Shannon Watts’ ‘Fired Up’ sparks personal change for young women

c.2025, The Open Field
$30, 272 pages

And just like that, your life went up in smoke.

You have to admit, though, that you saw it coming: a little sputter here, a meltdown there, a mood that resembles spent charcoal in a cold grill. Suddenly, everything you’d worked for all this time was extinguished, but there’s hope. Read the new book “Fired Up: How to Turn Your Spark into a Flame and Come Alive at Any Age” by Shannon Watts and you might find a new spark.

From an outside point of view, Shannon Watts had it all.

Three young children, a nice home, a good job and a successful husband sure looked like a recipe for happiness. So why was she sitting in a doctor’s office with itchy skin, crying from the stress of it all? Why was she so unhappy?

Prescription in hand, Watts went home and wrote down her thoughts, which turned into daily journaling. She asked herself, “Who would I be in five, 10 or even 20 years?” and she began making changes in her life, “teaching myself to live on fire.”

If you’ve neglected your own desires, are feeling powerless or invisible, or suffer from lack of energy or patience, Watts says that you can put fire back in your life. Start by knowing what being on fire isn’t. It’s not pressure or stress. It’s not living your life “for a purpose” but “on purpose.” Being on fire is about finding your own version of happiness and the achievements you want for yourself.

To “light the match,” write down what you’d do if money were no object, and then ask yourself why you’re not aimed in that direction. Eliminate nonessential time-wasters that are unfulfilling. Keep a list of accomplishments and look at them when you’re feeling like an impostor; also keep a list of people you admire. Identify your “fire triangle” of desire, values and abilities, and what really fires you up. Then know how to fan the flames and keep a bonfire going.

Inspired yet?

The answer is going to depend on who you are because the audience for “Fired Up” is relatively narrow. Established business folks and older readers may not get much out of it.

Young women might, though.

Indeed, author and founder of Moms Demand Action Shannon Watts mostly uses stories of younger women as examples, and her own experiences seem to indicate a target audience of 18-to-40-year-old women, subtitle notwithstanding. And that’s great, if a reader can take the U-rah-rah here, convert it and tone it down to better seize some usefulness.

Indeed, the enthusiasm Watts employs is infectious, but it can be exhausting, too. Cheerleading aside, there’s serious work in what she advises, and that may seem daunting, which could slim the focus even more. Ironically, women who need this book most may feel that the heavy-duty, super-involved instruction inside it is too formidable.

That’s not to say that this book isn’t helpful, but beware of over-expectations. If you don’t quite fit in its audience, you’ll find better elsewhere. If you do and you’re burning to get going, you + “Fired Up” = a good match.

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