This has now become one of the best personal growth books I have ever read. It's possibly THE best one.
It's only contender to date is The Power of Focus, which required a trifecta of authors, Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen & Les Hewitt.
Ms. Laporte is a powerhouse of both organization & organic creativity. The Fire Starter Sessions is magically laid out like a text book or training manual - yet has a beautiful aesthetic of bold black font statements mixed with graceful orange text pieces brushed in for quotes, tips & mindful pausing considerations - making it a piece of structural beauty.
Look at the architecture of Frank Gehry - that's this book.
Her fluidity between heavy hitting, no nonsense, gritty truths & the stardust, celestial heart centered path of light & love just....ebbs & flows.
The book is laid out in 3 parts:
Part 1: Mojo - Define Yourself on Your Own Terms
Declare Your Superpowers
The Metrics of Ease
The Strategy of Desire
Part 2: Moxie
The Burning Questions
Facing Forward
Visioneering
Fear + Other Tough Stuff
Comforting Failure
No, Thank You. Yes, Please.
Part 3: Results
Make Stuff that Feels Good to Make
Sow You Show Up in the World
Calling All Sovereigns of Time!
Money: More is More. Enough is Plenty
Supporting Characters
Be the Giver
She's another woman who knows the power of sharing stories for the benefit of others needing guidance. She is probably one of the only writers/coaches that I have seen spell out all the the key components of resilience, all together.
She's leads us through developing purpose, fluid acceptance, engineering our reality, healing with forgiveness, developing perspective, role modeling, choosing your tribe, boundaries, getting vulnerable ownership & integrity.
I especially love her explanation and point of how sticking to our 'principles' can screw us in certain situations if we let them run our reactions, then dig in our claws. She has this great little section called "Fuck your so-called principles." She revisits when Galileo proposed that the Earth circled the sun & the sun was in fact the centre of our universe. He was tried for heresy. He recanted, apologized for being wrong & spent the rest of his life under house arrest, producing massive amounts of continuing work that had huge impacts on modern science. Socrates, on the other hand, stuck by his words & was imprisoned & sentenced to death for corruption of the youth & religious impiety. Breathless, no longer able to contribute to society any longer.
The fastest way to end a fight is to simply tell the other person they are right - then walk away. Is this always the correct path? No. But if the only two paths that are available are being 'right' or being 'free' - pick free. Because you can go be 'right' somewhere away from that person or situation that is behaving like an incoherent toddler.
Be aware - I said text book & I meant it. I run my life as full as possibly most of the time but I section out chunks of time to inhale a new book around every 7-10 days. This one took me 6 weeks. It includes worksheet questions that are well worth not 'flipping past to do later' in order to continue choking down the next chapter. I strongly suggest doing the written work recommended at the end of each section. Writing exercises can be extremely powerful - especially the ones you look at & cause you to recoil in discomfort or find any number of excuses to not complete. "Oh, I've already done that work," or "I already know the answer I will write down."
You're not fooling anyone but yourself. Do the written work.
Danielle, although raised in Ontario, found her way to Vancouver, BC - my personal stomping grounds & where I call 'home.' She has that jack of all trades, beat of her own drum many of us from the West coast take to naturally. Her book is complimented with a Fire Starters community on her website which I have not deeply explored.
Although, nearing the end of reading her book, I had it with me while in the lobby of my daughter's gymnastics class. One of the moms I know saw it & said, "Omg! I love her podcast." What? I didn't even know she had one.
I checked it out. The content is amazing. I was foretold of her soft vocal delivery, my mom-friend saying she connected with it deeply. This is not typically my jam but I can easily sift through just about any delivery to find the value of a message. Danielle's content in her podcast is deep thought work & top notch. I'm not crazy about the amount of add content but everyone needs to make a living and I support that. If you're into a feminine soothing honey voice spiked with a sly dose of tequila hidden in a cup of herbal tea, this delivery is your jam.
Find the book on Amazon here.
Find her podcast on Spotify here.
Find her website here.
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Julia is a Holistic Health Consultant, holding a Double Diploma in Community Support & Addictions Work, is a Certified Transformation Specialist, Personal Trainer & Nutrition Coach & a Lvl 2 Reiki Practitioner. She specializes in Trauma Informed Practice & Resiliency Coaching and Holistic Pregnancy & Postpartum Health Coaching. PrettyAggressiveRecovery@gmail.com
That book has been sitting on my shelf for awhile. I saw her the last time she spoke in Vancouver and now use my desires to set goals, plans, etc. Time to take this book off the shelf I guess! And I didn't know about her podcast so thanks!