(Credit: @James_Frystak_Studio)
On March 18, I attended the Real Talk Summit, along with over 1,300 fellow entrepreneurs at the Vancouver Convention Centre, to learn from successful leaders that included RTS founder Connor Beaton, Saje Wellness co-founder Jean-Pierre LeBlanc, O2E Brands founder Brian Scudamore, Thinkific co-founder Greg Smith, AG Hair co-founder Lotte Davis, Archangel Summit founder Giovanni Marsico, Vayner Media CEO Gary Vaynerchuk – and the reason I chose to attend: Danielle LaPorte.
You likely know LaPorte as the author of The Fire Starter Sessions, and The Desire Map: A Guide To Creating Goals With Soul – two books that have had a great impact on me.
Her website, DanielleLaPorte.com, was named one of the “Top 100 Websites for Women” by Forbes, and she was recently inducted into Oprah’s SuperSoul 100, “a collection of 100 awakened leaders who are using their voices and talent to elevate humanity.” Her new book, White Hot Truth: Clarity for keeping it real on your spiritual path—from one seeker to another, comes out May 16, 2017 (but you can pre-order it now!).
LaPorte kicked off the inaugural conference, which aimed to “pull back the curtain on entrepreneurship through real and raw conversations about what it takes to succeed in business, make an impact and elevate your brand.” She delivered.
“Love is my business model. I choose love in transactions. Compassion is a strategy.”
Her words resonated deeply and I was thrilled to hear that someone so wildly successful operates first and foremost from a place of love.
Following her opening keynote address, I had the chance to sit down with LaPorte for a private conversation on her tips for entrepreneurs.
Me and the cool, calm and fabulous Danielle LaPorte at the Real Talk Summit
1. Choose love as your business model
Kindness and cash flow aren’t mutually exclusive. In fact, operating from a place of love can boost your bottom line!
“My definition of success has everything to do with creative freedom and being of service. That’s it! Everything comes from that,” says LaPorte.
“Being a conscious business person – being of service – is often really inconvenient,” she says, but it’s worth it.
Inconvenience (discomfort) is often a cost of greatness – like the discomfort of getting up in the dark to run in the rain, the discomfort saying no when you know something that someone else wants from you isn’t in your best interest, or the discomfort of sitting down to write when you just don't feel like it.
If you’re familiar with The Life Delicious curriculum you know I’m a huge believer in the power of questions – constructive, empowering questions.
Your brain is an incredible question-answering machine and will answer any question you challenge it with.
Powerful questions to ask yourself ahead of business transactions are:
Am I approaching this from a place of love and compassion?
Am I showing myself love and compassion?
Am I showing others love and compassion?
Let love guide you to greatness.
2. Choose ease
At the end of her talk, LaPorte took a few questions from the audience, and one young female entrepreneur asked how to keep pushing when the going gets tough.
LaPorte answered with constructive, empowering questions!
“Always go back to the why,” said LaPorte, “and ask yourself, ‘Am I broadcasting light into the world?’, ‘Am I choosing ease?’, ‘What am I really devoted to?’”
The word ease really stood out to me. It’s one of my new Core Desired Feelings!
The definition of ease is “the absence of difficulty or effort.”
My friend (and Desire Map Workshop facilitator) Jenny Xenos calls this “relaxing into your brilliance.”
LaPorte told us, “I’m working with my therapist on how to reprogram my nervous system for ease.”
Ah, yes! You can reprogram your nervous system for ease too.
“We’re so used to striving and working hard and proving ourselves through over-working, that we think hard is awesome,” says LaPorte. “We think hard is success. And it’s a lie. Because it’s not sustainable. There’s not a lot of joy in it.”
Joy. Another one of my CDFs!
“Joy is Power,” one of LaPorte’s #Truthbombs declares.
You can exert your power by choosing joy and ease. Are you choosing ease?
“Now, there’s a difference between ease and the easy way,” cautions LaPorte.
“This isn’t about shortcuts. This is about grace, this is about fulfilment, this is about letting things happen.”
“This is actually about being more productive – because you’re choosing ease. There’s no forcing.”
“When you force things, automatically anxiety comes with that. Ease is about paying attention to the cues that are showing up. It’s about reception.”
What are you trying to force? How can you choose ease and receptivity instead?
3. Embrace uncertainty
“You need to embrace uncertainty,” says LaPorte.
As a fan of the “Law of Detachment” – one of Deepak Chopra’s Seven Spiritual Laws of Success that states: “In detachment lies the wisdom of uncertainty… in the wisdom of uncertainty lies freedom” – her words rang true. I wanted to know more.
“Uncertainty – that’s where your creative edge lies,” says LaPorte. “If you think things are certain and predictable, you’re just in complete and utter denial about how life works. You’re going to be constantly resisting. You’re always going to be surprised. It’s going to create a lot of anxiety.”
“I like being lost for short periods of time. Confusion is really healthy. I consider it like creative tension.”
“Life is unpredictable, and sometimes disappointing because of that. And wildly fulfilling. You may as well just roll with it!”
“Creative flow will ebb. Sometimes it’s the winter of your creativity. When you feel the chill, it’s time to take an intentional break.”
Why are intentional breaks not celebrated and encouraged? Solitude and reflection fuel creativity.
What level of uncertainty can you find comfort in? “You have to know your threshold,” says LaPorte. “Are you risk averse or risk erotic?”
Another great question! Which are you?
For more of LaPorte’s insight, check out her new book, White Hot Truth: Clarity for keeping it real on your spiritual path—from one seeker to another. Here’s an exclusive sneak peek:
“The book is about the conflict between a sincere spiritual path – like really seeking – and our addiction to self-improvement,” says LaPorte. “I think that self-help can turn into self-criticism, and I think we need to examine everything we’re doing that we’re calling a spiritual practice – and then come back to practices that really work for us, so we’re not doing them out of guilt, or to prove ourselves, or to get cosmic brownie points. We’re doing them because we’re really lit up, and for the right reasons. A devoted path is essential to fulfillment.”
Follow LaPorte on Instagram and Facebook – plus catch her on the White Hot Truth book tour in New York City, San Francisco and LA this May and June, and at the Archangel Summit with Simon Sinek and Lewis Howes in Toronto this September.