For Life on Purpose Episode #43, my guest is activist, leadership coach, and wild woman Lea Ann Mallett. Lea Ann has spent nearly 30 years as an activist with a focus on environmental and social justice issues, including sitting a tree for three days in an ancient forest in British Columbia to protest clearcut logging there and fifteen years as a nonprofit leader. She's since embarked on life as a midlife mom, having two children in her early 40s.

Over time, she came to realize that ALL of us are changing the world, every day, through "The Beauty and Power of Small Actions." Her philosophy is that "every interaction we have with another person, the planet, and the other beings is an opportunity to change the world for the better."

About Lea Ann Mallett: I have always been convinced that what we do each day in the world changes the world.

From my years as an activist, sitting in an ancient cedar tree for three days to bring international attention to the clearcutting of old growth forests to leading activist blockades in the forests of northern Canada, to my work with street involved youth and my years as a nonprofit leader, I KNOW I have made a difference and I have seen so many people make a difference too.

I have been an intrepid world traveller, heading off to Kenya and Tanzania on my own to go on safari, backpacking across Central America, exploring the street markets of Beijing and roaming through Canada and the U.S. during months-long road trips in my old car with my belongings in the back seat.

I have been a successful activist, collaborating with other environmental leaders in creating thousands of hectares of new protected parks in Ontario, delivering HIV/AIDS education when the crisis was in its earliest stages, changing policies on the federal, provincial and local levels and raising international media awareness on key environmental and social justice issues.

I have successfully led two nonprofit charities, quadrupling the budget of the most recent organization I led and exponentially increasing its reach and impact.

What I also know is that it is easy to lose track of that creative edge, that feeling of having an incredible purpose, being exactly where you are supposed to be. The grind of daily life, the pressures of leading an organization, the wonderful, crazy challenges of being a parent - we can end up on auto-pilot, not creating our greatest impact or living our lives as fully as is possible. I found myself feeling disconnected from my purpose, my creativity and my purpose after taking on the double challenge of becoming a midlife mom and becoming an entrepreneur.

I went on a quest to find the best sources of inspiration, creativity, passion and energy to fuel my life, my activism and my business. I studied with world famous coaches, visionary thinkers and successful entrepreneurs to understand their magic so I could meld it with my own.

I am more powerful and create more impact in my life now than I ever have! My personal experiences with powerful coaching and my studies revealed that the limitations that I put on myself are choices and I can choose differently.

The more you become YOU, the more comfortable you become with who you are and tap into your unique talents and passions, the happier and more fulfilled you will be, AND the more impact you will make in your family, your community and your world.

To learn more about Lea Ann, visit: http://www.leaannmallett.com/.

For Life on Purpose Episode #42, author, speaker, and teacher Gregg Krech, one of the leading authorities on Japanese Psychology in North America returns to the show.

Gregg joins me for a very timely and inspirational conversation about New Year's Resolutions and why they often don't work; using dreams as a motivator instead; identifying your purpose vs. using feelings to guide your life; taking action as a way of figuring things out; the urgency of 30,000 — the amount of days the average person has in their lives; the Japanese psychology of Naikan; and much more!

About: Gregg Krech is an author, speaker, teacher, and one of the leading authorities on Japanese Psychology in North America. He's also the founding Director of the TohDoh Institute, an educational center for purposeful living, based in Vermont.

Gregg is the author of the award-winning book: Naikan: Gratitude, Grace & the Japanese Art of Self-Reflection, which has been translated into five languages, and he's the editor of Thirty Thousand Days: A Journal for Purposeful Living. His work has been featured in a wide range of publications including THE SUN magazine, Utne Reader, Fitness, Counseling Today, Cosmopolitan, and Experience Life.

His most recent book, The Art of Taking Action: Lessons from Japanese Psychology brings an eastern perspective to the issue of purpose is currently an Amazon best-seller in the Zen category. It offers an empowering approach to meeting our own personal goals, but also focuses on the impact on our actions (and inactions) on the world..

To learn more about Gregg and his work, visit: http://www.artoftakingaction.com or http://www.todoinstitute.org.