Harvard Business Review

Selected as a member of the Harvard Business Review Advisory Council, an exclusive, opt-in research community of business leaders. Actively contributes to research studies, engages in online discussion forums, and offers strategic feedback and innovative ideas to HBR editors and product developers, shaping new content and products with a focus on management and leadership.

Member of HBR Advisory Council

Do This Daily

Lan Phan is a Master Motivational and Leadership speaker who skillfully blends a wealth of experience working with CEOs, Fortune 500s, NGOs, academia, and tech companies, Lan Phan is renowned for her purpose, mindset, and continuous improvement expertise. 
The topics Lan speaks about include: 

Mindset
- Secrets to Finding Success, Happiness, and Purpose in Work & Life
- Banish Burnout: How to Go from Surviving to Thriving
- The Power of a Growth Mindset
- Tame Your Inner Critic

Skillset
- Own Your Voice
- Be Brave Enough to Suck at Something New
- Building Career Resilience 

Systems: 
- Ruthless Prioritization
- Change Requires Consistency: The Power of Daily Actions
- Unlock Your Potential with Bias for Action

Her dynamic speaking engagements, span prestigious venues like the United Nations, Stanford University, NYU Law and companies like Meta, Google, Carta, and Citi have earned widespread acclaim. Her LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, and social content commands tens of millions of views annually. She has helped numerous organizations and leaders unlock their maximum potential while finding balance. 

Transformative corporate training workshops, retreats, corporate coaching programs, and keynote speaking events that promise not just to educate but to inspire action and drive real change.

For inquiries and to bring the transformative power of motivational speaking to your organization, contact me directly through LinkedIn or on my website: https://lanphan.co

Master Motivational and Leadership Speaker

Are you ready to tap into the extraordinary within you? "Do This Daily" is your key to eradicating self-doubt and achieving your biggest dreams and goals. Do this daily, including daily exercises to help you transform your life in one year.

"Do This Daily" is not just about finding your purpose but completely redefining how you approach life and work. Leveraging her extensive expertise in leadership and personal development, Phan equips you with practical strategies and exercises to navigate both life's challenges and triumphs. Whether you're a seasoned executive or just starting, this book is your blueprint for achieving extraordinary career success and personal fulfillment.

Phan is known for distilling complex topics into simple behaviors that can be readily applied to daily life and work. She draws on ideas from psychology and neuroscience to create an easy-to-understand guide for living your life purposefully. As you delve into the book, you'll find the inspiration to create the life you've always envisioned. This book is a catalyst for change, providing the tools and techniques needed for positive transformation.

In "Do This Daily," discover how to:
- Discover your purpose and reason for being
- Break free from limiting barriers.
- Stop the negative self-talk.
- Shift from self-doubt to self-acceptance.
- Rebuild confidence and overcome past mistakes.
- Stop the cycle of endless comparison to others.
- Replace limiting beliefs with empowering truths.
- Tackle fears and embrace your worth.
- Reshape your personal story and identity.
- Live your purpose through your daily actions
- Pursue genuine fulfillment and realize your dreams.

Filled with inspiring stories, practical exercises, and actionable strategies, "Do This Daily" is your essential guide to a more successful career, deeper personal satisfaction, and a life teeming with joy and purpose. Join Lan Phan on this empowering journey to unlock your full potential and create a life of true significance.

Published Author, "Do This Daily: How to Find Success, Happiness, and Purpose in Life and Work."

topmate.io

🎉 Exciting news! I'm now on Topmate! 🚀 Offering 1:1 coaching and guidance to all my amazing followers. 💫 I will always devote the majority of my time to providing free content via my Microlearnings, posts, and YouTube Channel, but for those who have asked for deeper 1:1 sessions and coaching, I now have partnered with TopMate to make this possible. ❤️ 

Check out my page and let's connect! https://lnkd.in/e6V5APPu

1:1 Leadership and Mindset Coaching

community of SEVEN

community of SEVEN has two divisions: 
CORPORATE TRAINING
C7 helps our corporate clients train their team's at-scale. We help your team realize its hidden potential. Custom, onsite, in-person, and online training. No matter your need, C7 can help you realize the full potential of your team through our micro learnings and curriculum focused on transforming the mindset of current and future leaders. Through our proprietary training methodology, we can help transform your organization and your people: 
- Engage virtually
- Create communities of belongingness
- Train dispersed teams
- Retain talent
- Strengthen culture

MEMBERSHIP
C7 CORE is a selective, invite-only membership initiative for purpose-driven leaders looking to change the world. Our members are leaders in their industry, activists looking to change the world, founders in the C-suite, or rapidly approaching it. Their decision to align purpose with core values will shape the future of their organizations, their industries, and society. Through the community of SEVEN programs, members thrive as individuals and grow as leaders.

C7's Supporter Membership is open to everyone with a thirst for hunger and learning. Membership is only $99/year and includes access to Microlearning,  Members-Only content, and Coaching Circles. 
.

Founder, Chief Community Builder

C7 CORE is a selective, invite-only membership initiative for purpose-driven leaders looking to change the world. Our members are leaders in their industry, activists looking to change the world, founders in the C-suite, or rapidly approaching it. Their decision to align purpose with core values will shape the future of their organizations, their industries, and society. Through the community of SEVEN programs, members thrive as individuals and grow as leaders.

Founding Core Member

Oasis Consortium

Provide industry expertise, leadership and direction for all major initiatives, including establishing trust and safety standards, implementing industry-wide guidelines, developing universal brand safety certifications, increasing platform transparency and advocating for brand and user safety.

Oasis Consortium brings together key stakeholders across digital platforms to create a shared foundation for brand safety; defining and promoting meaningful standards and guidelines. We are dedicated to the O.A.S.I.S. Principles for brand safety: Openness, Accountability, Security, Innovation, and Sustainability.

Founding Advisor

Fortune Magazine

Recruited by Alan Murray, the CEO of Fortune, to join the executive team and develop and lead a startup within Fortune Magazine with full P&L ownership. The venture, Fortune Connect, is built around a subscription/membership model focused on C-suite and high potential executives. The mission of Fortune Connect is to equip professionals with the essential intelligence and tools they need to better lead their industries, grow their businesses, advance their careers, and help make business better. As the Head of Fortune Connect, I served  as the CEO of this start-up with ownership of the P&L. In my role, I helped build Fortune Connect from the ground up: product development, staffing the entire team from the ground-up, R&D, branding, pricing and product launch strategy.

Chief Membership and Community Officer

eSSENTIAL Accessibility

Served as the Interim Chief Brand and Networking Officer for SaaS start-up. Reporting into the CEO, I represented eA as Chief Networking Officer at industry events and with leading executives. Worked on branding and community strategy for eA. 

eSSENTIAL ACCESSIBILITY is a comprehensive digital accessibility platform. eA help organizations create inclusive web, mobile, and product experiences through digital accessibility testing, evaluation and remediation. Organizations can then enhance the digital experience for people with disabilities, comply with regulatory and statutory accessibility standards, and project an inclusive and disability-friendly presence.

eSSENTIAL ACCESSIBILITY delivers instant impact by virtue of its rapid accessibility statement creation process and assistive technology application, a suite of keyboard, mouse and touch replacement tools designed to make the digital world accessible to people with physical disabilities.

Interim Chief Brand and Networking Officer

#SeeHer

I served as the General Manager for SeeHer, the gender equality initiative for the advertising industry. SeeHer has been instrumental in creating a new advertising discipline around gender equality, equipping the CMOs of the world's most prominent brands with a framework to eliminate unconscious bias in their messaging and improve ROI. In my role, I worked with leading CMOs, changeagents, NGOs, goverment leaders and networks in advancing gender equality on all screens. I also worked with the  SeeHer team to ensure we were meeting the needs of our members and the movement, every single day. My role is centered around the operational excellence and fiscal management of SeeHer which includes ownership of the P&L, development of product lines and hiring & retention strategy.

General Manager

Association of National Advertisers

I'm on the CMO Initiatives team at the Association of National Advertisers.  Our goal is simple: to bring the global CMO community together to influence change in the entire marketing ecosystem and hopefully, along the way, use its collective power to change the world for the better.

Senior Vice President, CMO Practice & Industry Leadership 

The ANA is the premier marketing and advertising organization, serving the changing needs of corporate marketers and those who help brands grow and thrive. ANA connects and leads the marketing community and provide invaluable corporate membership benefits for over 750 member companies, 15,000+ brands and 40,000 marketers who collectively spend more than $250 billion on marketing and advertising each year. 

As the Senior Vice President, Member Relations, I am tasked to lead a cross-functional team to identify and integrate unaddressed client needs at the individual and corporate level. In my role, I am responsible for driving member engagement and satisfaction of Fortune 500 companies.

Senior Vice President, Member Relations

The ANA leads the marketing community by providing its members with insights, collaboration, and leadership initiatives. The ANA strives to communicate marketing best practices, lead industry initiatives, influence industry practices, manage industry affairs, and advance, promote, and protect all advertisers and marketers.

Vice President, Member Relations

Independent

As a freelance marketing consultant, I worked with some of the top global agencies and brands.

Select Agencies: Wieden+Kennedy, McCann World Group, Momentum, Modernista, IRIS, US Concepts, MKTG.

Select Clients: GAP, Nike, Adidas, Puma, John Deere, Diesel, MySpace, Del Monte Foods, SF Fashion Week, Sony, Capital Records, ABS-CBN, Blockbuster.

Account Director/Marketing Consultant

Lan Phan is an acclaimed author, master trainer, and speaker specializing in purpose, mindset, and continuous improvement. She partners with Fortune 100 companies and tech startups to deliver tailored leadership training programs, designed to address complex cultural and innovation challenges through learning and development.

As an internationally recognized motivational speaker, Lan’s thought leadership has been featured in prestigious publications such as The Harvard Business Review, Entrepreneur, Forbes, and Money. She has delivered keynote speeches on renowned stages, including the United Nations, Stanford University, NYU Law, and at major events hosted by Fortune 100 companies like PepsiCo, Warner Media, Citi, Bank of America, Disney, and Meta.

Lan's content on LinkedIn and YouTube engages millions each year, resonating with a wide and diverse audience. She is ranked among the top 100 LinkedIn creators globally and is recognized as a top 10 influencer in Management and Leadership. Her talks on leadership, mindset, and systems have reached tens of millions around the world.

A proud Stanford University alumna, Lan was honored with the J.E. Wallace Sterling Award for her impactful leadership and community service. She also holds a master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

And in case you’re curious, Lan’s Myers-Briggs personality type is INFJ.

Lan Phan

In work and life, I no longer have expectations, I have standards.

For much of my life, I shapeshifted based on other people’s expectations. 

As a people pleaser, I expected kindness in return, respect in return for my effort, and consideration in return for my sacrifices. But time and time again, those expectations left me feeling hurt and disappointed.

Here’s what I’ve learned: expectations often depend on others. 

Standards, however, depend on me.

Having standards means knowing my worth and setting boundaries. It means saying, “This is how I deserve to be treated,” and standing firm. 

It means walking away when someone crosses the line and choosing relationships, work, and situations that align with my values.

When I stopped chasing validation and started honoring my standards, everything changed. 

I’m no longer bending to please others or waiting for them to meet my expectations. 

Instead, I hold myself accountable to my own standards—and the right people, opportunities, and outcomes naturally follow.

If you’ve ever felt walked over, unheard, or unseen, I want to remind you:
	•	Your time is valuable.
	•	Your voice matters.
	•	Your boundaries deserve respect.

Raise your standards, and you’ll stop settling for less than you deserve. 

It’s not about being rigid or unkind; it’s about creating a life where you feel valued, respected, and empowered.

Let’s choose standards over expectations and take back control of our joy. Who’s with me?

Love,
Lan Phan 
community of SEVEN


If you like this post, you’ll love my book Do This Daily: Secrets to Finding Success, Happiness, and Purpose in Work and Life: https://lnkd.in/eK5ghJd8

Helping Leaders Unlock Purpose and Joy in Life and Work | Guiding Founders & Fortune 100 Companies Unlock Purpose, Culture & Performance | Guiding Introverted Empaths to Lead with Courage

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I used to take everything so seriously.

Work. Life. Every conversation. Every deadline.

Some of us would call it perfectionism. 

My days were planned down to the second.

I felt like I had something to prove—all the time.
To my boss.
To the world.
To myself.

Some of you wouldn’t even recognize the old me.

I was always working. Always trying. Always chasing. Always planning. 

Then I became a mom.
And everything changed.

My daughter reminded me what joy looks like.

I learned that my worth was never tied to my net worth or job title. It was rooted in the impact I made, the kindness I showed, and the lives I touched.

She showed me that life isn’t just about being “professional” or “productive.”

It’s also about play. 
About presence. 
About laughter.
It’s about how you make people feel in your presence and in your absence. 

Now that I’m older—and maybe a little wiser—I’ve learned this:
Play isn’t a distraction. It’s a way back to yourself.

It resets your energy.
It unlocks creativity.
It reminds you to live, not just achieve.

So if you’ve been carrying the weight of proving yourself, maybe today is a good day to put it down. And pick up joy instead.

What’s one way you make space for play in your life?

Drop it in the comments—I’d love to learn from you.

Love,
Lan Phan 
community of SEVEN

If you like this post, you’ll love my book Do This Daily: Secrets to Finding Success, Happiness, and Purpose in Work and Life: https://lnkd.in/eK5ghJd8

Consistency.
That’s it.
That’s the message.

Not perfection.
Not intensity.
Not waiting for the “right moment.”

Just the small, unglamorous, often invisible things you choose to repeat: especially on the days you don’t feel like it.

Consistency is the quiet force behind every transformation I’ve ever witnessed.

It’s the leader who keeps showing up with kindness, even when stressed.

It’s the writer who writes when no one is watching.

It’s the employee who invests in their growth long before the promotion arrives.

It’s you deciding, again and again, to be someone your future self will be proud of. 

And here’s the truth we don’t talk about enough:

Consistency is a form of self-belief.

Every time you follow through, you teach yourself that you can be trusted.

That your goals matter.
That you matter.

As we move into a new year, don’t pressure yourself to overhaul your entire life.

Choose one thing.
One habit.
One action you can repeat daily.

Let it build momentum.
Let it rebuild your confidence.
Let it remind you that big change is nothing more than small steps done consistently.

Do this daily and watch what happens.

Love,
Lan Phan 
community of SEVEN

If you like this post, you’ll love my book Do This Daily: Secrets to Finding Success, Happiness, and Purpose in Work and Life: https://lnkd.in/eK5ghJd8

Unpopular opinion, no one wants to hear this but I’m going to say it:

Change is hard.
Change can be painful.
Change takes time.

But on the other side of it? 

That’s where growth happens. That’s where you discover who you were always meant to be.

Public speaking was once my greatest fear; So much that my heart felt like it would burst as beads of sweat fell from my head.

Today, I do it for a living. 
I turned my fear into my passion.
I turned my social anxiety and introversion to my secret sauce. 

So here’s my challenge to you: do the things that scare you. The thing that makes your hands shake.

🙌🏻Ask for that promotion.
🙌🏻Have that conversation you’ve been avoiding.
🙌🏻Introduce yourself to that stranger.
🙌🏻Apply for that dream job.
🙌🏻Sign up for that marathon.

Do it all—scared.
With your hands trembling.
And keep doing it until your hands become steady.

If you face your fears every day, I promise you this: what once terrified you will no longer hold power over you.

And your heart beating like it’s going to jump out of your chest? That’s excitement. That’s the indication that you’re growing! 

Are you with me? 

Let me know if this resonates.

Love, 
Lan Phan
community of SEVEN

If you like this post, you’ll love my book Do This Daily: Secrets to Finding Success, Happiness, and Purpose in Work and Life: https://lnkd.in/eK5ghJd8

As we close out this year, I keep coming back to one truth:
You can’t carry self-doubt, scarcity, and insecurity into a season you want to thrive in.

Those emotions are heavy. They slow your steps. They whisper lies about who you’re allowed to become. And they do not belong in the story you’re writing for yourself.

So as we prepare to step into a new year, I want you to ask yourself—honestly:
What am I finally ready to set down?

Maybe it’s the belief that you’re not enough.

Maybe it’s the habit of shrinking so others feel comfortable.

Maybe its friendships and relationships that have you doubt your self-worth. 

Maybe it’s the fear of being seen wanting something more.

Let it go. All of it.

Because the world has enough people who doubt themselves. What the world needs—what you deserve—is a version of you that believes again. A version that wakes up inspired. A version that trusts their gifts, their voice, their intuition.

You don’t need a reinvention.
You need a remembering.

A remembering of who you were before the world told you to be smaller.

A remembering of your power, your resilience, your courage.

A remembering that every chapter can begin with, I choose myself.

You need to let this weight go. 

So here’s my wish for you as the year ends:

Walk into the new year with an open heart, a clear mind, and a belief that good things are already on their way.

Walk in knowing you deserve joy without earning it, rest without guilt, and success without apology.

Walk in knowing you are capable of more than you’ve ever admitted out loud.

This next year isn’t asking you to hustle harder.

It’s asking you to believe deeper.

Let’s go into it lighter, braver, and ready for the kind of magic that only shows up when you finally make room for it.

Love,
Lan Phan 
community of SEVEN

If you like this post, you’ll love my book Do This Daily: Secrets to Finding Success, Happiness, and Purpose in Work and Life: https://lnkd.in/eK5ghJd8

Things I've been told at work: 
"Stay in your lane."
"You're not a very good writer."
"You need to lead from the front."
"I'd rather you not speak up at meetings."
"I'll present your deck because you're not a natural public speaker."
"You're not ready for leadership."

The CEO of a company I once worked with told me to "stay in your lane" when he felt I had gotten too big for my britches. I quit without a job lined up less than a year later. 

A year later, that same company reached out to me and asked me to do some consulting work for them. I sent a bid. They soon realized they could no longer afford me.

Betting on yourself is scary. 
Believing in yourself can be difficult. 

But do you know what's even scarier? 

➡  staying in places that don't appreciate you.
➡  staying in places that don't celebrate you.
➡  letting people make you feel small. 
➡  being exactly where you are, five years from now.
➡️  not becoming who you were meant to be.

Stop making yourself small to accommodate weak, small-minded people. 

Their inability to see your worth does not decrease your value.

Let me know if you understand this message.

Love,
Lan Phan 
community of SEVEN

If you like this post, you’ll love my book Do This Daily: Secrets to Finding Success, Happiness, and Purpose in Work and Life: https://lnkd.in/eK5ghJd8

Every time we level up, life gives us a test:
Will you keep rising… or slip back into the old patterns that once kept you small?

Growth isn’t just about who you’re becoming. It’s also about who you refuse to be anymore.

I see this all the time: with leaders, with teams, with myself.

You fight hard to build healthier habits.

You create boundaries you’ve never had.

You finally walk away from toxic relationships or draining environments.

And then something happens—
Stress, fear, comfort, nostalgia—
and suddenly, you’re tempted to step right back into the very version of yourself you’ve outgrown.

This is the moment that matters.
Not the breakthrough…
but the after.

Because every new level of life requires a new level of discipline:

	•	The discipline to protect your peace.
	•	The discipline to say no to what drains you.
	•	The discipline to choose people who choose you back.
	•	The discipline to stay aligned with the future you’re building—not the past you survived.

If you’re entering a new chapter right now, remember this:
Your old life will keep calling.
Just because it’s familiar doesn’t mean it’s your home.

You didn’t come this far to shrink again.

You didn’t do all that healing just to hand your power back.

You didn’t climb this mountain to walk back down.

Keep going.
Keep growing.
Keep choosing the version of you you worked so hard to become.

The next level isn’t waiting for perfection.
It’s waiting for consistency.

And that—every single day—is how you Do This Daily.

Love,
Lan Phan 
community of SEVEN

If you like this post, you’ll love my book Do This Daily: Secrets to Finding Success, Happiness, and Purpose in Work and Life: https://lnkd.in/eK5ghJd8

Stop over thinking.
Stop waiting for permission.
Stop waiting for someone to choose you.

Just do it.
Start already.
Do it afraid.

That fear in your belly won’t go away until you face that challenge you’ve been wanting to tackle for so long. 

You won’t get better till you start, stumble and get back up again. Again. And again.

You will make mistakes. That’s a given. 

However, falling and getting back up is how you get better. 

There is no perfect route to success.

Stop waiting for perfection when progress and momentum is what you need. 

But you can’t get progress when you’re too busy thinking when you should be doing.

Success requires thought coupled with action and sealed with faith.

You’ve been ready.

The time has always been now.

Take the first step and keep on getting better, one step at a time. 

It gets easier once you let go of the doubt and take that first step.

Love,
Lan Phan 
community of SEVEN

If you like this post, you’ll love my book Do This Daily: Secrets to Finding Success, Happiness, and Purpose in Work and Life: https://lnkd.in/eK5ghJd8

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They say comparison is the thief of joy, but if I’m being honest?
The real thief is procrastination.

That difficult conversation you’ve been avoiding?
Do it now.

That promotion you’ve been waiting for someone to notice you deserve?
Ask for it now.

That business you’ve been dreaming about for years?
Start it now.

Because here’s the truth we don’t like to say out loud:
If you really want something, you can’t wait for the perfect moment.
Tomorrow isn’t guaranteed.
Momentum doesn’t build itself.
Clarity doesn’t appear on command.
And confidence rarely shows up before we take the first step.

Procrastination disguises itself as preparation.
As “I just need more time.”
As “When things slow down.”
As “Maybe next year.”

But most delays are just fear in a polished outfit.

Take one small action today.
Send the email.
Make the call.
Sketch the idea.
Write the first paragraph.
Ask for the meeting.
Choose yourself.

Your future self is begging you to stop waiting for perfect conditions
and start creating your own momentum.

Sometimes joy isn’t something you find—
it’s something you earn through action.

Do it now.
Because later is where dreams go to disappear.

What are you going to do today that you’ve been procrastinating? 

Love,
Lan Phan 
community of SEVEN

If you like this post, you’ll love my book Do This Daily: Secrets to Finding Success, Happiness, and Purpose in Work and Life: https://lnkd.in/eK5ghJd8

Confession: For someone who talks a lot about the value of friendship, I'm not always a great friend.

I've always been the friend you call at 12:00 a.m. when your world is falling apart… not always the one you regularly grab lunch with at 12:00 p.m.

I can show up in a crisis, but I’ve struggled to show up consistently. Months (okay, years) can go by without a text. My introversion and, in the past, social anxiety haven’t helped. I deeply value my friends, but I now realize I'm not always good at showing it. 

If that sounds familiar, this conversation is for you. After a six-month break, we're bringing back community of SEVEN's livestream.

On June 9th, join us for A Heartfelt Conversation on Courageous Connection with Barnet Bain.

In a world that feels faster, louder, and more divided than ever, genuine friendship can feel like a disappearing art. We have more “connections” than at any other time in history—yet so many of us quietly feel lonely, unseen, or replaceable.

In this intimate conversation, Emmy-nominated, award-winning filmmaker, producer, and author Barnet Bain joins me to explore his new book, How to Be a Friend (In an Unfriendly World): Lessons on Connection. Pre-order today. 

Drawing from a Master’s-level course he created at Columbia University’s Spirituality Mind Body Institute, Barnet invites us to see friendship not as something we stumble into—but as a lifelong practice we can learn, deepen, and repair. 

Barnet is known for films such as the Oscar-winning What Dreams May Come and the Emmy-nominated Homeless to Harvard, and as the author of The Book of Doing and Being: Rediscovering Creativity in Life, Love, and Work. Omega Institute

In this conversation, we’ll explore:
➡️ Why friendship often gets pushed to the bottom of the list for busy, caring adults
➡️ The “two kinds of friends” we all talk about—and how to become the kind of friend you actually want to be
➡️ How to build and repair friendships when you’re introverted, overwhelmed, or out of practice
➡️ Simple, doable “friendship workouts” to help you reconnect with courage instead of guilt
➡️ How to stay soft-hearted without becoming a doormat—and set boundaries with love

This is for you if:
➡️ You’re a giver who shows up for everyone else… but rarely asks for support
➡️ You’ve lost touch with people you love and don’t know how to bridge the gap
➡️ You’re craving deeper, more honest friendships—not just more contacts
➡️ You want language, practices, and hope you can bring back to your family, team, or community

No networking scripts. No forced small talk. Just a real, honest conversation about what it means to be a friend—and to let yourself be befriended—in an unfriendly world.

📌 Get a complimentary ticket here: https://lnkd.in/eE4zRpKZ

Come as you are. Bring your questions, your stories, and maybe that one friend you’ve been meaning to text back.

All the best, 
Lan Phan
community of SEVEN

taplio