Collective Inspiration

Empower someone today!

Hopefully by now you have taken the step to make a change in your life. If can be weird when you first go to the mirror to say your affirmation but that is an emotion that we have and actually we can control. It’s only normal and the more you say this and make it part of your life the more you will feel comfortable with it.

Saying an affirmation for a few days is not going to help really in the long run, it’s about making a commitment for the reast of your life. That affirmation can change depending on what you want to focus on. It could be a career change, a house move, it can be anything you wish. But know that with this you are putting the intention out in to the universe and your life will start to change.

Also empowering other people is another part of this. When we feel good we want to spread the word, we want to help people who are not feeling so positive to become more like you.

Think of it as a diet… well I do ;)

We can only eat rubbish for a period of time before we gain weight, have high blood pressure and maybe some health issues. We have to make a lifestyle change and a commitment to ourself. Once we start to exercise and eat healthy, we start to feel better and we want to share the success… It’s just like our affirmations!

You are start to feel better and then you want to spread the news. So while you are looking in the mirror today and saying your affirmation, think about the people you can empower. You may just say, ‘you look nice’ or ‘I’m proud of you’ but a little thing will help someone feel good about themselves.

So empower yourself but spread the word and help others find what you have. Belief in yourself!

Have a beautiful day, and you can do anything you set your mind to!

This affirmation means a lot to me, especially lately! I am the first to admit that I have had a very blessed life and still do. I have been surrounded by people that love and support me and that means the world to me.

Lately, however, I find myself saying this affirmation more and more. I have done many crazy, “against-the-grain” things in my lifetime. In college I remember telling my parents that I was going to spend 6 months abroad in Australia. They didn’t like the idea of their little girl living so far away, but in my mind it was a done deal. It was a dream of mine and I BELIEVED that I could do it, and I did!

Once I realized that I could do anything I set my mind to, I tested my ability with many other challenges (against the will of many people, especially my worried parents!). I worked abroad in Germany, I moved to San Francisco after college, I even saved my pennies so that I could backpack around the world for a year. These were all dreams of mine that required a lot of personal belief, and in time, I was thankfully able to live them.

My current goal and personal challenge, as most of you know, is building Reflect with my big brother, Drew. Being an entrepreneur has been an incredible journey and one that I am very grateful for, but I must say, I find myself using this affirmation a lot!

Leaving a stable job as a corporate engineer to launch Reflect has made a lot of people gasp, big “what the he$%” kind of gasps! A week does not go by without encountering someone telling me to go back to my corporate job.

“You left your job!? In a recession? Are you crazy?”

You get the picture…lol! I hear these things from the same people over and over and over, and did I mention, AND over. It’s hard to hear. I would be lying if I told you that at times I didn’t doubt myself. Sometimes the thoughts of these people creep into my mind and I wonder: “AM I crazy??”

AND THEN I remember…I absolutely love Reflect and what it stands for. I believe (here I go believing) that it has the ability to change people’s lives all over the world, I truly do! I recognize that I am not the most savvy business owner and that I have to learn things for the first time (like how to enter invoices into QuickBooks or how to analyze an income statement), but the truth is: I believe in myself!!! And I cannot even tell you how many times I repeat this a day. I believe in myself and I believe in Reflect!

When someone questions why Reflect is my full-time job or why I left my degree in Chemical Engineering, I have to listen to my inner voice that tells me to keep going. I have proven to myself in the past that believing can help me accomplish my dreams and I am determined to do the same with this. I believe that I can become a successful entrepreneur, but more importantly, one that positively impacts people all over the world!

So, for those of you trying to accomplish a big goal in your life and have those doubts that creep in every now and then, please know that you are not alone! For the moments when you don’t believe, I will be here to believe in you, pinky swear!!

Imagine what this world would be like if people truly believed in themselves and listened to their heart song! Together we can take a stand, make a difference and all we have to do is believe. I believe in you and I believe in me. Please share your stories so that we can encourage one another to be our very very best!

Love & Belief,

Caroline

A message from Lisa Williams…

I believe in myself! Over the last few years, this has been something that I have had to say to myself many times and in many different situations. The first time I ever said it was when I was a kid, and I was first seeing spirits, and I told my parents and they didn’t believe what I was seeing. Of course I was a child and I had an overactive imagination, but I REALLY was seeing spirits, but at that time I was calling them ghosts. I remember sitting there on my bedroom floor with my ‘imaginary friends’ as I had been told off again and had to go to my room… I was talking to them, and I said… Well I believe me. 

Of course it wasn’t the exact affirmation but who would have though that this was going to be something that I said throughout life… to help me believe in what I do and who I am. 

I have now said it for sometime… and I never really understood the power of affirmations until I had cancer. I wasn’t sure how I was going to get through it, and I kept saying to my self, “I am going to be ok” “I am going to be healthy…” little did I know I was putting it out into the universe and that I was going to get healthy. I was actually at that time, also seeing a healer, although I wouldn’t admit that she was a healer, I just wanted to think that she was giving me a massage, I was very skeptical at the time. 

I would go and see her week after week and she advised me to read “You can heal your life” by Louise Hay. I didn’t bother, until one day she forced the book in my bag, and I was sent home with it. The next session I saw her and she started to ask questions about what chapter I was on and how I was feeling. Questions I couldn’t answer unless I had read the book! I was stuck! I had to read it, or not go for my massage.

So I read it and started to understand the power behind affirmations. I must admit, I did feel a little silly talking to myself in the mirror! I mean, who wouldn’t? But the more I did it the better I felt and the healthier I was becoming. I started to believe in myself more and more, and I couldn’t wait to ‘talk to myself’ again! ha ha ha

So affirmations became a huge part of my life. They have helped me overcome so much, and as a team we would like to share them with you this week. 

I Believe in Myself is such a powerful affirmation, and I have used it all my life, and what you have to realize is as we move through life and our journey there are so many things that we have to accomplish and sometimes there will be people who will put us down or not believe in what we are doing… this is when you have to believe in yourself. So why not start now. Go to a mirror and look yourself in the eyes and say, I BELIEVE IN MYSELF and really mean it. Say it a few times out loud!! 

The more you say it the more you will start to believe it. So this week is dedicated to you, and your belief in yourself… it’s take to take the step and change your life forever!

This is so exciting! Lisa has been consistently saying her affirmation, “I am marrying the man of my dreams,” and seeing tangible results! She has been asked out more, people are coming out of the woodworks to set her up, and overall, she feels more confident and hopeful that her soulmate is not too far away!

This process is not one to be rushed and we will support Lisa the entire way, but the great news is that she can see a change and is attracting more opportunity! Affirmations, my friends, when done correctly, always work:-)!

Kevin is using affirmations to completely change his lifestyle. He is about 2 months in and making healthy choices is becoming easier and easier. Listen to how he is transforming his body and saying NO to chocolate brownies!!

If you are reading this then you have probably heard of the Law of Attraction.  You’ve probably read the book, watched the movie, or at least heard of The Secret.

What I find fascinating is that three years after the movie launched, there are still so many people who AREN’T getting the results they want!

But according to the movie it’s so simple!  Focus on what you want with positive emotion, and it will eventually manifest.

They outline methods like visualization, meditation, and gratitude, which all lead to the acheivement of your desires.

Sounds great!

BUT, most of the people that I know haven’t had life changing events happen.  Their lives seem pretty much as they were a few years back - or in some cases, worse…

Here’s something I wish they told me when I first watched the movie.  That the ability to create your reality through focusing your thoughts and emotions takes practice.  That your mind muscle is exactly that, a muscle, and it needs to be worked out!

At first you can focus all you want on the things you want - but in the begining your mind is not strong enough to bring you the results in your timeframe.  What happens next is natural, people stop.

They stop with the visualizations, the affirmations, the gratitude journal, because they see no results.

Imagine going to the gym for a two months and seeing NO results, would you continue?

The trick to mastery of the Law of Attraction is (unfortunately) exercise.  The challenge is that we want results NOW and don’t want to put in all the work, at least I didn’t :)

I can tell you from experience that the more you focus your thoughts on what you want, the faster things happen in your favor.  In the beginning it can take months before something comes to fruition…

Now that I am consistent with my affirmations, visualization, and gratitude…the things that I want show up in days!

It’s the coolest thing to have the Universe give you what you have been asking for - but it takes some exercising!

I always say to start small, that builds the belief muscle, then over time (months) you’ll be so convinced that EVERYTHING is happening in your experience because YOU attract it, you’ll only focus on what you want.

Everything you want in life will then come, this I know for sure…

So start today with a simple affirmation and repeat it for the next few weeks, test the theory and prove to yourself that you indeed have the power…try this one, or something like it:

I attract a free cup of coffee.

and once you get it, be grateful ;)

I have always been a very forgiving person. Holding grudges and being bitter is just not who I am, it never has been. This is why I find it very interesting that in the last few months, forgiveness has come up in discussion several times. It wasn’t truly until the last time that I was faced with this topic that I stopped and asked myself: Do I have some forgiving to do?

I was given a book by Reverend Mark Anthony Lord who founded the Center for Spiritual Living in Chicago and is now a dear friend. His book, The Seven Living Words, is an incredible count of Jesus’s seven last words and the powerful interpretation that they have in today’s world. Forgiveness was the first of the seven words and intentionally so. It is challenging, if not impossible, to live your best life with any resentment or bitterness in your heart. After reading this chapter, I stopped, asked myself if I needed to forgive and then moved on knowing that I would give myself an “A” in the subject of forgiveness if I had to. I even asked my best friend, Catherine, and she agreed that I was a very forgiving person, so I was all good!

About a month later, I was visiting the marketing manager, Kimberly, at the Ruby Room in Wicker Park. I was introducing her to Reflect in hopes that they would carry the line in their beautiful space! The meeting went well and we are having a trunk show with the Ruby Room on August 8th if you are around! At the end of our meeting Kimberly said: “Colleen can do a 10-minute reading for you!”

I was a bit taken aback as I had not walked into the Ruby Room with the intent of receiving a reading, but I could not say no. I sat down with Colleen and felt very comfortable being surrounded with her positive light and energy. She relayed some very affirming insight about my current journey but mentioned that there was someone or something that I still had to forgive before things really fell in place. I found this very interesting and pondered it for a while, but soon after, forgot about the comment.

This last month, I was gifted a CD called The Choice of Forgiveness by the founders of Dream Manifesto (www.dreammanifesto.com). Although I have never met Aviva and Thomas, they are long-time friends, if that makes any sense at all! They are lights in our life and give us so much love and support and shower us with positive thinking. The Choice of Forgiveness mini course on CD contains subliminal sessions to help you master the art of forgiveness by consciously choosing to forgive. 

By this point, I was a bit weirded out and wondered what on earth I needed to forgive. I truly felt like a very forgiving person. Needless to say, I was touched by the gift and started listening to it every evening. Questions went through my mind…do I need to forgive my parents? My brother? Friends who I have felt hurt by? I still didn’t get it.

I told Aviva that I wanted to return her gesture with a sincere testimonial of her product. Although the product was great, I hadn’t felt a huge shift or had any major realizations and wanted to be very honest and genuine in my testimonial.

It wasn’t until yesterday, after weeks of listening to The Choice of Forgiveness, that my “a-ha” moment hit me…

I needed to forgive myself.

I was saying my affirmations as I do before I go to bed and using a workbook from Joe Vitale to help me. The affirmations had to do with being abundant and deserving financial freedom. Joe asked a question that struck a chord and created a domino effect in my mind, and in my heart.

“Do you feel as though you should be further along today than you are?”

The answer to that question was a resonating YES! I love my company, I love what I do, I love my customers and I genuinely feel as though I am living out my purpose every single day. I do also feel that the business should be growing more than it is and touching more lives than it is today.

I stopped and pondered this tangled web of thoughts in my mind. I didn’t know what to believe or think. Should we be more successful than we are? Who defines success? Are we already successful? Is this the typical timeline of any start-up business? And so on and so forth, you get the idea!

And you may guess what conclusion I came to. I realized that I have been putting so much pressure on myself for not being an “overnight” success, for not taking the company from 0 to 1M in 6 months (exaggerating here), and for not being further along than I had anticipated when I started…..but that it was OK!!!!!!

It is OK that the journey is taking longer. It is OK that we are faced with challenges that we didn’t expect. It is OK that we are not an overnight success. It is OK.

You may have failed to achieve certain goals, but you are not a failure.

You may have missed opportunities, but more opportunities will come.

You may have taken one too many risks, but high risks always pay off in some way or another.

Forgive yourself.

The journey is unfolding every day and each day is a success, a huge success! We started this business to empower people and if we can empower even one person a day, then we are a huge success!

So, I, Caroline Yacu, declare, on this 21^st day in July of 2008, that I forgive myself for not always hitting my Reflect sales goals, or not always knowing the answer to certain challenges, and not being an “overnight” success in the eyes of the world. To me, deep down, I know that I am a success.

I encourage you to think about forgiveness in your own life. Do you also need to forgive yourself? You owe it to yourself to at least think about it.

After all, forgiveness is a gift you give yourself.

Lisa has been saying her affirmations consistently and feels more hopeful about finding her future groom. She told us that people are looking at her differently and that her confidence has increased because of her affirmations! Lisa has been asked out walking down the street and has a glowing energy about her! It is unbelievable! Keep up the great work Lisa…we are rootin’ for you!!

Hi Everyone!

My name is Natalie Czupta and I have recently become a new edtion to the Reflect team as an intern. I am very excited to work with both Caroline and Drew and am also ready to learn and experience the world of PR! I am currently a student at DePaul Unversity and will be a Junior this up coming Fall quarter majoring in Public Relations and Advertising.

I  was intrigued when I heard about Reflect because the company’s mission deals with helping people and creating a positive lifestyle.  It is a way to inspire people by seeing reflected affirmations that manifest certain needs and potentially bring positive change into peoples’ lives. Not only am I thaknful for the opportunity to forsee my future occupation, but I am also happy that I will be able to inspire others, as well as myself, to adapt a healthier, more positive lifestyle.

Following this blog, each week you will be able to read about different stories of inspiration that I have experienced. I hope that these stories interest you and that they aid as a source of inspiration just as they did for me. Thank you for your time! You’ll be hearing from me soon :)

Reflect Challenger, Kevin, transforms his mind and his heart with the consistent use of affirmations. See the progress he has made and what affirming “I am in the best shape of my life” has done to his life! Kevin is about a month and half into the challenge and the momentum is still apparent! Affirmations, when done correctly, always work! The secret, often times, is to find yourself an accountability partner which is what we are for Kevin! He is making us incredibly proud and turning out to be quite the poster child for Reflect! THANKS KEVIN!