
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
transform

As a grief and trauma therapist, one of my roles is to help people step fully into a new beginning after they have healed from a life crisis. I am often involved in the discovery of what is now meaningful and in guiding the search for the purpose for the rest of their lives.
I often start by asking the person to ponder the following questions:
- Is there something you always wanted to do, but somehow that never happened?
- If money were no object, what would you do?
- If you were to die tomorrow, what would you regret not having accomplished?
- If you were listening to your own obituary, what else would you want said about your life and what you have accomplished?
I also give two sets of homework. The first is to create a collage. I encourage them to sit for a few moments in silence and ponder, “What do I want my future to look like?” Then they cut pictures from magazines that represent what would be important to have as a part of their future. As they paste them onto construction paper, they continue pondering, “What do I want my future to look like?”
I ask them to identify how each picture represents a part of what they want and how that picture fits into the overall theme of the entire collage. I pay particular attention to what is in the immediate center of the collage. I know that is where a great amount of attention is now being soulfully focused. I invite the person to journal their experience and what they discovered as they created the piece.
The second is “Morning pages.” I adapted this exercise from one described by Julia Cameron in The Artist Way. Each morning, just after waking, sit in a peaceful place to write in a non-stop fashion, three pages answering the question “What am I to do with the rest of my life.” When the three pages are completed they are tucked away, unread, until after three pages have been written each morning for a month. At the end of the month the person reads the entire narrative.
Morning pages have proven a successful process for me and for each person who has completed this exercise with me. Each has been amazed at how their thirty-day reading provided clarity to the answer they were seeking to “What am I to do with the rest of my life?”
– Jane Simington
Your Turn
- You don’t have to wait until you have magazines and scissors lying around. Do you have a Pinterest account?
- When you have one, would you be up for making one of your tabs a “Vision Board.”
- Now scour the Internet for pictures and words that will help you create your vision. Why not set this as your home page for a month?


Explore More Meaning
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supporter. nature whisperer. weather survivor.
Judy Hill is a Supportive Life Therapist, Wellness Coach, and CEO of Redwolf Coaching and Consulting. She mentors creative consciousness with compassionate insight, guiding people toward external resolutions through their internal contributions. [www.redwolfcg.com]
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appreciative son. moment cogitator. lesson learner.
Jeff Semigran is a senior at UC Berkeley studying environmental and civil engineering. He is an alumnus of the Teen Insight Seminars and Leadership series. This piece is part of the Insight University and Life By Me week of giving back. www.givingtuesday.org/insight-university
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question asker. superhero maker. broccoli activist.
Understanding what a busy lifestyle can do to both your emotional and physical state, Mark Leruste is passionate about creating radical shifts in people’s lives by empowering them to drop toxic habits, adopt healthy mindsets, and achieve breakthroughs. [www.lifeinshape.co.uk/about]
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