self improvement

The New Year is underway and our carefully outlined goals have been determined. The dreaming has been fun, inspirational and inventive, and now is the time for action. Personally, I have vowed to improve my self discipline and time management skills. In order to manifest my resolutions, I realize I need to become more focused, efficient and direct. I am committed to trying some of the more popular techniques of time blocking and habit development. However, I also realize that, particularly during this challenging and dark pandemic time, I need to keep things fun, colorful, and light with a sprinkle of magic whenever possible.

I have been working with the Tarot for many years in a personal quest to understand myself and my life on a deeper level. I believe that the human mind and its ability to possess accurate self awareness can only go so far. In order to gain a deeper understanding, we need help from a higher power. In truth, I believe this wisdom is accessible within ourselves. All we need is a compass and some pointers to help guide our way. I have found that the Tarot is one of the best tools for this type of exploration.

In case you don’t know, the Tarot is a deck of 78 cards composed of 22 Major Arcana (representing major life themes) and 56 Minor Arcana (addressing issues of a more daily nature). The practice of laying out and interpreting the card meanings dates back as far back as the 15th century (possibly even further.) Noone knows for sure. Each card represents a theme and is decorated with symbolic illustrations which point to a variety of interpretations depending on the individual and their unique situation. The cards are shuffled and drawn into a particular sequence or layout. Based on their position, the reader is able to glean a certain meaning. Due to the variety of positions and the number of symbols represented on each card, the interplay can lead to an infinite number of possible interpretations. This is where the intuition or inner knowing of the reader comes into play.

The Tarot is often misunderstood to be a fortune telling tool and many fear that it will bring forth some undesirable news or predict events that cannot be changed. This is simply not true. The Tarot is a wonderful resource for tapping into major (and minor) life themes, relating them to one’s situation and offering options for change or areas on which to focus. When I was first introduced to the Tarot, I would call on an Intuitive Reader whenever I had important questions to answer or felt that I was blocked and needed further insight. I later realized that I could use the Tarot on my own, on a daily basis, to help me navigate through periods of change or even to gain insights into my daily existence. This process of discovery resulted in a sense of peace and a feeling of empowerment, and I continue to use the cards to help me make better decisions as I travel down my life’s path.

After years of daily personal use, it seemed only natural to extend my knowledge to others. I have since started a virtual business called the Soul Purpose Project with the aim of helping people identify and clarify their purpose and also to identify the obstacles that prevent them from reaching their fullest potential. A major part of my sessions involve the use of theTarot as I find it the perfect starting point for a conversation about what lies beneath the surface. In conjunction with my client, I determine an appropriate layout and as they are meditating on the topic, I pull the cards. I send them a picture via text of the resulting spread and begin to explain each card’s meaning and my intuitive interpretation. I find that involving my client in the interpretation is helpful as it promotes their own self discovery. There is never a question as to the accuracy of the final message as I believe we all know the truth when it is revealed. If it does not feel right, then there is probably more digging to do.

The New Year is a perfect time to do a Tarot reading. If you want to try one on your own, I would recommend purchasing a copy of Tarot for Life, by Paul Quinn. The book provides an excellent overview of the cards, their meanings, and a variety of layouts. It also shows ways to use the Tarot in a daily practice to help gain insight into relationships, career, family, and personal development. I would also recommend buying the Rider-Waite deck. This is a good starter deck and one of the most frequently referred to in learning texts.

A few good New Year’s spreads can be found here:

Five tarot spreads for new year readings

If you don’t have the time or interest in learning the Tarot on your own but want to treat yourself to a reading or see how I do it, I am offering a 30-60 minute session, accessible here: https://www.mysoulpurposeproject.com/

I look forward to hearing from you and wish you all the power and insight to manifest the life you are dreaming in 2021. And…… I hope you can do it with some fun, color, light and a sprinkle of magic.

Other Websites. Body: https://www.inbalancetherapeutics.net/ Soul: https://www.mysoulpurposeproject.com/ Music: https://www.wendydarlingandthelostboy.org/

My Soul Purpose Project: mysoulpurposeproject.com

It’s Monday and I am feeling defeated before the week even begins. All of my ideas and goals are swirling around in my head trying to land in the appropriate place on my calendar, in order of priority. I am also evaluating my overall mission and looking at which tasks resonate and which should be discarded. The words and pictures I am contemplating involve my hopes and dreams as well as my fears and frustrations. It can be overwhelming.

After an hour and one break, I finally settle in on a plan I can live with. At least for the day. Chances are, I’ll go through the same process again a few more times during the week and each time it will change. Each time I recreate the wheel, I’ll be stalling the forward movement and eroding my confidence and hope for success.

One of my new endeavors is an online business I am calling, My Soul Purpose Project which helps people identify and move towards their life’s purpose. https://www.mysoulpurposeproject.com/ . It is a process of self discovery in which I use tarot, dream interpretation, flower essence, distance healing, the Law of Attraction, and other proven techniques to help the participant move closer to their true nature.

As part of planning the business, a friend suggested that I read The E-Myth by Michael E. Gerber, a book which outlines the benefits of systemization and how some degree of franchising can be the key to growth and getting a product or service out to an unlimited number of people.

I enjoyed the book a lot and it got me thinking about ways to set up my own business so that it can deliver quality and consistency every time. By automating at least some of the process, I realized I can grow a successful business without weighing myself down. What could be better?

I am now at the point of refining the operations of My Soul Purpose Project and it is going very well. And, something unexpected is beginning to occur.

I am starting to look at the systems of my own life.

How do I organize my time and efforts in such a way that I don’t have to rethink or redo it every week or every day? How do I eliminate the emotional dance that accompanies each reiteration? Can I set up my life so that it will operate as efficiently and effectively as one of the franchises outlined in Gerber’s book?

This thinking brought me to another book I read last year called, Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin. In the book, Rubin points out the benefits of creating healthy habits and gives tips and techniques on how to do it. She emphasizes that the best way to achieve our goals be it weight loss, better sleep patterns, improving our relationships, or starting a new business, is to learn how to replace old debilitating patterns with new ones. And once these habits are formed, they run our lives with automated precision and allow us to move towards our goals with efficiency and consistency. According to Rubin, if we put our focus and care into the creating and maintaining of these habits and keep repeating them, the objective will be achieved. Automatically. Everytime.

I am finding the habits of our lives are much like the systems of a successful business. Once we decide on a goal, we then need to break it down until we can piece together a series of habits that will lead us to that end. With continuous monitoring and adjustment, the series of habits can effectively run the operations of our lives. Once this happens, we can sit back and relax, continue to manage the overall process, and let the dream unfold.