Just out of curiosity, I did a quick online search for “self-help book,” and it spit back over 60,000 results. That’s just books. Never mind podcasts, courses, masterminds, coaches, therapists–and the list goes on (and on).
There are mountains on top of even giant-er mountains of tips, hacks, and methods for building a better life.
Um, it’s a lot.
I spent years leapfrogging from one “surefire strategy” to the next, hoping each would be my golden ticket to Happily Ever After…
…but now in my fourth decade of life, what seems true–or useful, at least–is the idea that we have to develop our own method, one that speaks to our unique personhood.
Now, sure–we’ll be learning from and with our fellow humans, which might involve reading some of those 60,000 self-help books, but ultimately, no one can prescribe a shrink-wrapped, foolproof method.
I know I’m stating the obvious, but damn if it isn’t oh-so-tempting to believe that we simply haven’t found that magic bullet yet, keeping us locked in the search for someone else to hand our agency to, because, admittedly, it’s confronting to acknowledge that we are responsible for our own lives.
We are responsible for whether or not we’re living in accordance with our values–and knowing what those values are to begin with!
This doesn’t mean–not even a little bit–that other people and deeply entrenched systems don’t have a massive impact on us, but it does mean that we will never be as effective as we could be if we’re focused primarily on factors outside of our immediate control.
And I would argue that working to change external forces (necessary, valuable work) must be paired with inner change, otherwise, even if things do change “out there,” we aren’t internally positioned to enjoy or benefit from them.
And now, to the point:
I have spent over twenty years journaling and meditating and therapy-ing and magic-ing to piece together what tends to work best for me when it comes to getting life to work. It’s not a rigid system, but it does have some basic components that, when I don’t use them, I notice shit edging closer to the fan.
And when I explore areas of my life that aren’t working as well as I’d like, wouldn’t you know it? I’m not applying those components.
So, what I decided to do is compile those components (things like approaches to dreamwork and divination that are practically useful, not confusing AF; astral travel for radical healing and belief-shifting; and so forth) into a magical curriculum, aka Enchantment Lab.
Is it ironic that I’m adding to the mountain of self-help material out there? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I’ll let you be the judge of that!
Over the next five-ish months (leaving wiggle room, should my guides want to add a topic or two), I’m going to share:
- What each tool is and why it has earned a special place in my toolkit
- How to use it (and not in a general fashion, but specifically to change your life–e.g., not dreamwork “just for fun” but to access practical intel on how to dramatically improve your circumstances)
- How to piece together what you’re learning about yourself into a unique, not-set-in-stone method for successful living (this goes a long way in dissolving the anxiety that maybe you should be reading all 60,000 self-help books, because otherwise you might miss a “crucial step”)
Oh wait, there’s one more:
4. How to inject palpable, spine-tingling magic into your daily life, because why the hell not?? (Also, magic–and life–just plain works better when you’re in an enchantable mood, so this is smart strategy.)
In my next post, we’re going to look at the basic process for navigating a life, one that all 60,000+ self-help books are likely getting at from one angle or another, whether their approach involves Akashic records or a corporate SWOT analysis.
And then we’ll explore how each of those steps can be effectively addressed by a combo of magic and psychology, aka Jungian Magic.
See you soon.
