Episode 40: Magick, And Its Special Place In Business

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Hello there, and welcome back to the Mountain Practice Journeys podcast! I’m your host, Cindy Norton. Here in Episode 40 I’m going to talk about magick and its special place in business.

Let’s get started.

Have you been wanting to start your private practice, but you can’t seem to take that first step? Maybe you’re afraid of failure or lack confidence, or maybe the idea of running your own practice is overwhelming. I’m Cindy Norton, owner of Mountain Practice Journeys and I help therapists and counselors to love the business side of private practice. I’ll share with you practical skills and advice along with a healthy dose of inspiration so that you can be on your way to the practice of your dreams. Put on your hiking boots, and let’s get going.

If you haven’t yet listened to Episode 39, I urge you to do that. In that episode I chat with Jamey Schrier from Practice Freedom U about the 7 steps to a seven figure business. Jamey shares a wealth of valuable information. Even if you don’t have the goal of a seven figure business, you can use these steps to avoid burnout and achieve that much needed work/life balance, however you define it. Even for those of us who may be working toward an $80 or $100K business, these steps are golden.

Now let’s get on to today’s topic.

But first, let me jump on my soap box for just a minute. I’m sure you’ve heard of many things being described as woo-woo.

Woo-woo is a term used to insult and discount the traditions and beliefs of many people. Definitions for woo-woo use the following descriptions: “false beliefs,” “imaginary things,” and “irrational superstition.” These descriptions sound a bit harsh to me.

Our universe is vast beyond measure and we are kidding ourselves if we believe that we know everything there is to know about life.

Not everything can (or should) be an evidence-based practice. In order for something to be an evidence-based practice, it usually includes a shit-ton of money and testing conditions that are anything but diverse in order to get that rubber stamp of approval. But enough of that for now, as I could easily do another episode on this topic. So let me get back to my original thoughts.

I’ve always believed in balance. A balance of the practical and the magickal. A balance of the logical and the intuitive. I know that it’s not an exact comparison, but I imagine this balance to be like the right and left hemispheres of our brains.

Isn’t it amazing when we can be both logical and creative, analytical and intuitive, and concerned with both facts and feelings.

I believe that in order to have a fulfilling life and business we need balance.

I believe that, for far too long, the scales have tipped too far in the direction of the logical and analytical and, as a result, have extinguished our precious intuition and creativity.

And in some way, I believe the overwhelming societal proclivity of the logical, rational, and analytical in recent times has been a huge contributor to the things that we are so desperately trying to escape or correct at this time such as burnout, capitalism, and patriarchy.

I hope you can understand why a balance is needed.

So I’m going to stop using the word woo, or woo woo, as a way of describing ancient traditions and cultures, and my own unseen but very real experience of life.

And that was definitely more than a minute, so I’ll step off my soap box now.

So let’s talk about magick and its special place in business.

I love to balance the practical and the magickal. They go together and support one another very well.

You can’t just sit on your ass all day and think positive thoughts and read the affirmations and mantras you have on your phone app and expect to have those experiences magickally appear in your life the next day.

You need to take action. But you don’t have to take action by hustling and grinding and burning yourself out in order to achieve results.

I believe that by taking consistent action over time, while adding in a bit of magick, you can have the business and life you’ve always dreamed of. At least, that’s how it’s happened for me.

But, before I was able to take consistent action, I needed to know where I wanted to be heading. In order to discover this for myself, it took a lot of slowing down in the forms of quiet time, reflection, meditation, and blank space on my calendar.

In this fast world we live in (and have been socialized in), it’s both difficult and scary to get off the hamster wheel.

Let me read you the text of a meme that represents what I’m getting at.

European out of office response: I’m away camping for the summer. Email again in September.

American out of office response: I’m in the hospital undergoing surgery. Email responses may be delayed by up to 30 minutes. Sorry for the inconvenience. If this is urgent please call my cell phone or visit me at the emergency room.

And these are the expectations that we’re up against in our society.

No wonder people are miserable in life and work. Because there’s not a moment’s time to just be. Remember, we’re human beings, not human doings. But when we take time to just be, there’s so many internal and external messages that make us feel lazy and selfish for doing so.

It really is as if we have to have a “good” excuse – such as undergoing surgery or having some type of crisis in order to take time away from our responsibilities.

You may have noticed that I recently posted on instagram asking the question, what would it be like to take off the entire month of December?

This is by far my most popular post. It’s not a new idea, but in our busy culture, to some, it appears as a radical idea.

I made the post because I had planned to have a light December and create plenty of time for rest and relaxation, but just one day into December and I realized that it wasn’t happening and my calendar was quickly filling up. That’s when I decided that I’m taking the entire month of December off next year. And while I’m at it, I’m going to throw in the month of July too.

Why? Because I’m a selfish, lazy maniac? Oh no, it’s because I’m practicing what I preach. I’m modeling what true self-care is. What it looks like to give the finger to internalized capitalism and to take a stand against the patriarchy. I’m also embracing an anti-work philosophy.

P.S. If the term anti-work is new to you, please check out the work that Meg is doing over on instagram @antiworktherapist It’s both the balm and the kick in the pants we need to start taking care of ourselves and end burnout.

Let’s get back to my experience of incorporating magick in my business. As I mentioned earlier, I really needed some clarity in my life and business, and I needed space to figure it out. And in order to do that, I actually had to create the space – hence the tangent I just went off on because creating space in our lives can be so hard to do.

I’ve always incorporated the mystical into my life, and I would secretly do it in my business as well. I’m not sure why business was any different. Maybe I was concerned what people would think of me if I said that I consulted my tarot cards for business decisions. Or did spells to support the business that I wanted.

So when I knew that there was something more for me in both my life and business, I knew that I had to get quiet in order to tune into my intuition and what I really wanted.

I said it before, but this journey was extremely scary…

Saying no to work that pays you good money because it no longer brings you joy.

Answering questions about how many clients you are seeing a week, when you’re secretly trying to figure out if you even want to be a therapist anymore.

Looking at your calendar and having several entire days in a week with nothing scheduled.

And I could go on and on, but you get it.

I knew this had to happen so that I could truly do what brings me joy. The yearning was there, I felt it. I just needed to get a bit quieter in order to find out where my path was leading.

During the blank space I meditated, which brought me clarity. I panicked, which meant that I’m a normal human being. I consulted my tarot deck numerous times with many different spreads, which gave me invaluable insight and confirmed that I’m just where I need to be.

I began a coven with like-minded, beautiful women looking to explore the mystical and build community. And sometimes we just made beautiful spreads of food and stared at the moon around the fire.

I started this podcast that you’re hearing now. I was terrified. I didn’t think I had anything useful to say and I thought people wouldn’t like my accent. After a year of the podcast I’m getting somewhat used to hearing my voice – and I hope you are tolerating it just as well, if not better than me.

I began a therapist roller skating group here in Asheville and we wore our wheels off rolling through the River Arts District. It was pure joy and wonderment. I felt like a kid again. And I would highly recommend it.

I dug further into my Enneagram studies and gained profound insight about my 9 pattern and how to get out of my own way.

And, last but not least, I had the idea for a beautiful community that supports others like me to tune into their intuition and create a dream life and business and bring it into reality.

All this came out of taking some space. Space that brought about clarity, panic, insight, a coven, community, healing, friendship, a podcast, a therapist roller skating gang, and my idea for Forestmind.

And this is what it’s all about. This is what we’re doing in Forestmind, my new small-group mastermind for private practice introverts, highly sensitive therapists, and solopreneurs who help and heal. I’ll share more about Forestmind later in the episode.

During each episode I’ll be giving you one small take away, action step, or mindset shift. I call these acorns. Listen to Episode 0 to get the scoop on what the acorns are all about.

The acorn from this episode is to be okay with saying the following… “I’m not for everyone.”

Even though it may seem small to you, just the fact that I have recently claimed that I’m not for everyone has been a pretty big deal for me – even though it may not look like it on the outside.

Just by my very mention of the magickal, mystical, and metaphysical, I’m going to lose some people because that’s not their jam. And, you know what? That’s okay. I’m not for everyone.

By stepping into my true self and declaring that I’m not for everyone has meant that I have thus gotten people who are very excited about what I’m doing.

In the past when I was trying to be someone for everyone in my business, I would share about the work that I do and I would get some nods of agreement and there would be people who were interested in working with me.

But, when I accepted the fact that I am someone who incorporates the magickal, mystical, and metaphysical into my work with clients I received more than nods of agreement – I received enthusiastic interest and people who were saying “this is exactly what I’ve been looking for!”

Are there gonna be people who are like “yeah, no thanks”? Of course there are. But I’ll take that any day over being a boring business and life coach where people are saying, “yeah, she’ll do, I guess.”

The great thing about being someone who isn’t for everyone is that it means that you are someone really special to those who get you.

So, if you’ve been hiding a part of who you are because you fear it may not be for everyone, I say “bring it to light and find your people.”

As I outlined in Episode 0, I’ll be alternating between a fun fact and ‘what I’m digging’ segment with each new episode.

The fun fact for this episode is that I’m a huge Game of Thrones fan and I’m House Stark all the way! Head over to my instagram @mountainpracticejourneys to my post from today with the wolf and comment with your favorite house – I’d love to know.

Thank you so much for joining me today on your private practice journey.

This episode concludes Season 4 (as well as the first full year) of the Mountain Practice Journeys podcast. I’ll be taking a 3 week break and will be back before you know it with a wonderful Season 5 filled with helpful topics and inspiring guests.

And for continued inspiration for your private practice during this seasonal break, join me over on instagram @mountainpracticejourneys

Continuing on with tradition, I’ll be sharing a seasonal bonus episode during the break for some Winter inspiration.

And don’t forget that enrollment is currently open for Forestmind, my new comfy, cozy mastermind for private practice introverts, highly sensitive therapists, and solopreneurs who her and heal.

If you join by December 15th (which is next week) you’ll become a founding member and get $1,200 off your yearly membership, the option for a customized payment plan that fits your needs (which will not be offered again), as well as other founding member perks. The investment for the yearly membership goes up to $9,000 on December 16th, so if you’ve been on the fence be sure to get your application in before the price goes up.

There are also fun surprises throughout the year when you join Forestmind. I didn’t want blab all about them, because I do love giving my clients surprises. All that is included in Forestmind adds up to over a $20,000 value, so know that you’ll receive much more than what’s listed on the website.

If you’d like more information about Forestmind you can visit my website at mountainpracticejourneys.com/forestmind/ and listen to the Forestmind bonus episode here on the Mountain Practice Journeys podcast.

I’m sending you all the love and coziness for a beautiful Holiday season!

There’s no way you can know how much it means to me that you choose to join me here as I share all things related to private practice. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a step. For more information about this episode, please visit the show notes page at mountainpracticejourneys.com/podcast I truly appreciate you Trailblazers. Your mountain is within reach. Journey on.