Ms Danielle LaPorte is like air. You need her…or indeed people like her in your life. She is a breath BLAST of fresh air to counteract negative thinking. With the release of her ‘Desire Map’ 10 Questions catches up with the best selling author and motivational speaker to help ease you into the year.
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1. Do you like Forbes description of you as a ‘contrarian self help guru?’
I’m cool with being perceived as contrarian — I’m not contrarian for the sake of it, but what I’ve got to say is outside of a lot of typically “holistic” advice. The “guru” moniker… eeshk. It’s misused and over used. I’m not a guru. I’m just a seeker, sharing my opinions along the way.
2. You once said that there were too many self help gurus out there – how do you manage to rise above the noise and maintain your own position?
I don’t concentrate on the noise and I’m not focused on rising above it. I’m focused on being of service, on being true to myself, on having a good time doing all of this. If you try too hard stand out you can distort your genuineness. It’s better to focus on simply being genuine.
A lady approached me the other day in a store. “Are you…?” “Yes, I am.” At the end of our chat she said, “Wow, you talk like you write. That really IS you online.” Yep, I’m they same me where ever I go.
3. Your teachings, website et al are drenched with your real-talk personality, was there a specific decision that it should be this way? You could have gone more stick-up-the-bum formal.
I just want to be self expressed and be of service. It’s never been strategic. Now, I’m a very strategic entrepreneur and marketer. I know how to launch stuff, I know how to hustle in the publishing and digital media worlds — and I love that game, deeply. But how I show up, my “persona”, that’s not a strategy.
4. Outwardly you went from depressed and living in your pyjamas for 6 months to this bold, confident, sassy woman who seems to have an answer for most things.
If we were to peep behind the curtain would there be someone who isn’t completely at one with it all and lacking some confidence and do you think for your work purposes and in such a leadership role it is better to hide these kinds of human frailties?
Well, hanging out in my jammies in between careers didn’t mean I lost my confidence. It meant I was burned out and was grasping for my next project. And it was a perfect time to get closer to my truer ambitions.
5. Someone is reading this in their 4th month in pyjamas – what can you tell them right now?
Stay in your pyjamas if you need to. Rest. Recapitulate. Burn shit. Start weaving a new dream. You’re going to come back and you’ll be stronger and clearer and more energized than ever.
Creativity has an ebb and flow. Entrepreneurs are especially prone to forget this because we’re hooked on achievement and making stuff. But success isn’t about being endlessly on fire and impassioned. There are times to be empty, to be blank, to sit n the uncertainty. It’s uncomfortable there. And it’s unavoidable if you’re going to go deeper with your self and your work in the world.
7. Something you once said about wannabe bloggers should teach finance only once they have figured it out themselves inspires this question. You teach LIFE. Have you ‘figured IT out?’
And do you still feel this way or is there room for teachers to make mistakes publicly and learn with their followers as they go?
What I’ve figured out is that I’m figuring out more everyday. It’s endless — gloriously endless.
8. What do you love?
Compassion. My life. My kid’s laugh. Curious people. People who aren’t to cool to be enthusiastic. My incredible, hilarious, wise girlfriends. The entrepreneurial spirit. Kind people in cafes. Fire. Rose oil. Solitude. Men with a strong sense of direction.
9. What do you hate?
The word hate. Racism is appalling, greed is a close second. Our unconscious consumer culture breaks my heart. I also strongly dislike cold cafes and anything banana-flavoured.
10. Who was your greatest teacher?
My 9 year old son is my greatest teacher. He wants what he wants without apology.
11. What is your overriding memory of meeting the Dalai Lama?
The feeling of not only being seen on a soul level, but being loved for what was seen. It was incredible. Also, his laugh! Deep, hearty, immediate.
12. The Desire Map. A total exploitation and rampant usage of the great force of DESIRE! That most creative force in the universe. Your usage of it seems so obvious when one thinks about it. Can you explain the premise of your motivational program and talk us through all the new goodies it contains for 2014?
We have the procedures of achievement upside down. We go after the stuff we want to have, get, accomplish, and experience outside of ourselves. And we hope, yearn, pray that we’ll be fulfilled when we get there. It’s backwards. It’s outside in. And it’s running us in circles. So what if, first, we got clear on how we actually wanted to feel in our life, and then we laid out our intentions?
Because: You’re not chasing the goal itself, you’re actually chasing a feeling.
The Desire Map is about holistic life-planning. The inner meets the outer. The spirit drives the material. And in 2014, we’re rolling out the refreshed book, a Day Planner, Journal, Workbook, and 8 + hour of audios. It’s a “collection” now. Very exciting.
13. Do you have a New Years message for our readers?
Get clear on how you most want to feel and do what it takes to feel that way. Simple, but profound. Make this the year you choose freedom, and your Soul, and your fullest potential.
Life is rooting for you.
14. What is your definition of home?
A sensual, practical temple with a great sound system.
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Ms LaPorte’s newly revamped Desire Map is out January.
Ms LaPorte’s ultra cool site is Here
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Much thanks to Ms Erin Blaskie
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