TarotTools.com

Divergent Thinking - Tarot Style!

The big buzz words in creativity and innovation circles these days? Convergent thinking and divergent thinking. If you work with Tarot or the Bright Idea Deck to brainstorm new ideas and generate insights, these “cutting edge” concepts will be old hat to you!

So what does convergent thinking imply? Consider the base word: converge. A circle of predators converges on its prey. On a globe, longitude lines converge to a point at the north and south poles. In a mystery story, the detectives slowly converge on the killer. At the Chinese restaurant tonight, my friends and I plan to converge on the mu gu gai pan. Get the idea?

Convergent thinking, then, happens when we abandon "the roads less traveled" and head for safe, familiar territory: the answers already expected, the conclusions already reached, and the strategies known to be tried and true. As Physician Ulrich Kraft notes in a recent article, instead of exploring options or alternatives, "convergent thinking aims for a single, correct solution to a problem" ("Unleashing Creativity" Scientific American Mind, Volume 16, Number 1, p. 19).

Anyone who works for a corporation knows at least one senior manager who has perfected the art of convergent thinking. Such managers are easy to spot; they make a great show of calling meetings and collecting input ... and then go right ahead and do what they had always planned to do in the first place! (Grrrr...)

The more aware of convergent thinking you become, the more often you spot it in yourself and others:

- Clients who expect a Tarot reading to give them the one, right answer
- Soulmates in search of the one individual who’s just right for them
- Bosses who want it "my way or the highway"
- Kids who pitch fits unless they get one particular toy
- Home buyers who obsess on one particular property and ignore others
- Drivers who insist on never asking for directions ... because they’ve never had to before
- Partners who treat spouses a certain way because that’s how Mommy treated Daddy.
- Authorities who insist something can’t be done because it hasn’t been done before
- Religious folks convinced there’s One Way to heaven – theirs!

As it turns out, these folks aren’t stubborn … they’re just human. In fact, the latest research into the creative process reveals all of us may well be hardwired to be convergent thinkers by default!

In his book, The Thinker’s Toolkit, Morgan D. Jones notes that convergent thinking is probably linked to survival. Let’s say some early humans hear a noise in the bushes. Convergent thinkers immediately conclude the noise is a tiger, run away, and live to pass on their genes. The other cavemen and women – those who stick around to see what’s *really* in the bushes – are much more likely to wind up as tasty tidbits for the tiger!

But while we may have an evolutionary disposition toward convergent thinking ... we don’t have to be slaves to our reflexes! In the article mentioned earlier, Ulrich Kraft notes, "Creative people can free themselves from conventional thought patterns and follow new pathways to unusual or distantly associated answers. This ability is known as divergent thinking, which generates many possible solutions" ("Unleashing Creativity," p 19).

Ah, divergent thinking. Divergence is a cousin to words like diversity and diversification; the term implies heading off in new directions. Divergent thinkers are the "bad boys and girls" of brainstorming. They turn things upside down. They break the rules. They do stuff backwards. They start at the end. Ask ‘em to put two and two together, and they get twenty-two.

Divergent thinking is the cornerstone of creativity; without it, we’d always do the same old things in the same old ways. One way to identify divergent thinkers, according to creativity experts, is to identify folks who excel at "ideational fluency." (That’s the new, cutting edge term for what you and I have always called "free association.")

How do researchers test for skill in free association? As Kraft explains, it’s easy: "[We count] the number of ideas, sentences, and associations a person can think of when presented with a word … the diversity of different solutions a person can find when asked to explore the possible uses of, say, a newspaper or a paper clip."

If you’re already using Tarot as a tool for creative problem solving, you’ll see right away how Tarot encourages and reinforces divergent thinking. Once you free yourself from the mindset that looks for The Answer, relating the cards to the problem at hand forces you to adopt new perspectives. Imagining that a series of cards represent several possible answers to your dilemma encourages you to explore alternative courses of action others will overlook!

The next time you feel convergent thinking converging on you ... reach for the Tarot! Divergent thinking – and enhanced personal creativity – is just a card or two away.

Shuffle the Cards, Shuffle Yourself

How often do you find yourself doing the same thing in the same way?

- Day after day, you drive the same route to work.

- Time and again, you order the same dish at your favorite restaurant.

- Over and over, you fall into your daily routine: driving the commute, arriving at the office, checking in at the water cooler, answering those emails ...

A Tarot deck consists of seventy-eight cards that, like the events of your day, have a very specific assigned order. The trumps go from zero to twenty-one. The suit cards are numbered from one to ten. The people cards are ranked from Page to King.

Tarot's magic, though, takes place when you shuffle. Randomizing the cards produces unexpected combinations that help us see our situation from surprising new angles.

So what might magic happen if you shuffled yourself?

- Drive a different route to work.

- Eat a meal consisting of only appetizers.

- Vary your work day, trying different approaches to the goals you hope to achieve.

Need more suggestions for shaking things up? Great ideas are just a Tarot deck away:

- Draw The Empress, and you might be prompted to explore new ways of nurturing and rewarding yourself for jobs well-done.

- Draw the Six of Cups, and you might be inspired to devote an hour to expanding your personal network of professional contacts.

- Draw the King of Wands, and you might take a frank look at your readiness to step out from under the strict rules of the corporate environment and give being on your own a try.

Magic happens when we shuffle the cards.

What might happen if you shuffled yourself?

Infinite Plot Generator

A small town girl ... becomes a pimp ... to save the local synagogue.

A flamboyantly gay hairdresser ... coaches a little league team ... with a chunky but spirited cheerleader.

The authors of The Official Movie Plot Generator -- a spiral bound book, with pages divided into thirds, allowing the reader to mix and match segments like those found above -- claim their book can be used to generate 27,000 unique and hilarious movie plots.

But with your trusty Tarot deck in hand, you can generate an infinite number of plots ... without flipping all those pages! And better yet, the plots you generate with your Tarot deck will be superior to any found in Movie Plot Generator, because:

- your plots, based on your own unique perceptions instead of a bank of supplied phrases, will be more original and engaging!

- your plot generation system (a Tarot deck) fits easily in a pocket or purse ... so you're not required to carry around a bulky, spiral-bound book everywhere you go!

- unlike the Movie Plot Generator (which gets a little stale and repititious after the first use), your plot generation system can be refreshed and expanded simply by switching to a different Tarot deck!

- because your own perceptions generate the options, you have access to an infinite number of plot ideas ... so you aren't limited to the Movie Plot Generator's 2700 plot combinations!

STEP ONE: Instant Protagonists!

The formula: A/An/The [Card One: Adjective] [Card Two: Person] ...

What to do: Draw two cards and steal ideas from the illustrations to fill in the blanks above.

Example: To help him break through writer's block, Stephano sits down with his Tarot deck and draws two cards from the Aquatic Tarot:

 

Based on the pictures, he brainstorms a series of options. Each one is a combination of an adjective (inspired by Card One) and a type of person (inspired by Card Two):

Card One	Card Two
A chubby	boat captain
A smug	villain in exile
A cross-dressing	cruise ship employee
A hard-drinking	mother and child team
A guarded	riverboat gambler

Then, for extra ideas, he swaps cards one and two and generates even more protagonists:

- A depressed merchant
- A sopping-wet bartender
- A defeated Hobbit
- A sword-making alcoholic
- A traveling thief

STEP TWO: Hilarious Hijinks!

The formula: ... [Card Three: Action/Situation]

What to do: Draw another card, and fill in the blank.

Example: Let's say you draw the following card from The Bright Idea Deck (due out in March 2005 from Llewellyn):

 

That done, you brainstorm the following hijinks, based on the picture and keyword:

- quits his job
- steals office supplies
- dresses as a woman
- buys a cursed object at a yard sale
- throws out an old boyfriend's things
- feels compelled to give everything to charity
- takes a job as a relief worker
- goes in search of a more satisfying career

STEP THREE: The Finishing Touch!

The formula: With / To / Because + [Card Four]

What to do: Draw one last card, and use it to generate ideas for your final blank.

Example: Let's say you draw this card from the Bright Idea Deck:

 

Inspired by the illustration and the keyword, you brainstorm these finishing touches:

- to invent a miniaturization machine
- with a mad sculptor
- because he dreams of being a famous artist
- to explore having more by having less
- with a friend who prefers "old fashioned ways"
- because she wants to get things done faster
- to make a point about the evils of mass production
- with a visionary inventor
- because she's involved in a secret art project

STEP FOUR: Piece it together.

From your fragments, you can then produce an amazing array of instant, no-brainer plots:

- A cross-dressing cruise ship employee takes a job as a relief worker because she's involved in a secret art project.

- A chubby boat captain throws out an old boyfriend's things because he dreams of being a famous artist.

- A traveling thief steals office supplies to make a point about the evils of mass production.

- A hard-drinking mother and child team buy a cursed object at a yard sale: a miniaturization machine.

You can build your own plots in seconds with this amazing, flexible system! And now, you'll have to pardon me ... I'm got some writing to do.

Easy Daily Readings

Most of us fish out a Tarot deck when we need an insight, idea, or solution. What's blocking me from finishing this short story? How can I get over my fear of relationships? Should I turn in my winning lottery ticket now, or wait until the media frenzy has died down a bit?

It's good to know you can turn to the cards in a crisis. It's also good to know the cards are there, every day, waiting to help you focus your thoughts and enhance your perspective. Daily readings -- short, quick, three-card readings that answer questions like "What's up?" or "What do I need to know today?" -- offer benefits many people overlook:

- The discipline of a daily routine -- doing the same thing at the same time each day -- provides you with a satisfying continuity and surprising sense of peace.

- Deciding to spend five minutes with the cards each day is one way of saying, "I want more time for creative reflection in my life, and committing to a daily reading is one way to make their desire a reality."

- A daily reading is a good enhancement to that stuffy, fifteen-minute daily review of goals they teach to Franklin-Covey graduates. It provides perspective and context for your plans, and may remind you of tasks you've overlooked.

Ready to start your day? Grab your handy Tarot deck and give this simple exercise a try.

1) Shuffle the deck and draw three cards.

- The first card you draw is your Topic Card: "Here's something you need to know or be aware of."

- The second card is your Reason Card: "This is why this topic is important today."

- The third card is your Action Card: "Here's a suggestion for what you can do."

2) Read the cards, embracing the first ideas that occur to you. (Need help reading the cards? Read the chapter on Making Meaning in Putting the Tarot to Work.)

Again and again, you'll find this exercise helps you identify unexpected or overlooked items that deserve special attention. Want to see the real power of this application? Try it once a day, every day, for a week ... and you'll be hooked!

Traveling with the Trumps

Got a camera you love ... but that you've been negelecting? Want to fill an afternoon with an intriguing visual exercises that will help you see your familiar world in a whole new way? Want to take vacation photos people will actually clamor to see?

This simple photographic application, inspired by the twenty-two trumps of the Tarot, will have you thinking of picture-taking and picture-making in a whole new way!

Once you become familiar with the twenty-two trumps of the Tarot, you'll discover these cards are the key to virtually unlimited creativity. (Need a primer on the trumps and their meaning? Click here.)

Some time ago, I hit on the idea of Traveling with the Trumps: when on vacation, I try to snap twenty-two images I could use to illustrate a "Tarot deck" of my trip:

- A snapshot of a young child leaping from a trampoline becomes my Fool.

- A gold-clad Buddha image in Thailand becomes my Heirophant.

- A sinsiter hallway leading downward into darkness becomes my Devil.

And so on -- you get the idea. If the local environment and artwork don't inspire you, you can always ask friends and family to assume archetypal poses and purposefully infuse your images with the energy of the trumps!

When you start trying to capture the Trumps of your Trip, you'll see your picture-taking exercise in a whole new light! Arranging these photos in trump sequence gives otherwise random images the feeling of a coherent story ... and you may also notice, as I have, that this photographic record of your "archetypal journey" is the perfect length to share with others. (Share twenty-two pictures, and friends want more; share two hundred photos, though ... and you may have to find new friends!)

But you don't have wait for an exotic trip to exercise your trump-finding skills! How about a Tarot of Your Neighborhood? Or a Tarot of Your House? Even a Tarot of The Mall can make for a fascinating exercise in people watching ... and a remarkably pleasant afternoon.

So ... snatch up your digital camera or camera-phone and start snapping! Once you start Traveling with the Trumps, there's no telling where the road of discovery will take you.

Brains or Books?

Again and again, folks new to the Tarot ask me, "Should I depend on books to tell me what the cards mean, or should I just go with my gut?"

My answer may surprise you!

When brainstorming with Tarot cards, your first impression -- what the card "means" to you the moment you see it -- can be vitally important. Time and again, when my clients describe a card aloud, they vocalize the solution to their problem ... without ever consulting a book.

I recently brainstormed with a frazzled business professional. In addition to day-to-day pressures, he was exhausting himself trying to decide whether to move to a new job during the busy holiday season. Hoping to brainstorm a coping strategy, he turned over this card:

(Image: Trump 08 - Balance from The Bright Idea Deck)

Immediately -- without consulting any book -- he said, "I see a woman who thinks she's facing a choice between her family or career. What she really needs to understand, though, is that, at some point, she put herself in the kind of precarious position that makes this choice seem necessary. I think she should climb down and re-evaluate her situation after some of the pressure's off."

Until he glanced at this card, the idea of putting job decisions off until after the holidays had never occured to him! Clearly, an "intuitive" response can be very valuable.

Intuition's great! Remember, though, that intuition grows and becomes more powerful with exercise ... and feeding. The more you know, the more your intuition can bring to bear on the situation.

For example, you can use the Bright Idea Deck without ever glancing at the companion book. The ideas you generate will be valid ... and the solutions you come up with will be unexpected and creative.

That said, if you do consult the book from time to time, the questions and stories found there will expand your awareness. You'll notice tiny details you overlooked before ... and you'll begin mapping new meanings to those details. As a result of your reading, your "intuition" will suddenly suggest dozens of new associations.

So: when brainstorming, should you depend on books ... or your brain?

My answer? The person willing to use both these tools is better off than the person who only has access to one or the other!

Ideas for Gift Giving

Since August (!), local stores and major chains alike have been decking the aisles with twinkling lights, fake snow, and artificial pine garland. Instead of muted remakes of Elton John's Rocket Man on the overhead Muzak, I'm hearing Jingle Bells and Frosty the Snowman.

In the Deep South, where we don't get snow, these are the undeniable signs that Christmas (or Yuletide, or Hanukah, or Kwanza ... insert the year-end holiday best befitting your personal spiritual or ethnic persuasion here!) has arrived. For most of us, that means coming up with a gift or two.

If you lack a knack for picking out just the right gift ... why not brainstorm the possibilities? With a handy Tarot deck in hand, you can generate dozens of appropriate gift ideas in minutes. Here's how.

I've written before about the What Would the Trumps Do process, which you can use to generate gift recommendations galore in twenty minutes or less. The idea is simple: proceed down the list of trumps, from the Fool to the World, asking yourself, "What gift would this trump ask me to consider?" (I like this wording, because it doesn't assume your gift must be something you purchase.)

If you don't have a Tarot deck handy (or if you're not familiar with the perspectives represented by each Trump), check out the handy cheat sheet I've created. With it, even total beginners can get in on the brainstorming fun!

In addition to the What Would the Trumps Do? game, I've created the following spread to help you further explore gift options for specific people on your list. Give it a try!

Shuffle the deck and randomly draw five cards, placing them face-down in the positions shown here:

The positions in this spread represent:

1) What you love most about this person
2) Something this person loves and enjoys
3) A great gift you could make
4) A great gift you could purchase
5) A great gift idea in general

Sample Reading
Kristen is one of those fortunate people who want very little more than what they already have -- a fact that drives her partner, Jenna, up the wall. "Every birthday, every anniversary, every Christmas, it's the same dilemma -- what to get for Kristen? Everything I think of, she either already has -- or doesn't need."

In hopes of coming up with a great gift idea, Jenna draws five random cards from the Bright Idea Deck and lays them out in the Gift-Giver's Spread:

Right away, Jenna saw Kristen in the Green Doing card. (Compare it to the Knight of Coins or Pentacles in other decks.) "Kristen is the consummate artist. She's creative to a fault, and that is one of the primary reasons I love her. Of the two kinds of artists here, she's more like the traditional guy on the right -- the one who works with a chisel instead of a machine. But even though she uses traditional materials in her work, she's interested in innovation and invention, so the keyword on the card makes sense, too."

Card two -- the Green 8 (8 of Coins), representing something Kristen loves or enjoys -- also struck a chord. "Kristen works constantly, because for her, work is play. She can spend hours and hours in the studio out back, stringing beads and wiring jewelry. Sometimes she works too much for my tastes. Frankly? I don't want to get her a gift associated with work, even though she loves it. I'd like to get her something that takes her mind off work for a change."

With her attention now fully focused on Kristen, Jenna brainstormed with the three gift idea cards: Trump 11 - Boldness (Strength), Trump 8 - Balance (Justice), and Blue 3 (Three of Cups) - Celebration.

At first, the keyword "Boldness" didn't suggest anything Jenna thought she could make. "A bold outfit? A bold pair of drapes? None of that sounds right." Ultimately, though, she focused on the dumbbell carried by the man on the card. "That makes me think of my personal strengths, one of which is organization. Instead of physically making something, I could make a gift of effort -- like taking over all the chores for the next three months."

Trump 8 (Balance) immediately suggested a trip Jenna could purchase. "Kristen needs more balance in her life -- since she went to work for herself making jewelry, she's obsessed with work. She works constantly, and it's caused us some stress." With this challenge in mind, Jenna hit on the idea of paying for a quick weekend getaway. "That would give us time to reconnect, and it would help her see the refreshing value of getting away and doing something besides working."

Finally, Blue 3 (Celebration, a great gift idea in general) gave Jenna her favorite idea: "I could throw a reception designed to show off Kristen's newest work and favorite jewelry pieces. We could invite friends -- but also a few local people who might be interested in showing Kristen's work in their stores. A little cheese, a little wine, a little jewelry -- even if it doesn't create sales opportunities, it honors Kristen's work and sounds like fun!"

A few minutes brainstorming gift ideas gave Jenna insights into gift-giving that she would never achieve by strolling down the aisles at the local Wal-Mart! Stuck for great gift ideas? Why not pull out your trusty Tarot deck and give the Gift-Giver's Spread a try?

Want more insights into how you can brainstorm solutions for your work or your relationship? Check out Putting the Tarot to Work (purchase it here, or read the entire text of the book online) or preview Taking the Tarot to Heart, due out in January of 2005!

True Tarot Stories: Seeking the Lost

You know you have it somewhere, but you just can't find it.

You look in your car. You move furniture. You peek under the couch cushions. You search the garage. You turn the entire house upside down.

You lie awake in bed, your head whirling. Where is it? Where is it?

I was in this situation just last night. After wasting an entire day searching in vain, I finally sat down, pulled three cards ... and, five minutes later, had the object in question in my hot little hands.

Want to know my secret? Grab your Tarot deck, and keep reading!

In the Beginning
When I was in St. Paul, my publisher gifted me with a prototype of The Bright Idea Deck. Featuring art by Canadian artist Eric Hotz, the Bright Idea Deck is a brainstorming Tarot. The cards preserve the structure and themes associated with traditional Tarot, but the illustrations express them in terms a modern audience can interpret at a glance.

There's no nudity, and the esoteric content some folks find "spooky" has been artfully sublimated. The result? The Bright Idea Deck can be used by any audience, any time, without stirring concerns about the "appropriateness" of the deck.

But I digress.

After all the planning, research, collaboration, and writing that went into creating the Bright Idea Deck, actually holding a copy in my hands meant I'd achieved a major milestone! For the next several days, the cards and I become constant companions. I worked with them when reading for the public; I carried them along to a television interview. People liked the bold lines and bright colors, and quickly caught on to the business of using the cards to spark new ideas and generate fresh insights.

And then, yesterday, the cards were gone.

Raiders of the Lost Deck
We came back from a weekend in New Orleans, and the prototype deck was nowhere to be found. I hadn't taken it with me for fear of losing it. Now, despite being woozy with a stomach virus, I was turning the house upside-down, searching for the cards.

Under couches and in cabinets, I found a half-dozen of Chelsea's long-lost dog toys (and even a hidden bone or two) ... but no cards.

Clyde, who can find anything, joined in the search. We tipped over the sectional and found my missing autographed copy of Hajo Banzahf's The Crowley Tarot, but the location of my Bright Ideas Deck remained a mystery.

Exhausted, I sat down in front of my laptop at 10:30 PM and resigned myself to never holding that first little prototype deck again.

My Very Own Bright Idea
Then, an idea popped into my head out of nowhere: why not use the Bright Idea Deck ... to find the Bright Idea Deck?

After all, I had copies of the artwork on my computer, and a copy of the excellent Orphalese Tarot software, which allows the user to convert any seventy-eight images into a virtual Tarot deck.

Seconds later, I posed my question: "Where is my prototype copy of the Bright Idea deck?" I pointed. I clicked. I shuffled. I pulled three cards:

Reading the Signs
At first, my heart sank. I mean, how are these three images supposed to tell me anything about the location of my lost deck? I toyed with the numbers and colors of the cards ... to no avail.

As I relaxed a bit, I began to focus on the themes and keywords represented by each card. Red 3 - Action. Red 1 - Desire. Blue 4 - Restlessness.

I tried making these themes into a question: when was the last time I had exercised my skills in order to reach an important goal ... only to experience a sense of restlessness or distraction?

My thoughts drifed back to my latest television appearance. I was there taking action (Red 3) in order to reach an important goal (Red 1) -- to help get the word out about Putting the Tarot to Work. But was I restless or distracted at all that day?

In fact, I was: as I left the newsroom, a cameraman approached me and began to chat about his own love for Tarot. I was interested in his story, but had to combine the business of collecting my books and cards with the business of carrying on our conversation. In the process, I broke the rubber band I'd been using to keep the deck all in one place ...

... but I still couldn't remember what I'd done with the cards.

Things that Make You Go Hmmmm....
My eye was ultimately drawn to the cener card: the Red 1. This guy has red hair. He looks a little like me. He dresses like me. He's got on a jacket --

The realization hit me like a bolt of lightning.

I got up, ran back to the bedroom, threw open the closet door, found my best blue suit, pulled the jacket from the hanger, reached into the inner pocket, and closed my fingers around the prototype deck.

Everything came back to me in an instant. When the rubber band broke, I had been dismayed: how would I keep the cards together? And, of course, a practical solution presented itself: for now, I'd poke 'em in my jacket pocket.

Try It Yourself!
The next time you lose something important -- and before you tear the house apart! -- why not invest ten minutes in a quiet, reflective session with the cards? In addition to retrieving your lost object ... you may discover a process you'll depend on again and again for quick solutions in years to come!

Keep it Simple

Humans, it seems, have a talent for procrastination. We need just the right Tarot deck, we tell ourselves, before we can start exploring Tarot as a brainstorming tool. And we can't start our session until just the right music is playing. And we have to strike just the right posture ... and at least an hour of free time to invest in attacking our latest creative block.

Is your own inner procrastinator sabotaging your success by creating roadblocks like these? Break free of perfectionism and take action! You don't need an hour, six Tarot decks, and a 100-card spread ... you can make surprising progress in minutes! Here's how.

1) Do a little bit now. We tend to take an "all or nothing" approach to tasks -- we envision ourselves working on them from start to finish. As a result, we over-estimate the time needed to make a little progress ... and we put of starting once again.

While you might need an hour of free time, thirty minutes (sometimes, less) is all you really need to make a dent in a project. Rather than spin around in your chair in frustration at all the work you have to do, make up your mind that, for the next thirty minutes, you're going to focus on one project.

No phone calls. No email. No conversations with folks in the next cube. Just thirty minutes, your task, and you.

You'll be amazed at the progress you'll make. In fact, I've managed to drop my "minimum effort time" down to fifteen minutes -- often getting done in a quarter-hour more than I dreamed I could do in two hours or more.

This small miracle of productivity soon becomes a matter of habit ... and gets you past the biggest challenge to any creative endeavor: just getting started.

2) Revel in Ritual. Rituals -- repetitive tasks performed to put you in a specific state of mind -- don't have to be complex. My favorite ritual? Shuffling a deck of Tarot cards. I associate the shuffle with the creative work to come ... and in seconds, I'm alert and ready to get started.

Your "down to work" ritual doesn't have to be complex. It doesn't have to involve candles or chanting or wearing a long, flowing robe. You don't have to intone the names of the muses.

All you really have to do is pick a physical and verbal cue that tells your mind and body: "Time to work." I shuffle cards ... but you might:

- pause thirty seconds to close your eyes and clear your mind, thinking, "I'm starting now."

- pick a Tarot card you associate with getting work done (the Eight of Coins comes to mind). When it's time to start a project, pull that card, gaze at the illustration for thirty seconds, and tell yourself, "For the next thirty minutes, this is me." Experience the satisfaction and good energy you'll feel as you achieve your goal for the day. Then ... go for it!

- select a song ("Taking Care of Business"?) or a scent (I like citrus) and sample it just before starting a work session. With time, you'll associate this stimulus with a working state of mind.

3) Draw a card! Stuck? Can't get your motor started? Draw a single Tarot card and invest three minutes making a list of how the characters on that card would take on your current task.

Let's say you've been putting off updating that dusty website of yours. You draw a single card: in this case, the Justice card.

How might Justice encourage you to take on this task and get it started? For starters, the card might remind you that balance is the key to a satisfying life: by working now, you'll enjoy this evening's play time all the more. You might also see the blindfold Justice wears, and be reminded to remove all distractions (cell phone, pager, email applications) from your workspace so you can focus and move forward.

Curb the urge to construct a fancy spread: when getting down to business is the order of the day, a single card can go a long way.

=====

Could you be reading this article as a way of procrastination even now? Don't give in to your inner procrastinator! Set your timer for fifteen minutes ... and get more done than you ever imagined ... just by getting started.

WHEN Questions: Brainstorming the Future

"Tarot, eh? Aren't those them fortune-telling cards?"

If people know nothing else about Tarot, they know Sister Doololly claims she can use the cards to foretell future events. (No one ever seems to ask why someone who knows all and sees all would be operating out of a tumble-down shack on the wrong side of the tracks.)

Personally? I'm not interested in turning my life over to seventy-eight pieces of laminated cardboard. I'm not seduced by the velvety comfort of seeing my life laid out for me like a cosmic Rummy hand.

So: when I brainstorm with WHEN questions, I handle things a little differently than Sister Doololly does. Here's an empowering alternative to the Sister's predictive technique.

Fate vs. Fortune
Ask Sister Doololly "When will I get a raise?" and she'll pull a card for you.

"Ah, the Ace of Coins, my dear! Why, that's a great, great sign! You're coming into money, that's for sure! You know what that means? The Sister's gonna charge you thirty-five dollars instead of twenty-five dollars ... cause you can afford it!"

Ask me when you'll get a raise, and I'll help you brainstorm the situation by pulling 8 cards:

1. Why you want or need a raise
2. One reason you might get a raise
3. Another reason you might get a raise
4. One reason you might not get a raise
5. Another reason you might not get a raise
6. What you should do if you do get a raise
7. What you should do if you don't get a raise
8. How to increase the odds you'll get a raise

See the Difference?
Asking WHEN you'll get a raise leaves you standing on the railroad tracks of life, waiting for the Raise Train to barrel down the tracks and run you over.

The alternative approach empowers you. What motivations do you have for a raise? Do you just want a raise ... or does your work merit one? What other factors influence your raise? How can you deal with these? If the raise doesn't come through, what alternatives can you explore? And what can you do right now, today, to improve your chances of getting the raise you want?

Again and again, this approach to "fortune telling" leads to "fortune making" -- because it prompts the people involved to become aware of their motivations, analyze their actions, define their options, and anticipate alternatives.

Give it a try ... and let me know how this version of foretelling the future works for you!