How To Shift From Scarcity to Abundance Mindset

Whitney (00:00):

Welcome to Spiritual and Ambitious. I’m your host, Whitney McNeil. I’m a certified medium and spiritual teacher, and I help spiritual and ambitious souls just like you live your life purpose through your career and attract abundance by connecting into your intuition and spirit guide. Let’s get spiritual and ambitious.

Whitney (00:31):

Welcome to another episode of the Spiritual and Ambitious podcast. You are in for a treat. I have my friend here today and colleague, she’s amazing. We’re gonna be talking about how to shift the starving artist mindset or the broke healer mindset to an abundant one so Miriam Schulman is on the podcast. She’s an artist, author, and founder of the Popular Inspiration Place podcast which is listened to by thousands of artists around the world. After witnessing 9/11, she abandoned a lucrative hedge fund career to become a full-time working artist. Since then, our guest and her art have been featured in major publications including Forbes, What Women Create, The New York Times, Art of Man, Professional Artist Magazine and Art Journaling Magazine. Oh my goodness, and so many other places too. Her artwork has even been featured on NBC’s Parenthood. Oh my goodness, I’m so excited to have you on the podcast, Miriam. Thanks for being here.

Miriam (01:33):

Well, thank you for having me, Whitney. It’s such an honor.

Whitney (01:36):

Yeah, and you know, you have a book coming out and this is so exciting as your friend and as a colleague, I can’t wait for everyone to get their hands on this because regardless if you’re an artist. This book kind of kicks your a little bit into the abundant mindset And I love it. I like your style. It’s always very nurturing, but to the point. And I know that when I need a little bit of a slap in the face, like Whitney, get your mindset together, you turn it around for me, which is really good, so I love that you have this inside of a book.

Miriam (02:14):

Thank you. And thank you for putting my commercial right at the beginning. That made it so much easier for me. I don’t have to like work it into the conversation.

Whitney (02:23):

Nope, nope. Everybody, everybody needs this book. It really doesn’t matter if you’re an artist, truly because there’s so many great tips with mindset. If you are a spiritual business owner, you gotta get your hands on this book. I’ve noticed a correlation between the starving artist mindset and spiritual healers, spiritual business owners, and I’ve seen this scarcity kind of mindset come up more so in these industries than I’ve seen in others. So I do wanna just ask you, why do you think that is?

Miriam (02:57):

You know, actually the truth is it really does come up in all the industries. It really does. I think it comes up more for women. Do you work more with women?

Whitney (03:06):

I do.

Miriam (03:07):

Yeah. It definitely comes up more for women. I mean, we’ve been conditioned to play small, we’ve been conditioned especially American women. We’ve been conditioned like we’re not supposed to express our desires, express our sexuality. I mean, this is something from like the examples, the 1950s housewife. You know, I love Lucy with the separate beds, the puritanical culture, soUnited States, it’s definitely much more buttoned up than Europe. So women, were not, we’re not supposed to be big. We’re supposed to be skinny. That’s about playing small. And guess what? Those images, they in fact are subconscious and it’s one thing when it causes eating disorders. It’s another when it kills your dreams because you’re trying to play small and for black women, this is even more so because it really isn’t, they get the message, it’s not safe. It’s not safe to be out there. And it’s not just a mindset thing. You see evidence, you see evidence of men getting paid more, white people getting paid more. So well, it’s in the culture and it’s very hard to reprogram our brains when we’re constantly getting flooded with these messages.

Whitney (04:25):

Yes, especially too, I think there’s this ambition that comes up and we want to do something with our purpose or we wanna do something with our passion and our joy, but then we might feel like we’re not making the traction that we’re wanting, so this is a really great insight on why we tend to play it small and we don’t even necessarily realize it. So when do you feel that someone finally gets the aha moment that they’ve been in scarcity mindset. What do you feel like it kind of takes for them to realize, ooh, wait a minute, I need this book or I need something?Something’s not right here. I need to shift my way of thinking.

Miriam (05:04):

Yeah, that’s a great question. The problem is the reason they call them blind spots is ‘cuz we usually don’t see it, and it usually takes somebody else to call us out on our bullshit. I mean, that’s why you said to me sometimes like I turn things around for you

Whitney (05:16):

You do.

Miriam (05:17):

I was just on a call the other day with somebody who was considering, I was a partner for somebody who sells online classes and they were thinking about teaching online classes and they’re like, well, and they’re from Europe. Well, I don’t know because you can’t get the supply that I use in the United States. I was like, really? What is it? And I just like right in front of her on the zoom call, I Googled it and I found, you know, a website that sells what she was talking about that supposedly I couldn’t get for like $10. I was like, is this the product you’re talking about that we can’t get and that’s why you can’t teach this online class?

Miriam (05:56):

We so many times we have and and we can’t help it. It’s not that we’re being stupid. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with this other person. There’s no shame but what happens is anytime we’re doing something that’s brand new, it’s gonna make us feel uncomfortable and this is men and women. So our brains have evolved for survival, not goal achievement, survival. So anything that makes us uncomfortable, we feel afraid. That’s the normal human response. What happens when we get oafraid, our smart brain is gonna come up with all kinds of reasons why it’s a bad idea and we don’t perceive these as doubts. We don’t perceive these as limiting beliefs. We perceive these thoughts that are flooding our brain as facts and that’s the problem.

Whitney (06:46):

Yeah, absolutely. So I know that everyone listening has a question that they’re really wanting to ask you so I’m gonna ask you. How do you know, Miriam, when it is just stuff my mind is making up to prevent me or if it’s an intuitive message not to do the thing? That’s what a lot of people will ask.

Miriam (07:06):

Oh my gosh, it is such a good question. You know, I wanna get a bumper sticker that says it’s not a sign.

Whitney (07:13):

I know.

Miriam (07:14):

You know, it was like, like the checkout doesn’t work. Oh well then it’s a sign I wasn’t supposed to sign up for that class. You know, like meanwhile, Mercury is in retrograde and everyone’s systems are failing. It’s, it’s not a sign , it’s not a sign, Not everything’s a sign. And what you have to remember yourself is everything you think isn’t true. Don’t believe everything you think. So I don’t know, I would do a turnaround, Whitney, because this is really more your specialty in terms of intuitive guidance and messages.

Whitney (07:43):

The funny thing is, is when I asked you that, I was like, I bet Miriam’s gonna turn around on me. That’s okay. So it’s just so funny. I was like prepared for this.

Miriam (07:54):

Okay, good.

Whitney (07:55):

Right. Yeah. You know, that’s one of the things I talk about too and a lot of my programs and challenges that I’ll do with people is, hey, if your computer stops working, don’t take it as a sign. And really, if something is happening over and over and over and you’re feeling like it’s kind of this redirecting, then you can stop and pause and listen and take a break. You can take one day to three days and then continue with that process. But that’s why I think that you need a great connection with your spirit guides and clearly understand your messages with your four intuitive languages. So you know if this is something to do or not, but really nine times outta 10, it’s just our own shit that we make up that we think.

Miriam (08:35):

Oh one, yeah. And there is a, there is a process for identifying it so I encourage people to journal what all those reasons are that they think they can’t do this thing if they’re really trying to figure it out and go through each one of them. And then you’re gonna look for what I call thought distortion. So this goes back to Aaron Beck’s cognitive behavior theory and looking to see is are any of these statements all or nothing thinking?

Whitney (09:05):

Yeah.

Miriam (09:06):

You know, a client said this to me other day, I’m just not making sales. I was like, is that true? Because I thought last week you told me about some sales you made. Oh, I just mean they’re, I’m not making as much as I want. So you go through all of them, is it all or nothing thinking? Is it exaggerated thinking? And then the other two to look for, am I mind reading and am I fortune telling? So mind reading would be, if you think so I’m gonna do this not just for artists. I know you, you work with a lot of coaches. Is would that be correct?

Whitney (09:35):

Yeah, A lot of spiritual entrepreneurs, but definitely in coaching in other areas too.

Miriam (09:40):

All right, so let’s just pretend you’re thinking. So a lot of artists think that, oh, she doesn’t wanna pay for that much for this painting and a coach might think, oh she doesn’t wanna pay that much for my coaching package. That’s what I’m saying. It’s really the same thing. So if you have a thought, she doesn’t want to, your mind reading, you’re mind reading and maybe you do have some spiritual gifts and you’re able to do that, but most of us are just making up. So, and it’s just our thoughts that we’re, we are, we really don’t know what they’re thinking. We can’t really pop in there. Then fortune telling is telling the future, no one’s gonna want this.

Whitney (10:18):

Yeah.

Miriam (10:18):

So are you fortune telling? Are you mind reading? Are you practicing all or nothing thinking? And also see if you can turn any of those statements around.

Whitney (10:28):

Mm-Hmm, I like that. I think that we will project our own scarcity, our own fear on our buyer. And I saw a lot of very common limiting beliefs when I was reading your book, like they don’t have the money, they’re not gonna buy from me. And you know, the flip side of that is really saying some great affirmations or shifting that mindset into they value my work or I am valuable, my work is valuable. And one of the things I’ve seen in the spiritual community, so I moved to Sedona and there’s a humongous spiritual community here. I say humongous, but really it’s actually a small town. But there’s so many people that give readings and things like that. And people would say, Whitney, aren’t you worried that you’re gonna have all this competition? And I was not worried. I said, you know, my, my value, my work is different and there’s enough customers for everyone. And I saw that there’s this limiting belief in your book. It was like, no one’s gonna buy in my town and actually I’ve seen that too in spiritual communities where somebody really wants to do readings and they’re like, I live in a really conservative place and no one’s going to want to buy, and while

Miriam (11:42):

Fortune telling.

Whitney (11:43):

Yes. Right. So these are really good similarities and this is why I really think this is such a great powerful book. So I know that you list 14 abundant artists lessons and in lesson 10 you say that conscious consumers buy an alignment with their values. Since we’re talking about buying, can you tell us a little bit more about that?

Miriam (12:04):

Yeah, I was worried for a minute that you were gonna quiz me on what all 14 were. I was like, you know, I really should have these, I really should have this in the book in front of me when I’m doing these interviews. Okay. So this was, I handed in the rough draft of my manuscript a full year ago and thank God that the publishing industry is slow and they did not publish right away because that whole lesson came out of research that I read at the beginning of this year. So when I was rewriting my second draft for the publisher is when I was like, okay, this has to go in the book ‘ cuz I originally had a lot less lessons. So what research has shown is that a lot of people, not all people, not all people, and that’s the thing about all these abundant lessons, but many people will buy with their values and they will actually pay a a premium.

Miriam (12:56):

What does this look like? So this looks like, first of all, I got the Sundance catalog in the mail the other day. My husband says, here’s your catalog full of white women, like we’ll just put that in the trash. I’m actually very conscious of when brands are not inclusive and I will not buy from them, if I feel that way. If somebody pitches me to go on a podcast like bro marketing dude and says hey, and you know, John Lee Dumas recommended me and so did Gary V and so did three other men. I’m like, well you’re not for me, like this is not a book that includes me in any possible way. So it’s not something that includes me either in the people that you want to have endorsed the book and I’m probably not inside that book either. So being in alignment with the values, a lot of people will look and they did research on it.

Miriam (13:50):

There’s a large percentage who will buy from brands if they’re women owned, if they’re minority owned and also they look at the ethical practices of the brand. So some of the other things that I don’t look at quite so much, but I know other people do, is it a sustainable brand? Do they have ethical hiring practices, ethical wages, things like that? So there are many people who will shop in alignment with their values. And I don’t know about you Whitney, but also even in terms of some of the media I consume, I won’t watch all the movies anymore. I used to if I have an It factor about somebody who’s gonna make money off of that.

Whitney (14:32):

Yeah, absolutely. And I think too, putting it in an energetic term, it’s like your vibration and you buy from people who energetically will align with yours. So for our listeners who are really energetically sensitive, we can kind of take this same topic and think about what are you holding in your energy and attracting your aligned clients regardless of whatever you’re pricing. It’s your values, it’s who you are, your thoughts, your emotions, and also being really authentic to what you’re saying, and are your actions actually adding up to what you’re saying too with your values as well?

Miriam (15:15):

Oh yeah.

Whitney (15:15):

And you know, highly sensitive people we can tell hmm no there is this big It factor. No thank you versus just doing it to go along which I think is really important that we listen to that. So we’re talking about buying, but if we shift into pricing, you talk about charm pricing versus prestige pricing. Can you tell us a little bit more about what that is and why it matters?

Miriam (15:41):

Yeah. So the problem is almost everybody knows about charm pricing. They may not know that’s what it’s called, but we think that’s the only way to price. So charm pricing is doing 497 instead of 500. And what you’re doing is you are calling out the people who, those $3 matter. So Walmart, if you walk into Walmart, not only do they have every dollar, but you know they’re pricing everything to the penny because they know for their customer every penny matter. So it, you know, a pack of underwear, 14.97, you know those 3 cents we’re, we’re not charging you that. Now on the flip side is prestige pricing, which a lot of your coaches and people in the spiritual community and artists should really be using. So they do have research that shows that in luxury markets such as champagne bottles, that people were more inclined to buy a bottle of a champagne if it was $40 even rather than something nonsensical like 38.97. The reason is because the rounded numbers are processed by the emotional side of the brain, whereas those numbers ending in the 97, the 95, those are processed by the logical side of your brain. So which side of the brain do you want your customer to be using when they’re making a purchase such as art or something like a spiritual gift, probably the emotional side of the brain, not the logical side.

Whitney (17:24):

Yeah, that makes so much sense. I’m sitting here going in my mind, reevaluating all the offers right now in my mind.

Miriam (17:31):

Oh yeah. So one, one thing I would say is that anything up to $2,000, that is when you would probably wanna use, and you’re talking about service packages like your offers, it doesn’t make sense to use the 497 instead of 500. People do perceive that in the 400s and we know that cuz we’ll get emails a year later, oh I bought your course for $400. That’s what they remember. They don’t think I bought your course for 500. So anything up to 2000, the 1997. When you get to pricing things that are 3000, 5,000, 10,000, do not, do not say 3997 because that’s like insulting to somebody and then you are literally gonna attract those penny pinching customers where every dollar matters. You don’t wanna do that. So if you go and look at luxury items, if you look at Rolex watches for example, I don’t own a Rolex watch but I did look at what they cost online and they are not 3997, they are 4 800 or 5400. No one’s trying to trick you into a lower number.

Whitney (18:45):

This is so great. So especially for people out there that have coaching packages or offering retreats, this is gonna really be important to listen to as you’re offering your pricing out there to your aligned clients. This is so good. Thank you for that lot of great wisdom. Let’s move on to shifting some of our mindset with this. What phrase would you suggest that women specifically avoid that will immediately raise their money mindset? So let’s say that they’re listening to you, oh wait a minute, I gotta change my prices now or I need to really think about this. What phrase should they avoid that can just kind of shift them into that abundance place?

Miriam (19:32):

Yeah, a lot of it has to do with the messages that we tell ourselves about money. So I can’t remember what I put in the book, but the ones in particular that I know you should avoid is don’t say things like that, there’s a pair of shoes you want and it’s more money than you normally spend on shoes. It’s not, I can’t afford that or I don’t have the money ‘cuz those are both false statements, right? Most of the time. So it is, I choose not to spend the money on this or you could say what I just said. I don’t normally spend that amount of money on that type of product. So it’s, you’re telling yourself a more truthful statement because when you’re telling yourself these scarcity statements even about your own spending, it’ll be hard for you to believe when other people are willing to make the similar types of investments in you. Did I hit the one I said in the book that you were thinking of?

Whitney (20:31):

Yes. I love it. And for everyone listening that’s taken some abundance training, this is probably a familiar one that is so important. It shifts the energy, it shifts the power where you start to go, wait a minute, I choose not to in this moment versus oh I can’t, I’m a victim. So it’s more of that place of, oh wait a minute, this is my decision and I get to, to shift this, which I think is really important. Well we are going to take a quick break and when we come back we’re gonna be talking more about belief systems, how to shift into abundance and Miriam has these really great things to help you shift into profit and more. I won’t tell you, it’ll be a mystery. Stay tuned and we’ll be right back.

Whitney (21:20):

It is the new year. With the new year comes new intentions if starting or growing your spiritual business is on your mind, I wanna invite you to apply for Spiritual Business Incubator. Spiritual Business Incubator is a six month program where you work with me to learn how to start or grow your business. This is for entrepreneurs who want to live their life purpose through their business and are just getting started. And it’s also for current entrepreneurs who want to expand or pivot their business and they’re in this place where they’re like, what the F am I doing? I need some help. So I’d love for you to submit your application. We’re only taking 20 students. Go to messengerofspirit.com/sbi, as in spiritual business incubator to submit your application. I can’t wait to see yours come through. Thanks for hanging out with us during the break. We are back with Miriam Schulman. She is the author of Entrepreneur and she is shifting our mindset today into more of an abundant one. And so Miriam, in chapter three of your book for entrepreneur, and we’ve kind of touched on some of chapter three, but this is the chapter of Love Your Buyer. And you talk about the belief triad. We’ve talked a little bit about that mindset, but could you kind of get more into that belief triad for us?

Miriam (22:54):

Okay, so many of us who are in the self-development space, we’ve all heard you gotta believe in yourself, you gotta believe in your art or what you’re selling. But one part that I think a lot of the so called gurus leaved out is you have to believe in your buyer. And we’ve already previously touched upon this is not thinking thoughts like she can’t afford that, she’s not gonna pay that much money. I’m using she, just did as gender neutral today, okay? We’re re-centering the woman. We’re not gonna say okay, alright. You know, whoever it is, can’t now, now I’m like, now I’m like editing myself.

Whitney (23:36):

You’re okay.

Miriam (23:38):

Wait. Alright, so the story that I like to give is from the movie Pretty Woman where, and for those who have not seen it, come on, why haven’t you seen the sexist movie about a prostitute? Okay, so Julia, right, Julia Roberts in the beginning of the movie, she is gonna be Richard Gears companion. The problem is she’s still in the clothes that she picked him up with the night before. So he says, all right, here’s my credit card, go to Rodeo Drive, buy yourself some new clothes. The problem is nobody would wait on her. That is because the boutique salespeople don’t believe in the buyer. So then the hotel helps her do a more successful shopping spree. She comes back to the boutique loaded with shopping bags and says, Hey, do you work on commission? Big mistake. And what I want all of us to know is that when we are not believing in the buyer, we’re just as guilty as those snotty sales clerks. They weren’t mean to Julia Roberts. It’s a big mistake.

Whitney (24:44):

I like how you said that, like weren’t those people awful? You’re being awful too, like we have to think about it that way. Really

Miriam (24:51):

We are. We, you know, we think we’re being so meek and starving artist’s mindset and scarcity mindset, but really we’re being mean, we’re judging. We are judging our clients, our potential buyers.

Whitney (25:05):

That hits so hard in, in a good way. It’s like, oh yeah because I think when we really start to understand that we have a new perspective and it’s easier to shift like, oh wait a minute, I’m doing a disservice here. Oh wait a minute, I always wanna be heart-centered and I haven’t been by thinking that, a hundred percent. It’s a great example.

Miriam (25:27):

Yeah. Another thing that I wanna bring up now that I had wanted to bring up earlier is you were saying about knowing when it’s intuition, whether it’s self-doubt. And a lot of times our intuitive messages are the ones we get immediately. The duffel ones are the ones that creep in later. So a lot of us have this belief that the more time we think about something, the more sure it will be when actually the opposite is true. So the more time you give yourself to make a decision, the more time you have your brain has to come up with all those unhelpful thoughts. And by the way, the same thing is true for your customers. So if they have to think about it, just know that you’re giving them more time to think of reasons to talk themselves out of it. Now that does not mean that you should suddenly be pushy and try to get them to make a decision on the spot.

Miriam (26:22):

Since I am also a coach Whitney, I’ll just share with your listeners what I do when I’m in that sales conversation and they wanna think about it. I honor that sometimes you don’t know if they’re being truthful with you. Sometimes they actually have already made up their minds. But I will offer them a follow up within a day or two to get back on a call with me for for 15 minutes. I says, if you think of any questions you can get back on a call with me and we book that call right then and there and that gives them this, this comfort to say no and also the comfort to say yes.

Whitney (26:56):

Mm-Hmm This is so good. One of the things I talk about my program is deciphering between a thought and intuitive message. And I say the same thing, your intuitive messages come in so fast that your brain doesn’t even necessarily have time to think to process it. So if you’re clairaudient, it’ll sound a lot like your inner reading voice. And if the answer is yes, it comes in really fast before you even ask the question, is this the right way? You know, it just automatically is a yes and take that inspired action. And so many times we’ve been taught to look before we leap, which I think has a place in sometimes in some places, but more so it’s following that inspiration and I like how you’ve really talked about that. Wait a minute, this is the answer. So this is a great thing for everyone listening.

Miriam (27:48):

Yeah. And then going back to how getting yourself outta scarcity mindset. It’s not just about your customer, but if you are the type of person who takes a long time to make decisions, you’re gonna project uncertainty and your customers are going to pick up on that. And if you are projecting uncertainty, they’re not gonna feel comfortable buying from you whether that is a piece of artwork or your coaching package.

Whitney (28:17):

Oh, that’s a really great insight.

Miriam (28:18):

So that’s something you have to clean up. You really have to learn how to make faster and more decisive decisions.

Whitney (28:26):

Hmm. That’s really great. So even in your energy, people don’t quite know what’s going on, but they’re picking up in some sort of vibe. Hmm, I don’t know about this person. They don’t seem too confident or it feels kind of wishy-washy to me. Yeah. That’s super helpful. So you have all these fun names for different concepts in your book. And the first one I wanna talk about is what’s the passion to profit framework?

Miriam (28:53):

Yes. Do you know how many times I say the profit to passion

Miriam (28:58):

So the passion to profit framework, and this is really where I grabbed something that is fully in the business world and just translated it for artists. So when I go through what it is, there’s five parts of the plan. You should be able to recognize this in any business, whether you’re selling clothes, coaching packages, artwork, anything. So you have your product, your production, what it is that you’re selling, how you’re pricing it, that’s your pricing, the pricing foundation, prospecting, finding your audience, promotion, which that begins with the P, but really I’m talking about sales. And the last piece is productivity. So that’s the five parts of it and that’s every business.

Whitney (29:45):

Mm-Hmm. Yeah. And so with this passion to profit, tell me a little bit about where people might get stuck with it and how does what you teach really kind of shift them more into forward momentum?

Miriam (30:01):

Yeah, everyone thinks the problem is later down the chain. Oh, just teach me like, you know, just teach me the how you sell and the sales hacks. Yeah, I do have that in the book. I absolutely do. But I find that with most people, what trips them up is the very first two parts is their production and their pricing will never get them what it is that they want. So using something from your world, let’s just say that you offer, and I’m gonna make numbers that are ridiculous just so people can see this.

Whitney (30:34):

Sure.

Whitney (30:35):

You offer readings for $25. Okay, so, and you wanna make $50,000 a year. Well how many hours do you have to work to get there? And I see this even more so in my space. So this is where the starving artists, it’s people who are creating handmade greeting cards for $10. Well wow, do you realize that you’d have to sell 5,000 of them to get to $50,000? Because that’s a lot of greeting cards you have to make, or somebody who sells artwork for a hundred. Well that sounds, maybe it’s reasonable, but not if it takes you all day. If it takes you all day, you’re on a fast track to making $24,000 if you sell everything that you make.

Whitney (31:27):

Right. Wow.

Miriam (31:27):

And work every single day. So sometimes I see that what trips people up is really, they haven’t done the math and law of attraction and selling technique is not gonna help you. If you take your product and multiply at times what your profit is and what the maximum capacity you have to produce in a year. If that math equation doesn’t work, you gotta fix that first.

Whitney (31:54):

Yeah, absolutely. I think that sometimes we get so excited as creators or healers, intuitives and we are like, I just wanna put this out into the world. But we don’t necessarily think about those steps before we do it. So it’s always nice to really think about, you know, what is the income I do wanna make? And what also makes sense because you’re not an energizer bunny, you know. You have a certain amount of energy so that’s really important. And so another fun name, this is the one that I was like, I’m gonna wait for this. What is the sleeping beauty complex and how does that hurt entrepreneurs?

Miriam (32:37):

All right, this is when you don’t wanna put something out into the world because you don’t feel it’s ready yet. That’s really what it boils down to. Your business is like a baby and your art and your style and all those things. When you first start, it’s a baby. You can’t put it out in a forest and wait till it grows up and gets mature before you bring it out in the world. You have to bring it out in the world as it is evolving, as your style is maturing, whether that’s your business style, whether that’s your art style, whatever it is. You have to bring it out in the world. Otherwise, you’re gonna end up with something that is kind of monstrous because you haven’t had also any feedback too. You haven’t interacted with the world so that’s what I call sleeping beauty complex because there’s that feeling that you don’t wanna share it yet ‘cuz it’s not ready, but you’re doing yourself a really big disservice and you’re doing a disservice from anybody who might enjoy what it is that you have to offer now.

Whitney (33:49):

Yeah. I believe everyone’s here for a purpose and a reason and the more that you hold back, the more other people aren’t able to be helped by what you offer so I think that’s really important, and I also just pulled a card for us. I usually do this on every episode, but what was really funny, it’s the loved ones and spirit card, but it’s about your ancestral limiting beliefs. So literally it says your ancestors are visiting, its time to heal old limiting beliefs and patterns. So I think that sometimes we get these mindset things a lot of times from our family. We’re conditioned to feel that way, whether it’s in the DNA or or whatever it is. And one of the things that you share in your book is start before you’re ready. Don’t wait. Start before you’re ready. Is it okay if I read a paragraph from the book?

Miriam (34:40):

Yeah, that’s fine.

Whitney (34:41):

It was so inspiring. I wanted to read it. Every successful artist starts before they’re ready. They show up to the studio even when they feel uninspired. They send that marketing email even when they don’t feel motivated. The inspiration comes from creating the art. The motivation comes from doing the work. The reason you don’t feel ready is because readiness isn’t a feeling. I really love that because no matter what you do, it’s like just do what you love and then you feel inspired. So, so many times I used to do one-on-one readings, which I no longer do, but I would be like dragging and feeling kind of funky that day. And if I was really, you know, not feeling great, I would reschedule the appointment ‘cuz I wanna make sure I can be at my highest and best. But when I would do the reading afterwards I’d say, oh my gosh, I feel so much better. That’s so great. My energy is lifted. I’m in a better mood and my husband would notice too and he’d say, what shifted? I’m like, I just love the reading and connecting into spirit and it’s true. We really need to do what we love and then feel inspired. And a lot of it I think from an energetic perspective is moving your energy, especially if you’re a channeler, you gotta get some of that stuck in stagnant energy out and then when you’re in action that inspiration hit. So thank you so much for writing that. That’s very inspiring.

Miriam (36:15):

Well Julia Cameron, I heard her on a interview recently. So Julia Cameron wrote the Artist Way and she’s now in her seventies ‘ cause I think she wrote the book 30 years ago and she said creativity is a lot like sex. You may not be in the mood for it at first, but once you get started

Whitney (36:34):

That’s so true.

Miriam (36:36):

Then it feels great

Whitney (36:37):

That’s so true. I actually need to remember that more. That’s funny. Alright, I’ve got a question for you. I ask everybody, how does being spiritual and ambitious show up for you in your business?

Miriam (36:51):

Ooh, did you tell me this in advance that I was gonna get this question? “Cause I was like, oh, I didn’t prepare. Okay. Spiritually and ambitious. Yeah. I’m gonna like not answer the question in a very politician way. All right. So just so you know, I, I’m very aware of what I’m doing.

Miriam (37:10):

I’ve been having problems sleeping lately because I’ve been too ambitious and two revved up and two, what I would wanna call like toxic positivity or another word for it might be high functioning anxiety. So I had talked to my therapist about this a week ago. I don’t know what I was hoping. She’d prescribe me a pill or something. She said to me, you know, Miriam, what you have to do is sit on your hands and do nothing. What do you think that would be like for you? It’s like, oh my God, I think I’d lose my mind. But I actually have been been trying to do that. And when I was preparing for today, Whitney yesterday, I was in that very revved up state when I was both being interviewed by somebody and also interviewing somebody else, like I wasn’t matching their energy. Their energy was more like the way yours is actually, you know, somebody from Arizona and somebody else from California. And they were so chill and I was like in this caffeinated New York state. So when I, so today before our call, I just lit a candle, I lay around in a towel. I was like, it’s so important for my interview with Whitney today to bring myself down to not come revved up, to come calm, because I can’t really help other people when I’m that revved up. I have to be in a more calm and relaxed state so that’s my non-answer way of answering that but I hope, I hope that made sense.

Whitney (38:42):

It does. I think that’s really great to set your intention and to kind of align your energies with what you need. You know, the funny thing is, is I always, when I do podcast interviews, feel so ramped up and revved up and then I listen to the podcast interview later and I’m like, oh my gosh, Whitney, could you be a little bit more excited? Like, it’s so funny because I think I’m like, woo-hoo. And then I listen and it’s like, I am very calm and it’s okay. It’s so funny. It’s like whatever’s on this side doesn’t match the outside

Miriam (39:13):

I’m so revved up that in the very beginning when other people used to interview me and I would listen, I’d be like, did they speed up my audio? Do I really talk that fast?

Whitney (39:24):

That’s funny. I listened to my podcast

Miriam (39:27):

Of course they didn’t because if they did, it would be like, you know, blah, blah, you know, like squeaky.

Whitney (39:32):

Well, I listened to my podcast episodes on like times two and I’m like, if this would be perfect if I could just speak this way. So it’s so funny but anyway, this is really amazing. Thank you for being here and can you share with our listeners your book bonuses and where they can pre-order? And we’ll put all this in the show notes for everyone listening, but I wanna hear it from you. What are all the bonuses? They’re pretty good.

Miriam (39:55):

There’s quite a few but the one that I’m most excited about is that there are 12 chapters. Each chapter is like a mantra. One chapter start before you’re ready, another chapter is Love Your Buyer. And what I did was I created an art journal page for each of those chapter titles. So one of the bonuses is that you get to watch me create each of these art journal pages and I will share a little bit of technique for those who know, want to know that. But it’s a little bit about my thoughts behind really why I wrote each chapter and about how you can use that mantra in your life, so it’s a little bit beyond what’s offered in the book. So you can get the book bonuses by ordering the book and then hopping over to schulmanart.com/book. I’m actually trying to get a cool Euro, like entrepreneurbook.com, but I don’t know if that’s gonna be working by the time this airs. But anyway, schulman art.com/book will definitely work and once you order the book, which is paperback, so it’s less than $20. They’re using that charm pricing. I think it’s whatever, something 97, right? And then you just enter the order number and we’ll hook you up with that art journal. Artpreneur Affirmations is what that art journal class is called. As soon as it’s ready, you’ll get to enjoy that while you’re waiting for the book to hit the stores and hit your mailbox.

Whitney (41:29):

Awesome. So schulman art.com/book and we’ll link all those in the show notes. And Miriam, do you have any other last message that you wanna share with our listeners today?

Miriam (41:44):

Yeah, if a lot of what I said resonated with you and I don’t want you to feel shame about it. This is so many people. You’re just having a human experience. It is normal to have doubts. It is normal to think you’re not ready. Remember that we have evolved for survival, not goal achievements, but we can outsmart ourselves and and remind ourselves that we deserve to, to have our dreams. We deserve it and so don’t talk yourself out of your biggest dreams and your life purpose. You are more than enough exactly how you are right now.

Whitney (42:25):

Ugh, that’s so powerful. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom. I recommend everybody to get your book. It’s just a really powerful book, especially shifting more into that abundance place. I think even if you’re not an entrepreneur, it is so very helpful. So thank you Miriam, for being here.

Miriam (42:44):

Thanks Whitney. Thanks for having me.

Whitney (42:46):

All right. That’s been another episode of the Spiritual and Ambitious podcast, and I’ll be back with a brand new one next week. But until then, here’s to stay in spiritual and ambitious. Thanks so much for listening to this episode, and if you loved it, would you please share it with a friend? I would also love your review and a reminder to subscribe so you never miss an episode. You can find me at messengerofspirit.com, and you can take the four intuitive languages quiz and find show notes there too. If you wanna connect on YouTube, Facebook, or Instagram, you can find me @messengerofspirit. If you wanna continue the conversation, join my free Facebook group at messengerofspirit.com/group. I’ll meet you right here next week. Here’s to staying spiritual and ambitious.

Speaker 3 (43:41):

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