including environment, the people you spend your time with, your mindset and the way that you think, your attitude and so much more. Learning to stay motivated takes some time and practice. It is not just a miraculous event that takes place. You must first learn how to turn your thinking into positive thinking. This takes some work and includes such things as re-evaluating people and situations in your life.
The purpose of this book is to show you how, through positive thinking, you can make a dramatic change in your life. The things that you will learn and read about in this book will help you to feel better about yourself, thus leading to becoming a better person. What you learn here, you can take with you wherever you go, even passing along tips to other people. I wrote this book to be a guide for you to learn and live by each and every day. You can take this book with you and refer to it when you are feeling a little unmotivated.
Motivation is what you need in order to make it through the day. It is motivation that keeps us going when we have difficulties and struggles in life. Without it, we would fail. How many times have you been faced with a challenge or an obstacle in life? Everyday something happens in our life that wasn’t planned or that just might try and wreck our days, right? I mean, we are constantly being tested. The way that you respond to these obstacles determines your level of motivation. Do you just give up and wallow around in your own self-pity? Do you take an “I don’t care” type of attitude? This is apathy and is far worse than lack of motivation. If you are motivated and live a life filled with positive thinking, you will look at each situation differently and strive to turn each one into a learning experience to help you to improve your life.
You will learn how contagious positive thinking is. By practicing positive thinking and motivating yourself every day, it will become a natural part of your life. Others will begin to look at you as a ray of sunshine, and you may even notice that you will become surrounded with positive, like-minded individuals. If you are trying to improve your life and learn how to stay motivated and positive, this book is just what you need.
The first task that we are going to conquer is to get rid of the unnecessary clutter that is in our lives. Clutter comes in many forms. It can be in the form of physical clutter like papers and trash, or it can come in the form of people, places, ideas, and lifestyle habits.
In order for us to truly begin on our journey to self-improvement, we must first clean out our closets, so to speak. I want you to take a moment and just think about all of the parts of your life that you want to be motivated in. Do you need motivation to find a new job, clean your home, or get healthy? We need to be able to identify the clutter in our life that is hindering us from making these changes.
Let’s just take the example of getting healthy. You have this goal in your head that you want to start working out more and making healthier food choices. How are you going to achieve this goal? What has stopped you so far? If you are constantly buying junk food, there is your clutter. If you are listening to the negative comments from the people in your life who are telling you that you can’t do this, you need to block it out.
Getting rid of the clutter is a process that is going to take some work. You must learn to readily identify the things in your life that are keeping you from becoming the person that you desire to be. The method that you choose to get rid of this personal clutter is up to you. If it is physical, then simply toss it out. Clean out the pantry and the fridge. Make a new shopping list with healthier choices. Plan your shopping trips when you aren’t hungry. Doing these things will soon become habits and get you on your way to reaching your goal.
The spaces around us affect our attitudes. So if your home or workplace is messy, it reflects in our productivity. If you want to be a more efficient worker, just clear your desk and make it neat. You might actually be surprised at the difference in your attitude at work. The same goes for your home space. You will feel more relaxed in a clean home and therefore be able to look more positively at life. When the kids spill something, you won’t feel totally defeated because you have taken charge of the clutter in your life and know that it is not the end of the world. You will be able to maintain a clean home and it won’t feel like a chore anymore.
As for negative people and comments, this can be a little more difficult to get rid of. If the negative comments are from people who you have to deal with on a daily basis, i.e. a parent, spouse, co-worker, learning to filter out the negative comments is how we can deal with this clutter. The important thing to remember is to be able to identify the problem and take action to overcome it.
The first step to being able to filter out the negative people in our lives is to learn to understand that this person does not define you. You are in charge of you. If you think that you are worthless and ugly, then they have won. You must learn to conquer those negativities. When you hear someone constantly criticizing you and putting you down, it is easy to succumb to the thoughts that they might actually be right.
Get that out of you head. You are not worthless. You are an important person and no one should be able to convince you otherwise. You are not ugly. You are a beautiful human being who is gifted and just have yet to realize your own greatness. Once you get rid of this negative clutter from your mind, you will soon be on your way to arriving at the better, motivated, positive person that you can be.
Simplifying your life requires you taking back the control in your life. No longer will you let the food, or a messy home, or unemployment, or non-supportive people define you. You define you. If you think that you are great, you will be great. Learn to speak positive things for yourself. Whenever someone comes at you with negativity, you take that negativity and you counter it with the positive confidence that you are going to achieve.
Just because you might have to be around clutter, does not mean that you must become clutter. Start looking at yourself in the mirror and just say something positive to yourself every day. You will feel great about yourself in no time and the next time someone tries to steals your joy, you will be able to hold onto it and continue being motivated.
Keep telling yourself that YOU ARE WHAT YOU THINK YOU ARE. No one else can make you be a better person but you. No one else can help you be motivated but you. No one can make you love the person that you are except you. So start to work on you, for you and no one else.