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Introduction

Do you view yourself as someone who has a positive outlook on life? Do you hope that good things are coming your way soon? Well, one thing that is important to note is that positive thinking is a mental and emotional attitude. It pays a closer focus and interest on the bright side of life with the hope of having a positive outcome. Having positive thinking does not mean that you should bury your head in the sand. It does not mean that you should ignore life's painful and unpleasant situations. It simply means having the ability to approach life more positively and productively even in the face of unpleasantness. Even when things are not going your way, you keep your head up and look for hidden lessons and opportunities in bad situations!

It is important for you to notice that you have the power to change your mindset. It all starts with self-talk. In other words, you must begin by stimulating endless streams of positive thoughts running through your head. The truth is, these thoughts can take two forms; the negative and the positive mainly because most of what you think are derived from logic and reason. However, other self-talks may arise from having misconceptions and assumptions that result from a lack of information.

If you mostly have negative thoughts running through your mind, most likely you are a pessimist. On the other hand, if most of the thoughts you have about life are mostly positive, there is a good chance that you are an optimist. In other words, you are someone that exercises positive thinking.

When you focus on the positive, you will mentally anticipate good health, success, and happiness. You believe that even when faced with the most challenging and difficult situations, you will eventually overcome them. In other words, having positive thinking is not a concept that everyone believes in. Some people will see it as nonsense and scoff at those that believe in the power of positive thinking. The good news is that there are so many people who are slowly seeing the important role that positive thinking has on their lives and believe that it is effective.

One thing that you must bear in mind is that if you want to use the power of positive thinking in your life, you must be more than just aware of the fact that it exists. You must be ready to adopt it in all your daily activities! There is so much research that reveals that positive thinking is not just about happiness and having an upbeat attitude. It is through positive thinking that you can create real value in your life by establishing long-lasting skills that last longer than a mere smile.

Chapter 1

How Positive Thinking Works

When you think about the things that your heart desires and the ways you can get them, there is a stream of joy that comes from deep within you that makes you take great control of your life. It is like when you think of something or someone that makes you happy, your brain releases endorphins, that gives you that feeling of joy and happiness. It is these things that help us develop a positive attitude.

According to so many psychological studies, happy people have been shown to have a special quality that allows them to live a better-quality life compared to those who are not. What do you think is the reason for this? Well, the answer is simple. Optimism.

The good news about optimism is that you can learn it. In other words, you can train yourself to have positive thinking by simply adopting a mindset full of optimism. According to the law of cause and effect, if you emulate what successful and happy people do, you will start feeling the same and get the outcome they have, hence end up enjoying same experiences as they do.

How Do Happy People Find Good In The World?

One thing that you must realize is that optimistic people tend to handle things differently from average people and those who are pessimistic. The first thing is that they focus their minds on the things they want and then work hard to find ways to get those things. In other words, you need to ensure that your goals are clear and have the confidence that no matter how long it will take, you will work hard to accomplish them.

Secondly, optimistic people see the good in every situation, however difficult it may seem. It is important to bear in mind that things will go wrong at some point in your life and trust me, that is a good thing! In every difficult situation, there is a dark side and a bright side, and you are the one that will determine what direction you would like to follow. The most important thing is for you to see the positive.

Instead of always looking for an excuse not to like something, choose to see the good in everything. Even in that job that you may seem not to like so much, there is something good in it, and if you look carefully, you will find it. The thing is, while you look, you will become more positive and happier.

Positive thinking only works when you train your mind to be positive and to have an attitude that you can achieve whatever you want in life. The truth is, the mind has been created to have adequate bandwidth to pay attention to one thing at a time. Your job is to keep your mind focused on thoughts that lift you long enough to create neural pathways that help in establishing a new habit.

When you start facing a negative situation or event along the way, just remember that what matters most is how you respond to the situation. In other words, it is your response that will influence the outcome. It means that you must find a positive response even when things are not looking up. You can come up with positive affirmations or phrases you can repeat in your mind over and over so that you can overcome negative thoughts. It is this kind of words that will encourage you to have a positive attitude.

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It seems that everywhere we look these days, someone is trying to convince us that their way to get healthy is the best way. Between fad diet trends, supplements, and products that claim to work miracles, the world can seem like an amazing place full of wonderous technology that can help us to shed weight fast. And choosing between options is often overwhelming and difficult. Especially once you begin to unearth the gritty truth about many of these options. Scams abound, chemicals and hormones can be altered in the body and cause terrible effects, and products that claim to work miracles can be harmful in the long run.

So who is there to trust when we want to begin a healthy lifestyle?

The answer is simple. Nature.

In nature, there is a natural balance that can be very delicate. If we veer away from natural practices and substitute things like healthy eating and exercise with pills and starvation, the obvious results will be detrimental to us. We were designed to enjoy a bountiful diet that is rich in specific things; healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals.

That is where the paleo diet comes into play. Introduced during the 1970s by a man named Walter Voegtlin, the idea of eating only the foods that were consumed by our ancestors from the Paleolithic era has become immensely popular. When we stop ingesting foods that were introduced during the time hunting and gathering slowed down into farming, the idea is that we limit many starchy products and fatty meats and stick to the foods that are nutrient rich and ideal to keep the body and gastrointestinal tract as happy as possible. He thought it would be a good way to influence modern people to eat in a healthier fashion.

Voegtlin was a pioneer in his field, and his research inspired others to reach conclusions about the diet for themselves. Another doctor believed that our bodies were evolved for this type of diet. That is, to be eating the kinds of foods that our hunter gatherer ancestors were able to gain access to in their travels. We are naturally adept at digesting lean meats, fruits, vegetables, and nuts and seeds. In fact, they are incredibly good for us! The types of foods that became commonly and commercially available to us through farming, foods like grains, corn (which is technically a grain), and dairy products consumed in an abundance can cause the body many issues. Lactose-intolerance, gluten intolerance, and other allergies abound from commercialized and common staples foods of this nature. Not to mention, several of them are very starchy, which can make it difficult to lose weight.

The Paleo diet is great for those who are hoping to shed a few pounds, but more than that it is a major lifestyle choice. It isn’t just about losing weight, but about feeling great and making choices that are healthy for you and that make you feel good. It can be very stressful to know that the foods we are eating, by choice, are doing harm to our bodies. Even if we aren’t consciously aware of that specific harm, we innately understand what is good for us and what is bad for us most of the time, and there will always be a weight on our shoulders when we are consuming foods that we know for sure are bad for us.

While losing weight isn’t the primary goal of the Paleo diet, it is an incredible benefit. If you are used to the Standard American Diet, also known as the SAD diet around the world because of the pitiful lack of nutrients in the typical meals served when consuming processed, pre-packaged meals, then chances are high that you are suffering physically from it in some way, or will in the future. Processed foods are terribly unhealthy, as will be covered in a later chapter. So cutting these bad foods out and making the choice to go Paleo is a huge game changer. Your body and your mind will feel better than they have in years! All because of a simple switch.

Going Paleo isn’t a fad diet trend where you are going to have to go out and get a journal to count every calorie you consume so you know whether or not you are doing it right (Although to be truthful there is some benefit to some journaling, if you want to hold yourself accountable to the choices you are making. More on this in a later chapter.) Sure, if you are overeating and not getting enough exercise to burn the calories you consume, then calorie counting can be of great assistance. However, many people can take that practice to extremes and not consider the nutrients they may be missing out on when they are following fad diets. Going paleo is completely different. You don’t have to get out a big complicated map to chart the way. You just have to take a step back and look at our ancestors and think, well, they were able to achieve good physical health a natural way. So can we!

If going Paleo sounds like the right choice for you, then look no further. This guide will help you to get started on this rewarding journey to eating foods that were meant to be eaten, the way they were meant to be eaten. No more of that SAD nonsense! So let’s get started!

You may be wondering why go Paleo? What’s the difference between that and, say, keto? Or vegan? Or Atkins?

The answer is beautiful in its simplicity. The Paleo diet is unique in that it is not a diet so much as a mentality. It is a new way to look at life and a wonderful filter through which to make your food choices. Rather than saying, “I can only eat this many carbs today because of my diet,” you can say, “I can eat a full meal and it is going to be delicious!”

This is because unlike the ketogenic diet, where you are forced to cut carbs to a dangerous degree to the point where your body is practically in starvation mode so you lose weight quickly, you are simply funneling your food choices so that they are all of a healthy variety. You don’t want to eat junk food, things loaded with excess salt and preservatives and who knows what kinds of hidden sugars. You want to eat the foods that are naturally loaded with the nutrients our bodies need in order to thrive. You want nature’s diet!

That’s why the Paleo diet came into being. The man who founded it wanted to influence everyone to eat the way our Paleolithic ancestors ate, because it wasn’t full of carcinogens and unknown risks. It was a clean, pure way to get your food so you were able to function through the harsh elements and survive. Some may argue that if the Paleo diet was so great, why didn’t the Paleolithic era people live longer? The answer to that is simple. They lived in very dangerous conditions. They didn’t have advanced medicine the way we do today. They were able to fight through diseases naturally that might have wiped us out because their immune systems had to be tough to weather the elements. If they had managed to gain access to the kinds of technology we have developed today, there’s no telling what kind of world we would be living in now!

In any event, the Paleo diet is a natural way to keep the body balanced, keep the mind clear and alert, and provide us with the flexibility and nimbleness that we might have needed thousands of years ago in survival situations.

We are lucky today that this kind of diet isn’t as necessary as it was then. Can you imagine watching someone who was raised on a diet of fast food and processed, pre-packaged meals try to outrun a wild animal? Or better yet, fight and kill it with just their ingenuity and crude tools? Or even someone who was on a keto diet, putting their body through a lot just to shed a few pounds quickly. They might end up passing out without the proper amount of carbs in their system. Do you think people who are mistreating their bodies for convenience would win in a life or death situation? No way!

The principal behind going Paleo is simple. You want to operate at your maximum potential. The body runs on fuels, and that’s simply the way it is. What we feed ourselves equates to the quality of the gasoline that we put in our cars. If we are eating fruits, vegetables, and meats regularly, that’s a pretty standard type of gasoline. But if we are filling up on junk food and preservatives, high fructose corn syrup and pre-packaged processed foods and fast food, we might as well be putting diesel in an engine that is supposed to run on unleaded. We need to try harder to treat our engines better before they break down! Going Paleo is a great way to get rid of the negative foods that are impacting the body, even if it is in invisible ways. When we are eating foods that are unhealthy, it affects us in ways we sometimes don’t realize until it is too late to change it. For example, eating foods high in salt and fat can start affecting your arteries. You don’t feel it happening, and it can be a huge surprise until your doctor tells you that you need to work on your cholesterol. Worst case scenario, you have a heart attack before you even notice that anything has gone wrong. Heart disease is one of the leading killers in the United States of America, and it isn’t difficult to see why.

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SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is never a completely sure thing. If a company claims that it can guarantee to get you to the top spot in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) for any given keyword, you should run a mile: they’re blowing smoke.

While this is true however, what is also true is that some methods are more successful than others. And some are more of a ‘sure thing’ than others.

And in that regard, the SEO strategy that is perhaps the closest thing there is to a guaranteed route to success… is split testing.

Split testing essentially means taking a rigorous and somewhat scientific approach to your search engine optimization, which effectively means removing the guess work from the process. In fact, what split testing really amounts to, is helping your site to ‘evolve’ to become the most optimized version of itself.

How does all this work? It’s actually very simple, although not without a great deal of nuance that can determine the success of such endeavors. When done well, split testing can mold any website or blog into a hugely successful titan that catapults every new post to the top of Google. When done incorrectly, split testing can jeopardize all your hard work and risk getting your site removed entirely. It’s high-risk, high-reward; but it’s also perfectly accepted by Google and a skill that’s 100% worth developing.

In this eBook then, we’re going to take a deep dive looking at the power of split testing for SEO. You’ll discover how to use this strategy employing the most effective tools, how to avoid common mistakes, and how to use split testing in a host of other capacities too: such as to help sell a product, or improve engagement with your audience.

Once you master this skill, you’ll be able to take your SEO activities to another level.

Before we go any further, just what is split testing? And what does the term mean in the context of search engine optimization?

Essentially, split testing means taking a product, marketing material, or anything else and creating two slightly different versions of it in order to see which one performs best.

This is used by businesses all the time in the real world and helps them to make smarter decisions and to avoid wasted investments. Let’s imagine for a moment that you own a chain of fast food restaurants that sell only prawn-based dishes (because why not).

Your store has been doing fairly well, but then you hear somewhere that on average, takeaways with red and orange colorschemes on their premises tend to earn more. Why? Because those colors increase the heartrate and make people slightly uncomfortable. Therefore, they are more likely to eat quickly and to leave the area, freeing up the table for the next customer. The result is that such venues actually see a higher turnover of customers, and greater profits. This is just a random example, but it also happens to be true!

The problem is that Prawns4U happens to use a blue colorscheme in its interior design. What if you could increase your daily profits in all stores by coloring the store red?

Problem is, this could just as well backfire. What if you hurt brand recognition and thereby reduce your sales drastically? What if the lack of nautical color theme means that people feel less… fishy? Whatever the case, you now have three choices.

A) Leave your stores as they are and leave potential profits on the table
B) Change the color of your stores and hope that this doesn’t hurt your ranking
C) Run a split test And of course, the last option is the one that will stand to serve you best.

To perform this, you will now instruct just two or three of your 50 stores to change the color of their interiors. You’ll then monitor the progress of those stores for the next 6 months, and then collect all the data together to see what it can tell you.

What you’re looking for, is a sign that the stores that were colored red:

A) Saw a spike in profits and turnover
B) Outperformed the stores that did not change anything

If the change helped to boost your store’s success, then you might choose to adopt the change and thereby roll it out across all your stores – potentially seeing a large spike in traffic.

If the change hurt your store’s success, then you simply change it back and then run the next experiment. The financial damage and the brand visibility will only be slightly impacted, so no harm done. If you had rolled the change out across all stores, then you would have potentially lost a lot of money and created confusion around your brand.

And if the change did nothing, then you can basically choose how you want to proceed.

This is the basic concept behind split testing, and it is something that companies have been using for decades.

Split Testing for SEO

So how does this work in the world of SEO?

Well, while we’ll get into the specifics and the nitty gritty of SEO in a moment, the main thing you need to know at this point is that Google relies on a few factors when determining how prominently to feature a website in the SERPs.

For example, Google will look for the presence of keywords, it will look for the use of H1 and H2 tags (large bold text), it will look for images that have certain alt tags and filenames, and it will look for signals from users – such as the amount of time spent on the page.

The problem is, that no one knows the specifics of the algorithm. We know that Google likes sites that use keywords subtly, and our best guess is that the ideal keyword density is about 1-3% (meaning that the keyword appears one to three times in each hundred words). But we don’t know precisely how many times Google wants us to repeat the phrase, we don’t know where the tipping point is where it becomes too much. We don’t know how much Google wants to see us use related terms, and we’re not 100% sure whether it’s better to focus on just one keyword or to try a few.

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Introduction

We all have goals and aims, and we all have an idea of what we would like our lives to be like. Despite this though, many of us fail to reach those goals or to actualize our dreams.

Why is this?

Or to put it another way, what is it that’s holding you back?

There’s a good chance that you already know what the answer is likely to be.

It’s you.

All of us have at some point been responsible for getting in our own way at one point or another. Either because of limiting beliefs, or because of poor habits and lack of discipline.

How many times have you decided that you want to make a change in your life by getting into shape, or starting a new business, or starting a new job… only to then make zero progress in those areas?

What possible reason could you have for this?

Often it comes down to a lack of faith in yourself. It comes down to limiting beliefs about who you are, what you’re worth… even how you’re meant to behave!
Limiting beliefs are incredibly destructive, largely because we often don’t realize they’re affecting us. They sit quietly in our unconscious brains and gradually prevent us from fulfilling out full potential.

And more than that, they make us unhappy. They give us a sense of pessimism, which can color everything we do in unflattering tones.

These beliefs act as your reference point. They inform every decision and opinion you make. They form your “internal operating system.”

In other words, every feeling, thought, and experience that you have will effectively flow out of these beliefs. If you don’t replace them with positive ones, then you won’t be able to get the most out of life – or enjoy it even if you do.

The good news though, is that the brain is plastic. It is always changing and even our very thoughts are capable of changing the structure of our DNA! This incredible fact means that it’s entirely possible to transform the way you think… to reset that operating system as it were – and to thereby live a happier and more fulfilled life.

Chapter 1: What Are Limiting Beliefs?

I’m going to start out by providing a few examples of limiting beliefs.

This can be a somewhat abstract concept to grasp, but when you see them laid out before you, it becomes much easier to understand.

The Person Who Can’t Start Their Own Business

Let’s say that you have a business idea. You’re going to provide coaching for small businesses and help them get up and started. You’ll charge a relatively low flat fee, but then the company will pay you a slightly larger fee a year later as long as their earnings have passed a certain threshold. Nice idea!

Your model involves selling direct to the customer, and the way you plan to do this is by looking for them on Instagram. You will find people who post about a business plan, then you’ll private message them and simply start chatting. If you spot and opportunity to sell, you’ll pounce. That’s the “soft sell” approach, and it means you can build a relationship and demonstrate your value before you charge.

Here’s the problem though: you’re too scared to contact anyone! Every day you put off messaging your clients out of the blue, and you can’t quite put your finger on why.

Chances are it comes down to some limiting beliefs:

• You don’t believe anyone would pay for your business idea
• You are worried that if you fail, you’ll lose something that has been keeping you motivated
• You are a “shy person” and don’t like to disturb people

Three limiting beliefs, holding you back from capitalizing on your dreams – perhaps even getting rich!

The Person Who Won’t Leave Their Current Job/Relationship

Let’s try another situation. Let’s say you’re in a job or a relationship that makes you unhappy. It really doesn’t matter which, but you know it won’t provide you fulfilment.

But you STAY THERE anyway! Why? Because you feel it’s the “best you’re going to get.” You think that if you terminate the relationship, you’ll end up loveless. Likewise, you’ll find yourself on the street if you quit your current job.

A lack of esteem means that you don’t think you can get “better.” You effectively think you aren’t “worth” more than that. And this then leads you to make some terrible mistakes.

Some people will even stay in abusive relationships because they don’t feel that they will find anything better! Some even feel that they deserve the abuse they receive.

The Author Who Throws Away His Novel

Did you know that when Stephen King first wrote Carrie, he threw it in the trash? It was his wife who retrieved it for him and told him he was being crazy!

Turns out, that we often can’t recognize our own good work – or we’re too scared to believe in it!

Now compare this to someone like J.K. Rowling who persistently kept sending out her manuscript for Harry Potter despite it being rejected over and over! Imagine if Rowling had King’s lack of self belief!

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Introduction – Why Is It S- Hard T- Build Muscle?

Hell- and welcome t- our short, introductory guide on the building blocks of muscle building and increasing strength.

If you’re like many people, myself included, you have a hard time building muscle. You’ve tried every supplement and muscle-building workout routine that promised big, fast gains, but you’re still just as scrawny as the day you decided t- start building muscle.

Don’t worry. You’re not alone. Building muscle is hard, and it’s something many people struggle with.

There are a few reasons why it’s s- hard t- build muscle. The first thing that most people d- wrong is approach it with the wrong mindset. T- put things shortly, in order t- build muscle like you want, you need t- create a muscle-building lifestyle and really get your head in the game. At that point, muscle-building becomes something more than what you d- when you g- t- the gym.

The other reasons people have a hard time building muscle is that they don’t have the right diet and they’re not doing the right exercises.

What you put int- your body will have a huge impact on what your body is able t- do, which is why diet is such a vital part of muscle-building. The right exercises, on the other hand, will properly impact the muscles in such a way that they will gain like you want them to.

The good news is that even if you have n- muscle at all right now, you can gain the muscle you want by starting your foundation off with the advice found in this very book, then moving ont- more advanced theory and programs depending on your individual goals.

Keep reading t- find out everything you need t- know t- get started with muscle building s- you can finally have the muscles and body that you want. If you’re willing t- put in the work, anything is possible!

Let’s dive in…

Chapter 1 – My Current Situation

The first thing you want t- d- before starting any type of exercise routine is an evaluation of your current physical state. While there is quite a bit of self-assessment that will g- int- this, you should als- pay a visit t- your doctor before you start on your muscle-building journey.

Why Visit the Doctor?

Visiting your doctor for a health assessment before starting a new exercise routine is important for a couple of reasons.

First and foremost, your doctor will be able t- tell you if you physically capable of doing what you are setting out t- do. There are some medical conditions that may require you t- d- modified strength-training exercises and your doctor can help direct you in this.

The other reason you’ll want t- check with your doctor before you begin is if you are planning on taking any supplements. While the vast majority of protein supplements are perfectly safe, there are some types of supplements that could interfere with medication or medical conditions, s- you’ll want t- double check with your doctor before starting any supplements.

Self-Evaluation Checklist

As you get ready t- start building muscle, you’ll need t- self-evaluate your physical state. This will help you know how far you’ve come when you re-evaluate every week or month. Without this baseline, it would be hard t- know if you’ve actually gotten bigger muscles or improved your muscle-to-fat ratio, s- be sure t- get as accurate of numbers as possible.

Here is a checklist of everything you will want t- get for a baseline before you begin:

- Body weight
- Body fat percentage
- Biceps measurement
- Triceps measurement
- Quadriceps measurement
- Calves measurement
- Waist measurement
- Chest measurement
- Bust measurement (for women only)
- Neck measurement
- Number of push-ups done
- Number of crunches done
- 1RM for every exercise

1RM stands for one repetition maximum. This refers t- the maximum amount of weight that you are able t- lift with just one lift. Because lifting the maximum amount is dangerous, you should instead calculate your 1RM by doing several repetitions with a weight you’re more comfortable with, then use an online calculator t- find out this number.

Be sure t- keep the list of these measurements somewhere that you can refer t- often as you re-evaluate t- make sure that you’re on track with your goals. It will als- help t- keep these handy when you are setting goals for yourself, s- you know how high t- set the bar for yourself based on where you are now.

Now that we’ve set a path towards muscle building and assessed our current situation the next thing t- get in order is our mind…or mindset t- be a bit more precise, which is what we will cover in the next part.