A Message From Strength for 2015

Strength is the global year card for 2015.

Embrace the energy of Strength by following your passion.

Be it in love, romance, work, career, education, personal growth, spirituality, life style, health, parenthood... anything that is important to you.

“Working hard for something we don’t care about is called stress; working hard for something we love is called passion.”
Simon Sinek

More wisdom for 2015 associated with Strength:

• You don't find time to do something, you make it. You are the source of time.
• Accept 100% responsibility. Don't blame it on the shitty economy, other people or bad luck. It's down to you and how you handle your inner demons that sabotage your success.
• Stop caring about what others think of you. Have the courage to be yourself and stand by your choices with confidence. If you keep living your life to please others, then you keep stifling your potential and happiness.
• Find pleasure in the challenge. Stretch yourself, push your comfort zone to expand your vision. The more you do it, the less you fear change and uncertainty. 
• Get in touch with yourself often. Ask questions like 'why' and 'how'. Explore your feelings, desires and experiences. Journal about them to help you grow and make your dreams come true. 
• Whatever you do, put your heart into it.
• Always remember to nurture and take care of yourself. 

“There is no greater thing you can do with your life and your work than follow your passions – in a way that serves the world and you.”

Richard Branson

Wishing you a prosperous and fulfilling 2015.

Christiane

Transform your life this year:

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The Hierophant - Fitting In Vs. Standing Out

“I think the reward for conformity is that everyone likes you except yourself.”
Rita Mae Brown

The Hierophant is a guide, mentor and teacher.

The pope-like figure in the image suggests religion and as such institutions, large organisations and rules based on dogmatic ethics, values and philosophies.

Other keywords linked to the Hierophant are tradition, ritual, conformity, society, the collective, a family business, mission statements, education, corporate power and influence.

Astrologically, the Hierophant is linked to Taurus, and in a reading this may indicate rigidity but also a need for security and stability.

When this card comes up in a reading about work and career, you may need to

• conform to the rules in a corporate business, if you want to be successful and move ahead in your job
• stick to proven work methods and follow instructions consistently to produce quality work
• get involved in education; e.g. enrol on a course related to your work, or share your knowledge and skills with others
• make conventional and predictable choices and decisions rather than taking a risk
• avoid innovation; just do what you've always done
• start a long-term savings or pension plan
• integrate into a group or team at work by adapting to their culture and customs

But does all that sound too boring for you? Does the idea of following orders make you feel uncomfortable?

Do overpowering corporations, political correctness and the same old routine stifle your true self? Are you itching to blow a whistle?

Then you may need to explore, whether you'd rather break free from "normal" and ruffle some feathers, including your own.

The Hierophant may ask you to align your soul and spirit with your working life, pursue a job or career that reflects your own values and inherent talent.

Challenge the status quo, confront the brainwash and speak up for yourself and others.

Get involved in charitable work, or start a volunteer project to make a positive difference in your community.

Do you prefer to be one of the sheep in the herd, or take on the role of the shepherd?

The Taurus energy makes the Hierophant reluctanct to change, but change is necessary for innovation and growth.

In Tarot Magick, meditate on the image of the Hierophant to gain clarity on your spiritual path and follow your own truth, to succeed in educational activities and exams, and to gain respect and recognition from others.

What special message does the Hierophant hold for you today?

Warmest wishes,

Christiane

Transform your Life this year with Tarot:

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Learn Tarot - A magickal, inspirational tool for life
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Tarot For Writers - Introduction

If you are a fiction or poetry writer, have you ever thought of using Tarot cards to help you create your stories or poems? (here's a haiku)

This idea might come as a surprise to you, if you aren't familiar with the Tarot card images and how they can be used as a tool to fire your imagination.

Forget fortune-telling; you can be very creative with a Tarot deck in different ways.

The main protagonist in a story can be associated with the Fool in the Tarot, who embarks on some kind of journey (new experiences, events, an inner journey of self-discovery, an adventure, etc.), which leads to a yet unknown destination (The World).

The purpose of a story is to tell how the Fool moves from the starting position to the end of the story. Along the way, many things happen, either internally or externally.

A 78-card Tarot deck is divided into the Major Arcana (22 trump cards) and the Minor Arcana (four suits numbered Ace – 10 and 16 court cards).

The Major Arcana represents archetypal experiences, events, personalities and processes that are inherent in all of us. 

Inhibition, self-restriction, a hostage 
situation, damsel in distress...what 
does the Eight of Swords tell you 
about a character?

The Minor Arcana represents everyday events and activities, with the court cards signifying 16 personality types (see also Myers-Briggs personality profiling)

Shuffle a Tarot deck and pull cards at random in order to 

• generate new ideas for a story 
• get unstuck out of your writer’s block 
• develop a character, personalities, story lines and more

One idea is to pull just one card to define the central theme of your story:

• What is it about? 
• What does the central character need to deal with?

Or you can pull one card, if you are stuck in the middle of a story. This one card can give you a prompt about:

• what happens next
• an obstacle
• a helper
• an interference
• a characteristic
• an opportunity
• a secret
• a solution
• a twist
• the ending
• anything else you can think of

There is much more you can do with Tarot cards to accelerate your writing and take it to a new level. 

I will cover more ideas over the coming weeks. Make sure you subscribe to get the latest posts straight into your inbox.

In the meantime, if you are new to Tarot, why not check out my online beginners' course, so you can learn the basics and apply them to your writing. 

Let me know, if you're a writer, and I will adjust the course to your needs when we work together.

Warmest wishes,

Christiane

Transform your life this year:

Tarot Readings - Insightful guidance when you need it
Learn Tarot - A magickal, inspirational tool for life.

For more inspiring quotes and affirmations for each card, check out my ebook Empowering Messages from the Tarot

Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Social Networking Mistakes You Don't Want To Make

I'm not a social animal when it comes to maintaining my Facebook pages and Twitter account.

I admire people, who can always engage their followers with witty, imaginative posts several times a day.

Admittedly, this is still a big learning curve for me, but I do know what best to avoid when networking online.

Here are some of my pet hates I have come across that make me unfollow Facebook pages and Twitter accounts:

1. Lots of photos or status updates are posted in  a short period of time cluttering up my news feed on both Twitter and Facebook. I'm not talking up to 10 a day (already quite a lot) but something like 30 - 50 in a row...

Stop that spam! It's really annoying. There is too much noise and information out there already. Quality counts, not quantity. Just remember it's so easy to unfollow or block your updates.

2. Imagine getting this message: "I have just liked your page. Can you follow this link and like my page, too?"

Honestly...let me put this straight: I only want you to like my page, if you genuinely like it and want to engage with me. Expecting a favour in return only irritates me, but I do often reciprocate as long as you don't ask. And when I do, you will know that I genuinely like your page and want to interact with it.

Tip: If you want to promote your business with a Facebook business or personal page, increase your exposure by not only liking other pages but also engaging with them. A win-win for all.

3. Auto-scheduling self-promoting posts in public Facebook groups. 

Yes, okay, I did mention the benefits of auto-scheduling tweets and Facebook updates in one of my earlier posts, but you are walking a thin red line, when you are auto-posting to public groups.

What you do with the accounts and pages you own is entirely up to you, but please treat public groups with respect and show up in person when you post there. Otherwise it gives the impression you just can't be bothered.

And I know it's an auto-scheduled post, because it says via Hootsuite at the bottom, and it's always posted at the same time every day ;)

Furthermore, auto-posting the same stuff again and again is simply spam. I had to turn off notification of some Tarot groups on Facebook, because certain members keep posting links to their website, products and services every day.

Please don't ram your stuff into my face. It's irritating, and I just block you off my radar. And I guess I'm not the only one ;)

4. Addicted to auto-pilot

You still need to show up on your pages and respond to your followers. Don't lose the personal touch. Respond to messages and feedback in person rather than setting up auto-replies, so people feel valued and keep coming back. Automating social media tasks is helpful, but don't turn into a robot. You still need to engage with your followers.

5. Twit Validation "TrueTwit"

One of the most irritating things on Twitter. If you use this service, rest assured that you are missing out on loads of followers, because they can't be bothered having to prove they're not robots.

The moment I receive a direct message asking me to follow a link to confirm I'm human, I unfollow straight away. Not worth my time.

So, if you use TrueTwit, consider ditching it. There is no need to check, if your followers are spammers; likelihood is that not many are anyway.

6. Don't Rely on Social Networks

This is one of the worst mistakes you can make; relying too much on social media platforms to promote your business.

When you invest a lot of time creating pages on Facebook, Google+, Pinterest and so on, remember that you don't own your pages there, and therefore have no control over them. You could be shut down any moment, or your pages become less visible unless you start paying for ad fees.

Keep time you spend building your social media pages to a minimum, and instead focus on creating valuable content for your website. This is where you are in control, and eventually working on what you own will pay off.

What turns you off on social media? I'd love to hear from you.

Warmest wishes,

Christiane


Transform your life this year: 

Tarot Readings - Insightful guidance when you need it 
Learn Tarot - A magickal, inspirational tool for life.

For more inspiring quotes and affirmations for each card, check out my ebookEmpowering Messages from the Tarot 

Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Business Inspiration From The Hermit: Simplicity

“Steve Jobs gave a small private presentation about the iTunes Music Store to some independent record label people. 

My favourite line of the day was when people kept raising their hand saying, "Does it do [x]?", "Do you plan to add [y]?". 

Finally Jobs said, "Wait wait — put your hands down. 

Listen: I know you have a thousand ideas for all the cool features iTunes could have. So do we. 

But we don't want a thousand features. That would be ugly. 

Innovation is not about saying yes to everything. It's about saying NO to all but the most crucial features.” 

- Derek Sivers

Remember to keep it simple.

Transform your life this year: 

Tarot Readings - Insightful guidance when you need it
Learn Tarot - A magickal, inspirational tool for life.

For more inspiring quotes and affirmations for each card, check out my ebook Empowering Messages from the Tarot

Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

The Emperor - Following Ambitions with Vision and Autonomy

The Emperor is the archetypal authority figure; he represents the father, the boss, government, police and the law.

His purpose is to bring order to chaos, create structure and solid foundations, organise and manage people.

With his visionary ideas and strategic thinking, the Emperor also sets big and bold goals for the future, which he is determined to achieve.

Astrologically, the Emperor is linked to Aries; with his fiery energy he follows his aspirations and ambitions with decisive action fuelled by enthusiasm, confidence and a distinct competitive streak.

If necessary, he doesn't shy away from conflict always believing that conquest and victory are within his reach.

When the Emperor appears in a reading about your work and career, he may ask you to

• set yourself an ambitious goal or target; dream big, create a clear vision and build a framework of where you want to be
• put your plans into action and persevere
• stand up for yourself; don't let others control or intimidate you
• re-organise your workspace, team or business to improve efficiency and productivity
• observe your boss, a business leader or successful entrepreneur in your field of work; explore how they got to where they are today. What can you learn from them?
• focus on logic, reason and left-brain thinking
• take responsibility not just for your work and career but for people, too. How can you set a good example for your team and co-workers? How can you inspire others to fulfil their potential? 
• find your career niche, the place where your skills are recognised and in demand, and where you can make a difference
• look at the bigger picture
• view an obstacle as a challenge rather than a problem
• be authentic and true to yourself rather than trying to fit in with other people's ideals and expectations
• make an important decision
• work more independently
• resolve a conflict amicably

Promotion and success may well be within your reach, but also remember that the higher you rise, the deeper you can fall. 

For the Emperor, failure isn't an option, but don't let your achievements get to your head.

Avoid: impulsiveness, lack of foresight, mistrust, being a control-freak, getting entangled in details, perfectionism, fear of delegating (tendency to micro-manage), mistrust, stress and burn-out, winning at all cost, unfair tactics (eg. backstabbing), power-tripping, abuse of power, complacency, running out of steam, being emotional.

Tarot Magick: meditate on the image of this card to manifest

- increased confidence - new ideas - a promotion at work - success of a project - effective leadership skills

Related Minor Arcana Cards (linked to Aries): Two of Wands, Three of Wands, Four of Wands

What message does the Emperor hold for you in your work and career? 

Warmest wishes,

Christiane



Transform your life this year:

Tarot Readings - Insightful guidance when you need it
Learn Tarot - A magickal, inspirational tool for life.

For more inspiring quotes and affirmations for each card, check out my ebook Empowering Messages from the Tarot

Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Learn How To SUMO

Eek! Beat those stressful situations with SUMO

Millions of people suffer from stress in the workplace.

The causes are diverse - from having to meet targets and deadlines to irritating co-workers and bosses, to name but two.

Often it is easy to blow small incidences out of proportion (who's taken my holepunch again? Grrr...), or we tend to succumb to victim mentality and become all bitter and resentful, for example when overlooked for promotion and a colleague is chosen instead. Ouch.

By the time someone goes off sick due to a stress-related illness, that person may well have experienced many little incidences that one day have led to the final straw, and BOOM - a Tower moment!

Nervous breakdown,
a good day to start again

Before you get to that point, I'd like to share with you a stress-busting technique, which I learned many years ago whilst still working my socks off in the corporate world.

I learned how to SUMO.

The person, who taught me, was Paul McGee.

S.U.M.O. stands for Shut Up and Move On.

It sounds harsh at first, but in order to avoid getting stressed about stuff, it is necessary not to get worked up so easily. Simply let go and move on.

How many people needed
to put up a f*cking tent?

It doesn't mean you have to take every crap they throw at you, but look at each incident that annoys or upsets you with more logic and reason.

How can you do that?

Here are the 7 questions to help you SUMO:

1. Where is this issue on a scale of 1 - 10 (10 = death)?

Compared to death, most people will rank their issue low and often feel much better as a result. They realise it's not that bad and move on.

2. How important will this be in six months time?

Think: most issues are just water under the bridge six months later. If this is the case, then you may not need to answer the following questions, and skip along happily with a refreshed mindset.

3. Is my response appropriate and effective?

Or do you have a flair for drama? If yes, for God's sake, move on. And if you want to speak your mind, choose your words wisely.

4. How can I influence or improve the situation?

Yes, some issues are ongoing and linger in the background. They really need sorting out. You either address them appropriately or decide to accept them. Acceptance helps you reduce your stress level. Acceptance helps you to move on.

Defeat, hollow victory,
win at all cost, betrayal

5. What can I learn from this?

Sometimes we have to deal with big issues, such as change in the workplace, job losses, poor career prospects, disagreements and personality clashes that can be challenging. These situations always offer us a lesson to help us grow. Avoid self-pity and disillusion. Make sure, your answer to this question is empowering...and then move on.

6. What will I do differently next time?

Apply your lessons learned. This way you are moving on.

7. What can I find that's positive in this situation?

Losing your job or being overlooked for promotion aren't necessarily moments of joy in your life, but they can be opportunities in disguise. Every cloud has a silver lining. Time to move on.

Of course, you can use the Tarot to help you answer some of the questions above, if you are facing a stressful situation at work or, yes, even in your personal life. Any situation that irritates you, keeps simmering in the background or even makes your blood boil.

 Shuffle your deck and pick a card for each question:

1. How can I influence or improve the situation?
2. What can I learn from this?
3. What can I do differently next time?
4. What can I find that's positive in this situation?

I have been using the SUMO technique for many years, and learned to look at seemingly stressful situations from a new - more constructive - perspective. I hope it will serve you well, too. 

Let go of being a victim, learn to SUMO instead. 

Warmest wishes,

Christiane

PS: Make sure you visit the SUMO Guy and watch him in action. Funny and inspirational.



Transform your life this year:

Tarot Readings - Insightful guidance when you need it
Learn Tarot - A magickal, inspirational tool for life.

For more inspiring quotes and affirmations for each card, check out my ebook Empowering Messages from the Tarot

Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

The Curse of Information Overload

Seven of Wands: challenge, stress,
overwhelm, struggle, perseverance

If you are building your own business, want to learn a specific skill or more about how to advance your career, then there is no shortage of free information and advice on the internet.

Have you noticed, how many teleseminars, telesummits, webinars and live recordings are out there in the virtual world?

I keep getting invitations to watch, listen and join loads of them, and if I did, I wouldn't have any time to actually run and develop my business.

Someone said to me recently: "Oh, I listen to the recordings while I drive to work in the morning."

But when I once tried to learn Italian whilst driving to and from work, I quickly realised that I was concentrating more on the traffic than the instructions on the tape.

And of course you cannot watch a video clip while you are driving.

My tip: get back to basics.

You don't need to listen to an hour long recording only to come away with "3 secrets to success" (and in return you had to sign up to that mailing list, too, which will clutter up your inbox).

You don't need to watch all those videos. (If a video doesn't grab you with some awesome stuff within the first 60 seconds, switch it off).

You don't need to join a tedious webinar to make a breakthrough.

Instead, keep it simple: read. Pick up a recommended book on your chosen subject. Visit a recommended website with good quality content that you can refer back to.

Yes, it is tempting to fall for anything that is offered for free, but all the fancy multimedia stuff is distracting and stops you from getting on with building your business or advancing your career.

Too much information isn't necessarily useful. It can make you feel inadequate. It stops you from focusing on what is important - getting things done.

You don't need all those fancy apps on your phone to get organised or become more productive.

What you need is the desire to create and share, an instinct to produce great work or be a shining light in your chosen career.

Sometimes you will have the urge to refresh your knowledge or learn something new, but don't get lost in it.

Perhaps you think that you have to stay up-to-date with the latest information in order to get your business or career where you want it to be.

But the truth is you don’t need any more information – all you need is DIRECTION – clear step-by-step guidance without the frills. Here are some ideas:

1. Make a plan / Set your goal

2. Find support to implement your plan and reach your goal. This can be a family member, a good friend or someone, who shares your aspirations.

3. Be prepared to work hard without immediate success. 

4. Figure out, who your ideal client /employer is, so you can target these people in your marketing  and networking. Be as specific as possible. 

5. What do your ideal clients / employers want? What products / services / skills are they looking for, and how can you give it to them? This also includes their hopes, dreams, fears and problems they need to resolve. How can you help them?

6. Craft your marketing / CV based on your ideal clients' / employers' wants and desires.

7. Get paid. Don't give your time away for free, consider a reduced fee trial session instead.

If you are looking at internships or work experience placements, you may not get paid in money, but make sure they will offer you a great learning experience, that will widen your horizon and generate new prospects and opportunities.

8. Keep on marketing / networking. Use social media strategically to focus on your goals.

As you can see, the "secret to success" is all about planning, taking action and staying focused. No need to enrol on numerous courses, webinars and telesummits to reach your goal.

Relax, make use of what you already know and just GET THINGS DONE.

Warmest wishes,

Christiane



Transform your life this year:

Tarot Readings - Insightful guidance when you need it
Learn Tarot - A magickal, inspirational tool for life.

For more inspiring quotes and affirmations for each card, check out my ebook Empowering Messages from the Tarot

Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.