The School of Greatness - 481 Danielle LaPorte: Own Your Truth

Episode Date: May 8, 2017

"It's never an aha moment. It's a slow grind to figuring it out." - Danielle LaPorte If you enjoyed this episode, check out show notes, video, and more at http://lewishowes.com/481

This is episode number 481 with the lovely and talented Danielle Laporte. Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, a former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin. Oh, we've got one of my most favorite human beings in the School of Greatness studio, guys.

Get ready to ignite your soul and open your heart. In this one, it's going to be powerful. Danielle Laporte is an invited member of Oprah's inaugural Super Soul 100. She's also the author of The Firestarter Sessions and The Desire Map, the book that has been translated into eight languages, evolved into a yearly day planner and journal system, and a top 10 iTunes app, and an international workshop program with licensed facilitators in 15 countries. This woman is everywhere. Her next book is called White Hot Truth.

Ooh, we're getting hot. We're getting truthful here. Clarity for keeping it real on your spiritual path from one secret to another, and it launches right now. Millions of visitors go to daniellelaporte.com every month for her daily truth bombs, and it has been named one of the top 100 websites for women by Forbes

and called the best place online for kick-ass spirituality. She is a powerful speaker and poet and also was a speaker at our first ever Summit of Greatness in Columbus, Ohio, and she knocked it out of the park. Guys, we're going to be covering some great stuff today. We're going to be talking about why our egos are misunderstood, the reason we should stop trying to change ourselves. This is a big one for people who beat themselves up about this.

Also, why it's so important to keep our bodies and minds clean and clear, how we choose the beliefs we live by, why now is the time to voice your opinion to the world and so much more. Oh, my heart is already cracked open because I love this one and I know you're going to love this one as well. Before we dive in, I want to give a shout out to our review of the week. This is from Jen Pell who said, I've been listening to Lewis's podcast for about four months, telling friends, co-workers,

and family about his podcast along the way. This is one that you want people you care about to listen to as it will impact their world. He is authentic, brings a diverse group of guests, and is one of the best question askers I've heard in a long time. I appreciate the content on the podcast and have expanded both personally and professionally. Thank you, Lewis. Keep up the wonderful work. So Jen Pell, thank you so much for being the iTunes review of the week. It means the world to me. And if you guys want to be considered for a review of the week, go to iTunes.com slash greatness and leave one right now.

All right, guys. I'm pumped. Get ready. The one, the only Danielle Laporte. Welcome back to one of the School of Greatness podcast. Very excited about our guest. Danielle Laporte is in the house. Good to see you, my love. How are you doing? I'm so great. Awesome. I'm excited for you because you've got a new book out. It's called White Hot Truth. Make sure you guys go get this right now. It's a game changer. It's going

to inspire you. It's going to give you a lot of wisdom and clarity. And one of the things I want to talk about that I loved actually is it gives you clarity, but there's also a whole page on here called The Paradoxical of Wisdom. Is that what it's called? Yes, The Paradox of Wisdom. Wisdom of Paradoxical, right? And you talk about how truth and wisdom usually holds opposite points of views. Yes. And so it'll give you clarity, but it's also some confusion, right, to life. Because you have these 14 different points, which I love, which kind of made me laugh.

You say, like, forgive, but don't forget. Trust, but do the work. Get real and be idealistic. So these different, you know, paradoxical truths of wisdom, why is this so? Why can't it just be one way? Oh, it's never one way. It's always and both. You know, wholeness is like inclusive. And I think, I mean, this is just what I've found to be true for myself and like the people who I consider real deal teachers. There's always some contradiction. They know, you know, wisdom knows that there's a time and a place for everything.

There's a time to be, you know, a purist and devotional and there's times to let loose. and devotional and there's times to let loose and there are times you know wholeness is about being really you know deeply self-respectful and centered within yourself and you know having excellent boundaries and then getting off your ass and being of service and feeling connected to everybody yeah yeah Whole life is both. And it's also messy sometimes. So messy. So messy, so uncertain. Never a straight line.

Never black and white. You never change for one reason. It's never one Instagram that gets you never change for one reason it's never one it's never one instagram that gets you to change it's like a series of things that creates a tipping point yeah it's complex is there a tipping point in your life recently a tipping point in my life i feel like it's been this melting. Yeah, this slow burning, you know, fire. And for me, things never come in an explosive way. Like it's never, I never feel like, ah, I had the breakthrough. Like an aha moment.

It's not the aha. It's just this slow grind to figuring it out. Sometimes it's about feeling just worn the fuck down and that's when the revelation comes. And- Like just so exhausted, like, okay, something has to shift. Yeah, I get it.

I'm giving up. I'm letting it go. I'm not a fan of the word surrender, but I'm just gonna be and allow. Yeah, so no lightning bolts for me. I used to really want lightning bolts. I used to think it would be so great to have a near-death experience, something that wouldn't leave me disfigured or super traumatized, but just like I wanted- Wake you up. Yeah, I wanted to see the light and have one of those like transcendental things that would be like really transformative

and I could maybe get a great book out of it, you know? And my life is just much more normal and I'm like really okay with it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, what's the biggest lesson you learned in writing this book? Because it's a journey writing a book, obviously.

I'll tell you. Yes. lesson you learned in writing this book? Because it's a journey writing a book, obviously. I'll tell you. The biggest lesson in writing this book was about being more self-referencing. I mean, really the heart of this is about being your own guru. And after I was finished the book, I realized that I was still pretty addicted to getting outside input. Like it was one more psychic reading. It was another intuitive something. It was like, well, maybe I need a more specific business coach for this specific issue. Just like one more psychotherapy session, you know? Or my yoga session. Yeah. Or retreat.

Yeah. And so I have gone on an input fast and it feels like really confessional like i feel like i'm in an a meaning saying you know i'm danielle and i haven't had a psychic reading for eight months and yeah just much fewer like spiritual paraphernalia in my life. No, I'm just not referring to those tools as much. It's about me. And you know what? It's 50-50. If you listen to everybody else, your chances of pulling it off, still 50-50.

If you listen to yourself, still 50-50. But listening to yourself, oh God, you save a lot of money. It's much more efficient. And you really build that muscle. You know, intuition is a muscle. And so much in the self-help space is like, you know, listen to that small inner voice. And there's so much noise coming in, people can't hear that small inner voice, let alone trusting it, let alone acting on it. So you need to just stop with the input and create some space, and then you can hear yourself.

And sometimes it'll be right, and sometimes it'll lead you somewhere else that you'll think is wrong, but that'll turn out right afterwards when you zoom back and look at the whole situation. But, uh, yeah. Input fasting. It's good for you. I mean, how do you think people should create a structure for themselves to have that space? Because we're so attached to the phones and being in the digital information world. What do you recommend? To create that space. Less seeking of external input, as I just said.

I think you have to have some kind of practice of stillness in your life. And I know everybody would like to avoid it. I know we would like to take shortcuts. I mean, look, the first thing I do in the morning when I roll over in bed is I check my phone. And then I meditate. So I'm not saying like it's – Yeah, right? So I just want to see who loves me.

Yeah. How many people like me? Emails, yes. Did I get affirmation for my value on the planet? And then I tune in. So whatever it is for you, if it's like, if it's your morning run, if it's your time on the elliptical, if it's four minutes, if you're really going to give her and sit for, you know, 20 minutes to an hour, like you must have that. And it's like, you know, we clean our bodies,

we clean our system. You know, that light that you encounter when you're in a meditative state, that is a cleaning of the mind and it needs to happen so that you don't get the fog, the confusion. I mean, I think at the most basic level, so many people can relate to just waking up in the morning and not knowing exactly what the priorities are. So many people do that. Right. It's that fogginess and this can go on for years. Decades for people. Decades. And then they wake up and say, what's my purpose? What am I doing all this for?

Yeah. What's the reason? It adds up and you're on Prozac, What am I doing all this for? Yeah. What's the reason? It adds up. And you're on Prozac. You're in the wrong job. Smoking, drinking. You're in the wrong relationship. You don't feel the way you want to feel.

So regular stillness. I think there's a difference between meditation and contemplation and prayer. Ideally, you're using all of them. Meditation is formulaic. You're sitting. It's a process. It's an actual process, and you find the way of meditating that works for you. Contemplation is just like you're actually actively thinking.

You're very much in your mind thinking through things. You are being considerate about what's happening in your life. And then prayer is, it's a conversation. And prayer can be, for a lot of us, it's just making the request over and over again. For me, I'm much happier when prayer is about gratitude. And I really want to meet my maker halfway. Yeah, but those things, that's the reason everybody's been talking about it for 2,000 years. Right. Stillness needs to happen. That's true. Now, you say the best self-help is self-compassion.

Yeah. Why is that? Booyah. Booyah. That's it. That's the whole point. My journey has been one of exhaustion and burnout. You seem pretty good right now. I'm so good right now. I'm so liberated now. I am rested and filled up with a lot of gratitude.

And there was always lots of gratitude, but I'm not striving anymore in the way that I used to strive. You mean you should be constantly working and grinding type of thing? Yeah, there was always the career grind. And, you know, be seen, hit the list, get the followers. I mean, you know, like we're in the same space. But underneath that, there was this spiritual striving. So I grew up Catholic, and it's all about impressing God.

It is all about the points and getting access. You're in or you're out, if you're good or you're bad. And I mean, that's a very black and white way of putting it, but that's not that far off. And I thought I let that go. I thought I let that striving go. I mean, I thought I was freer than I really was, but I'd really just replaced that dictatorial God with another kind of God who looked really great in black yoga stretchy pants. And went to Burning Man. It was much more progressive and sexually liberated. Right. But I was still really just trying to get these cosmic brownie points as, you know, am I good enough? Am I enlightened enough?

Are my thoughts clean enough? Have I done enough cleansing? And it's exhausting and expensive. And, you know, I was looking at my day planner. It's like there's a channeling appointment and there's a yoga retreat and I got to go get my protein powder. We're over obsessive protein. And then there's a therapy session and then maybe, you know, and what if, what if I just let go just for a moment? What if I even just considered letting go? We'll just ask everybody listening right now. What if, where do I look? What if you considered right now not wanting to change who you are and how you are? No striving to change. For me, that question is just a melter. It's almost like confusing too, because we're in this constant push to get better. And when I started to let that go, because that does not happen in a lightning bolt,

because that is so deeply ingrained, because I'm actually living a really normal life, yeah, there was more spaciousness and I became much more friendly with myself. When you let go of striving? When I let go of the striving. Is that striving to achieve or striving to become a better human being? Both. Both. I'm not broken.

I'm not flawed. I'm not – I don't need to be fixed. I need to be celebrated. I need to be honored. I deserve to be loved. And that has to start with me. And so all of those moments where I'm just like, you should have said something different. You should have worked longer. You should have worked harder. You should have been more loving. You should, this is a big one. This is a big one, especially for women. You should be over it by now. I mean, those are really harsh things that we would never say to our best friend. You sit with your friend again and again and again, and you listen to them go on about the chump when you're like, I think you need to dump the chili. But you listen.

And so, you know, the medicine really happens when we feel like we're at our worst, when we are our biggest loser selves. And you say, you're trying your best. Of course you're in pain. Of course you're still pain. Of course you're still hurt. Of course. And then there's some space. Some solutions start coming in. You stand up a little straighter.

You have just succeeded at being that loving person that you've been going to all those damn workshops about because you loved yourself when you thought you were a loser. Yeah. And it makes you so much more, that self-compassion, makes you so much more flexible and compassionate for what other people are going through, and you become less of a preacher.

I mean, I became less of a motivational speaker. Just like, listen, this is what I've been through. Everybody's where they're at. You are pre-qualified just because you showed up. Yeah. Do you feel like you, talking about growth, do you feel like we should be consistently trying to grow or just stay where we're at? Oh, I don't think that we should stay where we're at. I mean, the desire is still there too. I mean, I'm a seeker. I am hungry. I want the answers. I am driven to serve. What are the answers you're looking for? answers. I am driven to serve. What are the answers you're looking for?

Oh, I want to know how creation happens. I want to know how colors are made in the universe. I want to know our relationship to other species on this planet and to other dimensions. I want to know what our true nature is. I want to know where joy comes from. I want to know what love really is. Like, what is the science of love? What's the esoteric explanation? Why is the planet a mess? I want to know where hope comes from. Where does hope meet being realistic? I want to know if there's such a thing as destiny. I don't think there is. I want to know the difference between hope and optimism. I want to know where ideas come from. Are the ideas coming from within me? You know, are things preordained?

Can we really tell the future? Like, clearly, I have some questions, you know? Sure. And I have to be of service. you know and and i have to be of service i just um i'm in a lot of agony about where the world is at i struggle a lot with staying hopeful um some days i just think the shit is going to go down and we are all going down with it. What do you think is the main cause of that? I think there's an ignorance about our true power.

I think that all darkness comes from not facing your soul. I think when you are not facing your soul, your truth, your full potential, your God nature, illusions start to happen and you feel disconnected. And when you are disconnected, you can very quickly turn into an asshole. You don't recycle. You don't include other people. You judge. You judge. It is the seed of racism and bigotry and misogyny. That's what I think the problem is.

It is the deepest, darkest kind of disconnection from our light, from our beauty. from our light, from our beauty. And, yeah, being connected, to use your word, being connected with your greatness, it makes you really fierce in some ways. It's that drive to serve. And it also makes you very soft. And I'm really starting to get that growth is a softening yeah not a hardening nope I'm curious I was gonna go down a different path there I know you're going um let's talk about

beliefs because you said you grew up Catholic and you grew up with certain beliefs, I'm assuming, right? With religion, from parents, from friends. And I'm assuming that you have certain beliefs now that are different from your first 20 years of life, right? Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Now why and how do we choose our beliefs and how often is it okay to change them? Well, We can change your beliefs daily. It might drive you crazy, but like, it's up to you. This is a democracy, right? I think we choose certain beliefs.

And this is a really fantastic question because of comfort. I think that's the driving reason. We want to know that if we are good, we will be rewarded. We want to believe that all of this is going to pay off. And we all have different limits on the payoff, right? Like some of us believe that if we are good today, it will pay off tomorrow. If we are good in this lifetime we will get the rewards in the afterlife you know some of us believe if we do what we feel is right our version of goodness today it'll pay off sometime in the grand scheme of things the reward might not come in this lifetime but yeah I think it's all

about comfort how often do you change yours? well it depends on the belief right? it's a slow it's a slow game I mean I'm in this for the long game I'm in this for many lifetimes

I think big cultural change takes generations. And it actually makes me so much more effective as an activist, as someone with a lot of opinions that I share publicly, to see it that way. I used to be in such a rush and it actually creates this kind of zealousness and this anxiety and you really feel like you're never getting ahead. And the irony for me, at least with just having this bigger perspective is I can see progress more now. I'm so much more patient and loving. And, oh my God, my opinions are sharper than ever i am more i just i have more things to say and i want to be really persistent and loud about it really yeah it's time i mean we we used to think it's time i'm telling you now it is really time to stand up on your stage, whatever your stage is. Your stage might be your kitchen table and voicing your opinions with your family. Nowadays, everybody is a broadcaster. We are the media. And if you're going to be as

great and powerful as we all are aspiring to be with all of our self-help. It really starts with putting your beliefs out there publicly. Yeah. No more hiding. It's powerful. Yeah. Yeah. What about forgiveness?

How do you forgive when you see so many things that you don't enjoy or appreciate or think are wrong in the world? Yeah. When you say the world's a mess, how do you forgive certain things, people, experiences? How often do you forgive? I think there might be some things that some of us come across in a lifetime that are unforgivable. Really? Yeah. Some of us come across in a lifetime that are unforgivable.

Really? Yeah. And it doesn't mean you won't forgive them eventually in the next dimension or the next life. It might be your lesson, your karma, your dharma to just hold on to that. So some of us just need to be okay with that. I do believe that forgiveness is like the heightened way. I feel like it is the aspiration. It is forgiveness is the goal. And the first step to forgiving is to admit that you don't want to forgive. I mean, who wants to forgive? I read that in here. Right? Like you get screwed over and you don't want to forgive. You don't. You're frustrated.

You're pissed. Yeah, because you want to be right. Of course you want to be right. The ego gets in the way. Well, the ego gets in the way. And I also think there is this really healthy clarity of like, this is right and this is wrong. This is morality and this is immorality.

This is how I want to be treated in my life. And this is how you treated me. And it's not on. Like there is some like self-certainty about that. Right. But yeah, you know what? This goes back to the self-compassion as self-help.

Just admit, I don't want to forgive. I'm going to just, just let me be the douche for a minute. Right. Right. And then in comes that softening. And then the next,

you know, so-called step is to just have the desire to forgive. And you don't have to plan it out. You don't need to think, well, you know, if I forgive them, then I have to re-invite them to my wedding. You don't have to. You don't have to, not necessarily. You don't have to be doing lunch. Just have the desire. It will work its way through you. You will write a new story with that person. And my experience has been, you know, we relate to people on a personality level. You have your persona and, you know, you soul named lewis and you got your stuff you know and you may or may not change so i have to relate to you in that way so i may put up very clear boundaries with you stuff meaning like stuff that you may not appreciate or stuff that's messy like say you Like say, you know, you done me wrong. Right. Forgiving doesn't mean I need to give you a chance to like do me right, so to speak. But I can forgive your soul.

And I can do the multi-dimensional work to be like, we're all learning. I totally get that on some level. I am one. We're all in this together. And I'll work from that place. But on the day to day, we're just going to, we're going to part ways. Right, right, right. And you know, what's the difference between judgment and discernment? You have a great little quote that I read in the end about this. But once you feel done wrong by someone, how do you not go to a place of judgment on that person

and say, this is who that person is, or talking bad about that person? Because I've done that in the past, where I felt like someone did me wrong, and I'm just bad-mouthing them, right? Because I'm just pissed. And then I catch myself, and I'm like, all right, is this doing me any good?

It's just hurting me more by talking negative about someone else. So how do you go from a place of not being frustrated or judgmental on someone or situation and just being more discerning and letting it go? Well, I have two answers to that. I mean, one point is that I think you bring up a really good part there about is judgment hurting you? Is you talking shit about other people self-destructive? I think it feels good in the moment, but then at the end of the day,

I think it's hurting you. Well, it's like a hit, right? Yeah. It's like good, heavy nicotine smoke. Oh, that person. Yeah. Of course, we all do that. And I think that piercing judgment,

that shit talk, is damaging, actually. It's really hard not to do. But if you keep it up, it turns into, it's poison for yourself. And you know, you know what's right and wrong. And it's better to keep it clean. But you need to have your moments, you know, and your inner circle. You mean you need to be able to share with your close friends, is what you're saying? Share with your close friends. Let it out if you need to be able to share with your close friends is what you're saying? Share with your close friends.

Let it out if you need to. Yeah. Judgment is a bitch. Judgment is narrow-minded. It's poisonous. It's judgment is a very small thinker.

Judgment is ruled by fear. Judgment is hyper protective it's very survival based it's uh it's like hanging out at this neanderthal level discernment is a higher perspective it really kind of sits at the center and it can see right and wrong. It's got a 360 degree view. It's much more flexible. It's rooted in service. It wants justice. It wants to restore order for the right reasons. And you've got to be discerning if you're really going to tap your power. You've got to be discerning if you're really going to tap your power. You've got to be discerning if you're really going to be a creative with a capital C.

You need to know the difference between ethical and unethical, between what feels good and what feels offensive to you. And, you know, there's been some times where I've gotten some pushback for sharing my opinions. And it's that new age chick pushback. And I get it because I am a new age chick. But it's like, that's a little judgmental, Danielle. And, you know, especially if you are a female speaking out against another female's behavior, which I very rarely do, but there are times to do that, to say, this is not moving anybody forward, especially feminism, right? And yeah, I get that. Well, that's not being very spiritual. Well, actually, it's not very spiritual of you to tell me I'm not being very spiritual. There's lots of judgment here. But you need to voice what is right and what is wrong for

you. And that is how you create change. We cannot move forward if we say this is broken. Yeah, we need to spot it. How important is it to understand one's ego when it comes to spiritual growth? Oh, you know, the ego. I love my ego. Yeah. I mean, of course I do, right? Because that's what the ego does. The ego loves itself.

Yeah, that was a double entendre. The ego is so misunderstood. I mean, I put it in the category of the word love forgive it's just really complicated you have to have an ego to move through the world you you do it is a in some cases it's a really healthy defense mechanism The ego is so related to persona. It's like you have a brand that is, you know, closely part of your spirit. Like you're on target, right?

I have become the so-called brand, which still kind of makes me laugh, but that's ego. And that's part of being effective in a world. I'm in the world. I need to package myself in a way that feels true for me so that I can find my tribe, essentially, and be of service. Share your message and get it out there.

But ego is like sugar. Just a little bit goes a long way. I think we could operate on the 80-20 rule with the ego. I think we could operate on the 80-20 rule with the ego. 20% persona, 80% truth and essence. And when we get carried away, we get, with the ego, further and further away from our truth and our soul. More narcissistic, more self, you know, unhealthy version of self-centered, really disconnected. Yeah.

Is there anywhere you feel disconnected? Anywhere that I feel disconnected? There's some people I feel disconnected from sometimes. Like I just did, I just did a speaking gig and I have a, what I do is I walk the room before my gig. And of course I can't be incognito. I come out and people are just like, Oh, hi,

what are you doing out from behind stage? I'm just like, I just want to be with my people. And I recently did a gig and I walked down. I was like, mostly dudes, 30 something business. They want to know how to rock their Facebook following.

And I'm just like, fuck. I don't know how this is going to go. Because I'm going to be up there talking about facing your soul and what conscious business really is. And I don't care if you're going public. Do not give a shit anymore. I care what you are doing for the public. And I had to pivot pretty quick. And I knew that I was not going to hit it with the majority of that audience.

But I knew I was going to hit it really deep with some people in the audience. And my calling in that moment, what I had to rise to was to be myself anyway. And I don't know that I did it i gave myself a b i mean apparently i was like an a in that gig but i felt pretty disconnected from from that group and i'm just never again you know i'm only going to speak to the choir the ones that get it the ones that get it and i have that struggle i mean that is a very specific professional struggle for me. Do I train the trainers, teach the teachers? Do I just like hang with the tribe, man, you know? Or do I push myself?

And my current answer is I go where the resonance is. Go where the resonance is. Because if I'm standing on stage or writing or whatever it is, and I'm trying to convert you, no, listen, it's highly inefficient thing to do with my energy. And I don't feel liberated and I don't feel super turned on. I, yeah, I want to be, I want to be where the light is, the light that I recognize. Yeah. How can someone create a wellness support system? Oh, well, you got to text your girlfriends obsessively every day. Girls already do that right here. Yeah. Yeah.

It's a religion, you know. I see Jen's phone is constantly texting her girlfriends. Yeah. We, I actually can't speak publicly about it, but yeah. It's a mix of things. So my observation in being in the wellness space is that we get on this path of purity. Cleansing. You talk about cleansing a lot. Oh, it's like cleansing. And it's like, I'm only going to see my natural path. And I'm going to meditate on where the stuck energy is in my body. And all those things need to happen. I mean, all of that, you know, Eastern, basically the Eastern holistic approach needs to infiltrate the Western dysfunctional approach. but those of us who have been on that you know quote-unquote holistic path we need to lighten up on the way to enlightenment with this because you know i've been like coughing up a lung

with a friend she's like you need to get to a doctor you need antibiotics and i was like oh i was just like gonna bring down more light and take some echinacea. And I think everybody's body is a complex system. You are more complex than any software hardware program. And you need a multi-dimensional, multi-pronged approach to your healing. So you might need a shaman and you might need chemotherapy and you may need green juice and every once in a while, you know, maybe you got to do some ayahuasca. You have to piece it together yourself without judgment as to what works for you. And let's just put all that wholeness in a bubble. And I also want to say,

you know, we are a culture who is addicted to antidepressants and prescriptions that come from people who don't really know us, who don't take the time to test us properly, ask us about our personal emotional histories. I mean, there's so much addiction and blindness happening in the wellness space. And there's not one pill fits all. No, there isn't. There isn't one spiritual prescription. There isn't one medical prescription.

You have to kind of quilt together your program. And it takes more time. It takes more patience. It takes more courage to do that. Because you don't just have your 15-minute appointment. You got to do your research. Yeah. What do you want people to know about white hot truth and why should they get it

besides the fact that I love it and who's it for specifically that's a good question it's for anybody who identifies as being a seeker it's for anybody who listens to all of our inspirational, motivational podcasts because they want to be better. It's for anybody who ever wanted to escape their church, whatever that church is.

It's for anybody who is in the self-help space and still feeling like it's not quite right for them. Like there's this question around boundaries. It's for anybody who is tired of a point system around going to yoga. It's for anybody who thinks their goals might be just a little bit fucked up right now yeah and what do i want people to know about it it really comes from the heart this is my i could tell fiercest most tender offering to date it's very powerful yeah yeah i could tell reading it you know what I could tell? What? You know, there's some stuff, if I'm just being honest here,

since this is the white hot truth. There's some stuff from the past when I read, and I'm sure with me as well, but some stuff that you've written in the past where I felt like sometimes it felt forced to me. It didn't feel fully who you were. It felt like what you said, a little preachy sometimes. And this feels the most authentic I've ever seen the type of work you've done. feel fully who you were. It felt like what you said, a little preachy sometimes.

And this feels the most authentic I've ever seen the type of work you've done. It feels like yes, yes, yes, yes, and that's all you. I can feel it. So that's what I really love about it. It feels like something you don't want to put out. It's very powerful. As opposed to like, oh, she's preachy or she's this.

Oh, well, I'm still just as preachy. Yeah, but it's more authentic, I think. You know, in the past, there was this anger and this pointedness and this kind of, you know, that edge. Yes. I really wanted you to fucking hear what I had to say. Yes. You still want people to hear it, but there's a softer edge. Yeah, and I'm just not as attached.

Yes. And there's not a right and wrong in here. Yeah. And that is from a place of self-respect and deeper self-love. I'm divorced now. And I was in a long-term relationship where there was that constant push and pull. And that really affected my creative output. I mean, when you're swimming in conflict, whether it's romantic or professional or creative, it will seep into your whole life.

to your whole life. And so part of my path of liberation was like cleaning all of that up, really reclaiming my body, my sensibilities, my beliefs. And it's good, it's whole. Yeah, it is. It's a great book. A few questions I want to ask you left.

If you had an unlimited amount of money just given to you that you could use to solve one challenge in the world and you wouldn't have any money left, but it would solve that challenge or issue or concern or cancer, what would you want to solve? I love questions like these. Yeah, because this is an impossible question. Love it. One, one. And it would solved forever. I don't know if it would solve anything forever,

but I would like this to go on forever. It would have to do with mindfulness in children. I think if you can teach kids to be self-reflective, to know that they have control or a lot of control over their nervous system. If you can teach them about their innate power and mental clarity and beauty, boom, you have connectivity. Then you know what?

You grow environmentalists. You grow activists. You grow loving, progressive humans. Who are taking all solutions, all problems into their own hands. I think that's good. And I see more and more videos online of classrooms doing this and detention, doing meditation. And I'm like, that's powerful. Were you in detention a lot when you were a kid?

Just a few times. Not too many times. I cheated all the time time but i never got caught yeah i would cheat on like quizzes and tests and homework because that was the only way i could get through school yeah because it's just i couldn't figure it out yeah so it's like my survive mechanism survival mechanism yeah but i only got caught like a couple times and i went to yeah like detention once or twice and i remember remember having Saturday detention, which is the worst. The worst. Oh yeah.

You have to be in school essentially all day Saturday. Yeah. It's the worst feeling ever. And you just sit in a room with like 30 other kids who are in detention as well for like Saturday detention or something. No good. You sit around and do nothing. There's just someone watching you and you just have to like work on

homework or something, but you can't speak. You can't, you just sit at your desk for eight hours. Misery. I never wanted to get, do that again so um i learned how to cheat efficiently without getting caught or otherwise i would just get an f if i knew i was getting caught so unfortunately that's how i had to deal with it but um well i like that answer it's a good answer i think it's powerful if you had to i don't know if I asked you this last time,

you were on, I think two years ago before we had this whole setup and before we had this advancement. Yeah, you're swanky paneling. Right? Yeah. So if you had to get a tattoo

on your forehead for life. I already have a lot of tattoos that I wish I didn't have. Really? Yeah. What's the one that you're glad you do have? Oh, well, I'm down. I'm down with my arm tattoos. Yeah, these are cool.

So the butterfly, the story here is that, it's not about metamorphosis, it's that I read that in Native Indian American practice, the warriors would paint the butterfly on their shield because they thought that to come out in a world where you didn't know what was on the other side was the most courageous act. Wow. So I was like, that's hot. And then my circle, which I just love artistically because a circle is very hard to tattoo. Like I went to Bob and Bob was like, so how many people said they wouldn't do this tattoo? And I was like, um,

I just called you. Yeah. Right. And it's a reference. It's a Buddhist reference to that. You know, everything is empty, but everything is form at the same time.

And then it's also my reference, which is like, I'm open, but I have boundaries. you're close it's like the wisdom of paradox right that's right i'm whole but i'm empty yeah i'm open but i'm close i am love and i have standards right exactly i like that um okay well if you had to put a tattoo on your forehead that was reverse so every time you looked in the mirror, only you could see it. I was going to say you got this, but no. This is there for life.

Well, listen, my design sensibility is very strong. So I would just have a beautiful bindi dot right there. Oh, it has to say something. A word. Sorry, I'm really not following a word sorry i'm a phrase or word i'm not following the directions a phrase or word um kiss me um yes not now um you are here you are here there you go okay um i don't know if i asked this last time this is called the three truths okay i got a lot of truth so i can perfect well you got the truth bombs yeah so this is the three truths okay you've written many truths every day there's truth bombs on your

instagram your website right The white hot truth. Everything about you is truth. And this is the final day for you many years from now. As long as you want to live, you live as long as you want to. I'm going for 111, by the way. I like it. It's a good number. Yeah.

You create everything you want. Every dream comes true. Everything you've ever wanted. So good. For yourself, for the world. And then it's the last day. And for whatever reason, every book and video and thing you've put wanted for yourself, for the world. And then it's the last day. And for whatever reason, every book and video and thing you've put out there,

Truth Bomb has been erased for whatever reason. It's gone. I'm okay with that. I don't need to leave a legacy. Exactly. But you do have a piece of paper and a pen and you get to write three final truths. This is all the world remembers you by,

these three things. Your three truths, your lessons of life, whatever you want to say. Yeah. What would you write down? I loved you. Yeah, I loved. That's it.

One truth. No, it's I. I. Loved. Loved. You. Okay. Yeah, I showed up with my heart.

Yeah. There you go. I like that. I want to acknowledge up with my heart. Yeah. There you go. I like that. I want to acknowledge you for a moment, Danielle. You're great at acknowledging. Thank you. People need to meet Lewis just so you can get the acknowledgement moment. Yeah.

Well, I want to acknowledge you for your growth and your service to so many people. I think it takes a lot of courage to speak your mind and your truth because you do get attacked from time to time and it comes up with different frustrations from time to time from people. So you putting your voice out there for women, especially, but for men as well, is such a profound thing to show them what's possible for their lives. So I'm very grateful for your truth, for your courage, for your love to the world and for your constant growth to create products like White Hot Truth. So thank you for all you do. Yes.

Do my best, brother. Yes. Yes. Make sure you guys get the book, White Hot Truth, Clarity for Keeping It Real on your spiritual path from one secret to another by daniel laporte it's amazing i recommend it it's beautiful it'll keep you inspired it'll give you a lot of great insights and tips um where can where can we connect with you online oh darling you know i'm everywhere instagram right now is the center of my universe why is it for everyone for me too i'm really loving loving it. It's the best. Because a picture tells a thousand words. A thousand.

Yeah. Okay. So Danielle Laporte on Instagram. Yeah. And daniellelaporte.com. And we're doing this beautiful book club. I just started talking about it this week. And you don't need the book.

It's just this global conversation about what matters to you. And it's based on every chapter you know we're talking about forgiveness and boundaries versus barriers and your tribe and yeah i just want people to get together and have great great conversations about meaningfulness that's cool yeah very cool i've asked you your definition of greatness before. So this is going to be a different question. And this will be the final question. Thank you. Yes.

I was like, God, don't ask me about greatness again. So this will be your final question. Imagine that this microphone is connected to 8 billion people in the world right now. I think there's 8 billion people, right? How many people are on the planet? Well, yeah. Last night is 7.5 billion. Really?

Yeah. Okay, 7.5 billion plus all the newborn babies and there's headsets connected to the babies and the bellies everywhere. Your point is everybody's going to hear this. Everyone is listening right now. Yes, okay. Right now they're listening

and you have 60 seconds or less to share a message to the world and they will all hear it no pressure thanks no pressure what would you say danielleaport.com um yes check it out now I would say truth, light, faith, love, joy. That's it. You just need the ideas. You don't need the answers. You can't fit it into a sentence with a period. Yeah, just from my heart to 7.5 billion people,

just that energy. Yeah. Awesome. Danielle, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Thank you. Always. If you enjoyed this one, make sure to share this with your friends, guys. Get them to open up and really connect more. Danielle Laporte, send them to lewishouse.com slash 481. Again, send them to the show notes and tag me at lewishouse on your Instagram stories. I get back to as many of you as I can there over on Twitter. Share it out on Twitter and tag me on both of those. Also connect with Danielle at Danielle Laporte and let her know what you thought about this as well. Get her new book. Guys, it's a game changer. I know you're going to love it.

And I only bring on people that I fully support and believe are going to bring a massive impact and opportunities to your life from their message and their insights. And definitely Danielle has done that for me. So make sure to share this with your friends. We've got some incredible guests coming up soon, guys. If this is your first time here, click on that subscribe button over on iTunes. Click on subscribe on Stitcher or SoundCloud, wherever you're listening, because you never want to miss an episode on the School of Greatness podcast.

We're always bringing you the biggest, the best, the greatest, the most insightful, the most loving. We're bringing you the most curated group of inspirational individuals, ideas, and topics around. And that's why we continue to rise above the rest because it's all about you guys and making sure we serve you to the best of our ability. We love you. Thank you guys so much.

And you know what time it is. It's time to go out there and do something great. Outro Music