Archive for 2010

it’s been very real, 2010: a white hot retrospective

Words with resonance. Testimonials that made me glow. And a couple surprise wildfires. Here's a glimpse.

A trio of articles that triggered viral sweetness:

: the declaration of deserving…just because you’re here
"What do you think you're entitled to?" Believing in your implicit worth liberates you to create more value for the world you serve.

: 7 things I know about active letting go. (sure beats waiting.)
"Active letting go" is not to be mistaken for "passive letting go." Active letting go is a practice. It's awake. And it's somewhat delightful (except for the agony of it.)

: escaping? from what? your pain? or your power?
Recapitulating the reasons for your hurts, and isms, and faults can become addictive in and of itself. Eventually, you have to stop picking a fight with your true nature and decide to seek the joy that underlies it All.

ga'head, make me blush

Got some praise this year that made me bat my lashes:

"Danielle LaPorte was impeccable on our stage. She infused every participant with magic, love and possibility. I am so deeply honored and grateful for her presence and her message. She is pure magic."
- Marie Forleo | CEO, Rich Happy & Hot

> Forleo and I are joining forces in 2011 to create an learning experience around creativity and sales...keep your antenna up for details.

"Danielle was a guest speaker for our World-Changing Writing Workshop, and she brought down the house. Our students rated Danielle #1 out of all the speakers in the course. Why? It's a toss-up between her idealistic passion that fires you up with every word, and her concrete advice that you can put into practice immediately."
- Pace Smith | Co-leader, World-Changing Writing Workshop

> Oh, and my reward for being voted "fave speaker of the series"? The chance to share my segment with the masses — for free.

"Danielle LaPorte's passion for her mission leaps off the page, and reading a few chapters of this book will ignite you into action."
– Gretchen Rubin | Author, The Happiness Project

wildfire

Sometimes, things spontaneously combust — in a beautiful way.

With 900+ tweets, 3800 Facebook shares and 2,600+ StumbleUpons, the manifesto of encouragement took on a life of its own.

Someone wants to kiss you, to hold you, to make tea for you. Someone is willing to lend you money, wants to know what your favourite food is, and treat you to a movie. Someone in your orbit has something immensely valuable to give you — for free.

You want a tangible, spine-bendable book version? Wait 'til 2011 - it's in production!

thank you for being here. deep wishes for a brilliant 2011. and this reminder:

 

a sentiment for blazing

close your calendars
of regret

smash clocks and barriers
with your better knowing

throw soft light on
the doom clingers

let
your
pure
faith
burn
the
way

2011 blessings,

 

 

world-changing writing, creativity, and ‘tude: an interview

Earlier this year, Pace + Kyeli Smith of Connection Revolution invited me to participate in their World-Changing Writing Workshop. It was a grand success, with contributions from Chris Guillebeau, Jonathan Fields, Colleen Wainwright, Jennifer Louden, Johnny B. Truant and other literary and entrepreneurial hotshots.

The E-Goddesses were smiling down, because I was given the esteemed vote of "fave speaker of the series." My reward? I get to share my segment with the masses — for free.

An Excerpt: The Nitty-Gritty of World-Changing Writing

Kyeli: Ellie asks, “How do you share the idea you have with people who don’t already agree?”

Danielle: Don’t bother.

Kyeli: Yeah, that’s a good answer. That ties into someone else’s question. Jane says, “How do you stop holding others’ expertise or credentials in such high esteem that it prevents you from believing that you have something new and different to offer?” I feel like those questions are related.

Danielle: Yep, they are. You don’t want to work with people who don’t have the same worldview as you. It’s always a disaster. You are going to burn up a lot of energy trying to convince people to see things the way that you see them. It’s a waste of time; it’s a waste of energy that you could be pouring into your authenticity and expressing yourself, and being of service to your tribe. Letting other people’s expertise eclipse you, or scare you, put you into a place of insecurity – that’s just the deep, ongoing human exercise of believing in yourself.

Kyeli: Right.

Danielle: I’ll use myself as an example for twenty seconds here. I was executive director of a DC-based think tank, and consulted to the Pentagon on the dynamics of social change, and I never went to college. I graduated from grade 12. The reason I tell you that is that yay, it can be done, but also, I learned to leverage my “lack of qualifications”. When you work in Washington, DC, you’re going to be asked on a daily basis where you went to university, and someone’s going to ask you some tricky question to figure out if you’re a Democrat or a Republican, and so whenever I got that question, I just said, “Nowhere.” It was impressive, at the time. They think, “Wow, you must be really smart.” I worked with a client earlier this year who was an interior designer who was making over $100,000 a year, and still thought that she needed to go back to school to get certified in interior decorating. And I said, “You know what your bio needs to say? That you’re self-taught.” You can wave the self-taught flag. And this all goes back to waving the flag of your passion. Your passion is your qualification. It’s your leading qualification.

Pace: Yeah!

Kyeli: That’s awesome.

Danielle: Next question!

Many thanks to Pace + Kyeli for their revolutionary grace + rock-solid content.

Grab the audio file right here, and the transcribed version over here.

Want to dive in, full-throttle? You can purchase the entire workshop, and get on with the business of changing the world. While you're at it, revel in the rest of the offerings from the Connection Revolution store.

. . . . . . .

CREATIVITY COACHING
And speaking of world changing writing, creativity and attitude, Creativity Coach, Bindu Wiles has a few spots open for her New Year clients. She was instrumental in helping me keep it real and high-minded in The Fire Starter Sessions. Dig deep and get productive, check out Bindu Wiles here.

 

ode to the entrepreneurial spirit: an apology to 9 to 5r’s everywhere

I think an alarming number of us are indeed Zombies, as Everett Brogue puts it. I rode the Metro in Washington, DC for three years and all it takes is one week riding next to depressed and frazzled government commuters in their too tight Dress Barn suits and crappy ties, eating on the go, looking vacantly into the dark tunnel to conclude that, Yep, 9 to 5 is a special kind of hell and the residents are too tired to escape.

Around that time I came into a lot of contact with Navy Admirals and Pentagon folk. As a vegetarian, apolitical Canadian with crystals tucked into my bra and the Law of Attraction as my secret weapon, I wasn't too stoked to meet Colonel and the boys. I reeked of judgment. But now I can tell you from experience that the Pentagon is peppered with enlightened men whose primary intention is to make the world more peaceful. They believe in universal intelligence and they're remarkably open-minded. I even knew a vegetarian Commander. So the joke was on me. The human spirit thrives everywhere.

And the entrepreneurial spirit thrives everywhere -- even in cubicles and factory lines.

I've been waving the great flag of work-for-yourself freedom for years. Bust out! Crush restrictions! Define life on your own terms! Creativity sovereignty or death! I'm a midwife of the strategies that make freedom dreams real -- and proud as any Baptist or Marine about it. Righteousness is beautiful, dangerous territory.

There's so many of us fuck-the-system cool kids with platforms now, it's giving me cause for some pause. I see the potential for divisiveness. Superiority. J-o-bs vs. Careers. Ninjas vs. Suits. Artists vs. Civil Servants. I think the freedom message is evolutionary. It's sacred. And we need to stay anchored to the pure intention of it.

Is someone working at Cisco or ABC Tool & Die missing out on the good life? Are line-workers and 9 to 5r's less daring, less free, less...entrepreneurial? I used to think so. I apologize.

I know executives who are profoundly liberated in how they bring their gifts to the world. I know people who work for themselves in such a punishing way that they may as well be working for The Man.

It's not about the packaging, it's not about the form, it's the heart of the matter that we need to see rightly.

It's the entrepreneurial spirit that I want to foster.
Inside the system and out.
Everywhere.

Mike Rowe, host of the Discovery Channel show Dirty Jobs sums it up in this TED talk. His masterfully told story begins with a tale of castrating sheep, winds through some Greek philosophy, and lands on the war on work and this insight:

"Clean and dirty aren't opposites, they are two sides of the same coin. Just like innovation and imitation, risk and responsibility."

When we peel back the labels, and the job titles, and being cool, all work can be an opportunity for liberation.

. . . . . . .

 

abundant grace. and gifts to match.

This holiday season, skip the singing / blinking / glitter-dusted nonsense, and choose the world's most stylin' note cards.

Classy meets sassy. Flat cards on heavy weight stock. Clean fonts. Bold love. Abundant white space to write something that counts.

Revive the art of hand-written love - because e-cards suck and everyone knows it. Order plenty for yourself, or send a gift-wrapped set to a friend. Profoundly worthy of your stamp and signature.

Order a set of note cards this week, and they'll be in your mailbox by Christmas (or, we can send them straight to your giftee.)

OR: for a biz-savvy, eco-friendly, no-trees-were-harmed-in-the-making-of-this-production option, how about gifting a copy of The Fire Starter Sessions?

$150 for the full-tilt love. And! $5 from every copy goes to the charity you choose: The Acumen Fund or Women for Women International.

No gift wrap. No postage. No "aw, you shouldn't haves."

Email [email protected] to purchase your gift copy of The FSS, and we'll send you a magic download code to deliver to your giftee.

They'll be awfully grateful and jazzed. Kinda like these people.

Happy everything, and Merry always...

 

qualified requests: how to ask for stuff

Just ask. Ask and It Is Given. Ask and you shall receive. Good things come to those who...ask.

Agreed. Emphatically. Ask and keep asking. Ask the universe, your boss, your crush, bank manager, bus driver, car salesman...ask for what you want and keep on asking. But if you want to increase your odds of receptivity, you've got to go about it with some style, darling. The formula for stylin' askin' gets down to this: sincerity + brevity = intelligence.

My Malcolm Gladwell Ask
For my first book I wanted the best literary agent in the business. So I started at the top, naturally. I honed in on the books and authors I admired most and read their acknowledgments sections, looking for the writers who genuinely and emphatically thanked their agents. In The Tipping Point, Gladwell swooned over his agent - claimed she should run for the US Presidency. "Well, she'll do!" I thought. Where to start asking? With Malcolm. How to get his email? Off his website. [Yep - it can be that easy, and it often is.]

The Ask went a little somethin' like this:

Dear Malcolm,
You're Canadian. My business partner and I are Canadian. You've been called "obsessively competitive." My partner was a former nationally-ranked athlete and she still hates to lose. You're half black. And, well, I'm a white girl with dreadlocks. I'm hoping you'll be charmed enough to help open a door for us...

[When you're being authentic, you have nothing to lose. Giving it "your all" is often about leaving pretenses behind. Win or lose, you'll feel all dignified and jazzed because you fully showed up.]

We want to get to [Madame Agent.] You think she could run the world, and I think she could make my dreams come true. Here's our concept:

[What followed was ONLY three sentences - two sentences describing the book idea, and one sentence describing the market.]

I think [Madame Agent] is my Neo. The One. And if you could tell me what vintage of wine she drinks, her favourite bon bons, or how to get her pay attention to my book proposal, well, I'd be immensely grateful. If there is a direct entre to [Madame Agent] or if you have a suggestion on how to appeal to her, please let me know. We need more Canadians on the bestseller list. Very appreciatively….

[inserted website and contact deets]

The result: Malcolm, good Canadian that he is, responded in a day or two to the effect of "Well, how can I say no?" [The universe can't resist authenticity, it's a law. Thankfully, Mr. Gladwell couldn't resist it either.] He forwarded the email to Madame Agent. She reached out to me, and not long after, we landed a phat book deal.

the 5 essentials of making qualified requests

1. Identify affinity: You better know as much as you can about who you're talking to. Be clear about why you’re interested in them in particular, and mention that at the get-go. I once called a local creative exec – found his wife's number in the ol' phone book and gave it a shot. He answered the phone. "I just read an interview where you talked about creating a "culture of yes" to support one's creative process and it got me thinking…" We talked for 15 minutes, I asked when we could meet for tea to tell him more about what I was up to. A week later, he invested in my company.

2. Brevity is a form of respect, especially when you're asking a busy person for help. If you send more than three paragraphs (one is IDEAL,) and attachments, and you delve into your history or ten years into the future, I guarantee you'll get flagged as annoying, delusional and/or not too bright. And really, if you can't boil down what you're up to in one concise paragraph, you don't have a good grip on it.

3. Specificity is a call to action. What EXACTLY are you looking for? Your request could be a simple as "I'd love to get your perspective, just to have the opportunity to hear what you think of my strategy would be a great value. A half-hour of your time over coffee or in your office – you name it and I'll be there." "I want to know everything about social media that you can tell me in fifteen minutes of your spare time…I'm looking to raise capital and would like to pitch you." (Though remember what the ol' rich guys love to say, "If you ask for money, you'll probably just get advice. If you ask for advice, you're more likely to get money." I can back that up.)

Never, evah ask for "free" advice when you haven't invested in someone's material (either with your time actually studying their free stuff, or actually buying their material.) If you're asking for help in the form of a written response, you need to be even more succinct and gracious. If I get general requests like, "Do you have any advice for how to start up my business?" Well...you're kidding me, right? Guess you missed the 900+ free articles on this site, and the fact that I make my living giving strategic advice. But sure, here's some advice: get a job where someone tells you exactly what to do, 'cuz you're going to need it.

Try this: "Could you look at my website and just tell me the first three words that come to mind in terms of my brand?" Bam bam, smarty pants.

4. NO BULLSHIT HYPE. Embellishing things is a no-no way to start any relationship. Smart folk usually have excellent memories and if they sniff out a white lie or exaggeration about how successful you say you are in the beginning, it could all go south really quickly. Stick to the facts. Facts are a solid foundation.

However...
5. HEART HYPE is essential. Don't spend a lot of airtime talking about how you think your idea is going to make a zill or get you on Oprah Ellen, Larry King Piers Morgan, but do hit a big love note: you're passionate, you feel called, you're giving it all you got, you're in it to win it. Passion persuades.

You may be surprised at how many successful people sincerely want to help you - when you can prove your smarts and passion by asking smartly and passionately.

I recently raised my price for 1-on-1 Fire Starter Sessions to $1000, from $500. (The demand exceeded the supply and it's clear that clients can earn back the $1000 investment with a few strategic gems...) I got a few people who were like, "Dang woman! Why didn't you tell me you were going to raise your price?" I don't really have a warm-fuzzy response for that.

And a few others took a more proactive and optimistic approach. They open heartedly asked if I could honour the old fee, briefly explained what they were doing in the world, and how a session could help them knock it outta the park. My answer: "Well, how could I say no?"

. . . . . . .

INTERVIEWS

Thanks to some super practical and focused questions, my recent interview with BlogCastFM is probably one of the most, well, practical and focused interviews I've ever given. YOU CAN LISTEN TO IT HERE: Danielle LaPorte On Finding Your Mission and Purpose, Literary Agents and Book Deals,Building Your Speaking Career, and More...

 

november was…liberating, luxurious + luminous

The past 30 days brought some grandiose gifts: I secured a book deal with Random House (!), and experienced a game-changing speaking gig with Rich Happy & Hot LIVE. And the champagne is still flowing. Here are the highlights:

articles + illuminations

: when it’s time to stop healing and bust outta purgatory (and what my crush on ed harris has to do with enlightenment). Jumping for joy can be counter-intuitive when you've been despairing long term. If you're languishing in Bardo — that liminal space between death and rebirth — maybe it's time to declare that you have decided to live. DON'T WAIT FOR HEALING TO BEGIN. Bust out, over and onward.

: the declaration of deserving. I've been asking around: "What do you think you're entitled to?" "What do you know that you deserve?" My take: you are worthy of your desires. Really wanting what you want gives you the power to get it. Read THE DECLARATION OF DESERVING...just because you're here.

: rich, happy & hot advice: surrender, act now, just breathe. Some party favors from my recent trip to NYC for Rich Happy & Hot LIVE. Marie Forleo put on an impeccable show, and made it all flow like a chilled glass of coconut water. If you missed the event — or even if you didn't — here's my RICH, HAPPY & HOT RECAP.

interviews + spotlight shining

: the radical practical for natural dreamers. I've got some news, and it might sting: passion is not enough. Love and art have an ROI. You need to systemize, scrutinize, and get uptight — at least temporarily. A guest-article for Marie Forleo. Because OPPORTUNISM + TALENT EXPLOITATION can still be rooted in integrity.

: criticism sucks, or does it? how to manage it with dignity. A contribution to Talent Zoo, a mega-hub for careers in advertising, marketing and digital media. How to approach your criticizer with compassion, get closure, and yeah — LICK YOUR WOUNDS.

: the netsetter: interview. Thursday Bram of The Netsetter series at Work Awesome interviewed me on time management and proportion, creative bubbles, CURIOSITY + OBSESSION. And looky here — the feature got tagged by USA Today. All in a day's work.

sightings + meet-ups

> Vancouver, BC: Saturday, January 22, 2011
I'm co-hosting Chris Guillebeau's release party for The Art of Non-Conformity. Stay tuned.

> Portland, Oregon: June 3 - 5, 2011
World Domination Summit with Chris Guillebeau. This is going to be a total love fest of activators and friends! It's ALREADY 80% sold out so get on it.

And off we go into December, friends. Go deep. Stay light.

 

beware of possibility thinking: how to leverage your manifestation ju-ju

I was at an event that kicked off with a group meditation.

(Before I tell you how it went down, allow me to say that I think you should approach all meditations guided by strangers with caution. I've been to many a gathering where someone wants to lead us down the golden path - and while their intentions are often good, they may not be filling your airwaves with the highest quality thought forms. Guided meditations are like eating at any restaurant - you need to take small bites until you're sure what you're consuming.)

Back to a certain guided meditation. "Close your eyes." (Uh huh.) "Deep breath." (Uh huh.) "See your dream before you." (Locked in on crystal clear.) "How does it look, sound, etc, ?" (Feels freaking suh-weet.) "Now," [insert New Age chimes and slightly evangelical tone...] "...know that your dream is POSSIBLE! ... And now, open your eyes."

Whu? THAT's IT?! I lean over to my girlfriend and say, "Possible?! Fuck that. My dream is a done deal." Snort. "Ditto," she snortled back in solidarity.

"Possible" can be magical. But magic has varying degrees of power. There's magic sprinkles, and then there's elixir potions, tonics of creation, galvanizing spells. Leave the sprinkles for cupcakes.

MO' EFFECTUAL DREAMING
You can't dream in images of possibility-maybe-could-be-perhaps and get manifestation traction. It's profoundly unrequited. Possibility can be a lot like purgatory. You just never quite get there, not even in your dreams.

Wizardry is about conjuring up an experience of DONE (not "maybe".) Succeeded. Achieved. Arrived. Pow!

Visualizing Possibility = striving, maybe, reach, stretch, hit or miss, up for interpretation, deliberation, incomplete, out there, the resounding feeling that there's still so much to do.

Visualizing Done = the sensation of satisfaction, a reason to celebrate, achievement that you can walk into it, serious calm, expectation you can wrap your head around, a vision that calls you to stand up straight and be your wisest.

But here's the coolest part about Visualizing Done: that image of success may have something to tell you - a few pointers about how it got made real. When you visual things as "done," you can walk around the vision and see what it has to say. The image of success can reveal how-to's and pathways to itself.

Here's how I do it: I see a myriad of Done Deals in my cosmic atmosphere. I get myself to that state of full-on assuming that what I desire already exists in some dimension, and I just need to step into it, or pluck it out of the ethers. Done. This gives me an incredible sense of calm, and a feeling that life really wants me to win.

And then I ask the done deal to tell me how it...got done. And I hear strategies. For example, I envision my next book as a New York Times bestseller. Done. (Maybe a bestseller? Possibly a bestseller? That feels shaky, not invigorating.) And when I see that bestseller in action, I get really fresh ideas about how to make it a bestseller. Pow. Practical. Invigorating.

Sometimes I see Done Deals and I sniff them out and decide it's not what I want after-all. Next. You're never obligated to a dream or a belief.

The business of affirmations and visualization is a mind game, of course.
Ante up.
Play to win.
Big deal.

. . . . . .

INTERVIEWS

I got a shout out in USA Today thanks to NetSetter, who interviewed me about starting businesses, collaboration and seeing opportunities. Click here to read the NetSetter interview.

 

the epic 72 hour smart stuff sale

Adam Baker, aka, ManvsDebt, has done something rather, epic: he said "hey, want to put some of your best stuff in an Epic Mix of smart stuff? And I'll sell the mondo collection of goodness for just 3 days and it will be ... awesome."

I said, "Smart ass idea. And you know I adore you, so, what's mine is yours, baby."

Baker wrangled a dozen or so high-selling e-products (Leo Babauta, Jade Craven, Chris Guillebeau...) and is offering the kit n' kaboodle only for 72 hours, for only $97 bucks. So the value is a no brainer. It's enough knowledge and how-to for strategizing your 2011 from business to lifestyle. In summary:

23 Business Courses From 23 Successful Entrepreneurs. Normally $1,052, On Sale For $97. For Only 72 Hours

Go get 'em. Only72.com

Enthusiastically,

 

READ MORE