
Affectionately known as "America's #1 Success Coach," Jack Canfield is the originator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series and a leading authority in the areas of self-esteem, achievement motivation, and peak performance. [www.jackcanfield.com]

Arianna Huffington is the co-founder and Editor in Chief of the Huffington Post and the author of twelve books. [www.huffingtonpost.com]

Seth Godin is a prominent author, blogger and speaker. [www.squidoo.com/linchpin]

Krishna Kaur is the founder of YOGA for Youth, a program that takes yoga, meditation, and stimulating discussions on the philosophy of yoga to urban youth. [www.yogaforyouth.org]

Norman Lear has enjoyed a long career in television and film. He is also a political and social activist and philanthropist. [www.normanlear.com]

Leilani Münter is a professional race car driver and an environmental activist who uses her voice in the number one spectator sport in America as a catalyst for change. [www.leilanimunter.com]

By going undercover to meet slaves and slaveholders, Kevin Bales exposed modern slavery's penetration into the global economy. He co-founded Free the Slaves, which has helped to liberate thousands of slaves. [www.freetheslaves.net]

Sophie Chiche, lifebyme.com founder and curator, enjoys asking deep questions and living a life of meaning. Today she's launching Shape House, an urban sweat lodge, a place to melt away fears and fat. [www.shapehousela.com]

Entrepreneur and writer Mastin Kipp founded TheDailyLove.com, which merges pop culture with inspiration, and co-founded The Love Yourself Company, an apparel company that has started a global self-esteem movement. [www.TheDailyLove.com]

Liz Phair is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. [www.lizphair.com]

Archbishop Desmond Tutu is Chairman of The Elders, a group of world leaders who address some of the world's most pressing problems. He works energetically for human-rights and in his ministry. [www.tutu.org]

Zainab Salbi is the founder and CEO of Women for Women International, a group dedicated to helping women survivors of war rebuild their lives. [www.womenforwomen.org]

Despite his physical challenges, Sean Stephenson has taken a stand for a quality of life that has inspired millions of people around the world. He's a professional speaker, psychotherapist, and author. [www.timetostand.com]

Kia Miller teaches Yoga at Yoga Works in Los Angeles, leads teacher trainings, and runs retreats and workshops on meditation, chakras, pranayam, and mantras, and other practices. [www.kiamiller.com]

Simon Mainwaring is an ex-Nike/Wieden creative, former Worldwide Creative Director at Motorola/Ogilvy, branding/advertising writer, author/speaker/blogger, Australian, idea geek. [www.simonmainwaring.com]

Shannon Bindler is a style editor, life coach, and the co-founder of Get Up Girl, an empowerment company that inspires women to shine. [www.getupgirl.com]

Grammy-nominated art director/designer/photographer Mathieu Bitton has designed over 450 CDs and movie posters. He's a renowned collector of and authority on black films and their soundtracks. [www.candytangerine.com]

Opus Reps founder and agent-producer Jorge Perez travels the world producing photo shoots with great photographers and celebrities. He's also very involved with Meals on Wheels in Los Angeles. www.opusreps.com
connection

Connection comes from living life to the fullest. Living life to the fullest is about the rush of energy and excitement I get from new experiences. It’s about feeling the feelings that let me know I’m alive – by facing a fear, doing something I never thought I could do, or learning something new.
Life is meant to be experienced. The more I can get inside those feelings that let me know I’m alive, the better. Connection is a part of this because I always feel like life is sweeter when I share these experiences with someone else. It’s nice to create memories together and connect with other humans.
Part of being here and being human is getting beyond the ego, beyond the mind. The mind likes to play tricks. For me, issues that come up and throw me off track usually boil down to some form of thinking that I’m unlovable and not enough. Then I tend to get stuck in that cycle of thinking. When I’m in that place, I feel like I don’t deserve good experiences or the love and joy that would come from them.
When I become aware that I’m spending a lot of time at home, that’s a signal for me that I’m working too much and not seeing enough of my friends. What helps me if I’m wallowing in self-pity or too much work is giving myself a time limit on the wallow. Maybe it’s 48 hours or 72 hours, but after that I’ll wake up and have a rebirth and a new start. I’ll reconnect with the idea of saying yes to life.
Even though I’ve always been able to easily have conversations, I sometimes find myself putting off doing something with people. What often happens is that when I face whatever fears I have and finally get together with people, I have a great time. I end up being so grateful and feeling so much more alive.
I’m very curious about people and their stories. We each have a story, of course. For me, our stories are about truth, which is inspiring. Sometimes we have truths we want to keep secret, truths we’re ashamed of and want to hide, truths we’re afraid others will judge us for. When we have the courage to share those truths, that’s when we really live. That’s when life is juicy.
– Amber Krzys


Explore More Meaning
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leadership consultant. author. storm chaser.
Deidre Combs provides leadership and cross-cultural conflict skills as a consultant, coach, author, mediator, and professor. She developed the core foundations course for Montana State University's Leadership Fellows Certificate Program. [www.combsandcompany.com]
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