It's pub day for my new book, "Fired up"!

Grab a copy at your favorite bookstore

I’m so excited that my new book, Fired Up: How to Turn Your Spark into a Flame and Come Alive at Any Age, is now out in the world! Writing this book, which included interviews with over 70 incredible women, has been a massive labor of love and I cannot wait to see it out in the world and be a part of the conversations it ignites.

With the great Sophia Bush when recording a conversation for her podcast “Work in Progress”

Why I wrote the book

So many of the women I’ve worked with over the decades—in my career, in my activism, and in training women to run for office—have been taught to fulfill their obligations instead of following their desires. We become so used to catering to the wants and needs of others that prioritizing our own wants and needs can feel uncomfortable and foreign. We believe we don’t deserve more, or we mistake our obligations for our desires, we can end up believing they’re fulfilled when, really, they’re just living by the rules of a system that was designed to keep our desires in check, leading to anxiety, isolation, and exhaustion.

Living on fire is the metaphor I use for the journey of personal transformation— not the kind of transformation that makes you more youthful or famous or wealthy, but an internal shift that will help you see two things more clearly: what’s limiting you and what’s calling you. Those things will differ from one woman to another. For some, it might mean being more open to new experiences and relationships. For others, it could mean bringing new energy or more intensity to the things they’re already doing. For others still, it could mean deciding to pause, slow down, and consciously do less than they were doing before.

Women have a right—even a responsibility—to figure out what makes us come alive. And by choosing to live on fire, you’re not just allowing yourself to live the life you want and deserve; you’re leaving a legacy and lighting the way for other women to do the same. But when women give themselves the time, space, and community to figure out what lights them up, they realize our lives are finite and that they don’t want to get to the end of their lives and realize they didn’t burn.

Why now

There are so many amazing conversations going on right now in the world about the “what”—what women of all ages are doing in the world—but there’s very little conversation about the “how.” Given the current state of the world, it has never been more urgent for women to unearth abilities, values and desires and unleash them personally, professionally, or politically. I want women to realize that, regardless of their age, they have the ability to become what I call a Firestarter: a woman who makes the choice to prioritize their desires over their obligations, all of the things society expects us to do instead of the things we actually want to do.

I wasn’t able to start Moms Demand Action because I’m extraordinary; I was able to start it because I figured out a formula for living on fire. It helped me find the courage to end my marriage, reimagine my life, and eventually start Moms Demand Action, which has also become the world’s largest field experiment for helping hundreds of thousands of our volunteers—mostly women, mostly moms—transform their lives, too. While writing Fired Up, I interviewed over 70 Firestarters and what I found is this: the fire formula helped them discover and pursue their passions, endure the blowback that comes from living audaciously, finally feel fulfilled, and find their people.

Why readers should pick it up

Women don’t fear their fire because they’re weak—it’s because they’re wise. We see all the obstacles in our way and decide it’s easier and safer to stick with the status quo—to keep our heads down and our desires in check. The best way to unlearn that conditioning is to imagine what life would be like if the most important question you asked yourself over and over again was, “What do I want?” When your life isn’t dictated by what society says you should be or do, you can live fully, audaciously, and authentically, and that’s a radical, even political, act.

Some of the women I interview in the book don’t have that epiphany until they were in their 50s, 60s, 70s and beyond. And when I teach college classes, many of the women who are about to graduate also tell me they are looking for a way to determine who they are and what they want. And that’s who I wrote this book for:

• Women in mid-life who don’t feel like they are thriving

• Women who look like they are thriving on the outside but feel off internally

• Women who want to make an impact on the world but don’t know how

When you get your copy, please share it with me on social media and let me know what you think. Hearing from you all about the fires you’re starting is the honor of a lifetime.

Two announcements before I close out today to celebrate:

🔥 We’ve decided to extend the enrollment period for Firestarter University for one more week. That means if you buy the book this week, you can still join us in this year-long course for FREE. So grab your copy, and then visit firedupbook.com and register your purchase in step two to get access to all of the bonuses, including Firestarter U. Doors will close on June 24th.

🔥 I’d love to see you on my book tour. Below you’ll find a list of upcoming tour stops, and you can find more information by visiting firedupbook.com.

For women ready to stop living on autopilot and playing it small, Fired Up will show you how to shatter your self imposed limitations and unleash your potential so you can finally start living the life you’ve always wanted. Click to order.