
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
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Underneath my high school senior yearbook picture I wrote the words “Dare to Fail Brilliantly,” without really understanding the scope of what that meant. Now, after all these years, I finally understand what it means to take a real, healthy risk, like a child who picks up a brush to paint and just goes for it. He creates and doesn’t worry about what it looks like. He’s not ashamed. Maybe he paints a big, ugly fire-breathing dragon and doesn’t care what anyone else thinks. He doesn’t think to himself They’ll think I’m bad and psychologically troubled if I draw a fire-breathing dragon. No, he just draws the wild dragon with total freedom and abandon.
Someone once asked me what I wanted most in life. I said, “To be happy.” That’s all. I just wanted to be happy. It seemed easy, and yet so far out of reach. So I began my inner journey and realized that happiness couldn’t come unless I knew myself. And to know myself, I had to figure out what had meaning for me. Meaning took time to discover. It took inward reflection, self-awareness, and true understanding of my values, where I came from, and what I wanted to create.
In my twenties, an old Southern friend of mine would say to me, “Lynn, when you gonna stop starin’ at your own bellybutton?” I learned then that I needed to observe myself and my life with a wider-angled lens. With intention, I pulled the camera out from the close-up I had looked at for so long and saw a broader perspective. I stopped believing the constructs I had built up around myself that limited me, and opened to a 360-degree view. I asked myself What if there were no mistakes in life and I could be spontaneous? What if I wasn’t afraid to express what feels authentic or true in me? What if there was nothing to lose?
Every day, I look for ways to straighten my arms above my head, let my feet go, and dive off the high board. There’s never any guarantee about how I’ll land, but as I move into the gap and face the unknown I find happiness in loving the wondrous creativity it holds.
– Lynn Zavaro
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