Live, laugh and love! And in the end, all that really matters is love.

How to develop your own mission statement

A Personal Mission Statement is a list of personal commandments for you to live by.  Designing your list of personal commandments is a great tool in working toward your own personal happiness and success.  Defining what you are all about will help you reach your goals and keep you focused on who you are and what you really want out of life.

Every person's list will be different. Your list should include themes that keep coming up in your life.  They might be:  Forgive and forget; help others; don't put off tomorrow what you can do today; live and let live; forget the past; just do it; no fear; expect a miracle; aim high; stay calm, or any number of other commandments.

One theme that kept coming up in my life was, "Let go."  So I incorporated it into my own Personal Mission Statement.  You might want to include some of my commandments in your list.

Colleen's Personal Mission Statement:

-Be kind. (because acts of kindness release endorphins);

-Live in the moment (smell the roses);

-Live in thankfulness;

-Baby steps to success everyday;

-Do what's right;

-Keep a sense of humor;

-Forgive (forgive myself and others);

-Smile;

-Live in love (love myself and others)

-Let go;

-Fake it until I make it (act the way I want to feel);

-Take action now;

-Dream big;

-Expect a miracle;

-Breathe;

-Stop worrying;

In developing your own Personal Mission Statement, think about yourself.  Think about what you want out of life, what you care about, your values, your strengths and your weaknesses.  Think about the success you want to achieve. The following tips will help you develop your Personal Mission Statement:

Tip 1: Pay Attention.  In developing your list, pay attention to your world.  What words, themes or phrases do you keep hearing?  What concepts or ideas keep coming up over and over again in your life?  It may be a famous quote you keep hearing.  A short passage from the bible that keeps coming up.  A saying that your mother used to repeat.  It may be a metaphor.  Take heed!  This is the universe trying to guide you into the right direction.

Tip 2: Develop your list with great care.  Take your time and think hard. It may take weeks or even months to develop.  Once you have your list complete, you might want to add some and subtract others.  Your commandments must make sense in your life.  They are rules for you to live by.

Tip 3: Keep them simple.  Don't get too wordy.  Short and snappy is best.  It'll make them easier to remember and easier to live by.

Tip 4:  Make sure they really reflect you.  If they don't resonate in your heart, they don't belong on your list.  Replace them with commandments that define you and your mission on earth more accurately.

Reverse a bad habit or trait in just 30 days in four easy steps!

Do you have a trait or habit you don't like about yourself?  Something you're not proud of and would like to change?  Don't despair.  We all do!  With just a little effort it takes only thirty days to change what you don't like about yourself.

Step 1: Recognize your bad habit.  Realizing you do something you're not happy about is half the battle.  As humans it's a natural self defense mechanism to blame others for whatever goes wrong.  Recognizing that you have something you'd like to change about yourself is called taking responsibility.  It's the first step to becoming a better person. 

Go to a quiet place in your home where you will not be disturbed.  Your sofa.  Your bedroom.  Close your eyes.  Relax.  Breathe deeply.  Take a few moments to think about yourself, your life, and your interactions with others.   Think about what traits or qualities you'd like to change. Are you too quick tempered?  Do you continually correct your mate when they're speaking?  Do you often become negative in conversations?  Be honest with yourself.  Pick the one trait you'd most like to change.

Step 2: Write down the bad habit you want to change.  For me, I realized I'm often not kind or friendly to people.  It was a hard realization to swallow, but I did it.  And that was the first step toward reversing the behavior.  I wrote, "I am unkind and unfriendly to people."

Step 3: Put the trait in a positive statement.  Write down how you would really like to be.  I wrote, "I am kind and friendly to everyone I meet."

Step 4: In a notebook, write the positive statement down twenty times for each of thirty days. Studies tell us that it takes thirty days to reverse a bad behavior or trait.  Each and every time you write it you'll feel better about yourself and that positive trait will become more and more a part of you.  It's the Law of Attraction!  What you focus on you will get!  You are re-programming your mind from negative to the positive! 

If you recognize a bad habit or trait in yourself, don't beat yourself up.  We all have bad habits.  No one is perfect.  The first step to becoming a better person is recognizing the problem.  However, take care not to dwell on the problem or get consumed by it.  If you focus on how horrible the problem is, you'll get more of it.  Instead, recognize the problem, take steps to solve it, forgive your self and let it go.

Live fearlessly!

Live fearlessly.  Live boldly.  Live with love in your soul.  Treat each person you meet like the treasure they are.  Appreciate each day for the amazing miracle it is. - Colleen McKeon

Five easy ways to have a great day every day!

Do these five easy things each and every day and in no time, with very little effort, you'll be a happier, healthier person.  The world around you will be a little brighter, too!

1. Start the day with thankfulness.  Before you even get out of bed take a few minutes to think about all the things you're grateful for:  Your wonderful mate; your beautiful children; your comfortable home; your loving pet. You may begin by saying, "I am so happy and grateful because I...."  Say the words out loud and don't just say them -- feel them!  Feel the joy, the love, the gratitude, and the happiness from all these wonderful gifts.

2. Take time to appreciate you! Before you brush your teeth in the morning, smile at yourself in the bathroom mirror.  Tell yourself how great you are!  You're beautiful!  You're intelligent!  You're kind!  You're successful at your job!  Say the words out loud and really mean them!  Feel them!  Let the joy, love happiness and gratitude flow over you.

3. Smile at others you encounter during your day. Not only will your smile brighten other people's day, it'll brighten yours to!  What an amazing and powerful tool for good in the world the smile is. 

4. Do something kind for someone everyday.  I have a friend who is a truly beautiful soul.  Each and every day she does kind and thoughtful things for practically everyone she encounters!  She gives them little gifts, brings them food, gives them clothes her children have outgrown.   Once, she even tried to give me a puppy!  Everywhere she goes warm rays of loving sunshine follow.  It started me thinking:  When was the last time I did something kind for someone else completely unsolicited and with no ulterior motive?  I'm ashamed to say, I couldn't think back on even one time.  Imagine how wonderful the world would be if we all just did one small act of kindness every day?

5. Do something fun.  Have a little adventure every day!  A little treat!  It doesn't have to be anything big or costly or time consuming.  Take a few minutes to get that cup of Latte you've been denying yourself from Starbucks!  Have that glass of merlot after dinner.  Indulge in that little piece of chocolate in the middle of the day.  Go to the park you love and sit on the park bench and soak up the sunshine for a few minutes.  You deserve it!

Do not worry about your life!

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?"Matthew 6:25-27

Positive Affirmations are a great tool to help you reach your dreams!

An affirmation is a great way to train your mind toward a positive way of thinking.  Coupled with other positive thinking exercises, a positive affirmation will help you overcome any obstacle you face.  One of my favorites is, "the Universe is providing all I need for my happiness and the attainment of my goals."