Danielle Laporte's Firestarter Sessions

1strength + desire

What is it about?

Learning to define yourself on your own terms - Knowing your strengths and desires and where they overlap - Figuring out how you want to feel

One exercise in this module is to come up with an elevator speech that is truly authentic. Here's mine so far.

"Inspiration is everything. By sharing what inspires us, we help each other be the best that we can be. Life is a gift and I try to convey that message through my photography, writing, and workshops. My blog, be.inspired, is all about sharing inspiration and connecting with others about what excites them."

Another fantastic exercise in this module was to make a list of things we were going to stop doing, in effect, making room for what really matters. For me, I am going to stop under-selling myself and under-valuing my work. On the practical side, I am going to set aside time for writing and photography with set times for checking email, Twitter, or phone messages.

How do I want to feel about my work? Creative, connected, and inspired.

2identity + branding

What is it about?

In this module, Danielle Laporte turns branding on its head. Rather than manufacturing a brand that you think you can sell, she helps you to figure out what your unique brand already is.

"Your brand is your reputation, your character, the impression you make. It's who you are, ideally."

How do you present the unique brand that is you? How do others see you? The exercises in this module were very revealing.

Some had to do with identifying the people we admired and the qualities they embody for us. We only see in others what we already have in ourselves, good and bad. By looking at the qualities of the people we admire, we get clues as to what we are capable of.

I found that the recurring patterns in the people I admire included being artists and activists, philosophical, articulate and generous. They all followed their passions and found their niche in life.

How you present your brand is your style. Another exercise had to do with finding out how other people saw you. This was a little scary, asking others to mirror back what they see, but it was so insightful. I found many of my strengths were visible to others, that of making connections and being a facilitator. On the flip side, I found that to many, I am hard to read, I keep my emotions well hidden, so people have to guess what I'm thinking. I need to share more of myself. Danielle Laporte says that a gift isn't a gift until it is given away. I need to give more of myself away. Another friend said that I tend to get bogged down in having all the details worked out before I move forward. She wished that I would just go for it a little sooner.

3content + services + promotion

What is it about?

Start designing your website. What services will you offer? How will you promote yourself?

In this module, you get down to the nitty gritty. How will you turn your passion into a product that people want. Here, you have to get serious about knowing your message. What do you stand for? What results do you want? What is your target market? And you develop the core content of your site directly from your message.

There are links in this section to websites that you can analyze. What do you like or not like about them? There are tips on how to work with website creators, and the do's and the don'ts for websites. Finally, it gets down to money. How much do you want to make and how will you get there? I must admit that I have not done all the work on this section yet.

4reverie + courage

What is it about?

The final module has to do with dealing with the fear (and resistance) that will inevitably crop up. It is about knowing when to quit or change direction and when to have the courage to keep going. It's about having a vision and acting on it.

The exercises in this section help you identify your fears as well as the people and situations that support and encourage you. It's about coming up with an action plan. Danielle Laporte's ending video is just great, very affirming.

Right now I am in the process of building a website around the topic of inspiration, and my photography will be one part of that. I know that it will be a work in progress but I have the vision now to get going.