Many teenagers assume that they have reached the pinnacle of growth upon their high school graduation; they have determined that they no longer have to answer to anyone as they are now 18 with a high school diploma.  Obvious to the parents, their child still has years of growing up to do, and no years are as vital as those spent in college.

Psychologists say, "If a child has not had a serious fall within the first year of life, they are being too closely guarded." That statement needs to be said for our adult lives as well. Have you had a serious fall in the past year? If not, is it because you're being too closely guarded? Are you too cautious? Too safe? Too practical? Too boring?

By Yee-Ming Tan.  I just finished reading Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book Outliers: The Story of Success. Much of what Gladwell has to say about successful people is little more than common sense: that talent alone is not enough to ensure success, that opportunity, hard work, family, timing and luck play important roles as well. From a coach’s perspective, the point about luck, timing and opportunity has a special relevance to the pursuit of flourishing lives for Chinese people.

It’s easy to overlook the power of limiting beliefs and spend years wondering why you can’t seem to move forward and make lasting changes in your life. Visualization is one powerful tool that can be effective in changing limiting beliefs, because the process of visualization speaks directly to the subconscious mind and plants more empowering messages - which can override the limiting beliefs.

What change can we effect? What's the difference we want to make in the world? Gandhi said, "In a gentle way you can shake the world." Here are some things to think about how to do just that...

The alarm clock jars you awake at some insanely early hour. As you hit the snooze button you think, "there's gotta be a better way to make a living." As someone who rolled out of bed this morning at 8:30, I'm here to deliver the good news: there is.

One of the qualities of superior men and women is that they are extremely self-reliant. They accept complete responsibility for themselves and everything that happens to them. They look to themselves as the source of their successes and as the main cause of their problems and difficulties... Totally self-responsible people look upon themselves as self-employed. They see themselves as the president of their own personal services corporation. They realize that no matter who signs their paycheck, in the final analysis they work for themselves.

Do you lead with your dream? Is your dream so clear that you can feel it, smell it, see it, and describe it as if it were a life you've lived before? Furthermore, have you crafted a compelling vision that depicts your dream and do you use this vision to create desire and ignite motivation? A compelling vision is a 30-second movie clip that depicts what success is to you. A clear vision is like a motivational vitamin - available for you whenever you need a shot of energy to get you back on track and refocused on your goal.

By Robert White.   One of the most powerful pieces of writing that I’ve ever seen is from Marianne Williamson’s book A Return to Love. It was quoted by Nobel Prize–winner Nelson Mandela in his inaugural address... Listen closely and consider your own life as you listen to Marianne’s words. “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate; our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world..."

More than any other factor, perhaps, the unsuccessful person can usually be identified with a group that is at the mercy of events. The unsuccessful person has things done to him or her. The successful person seeks autonomy and makes his or her own plans and has the self-esteem and inner excitement and knowledge to know that those plans can be followed, barring a calamity over which he or she can exercise no control.