One of my priorities for success is to be a lifelong student and spend time with leaders I resonate with.

Fear is one of the largest roadblocks to success. One year ago, I was forced to face my greatest fear — not accepting "no" for an answer when I knew I had more to offer.

Back in December 2011, marketing guru Seth Godin was hosting his well-known Medicine Ball retreat for an elite group of 60 entrepreneurs to jumpstart their creativity. I applied and was originally rejected. Today, I want to share how I responded, got personally invited to Medicine Ball the same day, and made an major shift in my career afterwards. There is something incredibly powerful about spending time with people you love to learn from and it's even more valuable when you know you overcame fear to make it happen.

Here's a special podcast I did with fellow attendee Aaron McHugh on my journey letting fear go and choosing a life of impact.

In this podcast, I share: 

• Why you should stop asking for permission from others
• Choosing a life of impact instead of following the herd.
• The power of unleashing human potential.
• How I got into Seth Godin’s Medicine Ball session after I was rejected.

Download the MP3 Podcast here.

“A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the luster of the firmament of bards and sages.” –Ralph Emerson

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2013. I love the New Year because it brings so much creative and reflective energy and it's time to set up your goals and vision for how you'd like to live out this year.

Why set goals or a vision? Odds are your chances for success will go up much higher if you spend time developing an image of the future and what you would like this future reality to look like. Yet, the key pitfall I often see in New Years resolutions is a sole focus on doing something rather than being someone. Many tend to deflect to the 'roles' that they have played in the past and how they will continue to play them in the future.

For instance, if you are asked “Who am I?” Often you might start answering with roles that you have played out: “I am an…employee, manager, woman, mother, brother, etc…” But the truth is: You are not your role identities, nor are you a composite of these identities. Each of these are a social construct. So when setting goals this year, beware of getting stuck in your past identities of what you have done before you imagine what you'd like to create.

When you are setting up your vision for this upcoming year, start fresh. Instead of asking yourself 'What can I do this year?', ask yourself 'Who could I be this year'? Imagine and experiment new ways you can live and you'll be surprised by what you find. You may discover aspirations you never knew you had or you may confirm goals that you have been waiting to live out.

Regardless, my greatest wish is that you make 2013 a manifestation of your absolute best self! It's January…time to get the year rolling!

The purpose of family is to protect you. An incredibly important need for human survival.

On the flipside, those who know you one way in a protector role will want to keep you in that box. They want to know you from the box you are in.

When you are leaping into a new career, a daring project, a fresh start, protectors sometimes want to keep you in the box and they don’t help you unleash your new power.

When this happens, don't ignore your protectors. You need them. Instead lean in a bit more and try to understand where they are coming from.

Listen to them and always ask: why are they saying what they are saying? Is a corporate exec mentoring you telling you to go to McKinsey? Is a book author saying that a book is the right way to launch a business?  Of course—that is their worldview. All advice is all opinion—based on what one knows from their life experience. Its not the answer, for you. YOU determine that for yourself.

So listen to your protectors, but also listen to that inner force that is guiding your new self in the world. 

There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. –Martha Graham

Where is your vitality and how will you let it shine?

“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, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
— Marianne Williamson

When did you feel alive and let your light shine today?