
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
enlightened

The most meaningful thing to me is selfless love. It’s a form of unconditional love, but unconditional love sometimes sounds cliché. Selfless love is so important because it’s spreading love and doing good without any expectation of something in return, without any expectation of whether it’s advancing or benefitting me. I make a conscious effort to practice selfless love throughout my life and my days because I feel it’s the purest of intentions.
The concept of selfless love came to be meaningful to me because, almost on a daily basis, my mother, who’s my best friend, reiterates these mantras of how to live life and how to be happy and how to do good unto others.
I’ve been fortunate to be raised by two beautiful parents who are incredibly spiritual. They took me to India several times when I was young, and we stayed at an ashram. When I was three, my parents took me to see Sai Baba, a holy man in India. I sat on his lap for extended periods and experienced the beauty and spirituality and blessedness that is Sai Baba. As I got older, each time we went back I assimilated and understood more and more of his energy. Even though I was baptized Catholic, my parents raised me with an Eastern spiritual perspective – more spiritual than religious. They said, “Just like a river leads to the ocean, all religions lead to God.”
People have self-imposed milestones of happiness, like “I’ll be happy when I look like that,” “… when I’m living there,” … when I’m in love.” Well, I’ve been fortunate to be able to achieve many milestones, and it turns out that it’s not like that. When we arrive at one milestone, we’re already focusing on the next one. Clearly, then, happiness comes from within. What I notice more and more is that what actually makes me happy is making others happy – it’s bigger and better than anything else I’ve experienced. It’s off the charts. That’s one of the reasons I’m in the health food business and love what I do for a living.
When I get side-tracked and caught up in associating happiness with something outside of me, I reconnect with the spiritual insight and enlightenment that gives my life meaning – I spread love, and I give myself a reality check by reminding myself that, as the cliché goes, you can’t take it with you.
– GT Dave


Explore More Meaning
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grateful student. generous teacher. unionizer.
Kira Ryder is grateful for all her teachers and the teachings that have been shared with her. One of Yoga Journal’s Top Teachers Shaping the Future of Yoga in America, her teaching emphasizes tuning into the alignment within your own heart. [www.lulubandhas.com]
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