The longer I journey this path to true fulfillment I am reminded daily that there is no “one size fits all”. Your unique and rare blend of values, identity and mission are meant for you to discover, embrace and unleash for the benefit of the world at large. And news alert! You are also meant to understand these truths for the joy of your own fulfillment.

Yes, you get to enjoy you! You are beautiful! You are unique! And you deserve to embrace who you are and what you bring to others for the simple fact that when you do, you actually have more life and love available to share at home, in your community, your workplace and the world.

As little kids, you were probably told to stop bragging or boasting about yourself because it’s considered rude. For the most part this is true. However, as a little child with the inability to understand anything but black or white, you might have interpreted this comment to mean that it’s selfish and rude if you put any attention toward yourself and that you are meant to serve and give to others exclusively.

Carry this line of thinking forward into your adult life and now you deflect praise, are unable to receive thanks and put others needs before your own heart because it’s selfish otherwise right?

Wrong! This is such a lie and it’s worked for years in keeping you from discovering who you really are and the larger story you are meant to live out in the world.

So now what?

Renew your mind! Take captive every thought! Get rid of stinkin’ thinkin’!

And remember these poignant words shared in a speech by Nelson Mendela years ago:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, “Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?” Actually, who are you not to be?

YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to manifest the glory that is within us. And as we let our light shine we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Marianne Williamson
Author and international lecturer on spiritual, personal and political issues.

Owning your brilliance begins with overcoming your negative self-talk. If you need help, download our free tool to Empower your Voice Within and consider partnering with one of our coaches to overcome your obstacles as you discover who you really are as you create a life of freedom and true fulfillment.

This week I am sharing my latest message at two events around what it means to “Thrive” in spite of the obstacles of life. My friend Caterina Rando, who happens to be the book publisher of my co-authored book Direct Selling Power, sent me a beautiful card at the first of the year with this theme that I wanted to share with you in my blog post this week. 

Make the choice to Thrive…Today!

Every day is the day to have a great day. You are free, smart, creative and so fortunate. Each day brings new opportunities and possibilities. Set yourself up to have your best possible day by reflecting on these powerful and uplifting ideas.

TODAY….

• Choose to be joyful

• Keep your vision in focus

• Be devoted to your dreams

• Plan for a productive day

• Take a risk and a leap of faith

• Do a good deed

• Be loud and proud about your passion

• Accentuate the positive

• Acknowledge someone from the heart

• Make yourself happy

• Be your word

• Take consistent action

• Expect success in everything

• Make this day really matter

• You have the power!

© Caterina Rando

PowerDynamics Publishing was founded by Caterina Rando, a business strategist and author of many information products, including the national best seller, Learn to Power Think. Early in Caterina’s career she was a co-author in the book, Give Stress A Rest, and a few years ago she was a contributing author to Build It Big – 101 Secrets From Top Direct Selling Experts and More Build It Big. She found that contributing to books that targeted the audiences she served gained her confidence, credibility and cachet and resulted in a significant increase in product revenue, consulting projects and speaking engagements. For more about Caterina and her publishing projects, visit www.powerdynamicspub.com.

As a solopreneur, you wear many hats as you plant a variety of seeds to keep the garden of your business thriving. These seeds are activities such as marketing, administration, serving, selling and developing, all which keep your garden flourishing.

While I’m not a gardener, I do know that weeds begin to grow if you don’t tend to it. If you aren’t careful, these weeds will slowly choke the life out of the healthy plants destroying the beauty and harvest of the garden that’s planted. The same holds true for your business and life!

As you plant these seeds and your garden grows to produce a harvest, there is one thing to remember. Each day is limited in time and because of this you must be intentional as you tend to your garden. Nurturing the seeds already planted, as you continue to seed for the future, are both important and necessary. At the same time, you must be aware of the weeds that need to be removed to avoid losing the harvest you’ve planted.

What are some of the weeds that might show up in your garden of your business?

• Activities that are no longer energizing and take away from producing a fruitful crop.
• Administrative tasks which drain you and could be done by someone other than you, the master gardener.
• Duties outside of your expertise like technology, social media, graphic design, web site maintenance, newsletters, developing promotional materials, etc.

Take a moment to look at your own garden. What are your weeds?

Once you’ve identified them, here are some next steps:

1. Hire others to help. You cannot grow the garden of your business without expanding your team. At some point, it’s essential to hire a virtual assistant, bookkeeper, accountant, technology person, and a professional certified coach to support you through the expansion. Bottom line: you cannot do it alone forever!
2. Dedicate time to plan and strategize. Block time in your calendar to evaluate and assess: What’s working? What’s not? What changes are needed? If you don’t, you risk being reactive rather than proactive.
3. Remove the “good” so the “better” and “best” have room to flourish. As you grow and narrow your focus, some of the opportunities that were one ideal and considered healthy plants in the garden of your business may actually become weeds. This is because the good plants can take up space and time in your garden and keep you from growing and harvesting the best plants that produce greater abundance.

You’ve probably heard all of this before but it warrants repeating. As the garden of your business expands, growing beyond being a solopreneur doing it alone, to becoming an entrepreneur with a support team is critical. Every business owner reaches this fork in the road and needs to decide what the garden needs to grow, otherwise you run the risk of the weeds taking it over and wreaking havoc not only in your business, but also in your life.

As you contemplate your own business (and life because this metaphor applies here too), how would you answer this question:

What next step will help the garden of your life and business thrive to produce a more abundant crop?

This month, there are several coaching programs and products available to you to help your garden grow, flourish and thrive. If you want to know what’s coming, sign up for our monthly newsletter.

What comments do you have? Share at the blog and may the harvest of your life and business be abundant!

I’ve spent the majority of my life “doing” rather than “being”. After all, there are places to go, people to see, and things to do, right?

This approach to life fell short for me over ten years ago when I made the bold and courageous decision to leave behind the security of my steady paycheck. I quit my “Corporate” job to pursue my entrepreneurial dream because I was exhausted and burnt out from all of my “doing” for the sake of what?!

Little did I know that I would find myself going through life transition upon life transition, starting with my divorce and the subsequent hurdles of my daughter’s health struggles.

Because of these changes, I was challenged to find answers to the questions of “Who am I?” and “What’s next?”

I could write a book on the topic and some day I just might! In the meantime, the key learning is that I am a “human being”, not a “human doing”. Out of this paradigm shift, I have reaped the benefits of living a heart centered life and I am committed to supporting women like you to do the same.

For those of you who are “do-ers” (which is 99.9% of the women out there), here are some practical next steps that will help you “to be”.

1. Slow down and breathe fully. Repeat multiple times during the day!
2. Go for a walk in silence. A little bit of exercise, a chance to be and not just “sitting still”.
3. Get up early in the morning before everyone else wakes up. Drink your coffee in silence and breathe some more.
4. Stop talking and listen. Pay attention to others and to your inner voices, your body, etc.
5. Read my blog article “On the Verge of a Break Through” for more insight.

Learning to “be” is essential if you want to find inner peace, joy and greater purpose. It’s a huge shift from the crazy-making world we live, yet so worth the perseverance and commitment to find it.

So what else would you add to this list? Share your comments at Facebook and the Blog…And then, breathe and “just be”!

I know this might seem really petty, but over five years ago I  began a “love-hate” relationship with the closet doors in my new home. They are the kind that slide on a track and get thrown off on occasion, which means I need help to re-align them because it’s awkward and difficult for me to fix them on my own.

Today both of the doors went off the track and it really annoyed me. I don’t think it was the doors being off the track that bothered me so much, but rather the realization that I’ve been tolerating this little nuisance for over five years! Because….Why?!

I don’t really know the answer to this question and right now I don’t think it really matters. What’s important is that I’ve made the decision to replace the doors because I’m done “settling” for this minor yet annoying inconvenience.

Today’s closet situation actually reminded me of a powerful question my very first life coach asked me. I invite you to ponder it as well.

“What are you tolerating?” Said differently, “What’s getting in the way of you being your best in your life and work?”

So what does this mean for you? How might you answer these questions? I’m curious what minor change you will make so that you can change your impact from surviving to thriving?

The decision to replace my closet doors has me energized and empowered me. It reminds me that at any given moment I am at choice, and how I think and act has one of two consequences. It either moves me toward my best self and inspired life, or it takes me further away from who I am destined to be and to achieve.

So what choice will you make today? Share your thoughts at the blog as you make the decision to stop settling. Start thriving beyond what you are are tolerating.

I recently had the chance to pause and celebrate my past year and was amazed at all that has happened in 2009. There have been huge milestones like the launch of the new website, blogging and the venture into social media. However, when I looked beyond the obvious I was pleasantly surprised that my year was sprinkled with several small and consistent wins that have made this year a huge success for me, based on what I define as being successful.

So here’s the bottom line. You must make time to celebrate and acknowledge your wins for 2009! Why? Without knowing where you’ve been and what you’ve accomplished, both inside and out, who knows where you’ll end up  in 2010. Also, be sure to review your year based on your personal definition of success, not what someone else would consider it to be.

There is a passage from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll which cleverly illustrates why it’s important to know where you are headed in life, especially in this ever changing world we live:

“Cheshire Puss,” she began rather timidly, as she did not know at all whether it would like the name. However, it only grinned a little wider. “Would you tell me please, which way I ought to go from here?”

“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the cat.

“I don’t much care where,” said Alice.

“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the cat.

“So long as I get somewhere,” Alice added as an explanation.

“Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the cat, “if you only walk long enough, because if you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.”

So in the coming days, block your time and take 60-minutes to Acknowledge 2009, using this tool as your guide.  Set your course onto the path that will lead you to what you want to create for 2010!  And, if you’re ready to overcome your limitations, discover who you are, and take action toward your inspired life vision, it’s time to schedule your 15-minute complimentary information call to see if partnering with one of our coaches is your next step in the new year!

As your new year blossoms, may the journey of your life be fragrant with new opportunities, your days be bright with new hopes and your heart be happy with love! Happy New Year!

Throughout your day, notice the thoughts that swirl inside your head? Is your thinking positive or negative? Are your thoughts enhancing your life, or draining the life from you?

You can change your life today! When you empower your inner voice, the impact is profound because an empowered inner voice fuels and energizes you.

Whenever you plant a seed in your garden, something is assured of growing; the question is “Are you harvesting what you desire?” If you plant a seed of corn and expect a tomato to grow, you cannot hope for a harvest of tomatoes because you’re obviously going to get corn. It’s the same with your thinking.

Every seed of thought that you plant will grow into something, and more of its same kind will follow as they are harvested. There is a positive or negative nature to the seeds you are planting within the garden of your mind and they  may or may not get you what you actually desire in the harvest of your life or your business.

Your words, combined with the voice of your inner self-talk, have the capacity to be a loving, life-giving force, or to be a critical drain, depleting you of energy and life. Your self-talk conveys underlying messages to yourself and to others that create physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual responses.

When you change your inner self-talk, your perspectives, your reality, and your life experiences will change also. Where you focus your thoughts will make a difference in how you act, in what you speak, and in how you treat yourself and others.

Now the question becomes, “Are your inner thoughts allowing you to be the person you are created you to be?”

Today, practice empowering your inner voice. Eliminate words like  “should”, “have to”, and “can’t”. Replace these with empowering words like, “I desire”, “I choose”, “I will”.

What impact does this change have on your demeanor? Your actions? Your attitude? What do you imagine will change in your life and your business?

I would love to hear your thoughts on this! Please post your comments and register to receive my weekly blog at www.shannonbruce.com.

There’s a swirling undercurrent in the river of life that’s attempting to drown life from your heart. It’s subtle and it’s stealth-like, as this thing called “perfectionism” comes in through the back door to thwart you.

Over the past week, a repetitive theme of perfectionism has emerged in the coaching of my clients. When this happens, I assert that there are more of you out there experiencing the same frustration and defeat that comes as a result of this striving for perfection.

Before I make this assumption, let me ask you a few questions.

• Are you exhausted because you can never reach the high bar that’s been set, because it’s continually being raised higher and higher?
• Do you find yourself running ragged trying to manage your household, your business, your relationships and everything on your To-Do List, to the point you feel chaos swirling within and around you?
• Is your life running you?

If you find yourself answering “yes” to any of these questions, I give you full permission to “Forget Perfect”! It doesn’t exist and the more you chase after it, the more elusive it becomes leading you to a life of inner chaos, overwhelm, and defeat.

Michael J. Fox said it so profoundly when he said, “I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for; perfection is God’s business.”

Let that soak in for a minute. Breathe in the truth of that statement as you give  yourself permission to reconnect with your humanness!

It’s time to make the bold commitment to “forget perfect”, since after all that’s really God’s business. Let’s all choose a perspective of “excellence” instead!

Here are three tips to assist you in the reach for excellence:

• Define Excellence. If this were a new value that you used as a filter for your life and work, what does it mean to you? Since values have an internal sense of rightness, make the definition personal and use this as an internal barometer for all that you do.
  
• Be your Best Self. Who are you at your best? What qualities and characteristics show up? Being excellent means bringing forth these attributes consistently and intentionally into your life and work.
• Extend Compassion. Remember you are human; you have strengths and weaknesses. The more you embrace the whole of who you are, the easier it will be for you to stay on the path of excellence. Let your life experiences be your learning tool that keep molding and shaping you into a more “excellent” you.

So what do you think? Let me know by posting your comments below.

I’ve noticed a thread of themes emerging in the weekly calls for The Destiny Project Journey for Women. During the check-in of our second call, one of the participants shared how overwhelmed she is by all of the activities going on in her life at the moment.

I’m sure on some level we can all relate; there’s so much to do and so little time. Or at least this is what it often feels like.

We all get caught up in the hamster wheel of life. Before we know it we find ourselves running from one thing to the next not really being conscious to the choices we are making. Yes, even when you feel like your life is running you, you are exercising your power to choose.

I often remind clients that at every given moment they are at choice. Everyday, you make hundreds of conscious and unconscious choices that either move you toward your dreams or away from them.

Bringing this down to the “real world”, you actually have two simple choices at every moment…You either choose something that energizes you as you head toward what you really want, or you choose what drains you and you move further from what you really desire.

Think about a decision that you made today or a thought that passed through your mind. Did it move you in the direction of what you really wanted and did it energize you? Or did you find yourself drained feeling as if the life you really desire is further away?

Imagine that simplifying your choices is like tossing a coin. Heads represents being “closer” and tails means you are “farther”. When you stop to tune in to your thoughts and decisions, you can simplify your choices using these two simple concepts. Remember there are two sides to the coin of choice–what you want and what you don’t.

What do you do if you’re further away from what you want and you find yourself drained or overwhelmed like the client I mentioned above? Turn the coin over and explore a new perspective, come up with a different way of doing the activity,  identify a different thought that energizes you, or decide what you need to let go of.

I’d love to hear your thoughts…how will you simplify your choices?