Astrology, oracles and horoscopes are rational ways to tap into your unconscious intelligence
Use this clever trick to solve your own problems
I've recently been to a festival in Sweden. I went all by myself, not knowing anyone there. I felt very lonely.
Even though I was dancing joyfully, there was always this undercurrent of feeling alone.
On the second day, I sat at some campfire and struck up a conversation with a woman. We talked about a lot of things, and the conversation went off in some crazy directions.
After a while, she asked me if I wanted to ask the Mushroom Oracle a question. Being curious, I said yes.
She pulled out a stack of cards. Each card had a big beautiful drawing and a list of three qualities.
The woman said that I should think of a question to ask, and then pick a random card.
I didn’t tell her my question, but I’m telling it to you now: “How do I find connection here, and how can I feel less lonely?”
I picked a card.
The card I drew was "Mycelium". The three words were Collaboration, Reciprocity, and Exchange.
I immediately tried to understand what that meant. The Oracle had answered – and after some time a solution to my question formed in my mind.
The oracle told me that to find connection, I only needed to do what I was naturally drawn to and what I felt comfortable doing.
I don’t believe in horoscopes and astrology, and yet I was delighted by this whole experience. Because you don’t have to believe in anything for it to work. I realized that the card was just directing my thoughts in a certain direction, and my mind came up with the answer all by itself.
The answer turned out to be very helpful: I found a beautiful group of people who I've spent the rest of the festival with and felt very connected.
To me, this shows that you are already capable of giving yourself the advice you need. Your unconscious mind just needs a bit of guidance.
✏️ Retro
(Like always, you can download the Notion template to take structured notes.)
What goals did you set for yourself last month, and how well did you achieve them?
Make a list of your goals (even if they were only implicit) and score them from 1 (low) to 10 (high). You are not allowed to pick a 7. Take notes as you go.
Is there something that is blocking you?
What held you back last month? What can you do to avoid this next month?
What did you learn?
Did you learn something about yourself, your environment, or about the work you do?
🔭 Planning
What are your top 3 priorities next month?
Why are they important to you?
What goals do you set for yourself in light of these priorities?
To beat procrastination, make sure to split every higher-level goal into small subgoals.
What are potential obstacles or challenges you may face?
How can you prepare for them?
🌈 Bonus
If you could travel back to the beginning of the month, what advice would you give yourself?
Try to make it actionable. How can you incorporate your advice into the next months?
🙏 Thanks!
Thank you for being part of Mental Garden. I sincerely hope you enjoyed this email.
Something I’ve written about many times and that I think is very important is that reflection only works if you actually take the time to do it. Reading the questions and thinking for a few seconds is not the same as sitting down for half an hour and thinking deeply. I encourage you to take your time – it’s worth it.
See you again next month.
With gratitude,
Marc
