Danielle LaPorteRezensionen

Having fairly recently gone through a pretty significant spiritual awakening, I'm embracing aspects of my spirituality that are quite new (and exciting) to me. So in light of that, reading Danielle LaPorte's take on modern spiritual growth was at times both relevatory and squirm-inducing. Much of the time I wasn't sure if she was cheering me on or shaming me for grabbing on to the tools, techniques, and methodologies she seems to approach with so much eye-rolling. (I sure do love me my crystals and tarot cards!)

But having said that, I found so much to love between the pages of this very beautiful book. (And let's talk about that for a minute; the hardcover is striking in every way - from the blazing white cover to the gorgeous typography within.) LaPorte doesn't shy away from difficult topics, and she doesn't worry about how her opinions will be perceived by others, which is something I greatly admire. She pulls no punches, and openly shares her experiences and beliefs as though opening her heart to a girlfriend over coffee.

I appreciated the insights into some of her tougher moments, as well as her intimate stories of self-discovery and personal growth. Although there's much in this book I agreed with, there were a few chapters and some concepts that didn't resonate with me at all. (For example, the self-loathing thing... she seems to think everyone hates themselves. For a moment there, I felt like I was missing out because I don't -- nor have I ever!) And no, I'm not getting rid of my crystals because I fear some energy-sucking-psychopath invading my home through my precious stones.

Overall, this was an interesting take on the topics of self-help and spirituality. I'd recommend it with the usual caveat I give when I suggest reading these types of books: "take what works for you and leave the rest".

I’ve been on a real self improvement kick lately, and I’ve been lucky to pick up some phenomenal books. I read this one right after finishing Martha Beck’s “Finding Your Way In a Wild New World”, which I adored. Danielle LaPorte had some big shoes to fill, and boy, did she ever!

Danielle’s wisdom, advice, and expertise is immensely approachable. It feels like having coffee with a wise girlfriend, someone who’s more than willing to share her experiences, give you her time freely, and ask for nothing in return. Not everyone is willing to mentor; I’ve recently had a few experiences that helped me recognize how few people are willing to share their “secrets” with others. In The Fire Starter Sessions Danielle LaPorte shares everything she knows about being successful in business and in life, and it’s so refreshing to hear her perspective.

Honest, upfront, and occasionally lighthearted, this book is both a guidebook for being a creative entrepreneur and a deeply resonant jumpstart to help you find your inner truth. The book is also chock full of meaningful and genuinely helpful exercises that help you connect your heartfelt beliefs with the messages Danielle communicates in each section.

I highlighted so many paragraphs as I read! Every few pages something made me sit up and take notice. This one’s definitely going on my permanent keeper shelf.

As always, I loved Danielle LaPorte's unique blend of wisdom, insight, poetry and spiritual guidance. Whenever I read one of her books I come away feeling as though someone really gets me. I'm inspired, motivated, and I walk away with at least a handful of major "a-ha!" moments.

Her take on goal-setting is both practical and "woo-woo", realistic and dream-based. I love the blend of spirituality and practicality (because it's very much what I do, and how I live my life), so everything about this process resonated with me.

LaPorte's approach is so much more meaningful than making yet another handful of New Year's Resolutions, or choosing goals that everyone else is setting because it's the trendy thing to do. I was craving a method for goal-setting that would lead to feeling accomplished, empowered and centered to my authentic self -- and I got that in spades. I recommend this book to anyone who wants a more grounded, heart-centred approach to setting goals, and more importantly, to achieving them.

Timing. Is. Everything. Just one chapter into this library copy convinced me that I must own it. As I transition from traditional work to that of a self-employed artist, Danielle's voice gives me perspective and hope, while asking questions that show me how much I already know. Nothing woo-woo about it with ideas that zing on every page -- quotes from others and original gems from Danielle.

"Your most valuable currency is what comes most naturally to you."
"Being well-rounded is highly overrated."

Can't wait to finish reading it and get my own book to mark up for the second read-through.

I've now read ever page and still feel compelled to add a copy of Fire Starter Sessions to my personal collection.

A great dose of common sense when you've gotten lost or overwhelmed with self-improvement.

A style statement is a two word phrase that is meant to be a guide to help bring your life together. It is meant to be freeing not limiting. A style statement should apply to all areas of your life. It helps you answer questions from "What was I thinking when I bought this shirt?" to "Why do I get upset when my partner behaves in a particular way?" to "How should I shape my career path?".

The first word of the style statement is the foundation word. This describes your inner essence. Your foundation may not be very externally prominent, but it represents your roots. When you wander too far from your foundation word, you feel uncomfortable and disoriented, but too much can make you inflexible. Your foundation word can apply to your deeply held principles as well as your essential clothing pieces or choice of couch.

The second word of you style statement is your creative edge. Your edge word often controls the impression you give (or would like to give) to others. If your foundation word is your roots, your edge word is your wings. Too little creative edge leaves you feeling empty and flat, but too much can be overwhelming and lead to burn out. Your creative edge may guide your hobbies as well as your choice of clothing accessories.

The bulk of the book consists of a series of exercises to help you explore your preferences intermixed with sample style profiles. The exercises are broken into sections based on 8 focus areas: home stuff, fashion sensuality, spirit learning, service wealth, relationships communication, creativity celebration, body wellness, and nature rest & relaxation.

If you are willing to take the time to do the exercises and really think about your answers, it is a revealing experience. Answering individual questions is sometimes revealing and sometimes a statement of the obvious (e.g., I know what my dream house would be like, but I have never thought about what parts of my culture I feel most connected to).

The real insights come when you do the filter and interpret exercises to find themes across each section and then start to see the themes that span the different focus areas. For example, I started to see themes of simplicity, precision, inquiry, energy, and optimism, among others.

Once you have gone through all the inquiries, the book leads you through some exercises to discover the overarching themes. After that comes the most exciting and difficult part: boiling all of these themes, some of which may seem contradictory, into a two word statement that captures your essence. The authors provide some guidance for choosing those words, but for the most part, the process consists of reading lots of definitions, finding candidate words (they provide a starting list, but it is just a start), and trying different combinations until you find the one that feels right.

And what is my style statement? Refined Elemental. I knew "elemental" would be one of my words as soon as I read the definition in the style vocabulary. Finding "refined" was difficult. I initially passed over the word because it seemed snooty and standoffish. When I read the definition after completing my inquiry, I realized that "refined" actually captures a lot of the qualities that had come up as persistent themes. I am particularly fond of the combination Refined Elemental because both words have connections to rocks and minerals, something I have always loved but was not really thinking about during my inquiry.

I struggled thru the main part of the book (disorganized, rambling mess), hit the worksheets, and couldn't take any more. Too fluffy for my tastes. I'm out!

This book is essentially a list of buzz words and quotes. Some are good and some are just cobbled together pieces of word salad. There are many blank pages, full pages of a single sentence in block letters (a not particularly enticing or helpful sentence either). It’s really like a bunch of Instagram and social media content (again not particularly helpful social media content) thrown in a book with terrible formatting, no editing, and no cohesion. I’m sure this book has helped some people and I’m glad it did, but I wasn’t able to obtain anything from it. I bought this before I tried to read White Hot Truth and couldn’t finish it for the same reasons.

I haven't been able to make it through the supposed "theory" section - the layout (RANDOM CHANGES IN TEXT SIZE!) is literally making my eyes hurt. The only thing I've gotten out of it so far is that how you want to feel should inform your goals. I think. If you feel like having goals? Or something like that.

I've yet to meet a book of Danielle's that I didn't like (she's certainly on my insta-buy list) - but White Hot Truth is even better than I expected it to be. It's refreshing to hear someone that can both address the real flaws and pitfalls of the spiritual self-help journey, *and* validate that it's a useful path to wander down. She doesn't sugar coat any of the hard truths or dangers inherent in working on your spiritual self, but at the same time, she doesn't degrade or dismiss that the work is *valuable*.

This is one of those books that you can pick up anywhere and find the words you need to read at a given time, that asks questions to lead you deeper into being your own guiding light, and shows you that you can be a fully-faceted, fully realized person while you're on the journey, in your now, not just in some kind of dream-like amorphous someday that you may or may not ever "get to".

This is one of those books I'll be recommending to friends and family for a long time to come.

I like the overall idea of the book. The rest of it is kiiiiinda silly & ridiculous.

This was WAY more woo than I was expecting, and the exercises backfired on me badly, but there were still some useful and interesting insights.

Good advice

Excellent resource Had a good time searching for my style statement Highly recommended

Like the Desire Map - this is a book to come back to again and again.

Eh, fine. I know a lot of people love LaPorte, and her writing is pretty inspirational, but it's a lot of pie-in-the-sky woo-woo.

Ce petit livre fait état des différents troubles d'apprentissage communément diagnostiqués, de la terminologie et des symptômes associés à chacun ainsi que des ressources disponibles aux parents. C'est un survol ou une introduction plus qu'autre chose - personnellement, je n'ai pas appris grand-chose ayant déjà fait un petit débroussaillage sur la question (notamment dyslexie, distorsion auditive, déficit de l'attention). De ce point de vue, c'était décevant. Par contre, il y a aussi tout un chapitre sur les droits des parents et des enfants. C'est axé sur le Québec, mais ça donne une bonne idée des mécanismes qui sont en place et dont peuvent se pourvoir les parents - très utile lorsque l'on essaie de démêler une situation complexe où interviennent enseignants, élève, parents, psychologues et autres aides thérapeutiques. Pour cela je le recommande afin que les parents se trouvent moins démunis face à problème mieux compris mais encore un peu tabou.½