
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
slow

What gives my life meaning are human relationships and the feeling that the sum of my life leaves the world a better place.
I got into journalism early, wanting to make a change in the best way I could, given who I am and what I’m good at, which is words. I set out to write about injustice and how the world wasn’t working the way it should. I use words to change the way people think about the way they live and the connections they have with other people.
On a deeper level, I find meaning in human relationships, in the strength of the bonds I have with the people around me, starting with the people closest to home and moving out further and further. Making the world a better place makes sense because we’re all linked together. We’re all in the same boat going in the same direction.
Living in a fast-forward culture, we lose a lot. We lose joy and the pleasure of the moment, but we also lose sight of the big picture. We become very selfish and cut off from other people. There are certain things which, no matter how rushed you are or how fast your computer processor is, you cannot accelerate. One of those things is human relationships. You can’t make someone fall in love with you faster because you want to get married in June. Friendships, romantic loves, and family relations take time. They develop with a natural, universal tempo and rhythm. When we don’t nourish human relationships with oxygen so they can grow and blossom, we end up with a very superficial life.
My starting point, my realization that I’d lost my compass, was when I started speed-reading stories to my son. When I noticed that I was skipping lines and paragraphs I had an epiphany. I’d been devaluing the sacred moments when a parent sits down to read a story to their child.
One of the anchors of my days is reading stories to my children. They’re now 8 and 11, but I still read aloud to them. I cover the clock by the bed and we spend time together. It’s like being on a magic carpet – the rest of the world simply disappears while we go on amazing adventures together. We stop and have conversations about things. We huddle up together like we’re sitting around a campfire. Reading stories like this is, for me, the purest form of slowing down and being with my children.
– Carl Honoré


Explore More Meaning
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grounded flyer. northrup team member. self-truster.
Kate Northrup created early financial freedom and spent 2011 exploring and teaching financial, emotional, and spiritual freedom. She co-created Team Northrup, a league of wellness entrepreneurs aligned with the work of her mother, Dr. Christiane Northrup. [www.teamnorthrup.com]
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reinvention catalyst. white canvas embracer. believer.
Nancy Sherr is the creator of A Zestful Life, coaching brave hearted women through Big. Life. Change. She is an inspiring reinvention catalyst, supports graceful navigation of life transitions, exuberant living, fully expressed. [www.nancysherr.com]
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joyous author. inspiring speaker. dream accomplisher.
Dr. Jin Robertson has been a factory laborer, an immigrant housemaid, a battered wife, and a U.S. army major. Jin received her M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University. She is an international inspirational speaker and bestselling author. [www.drjinrobertson.com]
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