
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
choose

The most meaningful thing in my life is my power to create. Knowing this, it doesn’t matter what I’m experiencing at any given moment – good or bad. The only thing that does matter is the fact that I am the force behind what I’m experiencing, not anyone or anything else. Period.
This realization is both extremely challenging and genuinely liberating. The challenge comes in owning that what I’m experiencing is what I, and I alone, have created. There’s no one else to blame or attack when it’s not going the way I want. There’s only me to look at in the mirror, to acknowledge as the great inventor behind my drama, like the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain.
The liberation comes in knowing that if I don’t like the story of my life as it’s unfolding I can always create something better, and no one can stop me from doing so or from succeeding, ever.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting that I’m making everything in the world happen. I’m saying I make everything in MY world happen. In other words, how I experience my life IS MY CHOICE ALONE.
To take ownership of what’s happening in my life and accept it as my personal creation saturates my life with meaning and purpose, and completely liberates me from living as a victim. It frees me to use my creativity the way it’s intended to be used: fearlessly. This awareness invites me to experience my life in the most creative, productive, original way possible. Only my imagination limits me, so I stretch my imagination more and more, day by day, and that makes life unbelievably fun.
The second most meaningful thing in my life is to choose to love in all I do. When I choose to love, I find I don’t need much else. I feel peaceful, satisfied, full, and very rich. I don’t need to look for love in others’ hearts.
When I share my love freely with everyone I encounter, whether in a smile, a kind word, patience, a genuine compliment, or even silence instead of a negative comment, it comes back in waves. To love from the inside out fills all voids in my life with contentment.
As I fearlessly and lovingly create my life, it unfolds as a magical mystical, joyous experience that is constantly proving to be better than I ever imagined it could be. It is a simple but profoundly satisfying way to live.
– Sonia Choquette
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