I love Dec 31. You get to sit on the edge of the end of the year and the beginning of a new one. Perhaps it is because I get to look back and celebrate both my successes and lessons. This year was a massive year of growth for me. This is what I learned in 2010:

1. Trust your gut and take a leap. This past year, I closed down the magnet side of Color the Universe. I just knew it was something I needed to do. My heart was telling me to take the leap and give my coaching business a fair shot. I was able to rapidly build a coaching business taking my vision and mission to Color the Universe to a whole new level.

2.You need to make space for things to grow. Many people didn’t get how I could close down a stream of income like the magnets. After 10 years, my magnet business didn’t take a whole lot of effort each week. However my energy was being pulled in 2 different directions. I learned that with new ventures, you need to make the space for your ideas to grow. By putting the magnets on hold, I was able to give my full attention to my coaching business and make sure the proper foundation was being set up. It also forced me to let go of the crutch of having steady income flow in. When you start up something new you need the space to nurture and grow that idea, but also the fire underneath you to get things going quickly.

3. Surround yourself with people that pull you forward. Being an entrepreneur is different than having a 9-5 job. I have been an entrepreneur for over 10 years. However, in order to rapidly grow my coaching business, I needed to surround myself with new people that could hold a vision for myself much greater than I could see in the beginning. Their ideas, experiences and energy became the contagious fuel I needed to keep my passion and vision alive.

4. You need to have time for yourself. Surrounding yourself with others was one lesson, but having more “me” time was also a lesson I had learned (or perhaps re-learned). Since first becoming an entrepreneur 11 years ago, I have fallen in love and become a wife, become a mom of a dog, cat, and 2 kids, moved to a new town with new friends. Our lives get filled with new (& old)  joys, commitments, duties and tasks all the time.  We often get confused with what “down-time” truly means. Time to yourself doesn’t mean time to hang out with friends, get groceries or fold laundry without your kids around. Those can be all joyful things, but they are still commitments and tasks. True time to yourself is time where you don’t need to be anywhere or do anything. It means there is time to fallen in love with yourself again and time to listen to whether or not anything is off course and more importantly to just sit and do nothing. There is amazing creation in art of silence and doing nothing.

Well I am sure there were many more lessons. But those were definitely the top ones. Would love to hear what your lessons were. Post below your comments and may 2011 bring you all the joy, love and abundance of the Universe.

Happy New Year! Can’t wait to see what 2011 brings.

With much Love and Gratitude for being on this journey to Color the Universe with me,

Shauna Harper

Our attitudes define our lives. We train ourselves to think in a particular way since childhood. And many thought patterns become fixed as we grow. Can you take an honest review of your thought patterns? See if they border more toward the negative or positive.

If positive is your answer, you are living in a world of great power. If you honestly answered negative, you are missing the best part of life! Changing your mindset is not difficult when you practice it. Start by being thankful.

Eckhart Tolle,  the author of the Power of Now, once said:

“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, “thank you,” that would suffice.”

That is the most powerful way of bringing miracles in your life. A gratitude journal is a good place to start. Make entries (daily if you can) about things you are grateful for.

If you have been a melancholy person till now, you might not see many things to thank for initially. This is because you have limited vision as yet. Not to worry. This practice makes sure you open your heart and attract all the good things into your life. You will realize life’s fullest potential through your attitude of gratitude. Even when apparent difficulties arise, you will see advantage or lessons in them. It helps you grow as a person. Be thankful for that.

Open your gratitude journal in the morning and thank the Universe for things in your surroundings, things from the day before or things that are to come. This will set the tune for the rest of the day.

As you continue with your day, you will start to notice things that you want to include in your journal later one. Suddenly, your mindset shifts to focusing on good things coming your way. Then, before you go to bed, make a list all the things that happened to make you day wonderful.

• I am grateful for (write about any completed task) today.
• I am grateful for being able to help (anyone) in (anything, be it a small favor) today.

You end up sandwiching your day to day tasks with great thoughts. Don’t get me wrong, this takes discipline, but the rewards are great. This exercise tunes you with the source that returns more good thoughts and things. Invest your time in polishing your attitude of gratitude and the world will deliver all you desire.

Ever wonder what energizes people? Well. I think it is positive feedback and approval. We talk of basic human requirements and forget the most important one. Each individual has a spark. It makes their lives meaningful. It makes them extraordinary people. But how can we make that spark shine?

Everyone desires love and appreciation. When they receive it, the spark inside of us shines! So, by giving appreciation and love, you too will be receiving it back (tenfold).  Why? Because, what you focus upon expands. That is what the Law of Attraction teaches us.

We are all connected by a fiber of human spirit. By mirroring love and appreciation, we create a world that grows with extraordinary people.

Start doing it now. Remember kind words someone said to you that brightened up your day. Or a teacher that may have once praised you for a job well done. Small token, but a big difference.

Now it is your turn,  find the extraordinary in the ordinary… even if it is  something you think as trivial… it all begins with action. Many people close themselves to communication in fear of being rejected. Give genuine praise and they will warm up instantly.

Write good traits of people you know in your gratitude journal. Think of anyone close to you, that you work with or your family. Start making a list like this:

• He tries to help in his way. I appreciate his sincerity.
• He makes me laugh when I am down. I appreciate his concern.
• He tries to do chores to reduce my burden. I appreciate the effort.
• He brings my favorite ice-cream when I ask for it, even if it’s the middle of the night. I love and appreciate his selflessness.

And so on.

You get the general idea? These traits were in him/her all along, you just never noticed them as extraordinary.

Writing the list isn’t all. Tell the person you appreciate him/her for all those things. Try this and see how happy it makes you. A drastically positive change will occur in the world if people start praising each other.

Remember that praise is different from flattery. A genuine praise is the keystone of changing people’s lives for the better. It makes the ordinary turn into extraordinary people. That is the spark of human spirit. Ignite it by appreciating others. Keep it alive.

You often hear stories about inspirational people in the news or if you are lucky, you get to meet one in person. We are often amazed or better yet, it makes us reflect upon our own lives.  Well, I heard a story just recently about a man that bought a dealership in town that donated a simple portion of his profits of every single car he sold to the local hospital here. Well, to date, after a number of years in business, he is just about to hit $1 Million Dollars in donations. Wow! An ordinary man doing extraordinary thing for the local children’s ward!

So how is it that we can become inspirational people ourselves? Is it about who donates more money? Nope, I have been inspired by Lance Armstrong, a cancer survivor who has won 7 tours de France races. So is it about being the best at their sport? I don’t think so.  Do you see yourself on that list? Well, after hearing that story, I began thinking about people I think are inspirational and what common traits they have or what makes them tick.

1. Passionate - They are courageously pursuing what they know is their mission or passion in life. They are passionate people about whatever is their goal or purpose.

2. Never giving up- Even when the road gets a bit bumpy, they are not about to give up. They may have a bad day, bad week or bad month, but they pick themselves up, dust themselves off and continue on.

3. Mindset - There is no doubt in their minds that they will achieve their goal. Their mindset has been programmed to reach the end. So back to the bad day, it is just seen as a hiccup versus the end of the journey.

4. Discipline - They do the steps, the routine or the training that is necessary. I think the number 1 reason we find people inspirational is that they do what ordinary people would never put the energy or time mastering or pursuing.

5. Raise the bar- We often see that what they have done has just raised the bar… they inspire you to do more, be better or to just try a little bit harder.

So is there a moral to this article??? Yes, do what you are passionate about, don’t give up, have the right mindset, be disciplined in your actions and you will raise the bar and hopefully inspire others to do the same. The world needs more inspirational people.

Behaviors are contagious. Have you ever noticed that if you experience one bad thing, your whole day turns sour? The same is true in case of experiencing one good thing. Good feelings linger on. Happy people spread more happiness. So, how can you get more of this in your life? Easy…  Practice Random Acts of Kindness.  Kindness releases a happy drug effect in our bodies.

Start looking for ways you can help out and “be kind”.  By being kind when people least expect it, it triggers a wave of gratitude and happiness in both the giver and receiver.

• Take a look around as you go through you day. What can you do to brighten up someone elses day. From as simple as giving up your seat to an elderly person, to running ahead to open a door for a mom with a big stroller… the simple tasks bring great joy to the receiver.
• Keep a smiling face. And be genuine. Anyone can detect a fake smile. Create a positive energy inside yourself. I love it when I see someone just lost in their day… going through “the motions”. I love to get their attention, smile, get them to smile back and be on my way. With the simple smile, you can say, we are all human with the human need to connect.
• Notes of Gratitude. For those that you know or even don’t know for that matter…  Writing notes of gratitude and leaving them for co-workers or family to say how much you appreciate them is a great way to practice random acts of kindness.
• Pay it Forward. You might have heard the toll booth story before… about someone driving up to a toll booth and paying for the 8 cars behind them during the morning rush hour commute. Imagine the joy of receiving that as you go through what you consider the mundane journey to work each morning.  What is amazing about that story is the happy feelings it triggers in the receiver and in turn creates an energy of giving all day long.
• Start at Home. Although great to bring joy to complete strangers, it also needs to begin at home. By doing things of kindness that are unexpected, you can connect and bring joy to your loved ones.

Practice random acts of kindness to see the richness of life in your family, friends and the community you live. Small steps to big changes will happen in a magical way.

I have used daily affirmations for years through my little glass stone magnets. I must admit that when I first started using them, they seemed kind of silly. I would smirk when I would see or say out loud… “I am unique and amazing”. Perhaps it was because I didn’t truly believe it… although I knew I wanted to.  Or perhaps because it felt really self indulgent. We are told to never think of ourselves first, and to make sure we always think of others.

As years have past, I have become more of who I was always meant to be. And one of the biggest lessons I have learned ( I still learn it over and over again bc I haven’t quite mastered it) is that the best gift you can give to those you love around you is when you are whole, strong, fulfilled and inspired.

We create our own truth. The things we believe in ultimately become the only truths for us. Making daily affirmations and repeating them is effective to develop positive outlook on life. We are essentially reprogramming our brain.. and all those little voices of doubt and fear that seem to always be lingering around.

So how to create these affirmations that empower and inspire us?

• Always construct the statements in the positive and present state. They hold more power to them.
• Use the self word ‘I’ in making daily affirmation statements. Write them in a way as if you have received your desired things from the Universe already. Give gratitude to the Universe.
• Be thankful for everything you already have. Include a feeling of gratitude in your daily affirmations.
• Make the statements precise and short. Examples of ones I love:

1. I believe in miracles.
2. I am amazing and unique.
3. I do have time for me.
4. I am brave.
5. I have a special gift to share.
6. I am a creative being.
7. I am exactly where I need to be.

• Make your statements memorable. That is why they should be short.
• Train your mind to remember your affirmations with positive vibes. Associate good visions with the statements.
• Start small and then use affirmations in all and any areas of your life. Some of mine almost become little mantras as I repeat them over and over again when I feel my mind or body going into that place of doubt or resistance.

So, I normally don’t write about movies in my blog. In fact, I normally don’t see movies in the theatre either. With a 1 and 2 year old, I usually wait for most movies to go to DVD. But, I knew that Avatar couldn’t wait.

How does Avatar find its place into my Color the Universe Blog? Well, for one, James Cameron is an inspirational director, writer and creator of this movie. I am constantly drawn to visionaries that are able to see their dreams come alive before the rest of the world has caught up to do the same.

From what I have read, Cameron waited 10 years to make this movie. He wanted technology to catch up to what he saw in his vision & dreams. He spared no expense in creating his movie of perfection. It is the most expensive movie to date… I think the last article I read was that it cost $300 Million USD . A number I can barely wrap my brain around. But when I saw it, I realized there were no details missed and no image left for the mind to wonder. And this week I read that the movie grossed $1.02 billion dollars… it hasn’t even been out for an entire month yet! So not a bad investment!

When I walked into the theatre last week to watch this, my expectations were very high. Unfortunately in the past, when this happens, I am usually a little disappointed with all the hype. However, the movie and story itself left a huge footprint in my heart and mind… I left not only not disappointed but inspired at his masterpiece and touching story with so many lessons.

Without giving away too much for those of you that haven’t seen it, it is a movie truly about connecting back to nature and what I hope is the true human spirit (even if it is in aliens). It is about how we are all connected to everything else and how the energy in the universe and the equilibrium and balance of life is so precious.

Thank you James Cameron for helping us Color the Universe with your amazing movie, vivid images and technological leaps in visual media …..and well, for raising the bar, once again!

A perfect post to bring in the new year… Now I have been business for many years, so I have also had a business mission statement. But more recently, I have realized that not only do I need a business one, I need a personal one. So, whether you are in business or not, have you ever thought about a personal mission statement? What is your reason for getting out of bed every morning? Do you jump out to face the day, or crawl deeper into the sheets groaning?

Ideally, you should wake up with a new zest to start the day. Corporate companies have a ritual of creating mission statements. These reflect the spirit of that company; the aim that motivates them to achieve it. But why should mission statements be limited to business professionals only. Business person or not, everyone should think about their own personal mission statement. Each human has an inner drive to be more of themselves or to have a calling for what they were meant to do on Earth.

Think deep. Listen to yourself. Find out what drives you. Often times people would say their motivation lies in achieving tremendous wealth. The truth is wealth is just a means to an end, not the end itself. You want wealth to help you live the life of your dreams. But what are your dreams, what are you meant to do here is your personal mission statement, not the dollar value you are meant to earn.

It is the human spirit that needs to be nourished. Set your mission around accomplishing that goal. A personal mission statement helps you to focus on your goals. And stay steady on the course. It works just like affirmations do. But it is aimed at bringing a more positive charge to motivate you.

• Sit down in a quiet place.
• Take a paper and pencil. Make a list of your personal abilities. This step is important because it helps to strengthen your belief in yourself.
• Write about your past accomplishments all the things that you felt the most joy.
• List all the qualities that were utilized in those achievements. Like courage, love, understanding, organization, method.
• What story would someone write about you if they saw you years from now living the life of your dreams.

Study your list carefully. Your mission statement will be based on it. Consider the three ‘V’s before creating it. These are ‘Values’, ‘Vision’ and ‘Validation’. Foremost are the value and vision components.

VALUES

Values define your innermost strengths and beliefs. Decide now what your true values are and that you will adhere to them.

Vision

Now pay attention to your vision. This will address an internal need and values. How do you see yourself in the future?

Validation

Validation is the milestone you set to achieve in the future. As you progress in fulfilling your goals, what milestones will you need to accomplish that will make you feel like you are on the right path.

Write your statement starting with ‘to’. If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, write, “To be innovative and successful in my business.” If your mission is to be the best parent, example would be “To be patient, inspiring and supportive of my family”.

Add details. Write your purpose, and fix a time frame to check in again. Some personal mission statements are life time journeys while others are just moments in your life right now. Either way, once you come up with it, you should place your personal mission statement somewhere that you can see it daily. This will help strengthen your motivation and give you both purpose and energy.

I have always loved Will Smith. He is of course a great actor.  But more importantly, I think it is the times that I have seen him in interviews that I just think he is a fabulous human being too. He is someone that enjoys life to the fullest, but also works his craft and passion to the fullest. It doesn’t hurt that he seems to be a great father too!

Anyway, a friend posted this great video on Facebook that is an accumulation of interviews that Will has done. The editor of this video has placed in titles and cut the video to illustrate Will Smith’s wisdom and life’s lessons. The video is about 10mins long but well worth watching if you want to be inspired to master your craft and be more of yourself. Enjoy:

Click here to view the embedded video.

We fall into habitual routines, and so does our mind. Ideas stay with a person and become fixed with age. Were you brought up in an environment where you heard the word ‘lack’ most of the time? Then, in all probability, you have grown up believing that there is lack in the world. Lack of everything; love, money, kindness, success etc. These are negative thoughts thrust on you. Positive thoughts work in the same way. The power of positive thinking is much greater than that of negative thoughts.

Analyze your life. Take one good thing in your present situation. Maybe it’s your house. Maybe it is a car, or your job. Very ordinary items, you would say. But the truth is your thoughts influenced the Universe to send all these things to you. And you may not have even realized it.

You might have wished for a particular car or a job a few years ago. Then you got it/ them. And now you take them for granted. Want to know the real story? Your thoughts created these things for you. If you think a major part of your life is a mess; it’s your thoughts again. When you think your life is chaotic, it becomes just that.

So if words and thoughts have that power, how can we turn that to benefit our lives on a daily basis.

Affirmations are a popular method of shifting thoughts into the positive mode.

• Write your affirmations in a positive present tense first person form. If you want to be healthy, write, ‘I celebrate life.’ The present tense makes your mind believe you are already celebrating and grateful.
• Repeat your affirmations regularly. Write them and put them at a place easily and frequently accessed by you.
• Repeat your affirmations in front of a mirror. The audio/ visual stimulation will trigger a strong response in your thoughts. Say your affirmations in a meaningful, confident tone. Believe me, it seems silly at first…very silly, but if you knew they worked, would you continue? Well, trust that they do and continue J.

Visualization- Visualizing your affirmations is the next step to strengthen your power of positive thinking.

• To aid this process, find pictures that depict your heart’s desires.
• Collect these pictures and put them somewhere you can see them most of the time daily.
• A vision board is created for this purpose. Visual images stimulate your brain and send a message to the Universe. The Universe delivers a reply to that message in the form of actualizing your dreams and wishes.
• There is no magic formula to this… but when you visualize it, you start to attract the things or ideas that can make it happen

Trust- Trust your affirmations and visualizations before you see them happen.

• Don’t let any negative thoughts get the better of you. Be in that place where you just know.
• Oprah calls it “sunrise” faith… you just know, that no matter what happens, the sun will rise everyday and it will set every night. You never question it. Have that same trust.

Believe – Believe there is goodness in everything.

• Extract good traits in every circumstance. There is a positive side of everything. Seek that more, and more good and abundance will roll into your life.
• Most of the problems faced in the world are because of negative thinking. Combat that by sending positive vibes everywhere. If everyone used the power of positive thinking, miracles would occur endlessly.

Give- Give whatever and whenever you can.

Start your morning with one thought; “What am I here to give today?”

It doesn’t necessarily have to be something monetary. It can be positive thoughts.

When you send positive thoughts of giving to the Universe, you open the flow and energy of good things to return your way. The power of positive thinking remains incomplete without the giving spirit.

Be consistent in practicing positive thinking. It is like a muscle that needs to get worked. The more you work it, the stronger it becomes and the easier it is to do.