If you've ever been told that you cannot do something, but you refuse to give up on your dream, you have something in common with Chalky White.

After repeatedly failing to achieve full ski instructor certification in the United Kingdom, then being repeatedly denied entry into another certification program, White eventually accomplished his goal of being a world-class ski instructor. He's been inspiring confidence in skiers of all levels for more than three decades.

"Adversity is simply the flipside of success; I was told that I had the 'wrong body shape' for skiing and I experienced three consecutive failures at achieving the full British certification," says Chalky, who flew across the world to New Zealand for training and certification there. Denied entry, his tenacity finally convinced the coach to take him on.

"The negativity I'd experienced in following my dreams only served to increase my determination. Also, I believe the difficulty I had helped me be far more empathetic as an instructor."

Chalky is the author of Amazon's bestselling "The 7 Secrets of Skiing." The enormous response to the how-to book enabled him to craft a new program for business professionals and celebrities, called Ski the World with Chalky White, (www.the7secretsofskiing.com).

He discusses lessons in skiing, both for the slopes and in life.

•  Keep in mind the "calculated risk factor." Of course, giving your all can be scary, because no matter how much you invest in time, effort and money, there's no guarantee it will work. And, even for experienced skiers, standing at the top of a big, steep hill with the intention of throwing your body down it - albeit with the intention of control - can be nerve-racking.

"That's where preparation and systematic training comes in," Chalky says. "You're not simply hurling yourself down the mountain; you're taking a calculated risk, estimating that your training and ability to stay calm and focused will serve your purpose. The same goes with any risk you take in life."

•  Always show up first. Whether you're the most gifted person in your field of passion or, like Chalky, you have the "wrong body shape," be so enthusiastic about learning and working, you're always the first one on the slope. Never take your talent or your experience for granted. The always-show-up-first mentality keeps you humble, hungry and sharp.

"I was extremely fortunate to have a ski instructor trainer in Peter Curtis; after I'd finally achieved my dream of becoming a fully certified instructor, he said to me, 'Congratulations, now go and learn to ski,' " Chalky says. "Initially taken aback at such a key juncture in my life and career, the simple command set me on the path that I still follow today. With each ski season, I try eking out that little bit of improvement that helps both me and my clients."

•  Skiing is balancing on a moving platform. Simply put, skiing is balance. An efficiently poised skier who has found his or her balance can ski harder, better and longer through difficult twists and turns. That's true for skiing and an excellent metaphor for attacking the slalom of life.

"The right balance of physical and mental preparation and determination can take you pretty much anywhere you want to go," he says.

•  Never take "no" for an answer; be willing to alter your plan to achieve your goal. In order to fund his attempt to make his living as a fully certified instructor, Chalky needed money. At age 26, he left his position as a British policeman and took a job that no one wanted as an encyclopedia salesman in Germany.

"Nearly every step along the way, I wanted to quit -- from the tedious job selection process to knocking on my first German door on a cold, wet evening to continuing the position month after month," he says. "But I did it, and I did it well, which taught me the rewards of persevering through the tough stuff. I didn't say 'no,' and I've since lived the life I've wanted. Sometimes, in order to fulfill a dream, one must do things that are not part of the original plan."

About Chalky White

For many years, Chalky White has been a professional ski instructor who is highly regarded for being able to help develop balance and confidence in beginners and new insights for intermediate and advanced skiers. Through his business, Seven Secrets International Ski Services LLC, he has taught students in the Alps, New Zealand and the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, where he remains a longtime member of the esteemed Vail and Beaver Creek Ski School. Since 2011, his book, "The 7 Secrets of Skiing," (www.the7secretsofskiing.com), has been at or near the No.1 for ski books on Amazon. White is a sought-after inspirational/motivational speaker on his specialty subject and his keynote, "The Calculated Risk Factor - What a wonderful World - If you Don't Quit!"

Human beings are capable of a rich inner life that, sadly, seems to elude so many, says dating and life coach Deborah Downey.

"I doubt that most of us fully realize just how much worry, doubt and fear we experience on a daily basis; it seems to me that acknowledging this default setting and finding an alternative for well-being should be among our top priorities," says Downey, author of "What Are You Worried About!" (http://www.coachdeborahdowney.com/).

"Too often, we are inclined toward trying to be something that, upon closer inspection, isn't what we actually want. Much of this can be attributed to our egos, which persistently tug at our motivations."

Women who think they have to be married and men who are afraid of revealing their true feelings are just two examples of ego-driven ideas that lead us away from personal fulfillment, she says.

Downey, who found romance and happiness later in life despite living with multiple sclerosis for 25 years, says we can have a more worry-free existence. She explains a few ideas for overriding your ego's default settings.

•  "I strive for imperfection and I'm always a winner."
"Most people laugh when I say this," she says, because society is forever challenging us to compete and compare ourselves with others to assess our own value. Striving for imperfection is a reminder that we don't have to drive ourselves crazy with unattainable goals.

"I notice most of us have hidden rules that we carry from childhood that really don't help us as adults," she says. "There isn't any way to be perfect for myself or for any other person who has ever lived. To strive for something unattainable is to strive for failure. Ultimately, allowing for you to be who you are is, I find, liberating and more conducive to overall success in life."

•  A lesson from Spanx founder and self-made billionaire Sara Blakely ... Once upon a time Blakely was just another struggling entrepreneur. In addition to her blockbuster underwear product and her drive, she was armed with a profound idea inherited from her father, an advocate of acclaimed life coach Wayne Dyer. The idea: Don't be afraid to fail big, because it means you put the effort forth on something that you care about, even though the effort was outside of your comfort zone.

"Appreciating one's daily and weekly failures is not a means of encouraging it; rather, it's a way of learning from failure and developing thicker skin so that you aren't paralyzed into future inactivity due to fear of failure or the unknown," she says.

•  "We no longer pursue the tormentor."
"When my mentor coach first said this to me over the phone, I asked her to repeat it three times," Downey says.

Tormentors are all-knowing, all-controlling, arrogant to the tenth degree, super-demanding and impossible to please. Because her parents always demanded the best and never praised Downey as a child, she sought love from sociopaths and narcissists as an adult.

"The clarity of how I brought so much pain into my life by pursuing tormentors was mind-blowing," she says. "Of course, one's own ego can play the very same role."

About Deborah Downey

Deborah Downey's experience spans 25 years of recovery in various 12-step programs around the country. Holding certifications as a professional life coach and as a chemical dependency counselor, Downey has dealt with addiction in its various forms, both as the child of alcoholic parents and as a confidant for others. In her self-help book, "What Are You Worried About!" (http://www.coachdeborahdowney.com/), Downey, who has multiple sclerosis, details a proactive approach to training one's mind to think positive.

In terms of growth in business ownership, women have been soaring past men, averaging increases 1.5 times the national average, according to the 2014 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report by American Express Open.

There are nearly 9.1 million women-owned businesses providing jobs for nearly 7.9 million people and generating more than $1.4 trillion, according to the report.

Leading the skyrocketing growth are women of color, who now own one of every three female-owned businesses - up from one in six in 1997. Black women alone generate $49.5 billion a year in revenue.

"What's interesting is that these businesses match or exceed their peers in terms of numbers, employment and revenue - until they hit the $1 million mark," says Dr. Venus Opal Reese, CEO of Defy Impossible, Inc. (www.DefyImpossible.com), a coaching business that helps black women -- and men and women of all ethnicities -- break the seven-figure ceiling.

"At $1 million, they start lagging behind. Despite their bigger-than-average numbers, women's businesses are still smaller than average."

Reese says female CEOs black and white tend to unconsciously start sabotaging their success just as they're growing into greatness. Why?

"From the time we're babies, society - often our own families, too -- measure our worth based on how we measure up to their expectations. So we end up measuring our value on those same expectations, not the values that come from our true, authentic self. That sets up some real conflicts as we build successful businesses," Reese says.

How to overcome that? To "defy impossible"?

Reese, who went from living on the streets as a teen in Baltimore to earning her Ph.D. from Stanford, shares these tips:

·  Know your worth in dollars and cents.
Most women tend to accept the unspoken expectation that people will notice and reward us. That's a mistake. If you over-give or over-work, you actually train your environment to expect you to give without compensation. Start calculating the time, money and resources you bring (or save) your clients or company. Write it down. When you are ready to up your rates or ask for a raise, you will not be depending on good will. You will have hard data to back up your hard work.

·  Trust that you are more than enough.
Too often we look outside of ourselves for validation. Sometimes we think a degree or a title will give us the "right" to be paid top dollar. You are brilliant. Start noticing that when you show up, things get better, they get done, and people soar. When you trust that you are enough, you stop backing down and you start standing for yourself ? no credential needed.

·  Heal your heart.
Money is a heart condition. Think of money as energy. Energy needs a conduit. Most women lead with our hearts. Whenever you are harboring resentment, regret, anger, resignation or fear, you are blocking yourself from your seven-figure future. When our hearts are congested with negative energy, we block our wealth.

·  Invest in yourself.
As her business grew, there came a point when Reese realized she - and it - had outgrown many of the support staff that had been perfectly suitable when she was just starting out. To get the people she needed, she doubled and, in some cases, quadrupled salaries.

"I believe in putting money in me instead of on me," she says. "When I hire proven professionals, I am investing in my peace of mind and quality time with my loved ones. When you 'hire up,' you say to yourself and the Universe, 'I trust you and I trust me to produce a return on this investment tenfold.'

"Now that I have a top-tier team, I have the mental space, creativity, and peace of mind to focus on high-level joint ventures."

·  Learn how to monetize.
Until you can reliably bring in new money, you will be a slave. The best investment Reese says she ever made in herself was learning how to package, position, and price her expertise.

"When you learn how to monetize, you get freedom. You don't have to depend on a man, or a job, or the government for security. And when you learn how to close sales with confidence, your money skyrockets!"

About Dr. Venus Opal Reese

Dr. Venus Opal Reese, CEO of Defy Impossible, Inc. (www.DefyImpossible.com), is an acclaimed international speaker; CEO Mindset, Messaging and Marketing Mentor; and entrepreneur coach. She holds two master's degrees and a Ph.D. from Stanford University, and worked as a university professor before investing in herself by testing her entrepreneurial skills. Her business, Defy Impossible, grossed $1.2 million less than three years after launching.

Salt is Good for You, Calcium Supplements are Bad, and the Lab Test Everyone Should Get
4 Tips for Getting Seriously Healthy from One of the 'Best Doctors in America'*

There's a reason - well, several - why so many diseases are increasing in frequency in the United States, making some that were almost unheard of 100 years ago commonplace today, says Robert Thompson, M.D., an OB/GYN and integrative medicine specialist deemed by his peers to be in the top 5 percent of U.S. physicians.

"The United States is now 46th in men's mortality and the absolute worst country in the industrialized world for first-day infant mortality," says Thompson, author of "The Calcium Lie II: What Your Doctor Still Doesn't Know," (calciumliebook.com), a new book that details the roles minerals play in overall health and how to identify and correct deficiencies and imbalances.

"Based on the current rate of autism diagnoses, there will be no 'normal' male babies born in the U.S. by 2030," he says. "The current rate of diabetes suggests 95 percent of our adult population will be diabetic by 2030. The number of children with life-threatening allergies has increased more than 1,000 percent since 1995."

A perfect storm of corporate power, profits and public misinformation has succeeded in overwhelming the basic biochemical and physiological tenets of good health, says Thompson, who published his first book, "The Calcium Lie: What Your Doctor Doesn't Know Could Kill You," in 2008.

"Mineral deficiencies are responsible for a host of health problems, which are incorrectly treated by drugs," Thompson says. "We're told by the government and the medical community that we should be ingesting certain amounts of vitamin and mineral supplements to prevent disease, like osteoporosis, when in reality, the recommendations lead to other very serious health problems."

Thompson offers these suggestions for Americans to take charge of their health:

•  Get a hair tissue mineral analysis (HTMA) to determine your mineral status.
This may be the most important health test that exists, Thompson says. Only when you and your doctor know for sure your mineral status and important ratios can you adapt your diet, minerals and supplements to work toward proper balance.

Thompson recommends using Trace Elements, Inc. clinical lab in Addison, Texas, because it adheres to the highest standards. The lab accepts only samples submitted by health-care providers, including physicians, nutritionists, and others, so you need to find one who does HTMA and uses that lab. (Individuals who can't find a provider can call the lab for help in locating one; HTMA is prohibited in New York state.)

•  Do not take calcium supplements unless tests indicate a deficiency. We've all been told that we must ingest lots of calcium to ensure strong bones. In fact, calcium is just one of at least 12 minerals in our bones, all of which must be present in the right balance for good bone health. Calcium has been added to so much of our food, it's unlikely most of us are deficient. And yet, people are told to take calcium supplements. Excess calcium can cause kidney and gallstones, arterial plaque, bone spurs, calcium deposits in tissues other than bone, and brain cell dysfunction, brain shrinkage and dementia. Instead of calcium, Thompson instructs all his patients and readers to take a minimum of 3 grams of trace minerals derived from sea salt every day.

•  Salt - sodium - is necessary for digestion, nutrient absorption, cell function and metabolism.
Limiting salt intake is not only the wrong advice for 90 percent of the people at risk for high blood pressure, it also contributes to the lack of minerals in our bodies. Many of us are actually deficient in sodium.

Salt is a mineral, and unrefined sea salt and rock salt is the best source of sodium and ionic minerals. If you are sodium deficient, add harvested pure sea salt liberally to your foods. It is important to use pure sea salt, and not the common table salt, as processing has stripped common table salt of its mineral value.

•  Use only vitamin supplements made from 100 percent organic whole foods that have been vine-ripened.
Almost all of us need supplements because contemporary food supplies lack adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals, thanks to soil depletion. Most store-bought vitamins include just one component of the many complex molecular elements contained in the naturally occurring vitamin source. You need all of the nutrient components to get the full benefits.

The best natural sources of readily available vitamins include raw seeds, stabilized rice bran powder, vine-ripened fresh fruit and berries (vitamin C).

*Robert Thompson, M.D., was added to the peer-reviewed directory, "Best Doctors in America," in 1996.

About Robert Thompson, M.D.

Dr. Robert Thompson is a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist, and a nutrition specialist who helps patients get long-term relief from chronic disease, including obesity, diabetes, hypothyroidism and adrenal fatigue. His newest book, "The Calcium Lie II," is available for free at calciumliebook.com. Dr. Thompson received his medical training at the University of Kentucky and has been a leader in medical advances for more than 30 years.