Episode Details

Dear You! On this episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times an immigration activist and legal powerhouse teaches us how to write letters to the selves we intend to become. Hillary Walsh, President and Founder of New Frontier Immigration Law, explains how this simple tool can help us determine – and then manifest – the things we want to be, do and have. It starts with articulating a vision – then identifying the week-by-week, month-by-month steps necessary to make it a reality. It’s exactly this kind of focused goal-setting that has driven Hillary’s growing legal advisory firm and foundation. You’ll learn how she transcended childhood abuse, as well as stints in foster care and lockup, to become a crusader for the rights of those without a voice – victims of domestic violence, human trafficking and a broken immigration system. Gratitude is at the root of Hillary’s ambitious goal to empower marginalized people – the core mission that animates her whole team at New Frontier Immigration Law on even the toughest of days. Says Hillary: “The only way out of a ditch is not to dig more. It’s not to have someone pull you out. It’s up to you to levitate out.” Now there’s a thought for your next motivational letter!

Did you try our 60-second letter-writing exercise? If you’d like to share the thoughts you composed while listening to this episode, we’d love for you to send them to us via this contact.

The short documentary at this link will give you the overview on Hillary’s work and the passion she brings to immigration law. Click here if you’re interested in learning more about the goal-setting retreats we discussed.

If you’d like to learn more about Chris and his 7:47 Virtual Gratitude Experience or subscribe to our newsletter, please visit this link.

Click hereto hear more fascinating conversations with Fortune 500 CEOs, professional athletes and entertainerswho have shared their human stories on Gratitude Through Hard Times.

KEY TOPICS:

• If you could give credit or thanks to one person in your life that you don’t give enough credit or enough thanks to – that you’ve never thought to thank – who would that be? Her longtime friend Lisa, a beauty pageant mentor who supported Hillary as a feisty teen-age competitor in pursuit of scholarship money. Decades later, it stands as “the most authentic demonstration of friendship and love” Hillary has ever known.
• Lonely at the Top: Bringing the intensity required to achievement and innovation can predispose judgment, projection and high expectations that not everyone shares.
• How Hillary Stays Committed: Ongoing goal-setting and targeted plans are key, as well as detailed letters to her future self that articulate concrete goals.
• New Frontier University: The platform, which will offer revolutionary access to education and skills, launches in the next six months.
• A Letter to Myself in Sixty Seconds:
  • Investigate/Determine the things you want to be, do and have.
  • Who do you want on your team five years from now?
  • Imagine the gift you want to have cultivated five years from now.
  • Include specific data and personal targets, then build backwards month by month, week by week.
  • Speak your desires directly to the universe.
  • Put it in writing: “Dear (Me), It’s 2028 and I’m so glad I’ve been able to x,y and z.”
• New Frontier’s Big-Picture Goals: 
  • To serve and support those who have experienced domestic violence and human trafficking.
  • To compensate for shortcomings in the social welfare system.
  • To provide options and a voice to undocumented people wh