Queen's Football Receivers Coach and Community Engagement Kwame Osei released his third children's book, Yes, I Am, this month. The book is available for purchase at the Q Shop, online and in-store, both individually and as part of a holiday bundle with his two previous books. Osei's first two books, Turtle in the Shell and If Not Me, Then Who?, are also available for purchase in the Q Shop.

Osei sat down with GoGaelsGo.com to share more about the book.
 

Tell me about your new book, Yes, I Am?

This book is affirmations book, it focuses on speaking positive words about yourself. I truly believe that the word I is the key that starts the engine of creation. I'm essentially saying that when we say I, then everything that follows, that is what we create. When you couple that with am, that's the most powerful phrase in English language, I Am.

I want kids to understand that, and to believe that, when they say positive things about themselves, that they truly are creating. I focus this book on children because, like I always say, I believe that children are the future. And if we want to invest in the leaders of tomorrow, then we have to really take the time to teach them to have a strong foundation of who they are.

When you have knowledge of yourself, and you love yourself, you have a firm foundation to be set on a path of whatever you want to achieve without ever wavering from whatever external factors tell you, because you have a firm foundation of who you are.

My goal is to inspire every kid. When I look at my son, I know I have a responsibility to make sure that he believes in himself. If you told my son that he is not smart, he's going to laugh at you. He's going to say, 'I am smart.' He's actually a character in the book. His character says, 'I am smart.' Every time we read that page, he says, 'My name is Khyon. I am smart.'

You mentioned the phrase I Am. How do you use that affirmation in your life?

Every morning, every night, I tell myself four things. I say, 'I am strong. I am capable. I am valuable. And I am worth it.' And throughout the day, if I'm going through something, I say those words to myself, and I really believe that I know that I'm strong. I know that for me to be here at this point, talking to you, I've been through so many things. I have a 100 per cent success rate against adversity because I'm here.

I know I'm worth it because it took time to get to where I'm at right now. There are situations that could have happened, that could have taken me out. But I'm here because I'm worth it. I know that the time and investment I put into myself has allowed me to grow and to succeed.



How did you first come up with the idea for Yes, I Am? Did you see a need for it in the children's literature section?

The idea came during the pandemic, early phases of the pandemic, with a lot of people with mental illness and stuff like that. I lost a few people that I know during the pandemic because they struggled mentally. And I always felt that, if people have a strong foundation of who they are, then it's going be more difficult to let the mental illness take over. Because you have a strong foundation of who you are.

I looked at my son, and I looked at other kids, and I just felt, if these people were saying positive affirmations to themselves all the time, then things can be different. Even myself during these past two years, I've had a situation where I was struggling with depression, and I had to take time to really get to know myself again, and build that wall of strength.

And then also there's a diversity aspect to this book that I really wanted to do because I feel like right now, in the state of the world, we need more diversity. We need more diversity in books. I want children who might not be exposed to other cultures, to be exposed to other cultures in this book. In Yes, I Am there's also a name listing for adults to understand how to pronounce the names phonetically. And there's the meaning of the different names as well. It's opportunity for everybody to learn about different cultures.

Why is this such an important message to share with children right now?

It's an important message because what you say to yourself and who you say you are, is who you are. So if you're able to say positive things about yourself, then you are those positive things. If you're saying negative things to yourself, then you're going to believe that. At the end of the day, words have power, the brain is strong, creating positive energy around yourself is amazing. Great things are going to happen from your internal belief, so I just want everybody out there to know that they have the ability to create their destiny, but it starts with them. And you can't let external factors tell you who you are. You tell the world who you are, the world doesn't tell you who you are.

I want as many children to know, and even adults, to take the time to really say these affirmations as often as possible. And the one thing that really makes my day is, every night my son wants to read this book now. He's kind of been a guinea pig. And he wants to read it every night.

Are there any autobiographical elements in Yes, I Am?

This is more about what I want the world to be like. Honestly, I took a backseat and I just studied the world. I studied kids. And I felt a need for this book. So I'm not going to say it's an autobiography, but it's more of something I felt the world needed.

This is your third children's book. Is this the most meaningful or most significant to you?

What I'd say, hands down, in the sense of the climate of the world that we're in today, and just thinking about the possibilities, I think this is my most powerful book. And I think it's the best book so far.

Are there plans for a fourth or maybe even more children's books?

I never set out to be an author in the first place, so I'm a little shocked that I have three books right now. I have some ideas. Right now, my main goal is to give as much as I can to this book, give as much energy as I can, and just to position it in a place for people to see it.

Is it Kwame Osei, football coach; Kwame Osei, motivational speaker; TV personality; children's author; all the above?

I like Kwame Osei, a person that's maximizing life.