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Not Today, Negativity!: 5 Habits of Positivity to Cope, Hope and Be Well in Tough Times

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Have you ever felt like you were in a battle with negativity? Dueling over anxiety, self-limiting beliefs, imposter syndrome, health issues, inequitable treatment, fear about your and your children’s future in an increasingly divided world that leaves you feeling depleted and discouraged?

I’ve been there! After years of infertility, heartbreaking losses, daggers of racism and sexism, toxic work environment, COVID-19, and a boss who killed his wife.... negativity threatened to drive me under the covers. But I fought back!



Not Today, Negativity invites you to:

Practice 5 Habits of Positivity to kick negativity to the curb
Extract the power of your stories so you can rise above your circumstances
Achieve whole health
Live a life without limits
Become a Positivity Catalyst
Additionally, Dr. Oneeka shares stories from interactions with her urology patients, "Urology Stories" throughout the book to demonstrate how positivity can make a difference in difficult times and diagnoses, how sometimes it's more about "loosening the knot" or the underlying emotional issues to solve a problem, and how providing encouragement in difficult times can be the greatest gift to others.

Join Dr. Oneeka – award-winning author, positivity catalyst, surgeon and teacher - on this soul-stirring, challenging yet triumphant, authentic and faith-filled journey infused with vulnerability and masterful storytelling. You will emerge transformed and ready to resist negativity’s attacks. You will be inspired to build your internal Island of Positivity. You will find opportunities for self care and healing in Positivity Pauses and Practices and you will be energized to live your Unlimited Life.

300 pages, Paperback

Published August 17, 2021

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About the author

Oneeka Williams

10 books12 followers
Dr. Oneeka Williams is on a mission to ‘Educate, Empower and Enrich’ the lives of children, especially girls towards a greater interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math. As Founder and President of Dr. Dee Dee Dynamo LLC, Dr Williams has developed a mechanism to engage children in the joys of science at an early age. Her belief is that by planting the seeds of curiosity, incorporating science content into an entertainment platform and delivering the message in the form of a powerful, confident girl character, she will be create early imprinting of what is possible thus dispelling the common childhood belief, that scientists are ‘old, white men with spectacles’.

Furthermore, by creating interest, confidence and proficiency at an early age, Dr Williams believes that this will have a profound impact on increasing the percentage of women and underrepresented minorities entering STEM careers. Consequently, the implications for economic empowerment and the eventual effects on health disparities in these groups can be life altering.

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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
Profile Image for Susan Z (webreakforbooks) .
1,251 reviews125 followers
August 23, 2021
Have you ever found a book at just the right time in your life? Or maybe the book found you? For me, that is now with Not Today, Negativity.

Lately my inner Eeyore is really shining through. I've always wanted to be a Tigger, my dad was a Tigger, and sadly I'll never be one, but I can lose my Eeyore persona and maybe be more like Kanga or Pooh? Or maybe I don't even need to be a Winnie The Pooh Character 🤣

In all seriousness, this is a practical guide to getting your mind right. It contains 5 actionable habits of positivity. This is not to say all problems can be helped with a mindset change. Depression is a real illness and the importance of treatment should not me minimized; however, most of us have the ability to shift our mindset and look at the glass as half-full instead of half empty. That's where this book comes in.

This is a fantastic resource that will be forever sitting on my side table so I see it daily and have it handy to pick up to get the reminders I need.
Profile Image for Misse Jones.
835 reviews53 followers
October 5, 2021
”Not today!” Not today, fear! Not today, worry! Not today, anxiety! Not today, insecurity! Not today, defeat! Not today, negativity!

Not Today, Negativity! 5 Habits of Positivity to Cope, Hope, and Be Well In Tough Times is an invitation and call to action. It is also an intimate memoir and one that is both relatable and moving. Given the current climate around the world, I found Dr. Oneeka’s book to be timely and a necessary resource.

She invites us to kick negativity to the curb by using her 5 Habits of Positivity to extract power from our individual stories. They are:

• Habit of Positivity (HOP) 1: There is always a solution
• Habit of Positivity (HOP) 2: Convert a Limit Into An Opportunity
• Habit of Positivity (HOP) 3: Keep the Positive; Discard the Negative
• Habit of Positivity (HOP) 4: You are Unique With A Divine Purpose Linked to Caring For Others
• Habit of Positivity (HOP) 5: Be Thankful and Believe!

Using personal anecdotes and sharing from interactions with her urology patients, Dr. Oneeka paints a vivid picture throughout the book, demonstrating how positivity can make a difference in difficult times and situations.

I enjoy the holistic approach to healing she’s so thoughtfully focused upon. I applaud her willingness to share and bravely do so. It’s one thing to talk about others experiences but it takes a certain level of vulnerability to share your own and to find the positive in those situations. This book is all about choosing positivity. If you’ve ever felt like you’ve been in a battle with negativity before, this resource is for you.

Thank you to NetGalley for gifting me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
1 review
July 31, 2021
Yay!! Right On Time🤩

School Year 2021~22 is bound to be great because of your latest gem, Dr. Oneeka Williams! I was moved by the acknowledgments & introduction alone ..lol (#ancestorsvibes get me every time😅) I simply can’t put it down. 🤓 This one is a must read for my students as well! 💪🏾💪🏾👏🏾👏🏾💯💯 Thank you for writing ✍🏽 this book🙏🏾🌷
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#representationmatters
#positivitywins
#trailblazer 🔥
#liveyourbestlife
#mindsetshift
#RespectTheMission
#BlackGirlMagicIsReal
#timetosoar
Profile Image for Alexa.
Author 17 books51 followers
July 31, 2021
In a time when the world needs more positivity, this book is a great answer. One of the things I loved about this book, that certainly sets it apart from other self-help/personal development books is how Dr. Oneeka Williams incorporates the mind/body/spirit elements. As a urologist, she's seen many cases of people that have come to her for help physically, that also needed some emotional support, someone to talk to, and had some emotional issues that were in fact impacting them physically.

I love how she incorporated stories from her medical practice that show just how important positivity is in not only our mental health, but our physical health. Some of these stories were sad and emotional, some were laugh-out-loud funny, but all drove home the point that our mindset can greatly impact our physical health.

Through her 5 Habits of Positivity, the reader learns how they can assess the situations in their lives, extract the negative aspects, and transform those into positives. It's the authors goal to help people transform their lives by releasing negativity.

The author has certainly faced her fair share of negative experiences, but has been able to move forward, even after suffering personal traumas and many work-place and societal challenges, to have a successful career and joyful life.

All of us face setbacks and times in our lives that are extremely challenging and difficult to overcome. I personally connected with Dr. Williams as she talked about her son being born really early and the time they spent in the NICU. I also had a baby in the NICU for a long time, and that was one of the hardest times of my life. I wish I'd had her positivity practices at that time in my life.

The inclusion of Positivity Pauses and Practices help the reader implement self-care and healing practices to live a more energized life, a more positive life, and therefore, an overall healthier life.

Great book!
Profile Image for Anne Hart.
81 reviews26 followers
August 27, 2021
I have urine leakage. Ya, I said it. And thanks to Not Today Negativity by Dr. Oneeka Williams, I’m going to turn the negativity of urine leakage into positivity. Here’s the positive, I found Carefree liners work perfectly and aren’t bulky. They are so small, you just slip them in your pocket and bam, you’re ready. You feel secure and still agile. Dr. Williams is a urologist so you will find all sorts of great info in her new book. Don’t worry not all her stories are about pee, peeing, or peed. She delves deep into her own personal tragedies. And believe me, if you think you’re having a bad day this book will brighten your outlook. Although the book is somewhat a memoir it is also a guide. So she takes the stories and shows you how shifting the mindset you have about that memory can change everything. The acronyms are easy to remember so that when you need to refocus or shift your mindset, you have an easy guide. This book is better than a self-help book. It’s like having a best friend who coaches you through life. I will be sharing this book with my 15-year-old daughter even though I know she hasn’t had to deal with some of the issues. Through Dr. Williams’ stories, I want my daughter to learn she can handle anything that may come her way.
Profile Image for Donna Avery.
25 reviews12 followers
July 29, 2021
I picked up Not Today, Negativity! based on the title and the author's powerful picture on the cover. Normally I don't pick books with an unknown-to-me author on the front cover. However, the author's confident vibe shone through so clearly that I wanted to hear what she had to say. I could almost hear her saying her title catchphrase as a command against the negativity she has faced in life. Together, the title and picture made me excited to read her habits of positivity. I bumped it up on my reading list.

Unfortunately, the book wasn't my style. While the author is a brilliant, credentialed, and trailblazing doctor of Urology who has earned the reader’s attention and respect as a successful, persistent doctor, woman, and BIPOC, she kept trying to prove it. Anyone who has overcome that many roadblocks on her path to being an MD in a male-dominated specialty has wisdom to impart. By picking up the book, we accept she has authority. We want to know how the 5 Habits of Positivity helped her overcome. However, she keeps telling the reader about her success and repeating her titles. I suspect it’s not a lack of confidence that makes her do that, so it comes across as braggadocio. It’s offputting, especially for a teacher. It creates a level of separation between teacher/mentor and student/mentee, the opposite of what she’s trying to achieve.

Because I hate repeated bragging behavior in people around me or in my reading, I usually excuse myself quickly when I encounter it. The reader understands how far the author has come in her life and doesn’t need to keep being beaten over the head with her medical degree. But because I’d signed up to read and review this book, I pushed through my resistance. Had I been reading this for personal reasons, I would have put the book aside after the sample pages and not given it another thought. I would have missed the nuggets of wisdom on persistence in the face of adversity.

I liked her personal stories. However, the book was more memoir than teaching. They showed all the hell and trauma she's been through, how she overcame so much, and the difference she's made in people's lives. I took away a few nuggets of wisdom from her stories and added her catchphrase to my arsenal.

People going into the medical field or people who know the author may find this book is perfect for them even though it did not hit the self-help, inspirational thresholds that I hold for my reading in this category. I suggest you pick up a copy and read for yourself.
14 reviews
August 19, 2021
Genre:
Non-fiction, inspirational and self-help.

Themes in the book:
Positivity, Storytelling, Mindset/mind shift, Physical/ Mental/ Emotional/ Intellectual and Spiritual Health, Loss, Caretaker, Superwoman, Immigrant, Professional, Infertility

If you like motivational self-help kind of books then this one is definitely for you! Over the years I have read a number of educational, emotional intelligence, psychological books focusing on mental health and lifestyle improvements and have found many of these books quite dry in subject. I was very glad to quickly learn that this was not the case in NOT TODAY NEGATIVITY! In fact I found the book quite an easy read, the book is divided in chapters, is written in an easy to understand language and did not have lots of complex terms that are often found in other books. In the book author Dr Oneeka Williams shares with the reader her personal life experiences, triumphs, vulnerabilities and losses as a mother, a woman and an industry professional, as well as how applying the 5 Habits of Positivity or HOPs as she often refers to them in the book, helped her get through and overcome them.

Blurb 
Years of infertility, multiple heartbreaking losses, daggers of racism, sexism and misogyny, physician burnout and a boss that killed his wife.... negativity seemed to be on a winning streak, driving Dr. Oneeka under the covers. Sometimes it seems as if our inner and outer worlds are in a battle with negativity every day....in your own stories, and those around you leaving you depleted, discouraged and out of balance. What if you could extract the power of your stories in a way that elevates you above your circumstances and then empowers you to act so that you can heal, achieve whole health and live a life without limits?
Join Dr. Oneeka on this soul stirring, sometimes gut wrenching yet triumphant, vulnerable and authentic journey of masterful storytelling through her life and emerge equipped with 5 Habits of Positivity that will position you to resist negativity’s attacks.
Profile Image for Nicola Hancock.
552 reviews7 followers
August 17, 2021
Nicola negativity who thinks the worst in every situation and a bad outcome before a good outcome. Yep that’s me. So this book was definitely the one for me to change my outlook on how to be more positive.

This book was so inspiring so true and so real with life stories and great advice. Dr. Oneeka Williams is one hell of a strong woman.

If you love self help books where you can keep track to try and break your habits and learn new ways of coping this is 100% the book for you. It’s not patronising in anyway. It’s helpful, knowledgable, deep and brave. I adored to know more about the author and from this you felt empathy and compassion. It wasn’t written from someone who doesn’t know what their talking about.

Even if you don’t want to flip your life around I would still recommend this. The last 24 months have been really hard on a lot of people not only with the pandemic but job losses bereavement and so forth. This book teaches you the ways of not only helping yourself but you can definitely help a close person change their path to be more positive.

5 habits, that’s all it takes and we all know it takes 21 days to create a habit. That’s all our negativity is really a habit we’ve got sucked into that we can’t shake off.

The writing style is easy to follow not full of complicated terminology she writes to you as a person to person. So there’s definitely an emotional connection that’s easy to build the further you read. I absolutely adored this and I’m ready to really embrace and take the steps to be less negative.
1,472 reviews16 followers
August 20, 2021
"When we apply a process that allows us to extract the positives from our stories, we open the floodgates of healing."

Not Today Negativity by Dr. Oneeka Williams is both a fascinating memoir and a common sense self help guide. Through her own life trials and grief she demonstrates how through five changes in her attitude she was able to get through the worse times of her life.

My heart broke as she described the loss of her infant son and how it effected every moment of every day. She knows that we all have bad days, sad moments and thoughts of despair. The key is not dwelling in those emotions. I think the great Poet Angelou Maya said it best in I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, "She comprehended the perversity of life, that in the struggle lies the joy."

I appreciated how much she acknowledges her own struggles, the need for open communication and believing in tomorrow is another chance to make it a better life.

Dr. Williams tells her story with clarity and honesty. This book is a wonderful guide for parents and professionals and anyone who needs to get out of their own way and enjoy life.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
1,273 reviews29 followers
August 23, 2021
Dr Oneeka Williams SCREAMS positivity and when you read through her life story that she shares throughput this book you would be forgiven for thinking how? She follows these 5 Habits of Positivity in her life and applies them to every situation she comes up against and with this and her devout faith in God she has continued to swim through tough waters.

I loved the tales from her medical life, seeing how she could find ways to better her own or the patients situation through her positive outlook and graceful disposition.

I found the area on toxic workplaces particularly resonated with me as I too have experienced a workplace and co-workers with similar attitudes and it is only now I am in a complete 180 environment that I can recognise just how ill that made me. The fact Oneeka recognised every feeling I had at that time left me happy with the choices I have made in life since and grateful that this is becoming more recognised for the toxicity and mental health impact that it serves up.

I don't think of myself as a negative person but I definitely recognised that there are ways in which I could become more positive by taking some of the steps Oneeka recommends.

Not my usual go to genre but I think this book will help a lot of people feel acknowledged and recognised.
Profile Image for MeMe.
284 reviews33 followers
August 11, 2021
RESULTS ARE FANTASTIC in this book. In the midst of my effort to understand positive thinking, Dr. William taught me something completely new-unlimited. It's wonderful how she incorporated her life stories, demonstrating how she navigated her life using HOPs. The same is true for us. I highly recommend reading this book for all. Regardless of who you are or where you come from, anyone can make a difference in someone else's life. A true inspiration! I keep this gem beside my bed for future references because the information given is extremely useful. The knowledge that I can browse through the pages when I'm feeling discouraged or less focused is comforting. Each morning before I wake up and before I close my eyes I read what I find helpful for my life so that my brain is filled with positive thoughts for the following day. In light of so many things going on, this was well needed. Having that encouragement and hope that extra boost through the affirmations and bible verses has been a great comfort to me.
“Angry feelings weigh us down, but when we can forgive those who have hurt us, we rebalance our Life Scales and free ourselves to feel more fulfilled, content, and happy.”
Profile Image for thewoollygeek (tea, cake, crochet & books).
2,815 reviews121 followers
May 2, 2023
I liked this but it’s not what I thought it would be, liked the authors personal stories but it seemed to be a biography ,it was a very interesting biography with all she's been through and how much she’s overcome.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Profile Image for Kate Henderson.
1,675 reviews53 followers
August 23, 2021
Really didn't get on with this book.
It looked at racial discrimination a lot, and it felt so repetitive.
It wasn't the focussed and uplifting book I was expecting from the title.

Found this really dull and not at all as focussed or uplifting as I expecting.
Profile Image for Cheryl Surgeoner.
30 reviews
August 30, 2021
I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of this in exchange for an honest review.

This was not what I was expecting - there are five habits of positivity coupled with relatable life lessons and positivity/transformation checks which you can implement by journalling as you progress through the book to reframe and take control of your world view.

What was different for me was the memoir element - Dr Williams is brutally honest about her life and openly discussed infertility, grief, loss, stressful work situations and family related crises. It's written in a conversational style and focuses on hope, joy and faith as elements to harness and guide you through life.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews