That amazing idea you had the other day? We’re waiting for you to believe in it enough to bring it to the marketplace so it can make our lives brighter, shinier, easier, more convenient.

That breakthrough you made in your research last night? We’re excited for when your paper is published, so the entire scientific community can be revolutionized by your findings. And if not all the brainiacs, then at least the one who will contribute to the knowledge that will one day further the field that will rock our worlds. True.

That spark of a painting you have in your eye? They’re clearing a space for it now in the Louvre.

The branch manager of the local bookstore just made space for your first best seller.

On your way to work this morning, a little girl watched you walk by, and she looked up to your success. And no matter where you are in this world, the future success of that little girl is going to multiply through her society in ways economists can’t even predict yet.

The barista you tipped a little extra for your latte this morning is going to spend the money investing in their start-up business, and it’s going to bring affordability to a necessity that a lot of people currently struggle to obtain. It might be health care. It might be self-esteem. Aren’t you excited to find out?

Your smile brightened someone’s day, and you’re never going to know who it was, but their smile in turn brightened another person’s day. You started an avalanche of joy today, just by being you.

I’m writing this now, thinking about you, and loving you for taking the time to read this, and believe in it, and care about it, and let it resonate with you.

I wrote this for you.

These are the reasons you have to be you and let others be them.

This is why you have to set the world on fire: Because everyone else is doing something similar but differentiated. They’re doing X, Y, or Z and they do it damn well. Better than you’re ever going to do it. But only you can do E, F or G. It takes a bunch of different letters to make the sentence cohesive and coherent.

That powerful waterfall you see over there? That’s nothing but a bunch of little drips working together. And if they all decided they weren’t good enough, or big enough, or important enough, or capable enough, or smart enough, or pretty enough, or worthy enough to give to the team effort, we’d have less of a powerful waterfall and more of a drought. There’d be a desert where an oasis should be. No fun! We need you, and the notes you can sing, and the flowers you can arrange, and the cakes you can bake and the hugs you can give, and the code you can write and the care you can share.

We need you to set our world on fire in your own way. We need you to set your world ablaze, because only you can be you as well as you possibly could, and what you bring to the table is so damn unique, we’re only ever going to get one of you. You’re so important and special, that there were only the resources to make one of you. Imagine!

Even you, you identical twin the the corner, struggling with competition. There’s a reason the people who know you can tell you two apart.

You’ve got your own light to shine, and it’s exactly the optic frequency that someone needs so that they can perceive bright colours in their life. So shine-o-rama away with your day.

I wrote this for you, and it’s all true. Go forth and set the world on fire.

I’m rooting for you. We’re rooting for you. Make us proud. But mostly, go about today in a way that’ll make you proud of your reflection.

Square those shoulders.

Face that world.

Pull out your heart.

Hold it up to the sun. (Like Rafiki did to Simba, which is totally what declared him the King of the Pride.)

And be proud of what you’ve got to offer.

(Good luck my dear. You’re not gonna need it though. Who needs luck when you have so much awesome on your side?)

Your Starting Toolbox:

• This song, because The Lion King is the best parallel to your journey I can think of. Your greatness lives in you.
• This manifesto of encouragement, because it inspired this plea bargain for your inner light over here.
• The time of the sunrise in your local area, because you will sometimes need to literally watch the world unfold before you in order to tune into its needs and your purpose for those 24 hours.
• The time of sunset in your local area, because you will sometimes need to literally watch the world darken around you before you realize how precious the quiet hours are to your mind.
• This fridge magnet, because I have it in greeting card version (picture above) and it serves as a constant reminder to me of what it is I’m doing, and if it works for me, it might work for you too, because you’re out to change the world and I’m out to change the world and we just have a lot in common like that.
• And this fridge magnet too, because it’s thoroughly inspiring, and you’re thoroughly inspiring, and that’s just a match waiting to happen.
• This is a guide on how to write a proper letter of resignation, because you will have to quit your job should you realize it’s the kind of living that’s keeping you from making a life.
• This is the best magazine for small-business owners, because you may have to pursue entrepreneurship and/or self-employment when realize your true worth and tune into the station playing “You Can Create Your Own Freedom” on a 24/7 loop.
• This quote, which should be repeated weekly, daily, hourly, every second until it rings true to your ears: You are already perfect. You already have enough, you already do enough, you are already good enough.