Author: Clara Carrier

This week, my heart is full as I celebrate my son Nico’s 20th birthday. Twenty years of watching him grow into his own light, his own purpose, his own path. As a mother, I’ve learned that one of the greatest gifts we can give our children—and really, anyone in our lives—is to celebrate who they are, not just what they do.

In a world quick to point out flaws and focus on the negative, choosing to accentuate the positive in others is a radical act of love. Psychologist Barbara Fredrickson’s research on positive emotions shows that when we highlight the good, it doesn’t just make someone feel better in the moment—it actually broadens their awareness and helps build long-term resilience and stronger relationships (Fredrickson, 2001). Neuroscience research from UC Davis found that gratitude practices, like noticing and expressing appreciation, improve sleep, reduce stress, and increase happiness over time (Emmons & McCullough, 2003). And in the workplace, Gallup reports that employees who regularly receive recognition and praise are more engaged, more productive, and significantly less likely to burn out (Gallup, 2016).

When we notice what is good, strong, or beautiful in someone, we’re not just reflecting their light back to them—we’re helping them see it more clearly themselves. Celebration is more than birthdays and milestones. It’s in the everyday moments: a kind gesture, a resilient choice, a spark of creativity, or simply the courage to keep going. By pausing to acknowledge these things, we remind each other that we are more than our struggles—we are possibility, promise, and purpose in motion.

So today, I celebrate Nico. I celebrate his humor, his curiosity, his resilience, and the way he continues to teach me what it means to grow.

Pause & Reflect: What can you celebrate about yourself—or someone you work with, love, or walk alongside?

Here are three gentle steps you can take today:

1. Pause and Notice – Take one mindful breath, then name one quality or moment you appreciate in yourself or another.

2. Express It – Share your recognition. Write it down, speak it aloud, or send a short message of appreciation.

3. Repeat and Reinforce – Make it a daily habit. The more we celebrate, the more our brains are rewired to see hope, connection, and possibility.

Celebrating others isn’t just kindness—it’s a leadership skill, a parenting tool, and a practice of love that shapes cultures, families, and teams.

And here’s the beautiful truth: every time you celebrate someone else, you strengthen your own capacity for joy and resilience. By pausing to honor the good, we create ripples of hope that go far beyond the moment—and those ripples begin with us.

Fifty years ago, I began life in an incubator, fighting for each breath. Raised in a home where love seemed conditional, earned by being good, quiet, and responsible, I carried a belief that I had to perform and prove my worth. That belief took me across borders, through Corporate America, and into leadership roles.

But beneath all the striving, a deeper truth lived within me. My name, Clara Lucia, means clear light. And my purpose has always been to awaken humanity in the marketplace—to help people remember who they are, beyond the pressure to perform, prove, or please.

Why Purpose Matters—For Your Brain, Body, and Leadership

Science is now confirming what our hearts have always known: when you live with purpose, everything changes.

• For your brain: Purpose strengthens memory and resilience. Research shows it enhances brain structures like the hippocampus and white matter, which are essential for focus and stress recovery (Boylan et al., 2024).
• For your emotions: People with a strong sense of purpose bounce back from stress faster, showing stronger regulation of emotional responses (van Reekum et al., 2013).
• For your health: Living purposefully is linked to healthier immune function and even better gene expression, lowering inflammation and strengthening antiviral defenses (Fredrickson et al., 2013).
• For your life: Carol Ryff’s six-factor model of psychological well-being identifies purpose in life as one of the essential pillars of human flourishing (Ryff, 1989).

And this truth was powerfully lived out by Viktor Frankl, the Austrian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor. In the concentration camps, he lost nearly everything—his parents, his wife, his career. Yet he observed that those who survived the unimaginable weren’t the strongest or even the healthiest, but those who held on to a sense of meaning. As he wrote:

“Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear almost any ‘how.’”

Frankl’s story reminds us that purpose is not a luxury—it is a lifeline. It is fuel for your mind, your body, your relationships, and your leadership.

Why the Pause Is Everything

If purpose is so powerful, why do so many of us drift away from it?

Because we live on autopilot. The hustle culture we live in convinces us that doing more will finally make us “enough.” But what we really need is not more doing—it’s a pause.

That’s why I teach the Power Pause. Neuroscience shows that intentional pauses literally rewire your brain—disrupting patterns of stress and building new pathways for clarity and calm.

3 Ways to Reconnect With Purpose Today

Take a Soul Inventory. Ask yourself: Where do I feel alive? Where do I feel like I’m disappearing? Where have I abandoned myself to achieve or please others? What’s the cost of staying vs. the risk of changing?

Write a Personal Vow. Neuroscience tells us repetition rewires the brain. Writing statements like “I vow to honor my truth and stop apologizing for who I am” strengthens pathways of self-worth.

Anchor Micro-Pauses. Before a meeting or after a hard conversation, pause. Breathe deeply and ask: Am I moving from pressure—or from purpose? These moments shift your brain and your leadership in real time.

My Invitation to You

Living on autopilot doesn’t just cost us energy—it costs us clarity, joy, and connection.

When you pause, when you realign with purpose, you not only reclaim your energy—you ignite your light. And that light doesn’t just change your life. It awakens humanity around you.

So today, I invite you: take a pause. Breathe. Reconnect with the purpose that has always been within you.

Next Step: If this resonates, I’d love to guide you deeper. Reach out to me at clara.carrier@startbreakingthrough for a time to connect. Start breaking through to reclaim your clarity and confidence.