Marie Forleo: Everything Is Figureoutable

At age 33, Marie Forleo launched a life-coaching business that became a multimillion-dollar empire. As her business grew, Marie was forced to face an unpleasant reality: Her marriage had hit the rocks. In fact, she says, the couple had been so caught up with their careers that they hadn't taken a vacation in seven years.

In this Super Soul Session, Marie shares how nearly missing a flight to Barcelona, Spain, to rekindle the spark in their marriage, reminded her that "everything is figure-out-able."

Marie recalls the day they got delayed getting to the airport and missed the check-in deadline. "Time froze, and my heart sank, and I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes," Marie says. "Because those words, "You're not going to make it,' for me, that was about a lot more than just the flight."

In that moment, Marie was reminded of something her "industrious and resourceful" mother, Miriam, had taught her. Miriam's most prized possession was a transistor radio that she got for free from the juice company Tropicana.

That radio, Marie says, accompanied her mother everywhere, perpetually buzzing in the background. But Marie remembers one day when she came home to silence. Her mother had disassembled the radio and was trying to fix it. In disbelief, Marie asked, "Hey, Ma, how do you know how to do so many different things that you've never done before without anybody showing you how to do it?"

"Listen, honey, let me tell you something," her mother said. "Nothing in life is that complicated. All right? You can do whatever you set your mind to. You just roll up your sleeves, you get in there, and you do it. Everything is figureoutable."

It was this advice that came rushing back to Marie at the airport, and it kicked her into high gear as she found a way to catch that flight to Barcelona.

That story, she says, is a metaphor for how this "magical mantra" can get you through life. "This idea, this belief, this conviction—everything is figure-out-able," Marie says. "What this is is a practical discipline. This is an approach to life that can make you virtually unstoppable. Not unstoppable in the sense that everything will go your way, because you know it won't. And not unstoppable in the sense that you'll never get disappointed or feel defeated or find yourself in impossible situations, because we all do. But unstoppable in the most pragmatic and profound sense, meaning that nothing, no thing, no situation, no circumstance will ever again stop you from moving ahead."

Here, Marie explains why if you truly believe that you can work through any problem, you will be capable of dealing with whatever life throws your way.