
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
creating

Writing is an act of creating and starting a company is an act of creating. We’re not there with the reader as they read, saying, “What I really meant to say was this,” so the words have to stand on their own as being true and real. Creating a company is about creating an atmosphere to draw in people who want to be a part of it, so a company also has to be true and real.
I can only create something great by taking my ego out of the equation. If I go through something I’ve written and see anything that was me writing to make myself look good or feel good, that’s my ego, so I’ll strip it out. When we remove ego, the truth comes in and things become clean and pure.
If I’ve done something out of ego that I can’t take back, I try to learn from it. If someone says something that triggers something in me, it’s my issue not theirs. When I figure this out, I apologize. Apologizing is a way to dump the ego.
A practical thing to be able to do is to look within and ask, What’s inside me that’s causing this reaction? It’s very empowering. If you’re not responsible for my reaction, if I’m responsible for my reaction, I’m responsible for everything in my life. If I can create the problems, I can create the solutions.
When I’m caught in a situation where I feel myself reacting and I notice that, I ask myself a very simple question: If I love myself truly and deeply, would I let myself experience this? Answering honestly takes the reaction away. It’s a practical hack that works in the moment to shift the focus.
Have you seen action movies where all of a sudden things shift to slow motion and then go back to regular motion? When I’m having a reaction to something, I pretend I’m in my own movie that’s all of a sudden going into slow motion. In that slowed-down moment, I breathe in the thought that I love myself. I make myself feel it. Then I breathe out. And do it again. Life speeds up and I continue on, but it’s like I’ve reset myself. I’ve nourished myself from the inside out. Everyone near me may be running around, but when I come back from that slow-motion moment, I’m in a different place, going at a different pace.
– Kamal Ravikant
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