And why we all desperately need you to be exactly who you are.

Why some of us still fear being sent to the proverbial principal's office.

No one's perfect. We get qualified along the way and experience comes from imperfect action. The cosmic question isn't about certification, it's about whether we answer the invitation to participate in our life.

What if the desire to be remarkable has kept us from the freedom and peace that come with accepting the gift of being unremarkable. No one is more special than the other. It is normal people living regular lives who will change the world.

Where in your week do you notice yourself putting your head down and pressing the gas? Maybe it gets you from Monday to Friday, but what are you missing along the way? We miss our lives when we measure time in minutes and months instead of memorable moments.

We can overcomplicate personal growth and the process of maturation, but growing up (which takes a lifetime) is really quite simple. All we need to do is bring consciousness to the moments we resist growing up.

Most of us miss the chance to truly connect with one another or garner support for something we care about because we haven’t taken the time to reflect on the language we should use to describe ourselves and what matters to us.

Most people I know don't like to have things done to them. We don’t like to be fixed. We don’t enjoy being projects. What people really want is connection.

We only get a certain amount of energy each day. The most effective (and peaceful) people are conscious about where they direct their energy, and are selective about the thoughts, feelings, activities, and relationships they fuel.

We make assumptions about the judgement we receive from others because we constantly judge ourselves. We must remember peace on the outside comes from peace on the inside and acceptance on the outside comes from acceptance on the inside.

We grow most when build relationships with those who have travelled the journey we're currently experiencing and have faced the types of challenges we wish to endure. Finding a mentor who can show you your blind spots is priceless - and perhaps the most important thing you can do for your growth.

When we bring awareness to our patterns of behavior, we can understand the mindsets driving our daily actions. Then, we can consciously double-down on the helpful mindsets and work to eradicate the unhelpful ones by replacing them with better stories.

When people ask us, "So...what do you do?" - they're giving us a gift. They are opening the door for us to show them how much our work means to us, and inviting us share what we want out of life without looking like a used car salesman. They are nudging us to turn a regular interaction into a moment of real connection.

Maybe it's not about disciplining ourselves into doing more as much as it's about deepening our lived experience and creating more meaningful moments that matter.

We achieve our big lifetime goals when we build small daily habits to reach them.

I'm at my best when I can remember it's the small and simple decisions I make minute-by-minute that add up to the person I am becoming. This, in turn, opens the door for truly creative solutions to problems which once seemed insurmountable.

You can recognize a healthy relationship or a healthy team by paying attention to the way they ask for help and meet the needs of one another.

When we're insecure and people question our decisions or ideas we think it's a judgement on our very being. And this prevents us from building healthy teams and learning from the perspectives of others.

Emotional maturity is not about mounting an attack against pain and unsavory circumstances so we can find happiness again; real growth is about honing our ability to feel joy in the midst of whatever is going on.

We must fall in love with the process of growth, not our fantasies about the end result.