
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
clarity

In principle, nothing or no one can make us feel a certain way. Our feelings come from inside of us – from our own thinking. For everyone, this understanding is the difference between living at the mercy of circumstance or self-correcting back to clarity – no matter the circumstance – at those times when we feel low.
The fact is that 99 percent of us are walking through life believing that external circumstances have the power to affect our states of mind and create our experiences. But the opposite is true. A person’s state of mind is always what creates his or her experience. If you want proof of this phenomenon, simply consider a time when you fretted about something, then you became distracted and turned your attention elsewhere. Then you returned to the same circumstance and wondered, “What in the world was I worried about, this is a piece of cake.” The circumstance didn’t change. Your thinking and mindset did, and so did your outlook.
What’s more, those who grasp that they live in the feeling of their thinking, and not in the feeling of life events, won’t make the mistake of looking outside to find excuses when they do struggle. Doing this is a never-ending search because, again, our feelings are generated from inside of us. This common misappropriation of feelings accounts for all types of illicit behavior. It also accounts for every problem known to mankind. Human beings create their troubles via their own thinking – not from their past, environment, neighbors, or spouse.
This is not to say that you should ever try to fix the thoughts that randomly pop into your head. Not at all. Merely consider that you live in a thought-based reality (not a circumstance-based reality), keep living, and your mind will self-correct on its own.
Remember, like your body is designed to regulate to a core temperature of 98.6, your mind is designed to regulate to clarity. The next time you feel low, don’t look outside for reasons or fixes. Doing so thwarts your innate ability to find peace, harmony, and answers. Rather, look inward to the value of your thinking at that moment. Your feelings always come from there.
And, yes, it is this simple.
– Garret Kramer


Explore More Meaning
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mom. TED-talker. no-bullsh**er.
Sophie Chiche, founder of lifebyme.com, is the single mom of an amazing 16-year-old, Leah, and wicked step-mom of 22-year-old, Sarah. They all live in LA. You can find them boxing, cooking, collaging, hosting brunches, laughing their head off or bickering over who's washing and who's drying the dishes.
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