
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
adventure

When I was a young child, my adventures were preparing elegant mud pies, hiding in a tree house amongst the leaves, and watching the cows just below me.
The idea of adventure morphed and changed over time. It became about going and doing.
The seventh grade trip to Washington, D.C., with the Girl Scout troop. The family car vacation to Colorado. Church camp, high school band trips, and college spring breaks.
As I’ve gotten older, adventure has morphed and changed again. It’s became about growing and changing. It’s became internal.
The collapse of an engagement. The ensuing personal breakdown and rebuilding of my spirit, my faith, and my self-portrait. The marriage, the kids, the business start-up.
My definition of adventure has come full circle. I want my kids and our family to go and do, but it’s not just about travel. I want adventure for us because it’s a way to experience and expand, individually and as a family. It’s a way to test our limits, build our inner strengths, and learn to rely on the kindness of strangers.
Adventure can show up every day. It’s asking people in another country for the time because your cell phone doesn’t work and you don’t wear a watch. It’s leaving the corporate job and starting your own business. It’s finishing the first 5K with your daughter, teaching your son how to fish, and watching your husband wakeboard.
Adventure can also hide and tease. It’s sneaky and evolving. It can bury itself so deeply that you only see the household chores, the tedious family car trips, and the seemingly endless array of things to be done for the business. An amazing vacation can offer adventure in the form of flight delays, rainy weather, and interesting food.
I choose to see my life as an adventure. Each action I take can bring me closer to who I want to become and how I want to live.
Or not.
– Jennifer Peek
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