2. Stop looking outside yourself for happiness. Look inside. Increase your self-awareness. Get curious about who you are at core. Cultivate and nurture a relationship with yourself.

3. Cover basics. Take time to address your personal needs. How can you focus on thriving in your life if you are in survival mode? Set up that meeting with a financial advisor, get your space organized, clean up details that are sapping your energy.

4. Embrace your past and move on. Shift from “why it happened” to what I want to do about it now. Asking “why” is not a very empowering question. Asking what or how I want to proceed can be much more powerful and produce forward movement.

5. You’re not alone. It’s so easy to feel overwhelmed with life. Seek support. It’s amazing to realize that most of us are struggling with similar challenges. “Hold hands and stick together”, wrote Robert Fulgham in his popular bestseller, “Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten”.

6. Remember gratitude. Count your blessings. What IS working well in you life? Make a list. Set aside a bit of time everyday to acknowledge what or who you are grateful for. The more you practice gratitude, more you attract into your life things to be grateful for.

7. Court your passion. Yes, you have passion even though it’s been a while since you may have felt it flow. When are you most alive and joyful in your life? If time and money weren’t a factor what would you do, who would you be? Who do you most admire and what do they inspire in you?

8. Take action. Take a risk. What’s one small thing you could do right now that could super charge your inspiration? All inspiration in world won’t move your life to next level. It takes inspired ACTION to do that.

9. Keep breathing. You probably forget to take deep full breaths. We have all learned to constrict our breathing in response to stress. According to many experts we not only need oxygen to stay alive, we need oxygen to give us energy and keep us healthy. Right now take 5 deep, full breaths.

10. Have fun. When was last time you played? Call a friend, take a bubble bath, take yourself to an art museum or schedule a whole day out in nature. Put on some great music and dance till you drop.

How will you feel when you get to end of your life and look back? There is so much opportunity and support out there to live your life with passion and purpose. You can do it, I did.

What have you got to lose?

It’s your life…imagine possibilities!

Be a wanter. Wanters vigorously go after every possibility they feel is, or should be, open to them. Because of their desire and persistence, they tend to achieve about 80 to 90 percent of what they want. When you only want half of that, you may end up with even less. If butterfly only put out half effort to break through cocoon casing, it would never come to life. You have to want more to get more. Set up realistic yet high enough standards for yourself and work on measuring up to them. It's certainly acceptable to use accomplishments of others to give you creative ideas and perhaps motivating energy force you need. Be daring in mind and spirit first. Take chances and act without overdoing research which can lead to procrastination and doubts and non-action. I once read that if you think you can do it, it's almost a crime not to try.

Remember - you want to be seen as butterfly, not bug. You won't be readily noticed (at least not in a positive manner) if you are crawling on ground or hiding for protection. You need to break open your cocoon and let your outer self be displayed so that others know you are alive and waiting for them to discover your real attributes. Each time we reach out to do more than what is expected, we add just a little more positive goodness to world. By sharing yourself as a delicate yet determined butterfly, you share your victory of emergence and offer encouragement to others to do same. Let your rainbow colors shine and glimmer!