
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
to be

Years ago, I began a practice I call My Daily To Be Guide. A lot of people write out a To Do list, but not a To Be list. Every day when I wake up I remind myself that this is a brand new baby day. It has never happened before. I’m never going to get it again. It’s a completely blank space on the page of the book of my life. What will I write? Who do I want to be today? What activities will serve who I want to be? I write down my answers as my day’s To Be Guide. I write the qualities, the energies I want to be as I go about my day. It’s not a long list – only four or five things, usually.
I’ve discovered that the meaning of my daily life is that it’s a journey, not a destination. Everything is created twice – in the mind or imagination and then in the physical world. Words become experiences. We each get to invent our day, every day, but most of us keep creating the same invention over and over again. My To Be Guide helps me convert the words of what I want to be into the experience of my day.
The content of life is actually life’s curriculum. In math class, we knew we were going to have problems to deal with. The problems were the means by which we understood and learned ever more and became skilled. Our daily lives do the same thing. Each day gives us access to what we need to know, to the capacity we have to be bigger than our current circumstances.
I have a little spiritual tool kit, as I call it, which I use when my internal radio feels like it’s tuned to static, when I’m thinking from the problem rather than the solution. One of the reminders in my kit is something Eleanor Roosevelt said. She was regularly and mercilessly beaten up by the press. She was not considered to be pretty. She was tall and gangly and had the audacity to have her own thoughts in a time when women – in particular, the First Lady – were expected to be more of a typical wife. She said, “All the water in the world can’t drown you unless it gets inside of you.” I love that. It’s one of the thoughts that helps me stay in tune with my best self and be who I want to be.
– Mary Morrissey


Explore More Meaning
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singer / songwriter. dream interpreter. angelic messenger.
Former Canadian pop star, KAYA, walked away from fame to pursue a deep inner spiritual calling. His profound angelic encounters and intensive dream work led to his emergence as an international spiritual teacher with his wife, Christiane. [www.kayadreams.com]
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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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