The Manifesto of Encouragement...by Danielle Laporte

right now:

there are Tibetan Buddhist monks in a temple in the Himalayas endlessly reciting mantras for the cessation of your suffering and for the flourishing of your happiness.

Someone you haven't met yet is already dreaming of adoring you.

Someone is writing a book that you will read in the next two years that will change how you look at life.

Nun's in the Alps are in endless vigil, praying for the Holy Spirit to alight the hearts of all of God's children.

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.

Something is being invented this year that will change how your generation lives, communicates, heals and passes on.

The next great song is being rehearsed.

Thousands of people are in yoga classes right now intentionally sending light out from their heart chakras and wrapping it around the earth.

Millions of children are assuming that everything is amazing and that it will always be that way.

Someone is in profound pain, and a few months from now, they will be thriving like never before. They just can't see it from where they're at.

Someone who is craving to be partnered, to be acknowledged, to ARRIVE, will get precisely what they want - and even more. And because that gift will be so fantastical in its reach and sweetness, it will quite magically alter their memory of angsty longing and render it all "so worth the wait."

Someone has recently cracked open their joyous, genuine nature because they did the hard work of hauling years of oppression off of their psyche - this luminous juju is floating in the ether and is accessible to you.

Someone, just this second, wished for world peace in earnest.

Someone is fighting the fight so that you don't have to.

Some civil servant is making sure that you get your mail, and your garbage is picked up, that the trains are running on time and that you are generally safe. Someone is dedicating their days to protecting your civil liberties and clean drinking water.

Someone is regaining their sanity. Someone is coming back from the dead. Someone is genuinely forgiving the seemingly unforgivable. Someone is curing the incurable.

You. Me. Some. One. Now.

All I have to say is 'Wow'. Read Danielle Laporte's blog today. It will change your life.

Manifesto Of Style....

I was reading Danielle LaPorte's Manifesto of Style taken from her first book "Style Statement. Live By Your Own Design". Here are my favourite snippets:

• Authenticity is energising, economical and efficient. Self awareness leads to true style.
• People are like snowflakes; uniquely beautiful because of the details. Celebrate what sets you apart, what's most popular and true for you, and your own specialness will become clear.
• Pay attention to what attracts you. Ask yourself: What am I drawn to?
• Use your best everyday. Life is too short to wait for that special occasion to bring out your finery, your treasures, your brilliance, and the best of your love.
• Choose from your heart and your life will fill up with things you love. What works is what feels right.
• Its always a good time to be yourself. And its never too late. Possibility exists all the time, everywhere.
• Make more choices - moment to moment, day to day. You are the designer of your life. Be selective, creative and intentional in every possible way.

Love it!

Firestarter Sessions....

I started the Firestarter Sessions this week and I LOVE it. So many great things to take away and be inspired by. Here's my fave bits so far:

• People's reputations are made in the bad times more than the good times.
• If you want to make lots of really good stuff happen, then that's really exciting-for all of us. If you want to earn a living by doing meaningful things-then that's exceptional.
• "Entrepreneurs have this real belief that their lives are about service and leadership" - Anita Roddick (founder of The Body Shop).
• The act of beginning something is powerful.
• Stopping doing some things = more time for what matters most.
• Doing truly great work stems from simplicity: a simple home, a simple schedule and a simple frame for work.
• "Make your life a creative work of art".
• Think of resentment as a blaring mega-watt STOP sign.
• "Begin anywhere" - John Cage.
• Knowing how you actually want to feel is the most potent form of clarity that you can have. Acting on generating those feelings is the most creative thing you can do with your life.
• When you pick up the phone, when you ship your product, when you walk into your store or when you post your article, how do you want to feel?
• Be anchored into the emotion that is driving you.
• Strategy: Know how you want to feel and do whatever it takes to feel that way.
• Aiming for power gets your power circuits firing.
• Enough with feeling guilty for wanting to feel the way you want to feel. Follow your desired emotion. Don't analyse it too deeply. Just let it roll and rumble a bit. It may be there to humble you, expand you, heal, surprise or reinvent you. Anywhere it leads is there for a divine reason.
• When you're focused on the feelings, the form and the timing of how things come into your life are less important.
• "Feelings first" is really the essence of simplified living - a focus on what matters most.
• If an opportunity comes my way and it isn't going to make me feel the way I know I want to, then its "No thanks". - Danielle LaPorte.
• "Never sing in chorus if you want to be heard" - Jules Archibald.
• Your brand is your reputation, your character, the impression you make. Its who you are.
• Integrity brands are:

1). Self referencing: ie they begin with their offering and then look for their audience. The starting point is "Who am I?" not "What will I sell?".

2). Rooted in genuine strengths + passions: Because you can't fake passion and passion persuades.

3). Consistent: Authenticity is efficient. Consistency builds velocity. People know what to expect from you and that is a beautiful thing.

4). Proud: Your most pronounced qualities are the through line of your story and they articulate your gifts and challenges.

5). Transparent: Show me who you are even if its a bit risky. Risk=momentum.

6). Emotive: If you don't emote, you're remote. Integrity brands express their feelings - psychological, political, spiritual and material. We stand up and say things. We lean forward. We risk. We laugh out loud, show our true colours and speak our minds. We make declarations.

This is only a small taste of what you get out of the Firestarter Sessions - there are also worksheets, videos, interviews etc. So if this appeals to you in any way shape or form you should definitely pop over to Danielle LaPorte's website Whitehot Truth to learn more and join in the fun!

You're not that important but you are the centre of the universe....

I came across something from Danielle Laporte tonight that I found fascinating. She put forward the following two ideas:

YOU'RE NOT THAT IMPORTANT

This is Part One of a two part exercise. Repeat: this is not a philosophical declaration to carry around in your heart. Rather, it's a soul-teaser to wind through your bean and shake up some thought forms.

The world will go on if
: you don't show up at work.
: you don't post to your blog tomorrow.
: you cancel the meeting.
: you stay in bed all day.
: you don't sign the contract.
: you don't answer the phone.
: you don't check your email.
: you leave town.

CEO, #1, Captain, President, The Leader.
Who cares. It's just business, moving parts, day to day. You can be replaced.

Mother. Father. Teacher.
Aside from single parents caring for little ones, you're just not the only influence in your children's lives. They may not even want to stick around when they grow up. You may never be thanked. They will find their way with or without you.

Lover. Partner. So-called Significant Other.
Replaceable. And God knows, as a partner, you can certainly be improved upon.

You're one in a about six and half billion. A speck. A blink in the eye of God. A nano micro weeny zip in the eons of time and vastness of space. No one's happinessreally depends on you - no one's. People can take care of themselves like they always have. It's most likely that one hundred years from now, nobody will so much as mention your name.

You're just passing through, and times flies.

Life will go on with or without you.

How does it feel to consider that?

YOU ARE THE CENTRE OF THE UNIVERSE

This is part 2 of the exercise

So much is because of you. The letters you've written and sent, the touches, the kisses, the parties. Every grain of advice, set of directions, every breakfast for guests. That quarter you tossed into a panhandlers hat could have facilitated the call that turned it all around. Little kindnesses, grand gestures. The doing of your being imprinting place and time. Inevitably.

Consider everything you've ever been thanked for.
Every photo you've been in.
Every corner you've turned.
Every time you've signed your name.

Consider that you radiate. At all times. Consider that what you're feeling right now is rippling outward into a field of is-ness that anyone can dip their oar into. You are felt. You are heard. You are seen. If you were not here, the world would be different. Because of your presence, the universe is expanding.

How does it feel to consider that?

What struck me when I read this was how both ideas are true but how easy it is to lose sight of them. Life totally goes on whether we do any of the things listed or not - but we so easily fall into the habit of thinking we 'have' to do everything. That we can't stay home from work if we're sick, that we must be contactable everywhere we go, that we can't take one day each week or even every now and then for ourselves. But we absolutely can. The times I have been acutely aware of this has been during periods when I have been ill - most recently, when I went through postnatal depression. The thought of all those daily things and bits and pieces not being done was initially unfathomable. But when it came to the crunch and I had no choice but to remove myself from everyday life as I had known it, the world did not end. I pretty much dropped out of my usual existence for a good number of weeks/months and life went on. Funny that....

On the flip side, I love the idea that we are the centre of the universe - but for all those reasons that really matter (you know the ones we often don't stop to think twice about or the ones we take for granted). How amazing is the impact we can have on the world around us from just 'being'. The letters you've written and sent, the touches, the advice - so beautiful and empowering when you stop to think about it.

Firestarter Sessions....

I'm so excited! I've signed up to do Danielle Laporte's "Firestarter Sessions" which is a digital experience for entrepreneurs. It starts in May but if you pre order you get to download a PDF of some of the work to get a taster of what its about. It is so inspiring and motivating and interesting that I woke up at 5am the morning after I downloaded it because I just wanted to get stuck into it. I took so many notes its not funny because everything resonated with me so much. There was an activity at the end where you had to answer certain questions. Here's some of my responses:

You go to the best cocktail party ever. Its a life changing event because you meet the most with it, interesting, empowered people, and each of them can contribute to your career and interests in some way. Who was there? What kind of info did they share with you? What did they ask you? How did they offer to help you?

Oprah Winfrey, Brian Tracy (self-help author and guru), Marcus Buckingham (motivational speaker, trainer, researcher and author), Chip Wilson (founder of lululemon athletica), Christine Day (CEO lululemon athletica), Susannah Conway (photographer, writer, blogger), Danielle Laporte (entrepreneur), Marisa Haedike (artist, blogger), Scott Schuman (The Sartorialist-photographer), Garance Dore' (illustrator, photographer, blogger), Sarah Jessica Parker, Beyonce, Ellen Degeneres, Bono, Jono Fisher (founder of Wake up Sydney!), Siimon Reynolds (entrepreneur, writer), Seth Godin (author, entrepreneur and agent of change) & my twin sister Stacey.

A real mixture there covering everything I love: creativity, art, writing, blogging, fashion, music, humour, business, self-development. The information they would share with me would be how to remain authentic and follow your passion, how to make a living from your passion, how they have made a difference in the world and insights into their journey. They would all offer to help me by mentoring me, giving me feedback, allowing me to work with them and simply by enjoying life and my experience with them.

What are you intensely interested in? What could you talk about late into the night with like-minded people, or to an audience of rapt listeners hanging on your every word?

Living authentically, living creatively, inspiring others, making a living by doing what you love, being the change I want to see in the world, inspiring others, goal setting, self development, finding my passion, reading, design, entrepreneurship, connecting with others.

What activities make you feel really useful, alive and strong? When do you feel like a rockstar, a gifted contributor, a very cool and purposeful human being? In terms of the things you do, when do you feel most like yourself?

When I'm advising others, inspiring others, connecting, creating and blogging.

What do I want to be known for?

Inspiring others and living authentically.

If you are interested in doing the Firestarter Sessions, or just want to find out more about the amazing Danielle, here is the link to her blog.