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Showing posts from August, 2023

Tarot - It's Not About Feeling Better

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  A Tarot client put it this way: "No one gives a rat's ass about how I feel. They judge me based on my behavior." And immersing himself in the mystical Tarot has helped change his behavior from self-defeating, especially at work, to what aligns with the law of attraction. Although the era of psychobabble has long ended (remember how we used to put everyone on the couch), too many are trapped in being preoccupied with feelings. Don't feel X or Y today? Well, you assume you will have a bad day. That mindset can shape your behavior. And it's what you do that determines your success, be it in professional life, your personal relationships or even your health. The role of the Tarot is to jolt insight about how to manage your emotions. A big part of that is not allowing them to preoccupy you. If you're "trapped" in your feelings you are draining your energy. That leaves less available to put out there in terms of what your behavior needs to be. Takeaway: ...

Clarity in a Crazy Labor Market - Tarot Blows Up for You 20th-Century Approaches to Extreme Success

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"Have you considered taking your MBA off your resume?" -  Response posted on Reddit Career Guidance to unemployed professional who can't land a job, August 2023  In a job market that keeps mutating this suggestion might be on the money. Employers are unwilling to pay for higher education not related to how that work is to get done in the now. Also, overall, skills/experience win the day, not academic degrees. One more thing: There seems to be growing bias toward what is perceived as "overeducation." To accelerate your understanding of what to put out there in a job search a Tarot reading could be useful. That mystical process of conjuring up clarity, dating back to the 14th century, has been helping traditional professionals get with 2023 employment realities.  A key card in that has been The Tower. Its message is that the past has collapsed. The choice is: Stay stuck staring at the catastrophe or walk confidently away determined to build something new.  Until t...

Mysticism Is No Safe Harbor from Tech - Having Down the Software Has Become the Price of Entry

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  “Developing that technical competence [for AI] has become increasingly important in the legal profession.” -  Jeffrey Chivers, who teaches AI at Yale Law School, states this in Bloomberg Law , August 25, 2023 The Chivers' quote is posted in the legal publication's article on how training at a growing number of law firms will now have to include the fundamentals of generative AI. Those range from how to create the most useful prompt for legal research to reviewing for accuracy to ensuring confidentiality.  That, of course, is a very different kind of professional development than was the usual in boomer times.  Some may recall the chair of Paul Weiss Brad Karp's description in The Wall Street Journal of learning both the practice of law and the business of law (client relations) by sitting right next to partners. Between pauses in phone calls, the partners explained to the newbie associate the strategies underlying what they were doing. That was then. Karp is now 6...

Congratulations, Vivek Ramaswamy, You're Under Attack - Tarot's The Fool Card Says Plenty about Risk

"Businessman  Vivek Ramaswamy  has been rising in GOP presidential polls — and judging by the target on his back here Wednesday night, his rivals have noticed." -  Axios , August 24, 2023 Obviously, Ramaswamy is an attention magnet. Incidentally, the Drudge Report poll has him doing the best in last night's GOP presidential debate. That could transform into getting the support, including extreme funding, of conservative influentials. But the "cost" of such a high profile is to invite a sustained pile-on of criticism. That can extend from the media to power brokers. And that's where the wisdom of the major card in the Tarot - The Fool - comes in.  Part of the meme is the courage and strength to take calculated risks. For Ramaswamy, of course, that is reputational. He will be taking on heavy branding blows.  The other part is that the player will have what it takes to bounce back from any and all of that. The analogy is a fall from a high building. Those prote...

Searching Obsessively for a Job Probably Won't Get You a Job - Along the Way It Sucks Away Your Confidence

  It's the brutal irony: Focusing one-dimensionally on getting another "good" job often prevents getting any offers. Even for a "not-good" job.  That's because of the simple reason that with all the hoops you have to jump through (such as submitting unpaid case studies and marketing plans) and all the rejections you lose your confidence. What those hiring see is someone who probably won't add value because they don't have the confidence to roll with what comes their way and to take risks. When a job-searcher comes for a Tarot reading too often they are in that pickle. The Magician card comes up. It has the message that within them is everything they need to create magic. That everything, I explain, is what will bring back their belief in themselves. Suggestions for that? Pick up a gig, any gig such as delivering food or walking dogs,  driving for a ride-hail service or working as a security guard. You can also launch a micro business such as selling ...

Times Are Hard (and could get more difficult) - Learn to Be Your Own Tarot Reader (and save money)

  My mission as a Tarot reader is to help suffering human beings help themselves. That's why, if asked, I provide a tutorial on how each of you can become your own Tarot reader.  Here is the short version. But it is all you need. Purchase Tarot Deck. Since you are a beginner, start out with the deck most newbies use. That is the Smith-Waite Tarot Deck. On Amazon it costs $17.96.  Here  you can order. Decks are also available for sale in metaphysical shops such as  Strega  in Sierra Vista, Arizona. Call those shops ahead and see if they stock the cards. Seek Access to Guides about Interpretations. There are no absolute interpretations of how to read any of the 78 Tarot cards. That's the strength of this tool for self-awareness by opening the door to the unconscious or what is sometimes called the subconscious. All readings happen through the unique intersection between that particular human being and the universe.  However, when beginning it c...

How to Find the Beginning in the End - Look at Us Now

It's inevitable, no matter how blessed a life is. The universe pushes us humans out of our tidy comfort zone into the abyss of loss.  Actually that shift is so much part of the human condition that it is a subject of the Tarot cards, dating way back to the 14th century. For those endings the Five of Cups captures the sense of actual despair. The imagery has a man in a black cloak with his head and body hunched over in pain. His only perspective is the past. He can't envision a possible future. But also in the Tarot are the cards symbolizing grasping the beginning in that ending. They include: The Fool Death Judgement Ace of Swords In a recent Ted Talk, Rhode Island award-winning attorney John Tarantino of Adler Pollock & Sheehan mapped out that journey from the mindset "Everything Is Lost" to "Look at Us Now, Building Something Amazing." Titled "Redemption Stories," it captures human turning points. Already it has about a half a million views ...

Lucy, The Earring and Mysticism

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 The wonderment of animal companions is the telepathic communication.  For a few days I had been sharing with new rescue dog Lucy my sense of loss. Before I left Arizona for the midwest several months ago I had bought a non-conservative pair of earrings. It was my last hold on that lifestyle now gone. Now one of them was also gone.  Apparently the message got through to Lucy. She looked concerned. That was expected.  What did surprise me were her mystical powers. Today at the dog park she halted from her run. She sat still. I walked over to check if he had been injured. No, it wasn't that. At her right paw was the earrning. Yes, there it was.  I put this to the universe: Should I have Lucy accompany me when I conduct tarot readings? After all, she can create fresh value. Tarot Card Reader. Medium. Intuitive Career Coach. Don’t Give Up Before the Miracle. No-pressure complimentary consultation about the answers you need. Then, fees custom-made for your budget...

Very Old-Fashioned: How to Get Jobs/Change Careers (even in tarot reading)

"Consulting firms are rethinking their strategy though - generic consultants have suffered lately. Jobs are going to specialists at the moment. Companies are paying $700 an hour for someone who truly knows GenAI - they are not paying $300 for a 3 year kid with an Ivy League degree." -  Fshbowl Consulting, August 14, 2023 And, that's not only management consulting.  In law, the chase for specialists is where the recruiting and reward systems are at. Paul Weiss just poached a private equity specialist from Kirkland & Ellis in the London market. We have to assume big charm and big bucks were invested in that hiring.   Those who didn't serve a specialist type of internship in college don't have a crack at well-paying jobs. They tell all about the disappointment on Reddit Career Guidance.  And overall software developers are a dime a dozen with the exception of specialists. Those with generative AI experience can have their ticket punched just about anywhere. Obv...

Generative AI - Overriding the Fear (Tarot Eight of Swords)

Management consulting firm McKinsey accelerated the timeline for automation taking over so many traditional work tasks. In its latest analysis it is projecting that 50% of those will be automated. That's between 2030 (which is about 7 years away) and 2060.  Expert opinion, as presented by Insider , indicates to bet on that happening sooner than later. The impacts of generative AI, along with non-generative AI, are taking hold of the global economy, including the labor market, faster than what went on with the internet. Adoption is spreading like wild fire.  Of course, the response is primarily fear. And the messaging for the Tarot's Eight of Swords is this: Since there is a way out of the fear there is a way out of the situation and toward a solution. The history of mankind shows over and over again that humans have regrouped and even prospered amid technological change. Essentially they sized up the threats and opportunities for what they were. Next they took action. Much ...

Generative AI - Tarot's Three of Wands

Generative AI will at the very least reconfigure job functions. The star content-creator has to retrain to be primarily an editor. More often, it can just blow up your entire career path. Depending on who's counting, generative AI will eliminate plenty of jobs. Those jobs aren't coming back.  The Tarot is optimistic. For the impacts of generative AI the Three of Wands is popping up often. The wands represent action. And this particular card celebrates new starts. Yes, that requires action. After looking at a situation, assessing options and praying the wise choice could be to exit a profession that might be overtaken by generative AI or already has been. To struggle to rescue a good living in a declining type of work may not be in the cards - literally.  Generative AI will usher in an extreme version of disruptions in professions. Disruption itself is not new.  Recall how digital muscled out myriad print journalists. Those who were determined to stay in that game usually ...

Tarot Readers - Can We Create Value to Compete with Artificial Intelligence Bots?

  "News Corp Australia is producing 3,000 articles a week using generative artificial intelligence ..." -  The Guardian , July 31, 2023 Most of those will be "service" articles such as information about where to find the best deal for  X or Y. The focus is primarily local. And before being published they will be reviewed by editors. However, obviously if giant News Corp is already leveraging artificial intelligence this trend will bleed into the processes of other newsrooms around the globe. It is not premature to project this: The function of journalist, as we have known it (as opposed to investigative reporter), could die with my boomer generation. Schools of journalism, just like the English major, could go poof. Actually with the role of the Knowledge Worker so vulnerable the American university system, growing wildly since Harvard was invented in 1636, could be forced to downsize significantly. Only left standing would be their shells as research centers.  Othe...

That Bad Day/Lousy Streak - Could Be Synchronicity

  " Anyone else having one of those days where it seems like it’s mistake after mistake? Nothing major, nothing unfixable, but still annoying. I haven’t been scolded or anything either. I feel like it makes the day 10x more draining." -  Fishbowl Big Law, August 10, 2023 Usually being "off" like that or worse in performance reflects being "off" internally. Psychologist Carl Jung called that projection of one's inner life onto the external world "synchronicity."  Incidentally if your inner life is in order then the outer one will also be. An example of that I observed among lawyers is  John Tarantino of Adler Pollock.  He is whole, a total alignment between inner and outer. Here is his Ted Talk on how he transformed his wife's terminal illness and death into making the world a little bit better. Recently Tarantino was recognized for being in the top 10 of lawyers in Rhode Island.  Negatives like those off days or lousy streaks tend to occ...

Rebranding Psychic Services as "Wellness"

  T he headline in the  Daily Star  a few days ago - and influential Drudge Report linked to it - screamed that generative AI was snatching away business from those in psychic services. Yes, including Tarot readers. So? We simply have to rebrand. My approach is to shift to the language and concepts of wellness. Actually, an insightful Tarot reading, which really connected with the client, has always been a tool for physical and mental health. Never in my years of practice has any client not wrapped up a reading without a lightness of being.  Generative AI is forcing us to reposition and repackage ourselves now. But we should have started out with less emphasis on the mystical and more on the solid grounding accomplished through the readings. With a new client the cards with pentacles - the symbol for stabilty and reality - turn up over and over again. With time as they become well other cards such as wands - a symbol for action - emerge. For us it's exactly the time ...

Generative AI, Halloween 2023 and Salem, MA

  "Disney and other major Hollywood studios along with Silicon Valley streamers have expressed interest in using generative A.I. to write movie and television scripts and create a database of actors’ likenesses for use in future projects. The WGA and Screen Actors Guild, the unions that represent Hollywood’s writers and actors respectively and that have been on strike for weeks, [of course] oppose the idea."  -  Yahoo Finance , August 8, 2023 Here's essentially how generative AI can wipe out the functions of both script writers and actors. That would be especially easy with formulaic programming such as Dick Wolf's "Law and Order" franchise.  Running since September 20, 1999 "Law and Order SVU" has codified rigid plots and themes. Background on those are all accessible on the internet to generative AI. Into the ChatGPT prompt could go: Write a 46-minute screenplay for "SVU" on sexual exploitation by medical professionals with Noah Benson ...