The Twelfth House

📚 Resources and Links:* Sign up for the North Node waitlist here* Inquire about 1:1 work with Michelle here* Holisticism Resources 4 u:* Ruthless Clarity — an 8-week email course designed to help you achieve crystal-clear certainty about your goals, desires, and energy allocation* How to Begin: A Project Planning Class — a 90-m on-demand class that teaches you exactly how to sketch a effervescent project plan that'll fill you with glee and inspiration and instantly banish procrastination and overwhelm, so your brilliant ideas can finally come to life.* The Subconscious Audit — an 11-day diagnostic framework that helps you identify what's holding you back and making you *feel* blocked. Because you're never actually blocked* The New Age Playbook for Spellbinding, Can’t-Stop-Reading Copy — a 35-page downloadable workbook to take your writing from blah to bingeableI think that most of you should stop sending a newsletter. Like, right now. Immediately. CLOSE THE SUBSTACK TAB!When you start learning about marketing a business outside of Instagram or social media, one of the first things that gets shoved into your brain is the idea that you NEED to send an email every week to your audience.This is both terrifying and daunting, because* The idea of reminding someone you exist every week means they can reject you EVERY WEEK, vs. sliding under the radar hoping they don’t unsubscribe from your email list simply because they don’t notice you. Yery Jurassic Park “T-rex can’t see you if you don’t move” vibes.* Writing — not putting together a bunch of pictures, not talking in a 15 second IG story, not recording an off-the-cuff podcast, but actually WRITING something — every week is time-consuming, even for people who don’t have to google where the apostrophe goes for its and it’s every time. (It’s me, I’m people)So a lot of us don’t do it, or pretend that this advice doesn’t apply to us, or stick our fingers in our ears and go LA LA LA I CAN’T HEAR YOU.And — pay attention, this is where I vindicate you and you get to forward this to everyone who’s ever made you feel bad about your inconsistent email schedule — the advice to send a newsletter every week is burning people out, keeping them stuck in content loops that don’t convert, and creating audiences who don’t actually know what you do.Not because you’re doing it wrong! But because a weekly newsletter might be the wrong tool for you entirely.I know you’re punching the air in celebration right now. But before you get ahead of your skies, I regret to inform you that there’s some solid logic to the Internet Person Commandment #1, “Thou shalt email your list every week.”Here’s what it gets right:* building your email list is important because it’s the only digital audience real estate you “own,” meaning it’s independent of a platform (like Instagram or Youtube), you can take it with you anywhere, and it’s not impacted by petty algorithm changes that hide your content from you audience at the exact moment you’re really trying to reach them* but an email list full of people who don’t know who the hell you are or WHY they signed up for you email list in the first place is another type of hell, and definitely not a hell that you can make money in (more like a hell that makes you feel like a unwelcome guest in your own home, like you’re interrupting a party that you organized… yuck)* so you should email your list regularly to create trust and recognition — this creates a relationship between you and your audience members, especially when you provide them value* and putting out regular content is a great way to test your ideas and gauge general audience interestBasically, help people remember who you are and what you do and give ‘em a little somethin’ somethin’ that makes them happy to see your name in their inbox instead of feeling dread or annoyance when your name pops up next to a subject line.It’s easy to reduce all that logic down to a quick and dirty bottom line — I’ve gotta email my audience every week OR ELSE — and forget the very important why and to what end behind the action.In the past, when my students or clients have inquired about the Weekly Email Problem I’ve recommended a few solutions.PROBLEM:I don’t know what to send, and so I send nothing. Or it takes me a really long time to write an email every week because I spiral into an existential crisis about whether anyone cares about my thoughts on Wednesday mornings, so I just... don’t do it.SOLUTIONS:Create a template you can easily replicate every week and fill in with content, like a newsletter.Figure out what you’re actively selling or promoting, and using the stages of awareness reverse engineer what you’ll talk about each week in your weekly email.Use your weekly email to promote your other content (like a podcast, or a Youtube video, or a blog post) and have that be the “focus” of the email.But I have to amend my advice — because not everyone should send out a weekly newsletter instead of an original piece of content to their audience.And for some of you, a dedicated weekly newsletter might be doing the opposite of what you want it to.Think of it this way: content educates, a newsletter informs.It’s a great format for showing your audience a ton of information. You can easily include links to events, information about upcoming offers, quick updates about what’s up in your world and what you’re enjoying or inspired by.That’s perfect for a product aware audience — an audience who knows what you do, who you are, and what the value of your product or service is.But most people who subscribe to your email list are not product aware. They’re still figuring out what you do, and if it can help them, and if they can even trust you.While they might enjoy the link you share to that chic shower lamp you’ve been using for low-sensory night showers, they’re probably not frothing at the bit to work with you or buy your product. Confused people don’t buy things.I could argue that confused people also don’t stay subscribed to a Substack publication long-term, but perhaps that’s a discussion for another day.This is how the weekly newsletter trap creates Void States:The Uninspired State: You’re on autopilot, filling a template with links week after week. You’re not teaching your actual perspective or expanding anyone’s thinking—including your own.The Burnt Out State: You’re exhausted by the hamster wheel of it. Another week, another newsletter to cobble together. You’re prioritizing consistency over clarity, and it’s draining you.The Overwhelmed by Possibility State: You’re throwing everything at the wall — links, personal stories, half-formed ideas, updates — hoping something sticks. But you have no idea what’s actually working or who’s paying attention.Sound familiar?When you’re trying to decide what to send email-wise to your audience, remember it all goes back to what you’re trying to do — what’s the most important point for you?Trying to grow your audience?Trying to teach or sell?Trying to build brand identity?Trying to test your ideas?Trying to gauge audience interests?Decide what you’re trying to do FIRST, then design what your regular email missive could look like… not the other way around.And here’s where I get to the good news: You don’t have to publish on the same day at the same time every week with military-like precision.You can skip a week, you can publish on different dates, you can change it up! I personally believe that done is better than perfect, but I don’t think you should shortchange quality just to hit an imaginary deadline that no one else really cares about. Your subscribers aren’t sitting there with a calendar and a sharpie marking off the days since your last email, grumbling to themselves if you don’t hit ‘em with a freshie at exactly 9a on Wednesday morning.Here’s what I believe: there’s always a more creative way to get what you want. Including with email.The weekly newsletter is one tool. Not the only tool! And definitely not the right tool for everyone at every stage of their business.Over this next few emails, I’m going to show you how to think about your email strategy differently:* What to send when you’re building an audience vs. converting sales* How to structure content that actually moves people through your world* How to design an email rhythm that serves your goals instead of someone else’s rulesBecause the point isn’t to email your list every week. The point is to build a relationship with your audience that converts them into paying clients.And there are a lot of ways to do that that don’t involve scrambling to send a link roundup every Tuesday at 9am :) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thetwelfthhouse.substack.com/subscribe

📚 Resources and Links:* Sign up for the North Node waitlist here* Inquire about 1:1 work with Michelle here* Holisticism Resources 4 u:* Ruthless Clarity — an 8-week email course designed to help you achieve crystal-clear certainty about your goals, desires, and energy allocation* How to Begin: A Project Planning Class — a 90-m on-demand class that teaches you exactly how to sketch a effervescent project plan that'll fill you with glee and inspiration and instantly banish procrastination and overwhelm, so your brilliant ideas can finally come to life.* The Subconscious Audit — an 11-day diagnostic framework that helps you identify what's holding you back and making you *feel* blocked. Because you're never actually blocked* The New Age Playbook for Spellbinding, Can’t-Stop-Reading Copy — a 35-page downloadable workbook to take your writing from blah to bingeableThanks for tuning into our series these last few weeks on divination and channeling — did you have fun? I had fun! I hope you had fun. I went into this divination series experiment with a pretty strong opinion about people who throw around the word "channeling" in their marketing copy. Six weeks later, I haven’t totally changed my stance… but there were quite a few ideas that emerged in our research that’ve really stuck to my ribs. As we wrap this experiment, I’m left with four big ideas that I’m still rolling around in my brain that directly relate to channeling. In this episode: I.The body always finds a way to become a divining rod.It’s not all about freeing your mind and opening your third eye.The body plays an integral and oft overlooked role in divination/channeling/flow state, and even thought I know this it still surprises me how involved the physical body is in the quest to become an antennae for cosmic information. It’s very easy to get all ethereal and heady and mental about spiritual stuff and forget your body is a necessary (and literal) vessel of information.Regulating the nervous system through somatic practice — meditation, breath, repetitive motion, routine, etc. — is key for clear downloads.This realization hit me like a brick to the face, which is infuriating because I literally study embodied cognition. I'm training to be a Feldenkrais practitioner for pete’s sake. I should know this. Yet I'm constantly trying to bypass my body — can't I just think my way through everything? Can't I just sit down and make art without paying attention to whether I'm breathing?But every single divination practice we explored came back to the body. Spiritualist artists used repetitive motions to access trance states. Automatic writing requires that flow state you can only reach through breath work or movement. Even your morning pages routine is a somatic practice, though we pretend it's just "journaling."II.Fluency in your preferred medium makes channeling more powerful.You’re able to more accurately describe what you’re channeling when you have more words to say it.Think of it like a computer's operating system. If channeled information shows you "a green tree taller than the tallest building you've ever seen," but your reference for "tallest building" is a two-story house, you're going to translate that as a three-story tree instead of a massive sequoia.Agnes Pelton, trained from childhood in oil paint and color theory, could translate her visions with precision that someone who took art classes in middle school simply cannot match. It's not about the information being wrong — it's about having enough vocabulary to communicate what doesn't work linguistically.This is why I get annoyed when people dismiss skill-building as "too academic" or "not intuitive enough." If your first language is movement, energy will communicate through movement because that's the path of least resistance. But if you only speak one creative language, you're limiting what can come through.III.Channeling is kind of a code word for “ego-less information.” It’s simultaneously not that special and so goddamn special.Just like giving birth or falling in love.When someone uses the word "channeled" to describe something they’re presenting to the world, I think they're kinda of covertly messaging: "I don't have skin in this game. I'm delivering this information without agenda. I'm just the messenger." Whether that's actually true is another question, babyyyyyy.IIII.There are benefits to delusion and meglomania!Self-trust is essential for accessing flow states. The thing that blocks most of us from channeling anything useful is self-surveillance — watching ourselves from a distance, judging and editing in real time. Narcissists don't do this. They're like "yeah, that's divine wisdom" without questioning themselves for even a second.I'm not endorsing spiritual megalomania, but most of us could benefit from like, ten minutes a day of drinking our own Kool-Aid. Spend the other 23 hours and 50 minutes of the day doubting yourself if you want! That’s none of my business. But you have to get over yourself is the bottom line.OK, so those are my direct influences from the last seven weeks — but I wanted to take some time to zoom out a bit and reflect on some pattern observations I’ve seen in the intuitive business and creative work space.Things I’m noticing whether I like it or not I’m of the belief that you need to change up your inputs (experiences, habits, research, practices, influences) to get new outputs (ideas, lessons, beliefs, skills, outcomes).There were a bunch of things that I did this summer — some planned, some coincidental — that shifted my inputs:* I went on a “summer break” from seeing 1:1 Matrix of Destiny clients* I spent two weeks in Ann Arbor training in the Feldenkrais Method (normally my trainings are over three days on zoom)* Saw a new round of 1:1 business advising clients* Welcomed lots of new members to the North Node and personally did onboarding calls with about half of them* My schedule changed a little bit because we (blessedly!) enjoyed a nanny share for two half days a week, which meant that I got 4-8 more hours of “free time” in every week* Put a 15-minute per day timer on my social media use (truly I’m rolling my eyes at this myself because it’s just SO BASIC IT’S SO ANNOYING but it really did impact my inputs and outputs for the summer!)And all of that ^^^ contributed to the things I spent time doing, thinking about, getting annoyed by, etc. There were a few striking patterns that seemed to emerge this summer in the intuitive business and creative work world as a result of those shifting inputs. It’s tough to say if what I’m noticing are actually global patterns, or just microtrends within my little ecosystem. I’ll let you be the judge — either way, I think it’s curious! One of my favorite parts of my job is that I get to talk to lots of people from lots of walks of life and it’s gotta mean something that these concepts have come up so many times with so many different people this summer. "Wait, I Don't Actually Want This"Nearly every new business client this summer had the same realization — they didn't really really want to pursue what they'd initially contacted me about. They'd been on autopilot toward goals that were no longer theirs. And these aren't people following societal expectations; these are self-directed entrepreneurs who'd outgrown their own previous desires without noticing.Running Experiments / “Adjust, try again. Adjust, try again.”People are running experiments and adjusting in real time instead of going back to the drawing board. Launch didn't work? Adjust one thing and try again. This health intervention failed? Try a different approach. Less "burn it all down," more "tweak and iterate."The rage fuel ain’t fuelin’ like it used to.The sacred rage that fueled so many businesses and activist projects is running out of steam. Anger is fast fuel but burns out quickly. People who built entire platforms on rage against AI, MLMs, patriarchy, corporate America are finding it unsustainable. The rage is still valid, but it can't be your only creative fuel source.I’m seeing people reaching for sustainable fuel that doesn't require you to stay perpetually pissed off.Whew, OK let’s wrap this upThis whole exploration reminded me that channeling might just be the magical-mundane experience of accessing flow state where ego steps aside. Whether you call it channeling, intuition, or getting out of your own way, the mechanics are surprisingly consistent: get present in your body, develop fluency in your medium, trust what comes through, and create something that didn't exist before.What stuck with you from this? I want to know what you're noticing in your own creative practice or in the patterns around you. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thetwelfthhouse.substack.com/subscribe

📚 Resources and Links:* Sign up for the North Node waitlist here* Inquire about 1:1 work with Michelle here* Holisticism Resources 4 u:* Ruthless Clarity — an 8-week email course designed to help you achieve crystal-clear certainty about your goals, desires, and energy allocation* How to Begin: A Project Planning Class — a 90-m on-demand class that teaches you exactly how to sketch a effervescent project plan that'll fill you with glee and inspiration and instantly banish procrastination and overwhelm, so your brilliant ideas can finally come to life.* The Subconscious Audit — an 11-day diagnostic framework that helps you identify what's holding you back and making you *feel* blocked. Because you're never actually blocked* The New Age Playbook for Spellbinding, Can’t-Stop-Reading Copy — a 35-page downloadable workbook to take your writing from blah to bingeableWeek four of our "Divine Downloads" series and we're asking: what happens when "channeling" becomes a convenient shield for questionable authority?Today KP and I are diving into Breath of Fire, the HBO docuseries about Guru Jagat and the Ra Ma Institute. The series, “chronicl[es] the shocking secret history of Kundalini yoga and the evolution of one of its most prominent leaders,” and is based on a 2021 Vanity Fair article by Hayley Phelan titled, The Second Coming of Guru Jagat. (I recommend at least reading the article before tuning into this ep.) Kundalini is a tough topic to broach — there are so many well-meaning people who practice it and who’ve found it incredibly supportive who know close to nothing about founder Yogi Bhajan. (Who was problematic at best, allegedly criminal and abusive at worst.) It’s hard to square how a “technology” that connects its practitioners to the otherwordly could come from such darkness. Breath of Fire does a decent job at explaining the sordid background of Kundalini yoga and Yogi Bhajan while detailing the story of Guru Jagat, an equally complex figure. The Vanity Fair article doesn’t mince words: “Depending on whom you ask, Jagat was a bona fide spiritual leader—or a fraud; a controversial thought leader; a bigot; a feminist; a rape apologist.” It’s tragic that Guru Jagat, neé Katie Griggs, passed away at such a young age under such strange circumstances. And this documentary series does an excellent job investigating some of the questions we’ve been asking about the role of channelling or “divine downloads” in illustrating spiritual authority. On today’s episode, we're talking cults, frauds, the racism that built Western yoga, and why you might want to take a beat if your spiritual teacher is shooting fake money out of guns on Instagram.In this episode we talk about...We somehow connect startup culture to cult behavior, discuss why Venice Beach should come with a warning label, and explore the uncomfortable truth that you can have genuine spiritual experiences in fundamentally dishonest containers.The perfect cult storm. Anti-structure times + low-boundary people + extreme charisma = Venice Beach spiritual empire. It's a formula, people! Why breathwork actually works (and why maybe that's the problem). When the practices are genuinely helpful but the authority structure is complete b******t, what do you do with that?The trickster necessity. Maybe we need spiritual frauds to keep us sane? This theory will hurt your brain in the best way.Plus: why you should never give anyone your credit card information after breathwork. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thetwelfthhouse.substack.com/subscribe

📚 Resources and Links:* Sign up for the North Node waitlist here* Inquire about 1:1 work with Michelle here* Holisticism Resources 4 u:* Ruthless Clarity — an 8-week email course designed to help you achieve crystal-clear certainty about your goals, desires, and energy allocation* How to Begin: A Project Planning Class — a 90-m on-demand class that teaches you exactly how to sketch a effervescent project plan that'll fill you with glee and inspiration and instantly banish procrastination and overwhelm, so your brilliant ideas can finally come to life.* The Subconscious Audit — an 11-day diagnostic framework that helps you identify what's holding you back and making you *feel* blocked. Because you're never actually blocked* The New Age Playbook for Spellbinding, Can’t-Stop-Reading Copy — a 35-page downloadable workbook to take your writing from blah to bingeableWe’re officially in week two of our “Divine Downloads” series — and buckle up, y’all, because we’re talking about spiritual possession, but in a cool way? Today novelist, poet, astrologer, and the cohost of COSMIC VALLEY GIRL (season two starts in Sept!) Emmalea Russo joins me to explore the murky, magical territory between creative flow and spiritual channeling.In this episode we talk about… The weaponized use of "channeling." We get into why the word can make our hackles rise — is it a cop-out from creative responsibility, or are we all just vessels for something larger than ourselves? Spoiler: it's complicated.Characters as atmospheric spirits. Emmalea describes how her novel characters literally inhabit her while writing, shifting her mood and language almost automatically. Haters will say she’s possessed! The alchemical writing process. From chaos to gold, we explore how the vessel (aka you, the writer/creator/maker) is the most important part of the creative work. Plus why strategic silence beats oversharing your works-in-progress every time.Editing is channeling, too. Through repetition and that delicious friction of working with a human editor who challenges you, something transcendent emerges.We somehow manage to connect medieval mystics to modern publishing, discuss why your natal chart isn't for public consumption, and explore what it really means to be a "pure channel" (hint: we're all too human for that). Plus, Emmalea spills on her Book Sherpa accelerator program that, in my opinion and the opinions of many of her students, is more valuable than getting an MFA. If you’re ready to finally write the book that’s been haunting you for years, Em hooked us up with a special discount code for the sherpa-curious — use EARLYBOOK for $330 off! Fair warning: we end on some cancellable opinions so… forge ahead to the end at your own discretion. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thetwelfthhouse.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit thetwelfthhouse.substack.com📚 Resources and Links:* 📩 Connect with host ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Michelle Pellizzon-Lipsitz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠team Holisticism⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠* Sign up for the North Node waitlist here ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠* Inquire about 1:1 work with Michelle here* Holisticism Resources 4 u:* Ruthless Clarity — an 8-week email course designed to help you achieve crystal-clear certainty about your goals, desires, and energy allocation* How to Begin: A Project Planning Class — a 90-m on-demand class that teaches you exactly how to sketch a effervescent project plan that'll fill you with glee and inspiration and instantly banish procrastination and overwhelm, so your brilliant ideas can finally come to life.* The Subconscious Audit — an 11-day diagnostic framework that helps you identify what's holding you back and making you *feel* blocked. Because you're never actually blocked* The New Age Playbook for Spellbinding, Can’t-Stop-Reading Copy — a 35-page downloadable workbook to take your writing from blah to bingeableA practical guide to reclaiming your time and mental energy without compromising your professional integritySomething interesting is afoot.I’ve had no fewer than six conversations over the past two weeks about a very particular problem: what to do about having an unproblematic day job.“What kind of problem is that,” you’re thinking.It’s kind of a golden handcuffs demi-fine handcuffs situation — you’ve got a gig that pays well, provides health insurance, and isn't soul-sucking. It’s probably time-consuming, but in an average 9-to-5 way. You might even kind of enjoy it! You have fun slacking weird memes to your coworkers, and whomst amongst us could say “no” to the free snacks that litter the team kitchen? You probably appreciate knowing you’re good at what you do, and being a valuable member of the team makes you feel good.But here's the thing: it's not your passion.It's not how you want to spend your one wild and precious life. You have a gnawing desire to get something else brewing — a creative project, a business idea, a calling that feels more aligned with who you really are.While you’re not pulling 80-hour weeks, you’ve found that you don’t have enough space (mental, temporal, emotional) to really work on your other project. You’re not interested in pulling bleary-eyed all-nighters to work on your side project. But you can’t seem to get enough momentum while working in sporadic, clandestine spurts of free time.Honestly, it’s not about trying harder or having more discipline or drinking more energy drinks so you don’t need as many honk-shoos a night. If that worked, you wouldn’t have this problem.You’re stuck between two paths: stay in the realm of financial stability and accept that your side thing will remain a side thing, or quit to make space for what truly matters to you?

📚 Resources and Links:* THE DOORS ARE OPEN TO THE NORTH NODE! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠* Inquire about 1:1 work with Michelle here* Holisticism Resources 4 u:* Ruthless Clarity — an 8-week email course designed to help you achieve crystal-clear certainty about your goals, desires, and energy allocation* How to Begin: A Project Planning Class — a 90-m on-demand class that teaches you exactly how to sketch a effervescent project plan that'll fill you with glee and inspiration and instantly banish procrastination and overwhelm, so your brilliant ideas can finally come to life.* The Subconscious Audit — an 11-day diagnostic framework that helps you identify what's holding you back and making you *feel* blocked. Because you're never actually blocked* The New Age Playbook for Spellbinding, Can’t-Stop-Reading Copy — a 35-page downloadable workbook to take your writing from blah to bingeableShort one today — admittedly, I had something totally different locked and loaded in the editorial calendar, but felt compelled by something (a spirit? the Muse? Lucifer? Who’s to say?) to share this instead. These are the 11 ideas that I feel have changed my brain, my luck, and my life more than anything else. (I mean, the combo of Notion + Are.na is a close second)Here are the 11 phrases from the podcast that "rewired my brain chemistry and changed the odds on my luck":* "It's more fun to have fun."Make anything more enjoyable for yourself; you might as well have fun with whatever you're doing.* "If you're not having a good time, it's your fault."This was a huge one for me during a time of my life where I had paralyzing social anxiety. When I take 100% responsibility for my experience, I’m not longer a victim to my circumstances. * "If you couldn't tell anyone you got it, would you still want it?"A test to distinguish between genuine desires and people-pleasing/external validation seeking. * "It's not failure until the game is over/until the story's over"You get to decide what the last chapter looks like; failure isn't final until you decide it is. * "That's none of my business" / "That's Future Me's business"What are you going to do in five years? What are you going to do with that degree? How are you going to make money with that skill? What will you do if XYZ happens? Hi, that’s none of my business. I cannot be bothered to worry about things outside my control, including what happens in the future. Also, I trust that Future Me is a brilliant super freak witch who will know what to do when we get there — I have confidence that she’ll figure it out. * "You have a 100% track record of figuring it out."Trust that you'll handle whatever comes because you always have before. * "Your perfect day is always in front of you because perfection is a mindset."You can always turn your day around; perfection is about mindset, not circumstances. * "You look stupid doing nothing. You look stupid doing things. You might as well get something out of looking stupid."Since you'll look dumb either way, you might as well do what you want and enjoy it. * "Sometimes you just have to admit that we're selling you yoga pants."It ain’t that deep. Not everything has to be achingly meaningful; it's okay for things to just be fun or simple. * "The worst thing that can happen is that someone says no."Ok… they said no… Did you die? No! Time for the next thing. * "We are all on a journey of ecstasy and bewilderment"Embrace the mystery and wonder of life! Stop trying to predict everything. You’re stealing the fun and whimsy! Take what you like, disregard what you don’t. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Giving you an etheric hug from here — we need your light in the world. x michelle This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thetwelfthhouse.substack.com/subscribe

📚 Resources and Links:* 📩 Connect with host ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Michelle Pellizzon-Lipsitz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠team Holisticism⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠* The North Node is OPEN! You can learn more here. Doors close on July 6th. * Inquire about 1:1 work with Michelle here* Holisticism Resources 4 u:* Ruthless Clarity — an 8-week email course designed to help you achieve crystal-clear certainty about your goals, desires, and energy allocation* How to Begin: A Project Planning Class — a 90-m on-demand class that teaches you exactly how to sketch a effervescent project plan that'll fill you with glee and inspiration and instantly banish procrastination and overwhelm, so your brilliant ideas can finally come to life.* The Subconscious Audit — an 11-day diagnostic framework that helps you identify what's holding you back and making you *feel* blocked. Because you're never actually blocked* The New Age Playbook for Spellbinding, Can’t-Stop-Reading Copy — a 35-page downloadable workbook to take your writing from blah to bingeablestudy guide: for when you’re ready to take a leapSo you've graduated from our first study guide ("Help, I'm having an existential crisis and my life feels like a badly written Choose Your Own Adventure book") and now you've entered Phase Two: "I have an idea and I'm pretty sure it's either genius or delusional, but I'm going to find out one way or another."Congratulations! This is actually gorgeous progress, starbeam. You've successfully evolved from "What should I do with my life?" to "I know what I want to do but HOW DO I DO THE THING without accidentally creating a dumpster fire that can be seen from space?"This is the study guide for people who're now standing at the edge of the cliff, ready to take a leap of faith.Maybe you've been carrying this idea around like Gollum with the One Ring—precious, obsessive, and slightly concerning to your friends and family. Maybe you've Googled "how to start a business" so many times that your laptop has started suggesting business schools. Maybe you've made seventeen different vision boards and you’ve filled a year’s worth of Moleskines with your plottings.Either way, you're here because you've got something you want to birth into the world, and you'd prefer to do it without completely embarrassing yourself or accidentally creating the next Fyre Festival of whatever industry you're entering.This is a study guide for someone who is about to take the leapThis is for you if:* You've got an idea for a business that you've thought through approximately 847 times, but when it comes to actually executing, you wish you could just Google "how do I start a business for people who are excellent at overthinking everything" and get a reliable step-by-step guide that doesn't make you want to take a nap.* You know where you're starting, you know where you want to end up (rich and famous, or at least financially stable and emotionally fulfilled), but you're feeling very very uncertain about those pesky in-between steps. You know, The Journey. The part where things actually have to happen in the real world with real consequences.* You feel paralyzed by the idea of wanting to "do things right.” You have a general feeling that this idea is Important with a capital I, and that it's vital to get the foundation right. But you also suspect you have about as much business experience as a golden retriever, which is to say: enthusiastic but probably not qualified to make major strategic decisions. [On that note, consider this my formal petition for someone to write an Air Bud sequel that involves Bud having to step into the wingtip shoes of a Fortune 500 CEO]* You've stopped and started this project 57 times already, but when it comes to your idea, you're basically in a toxic relationship. "I just can't quit you," you whisper to your business plan at 3 AM, no matter how many times it has disappointed you or made you question your life choices.* You really have no desire to build a business/write a screenplay/launch a community/become a person who has to talk to the IRS about tax classifications, but it seems like the Universe has appointed itself your personal project manager and won't let you live your life until you execute this thing. You feel cosmically compelled to do it, but you know you want to do it "on your own terms" — you're just not entirely sure what that means, or if your terms are even reasonable.Relatable! (If it's not relatable, you're probably on the wrong study guide. Go back to Study Guide #1)Personally, I never wanted to be an artist, entrepreneur, community builder, or any kind of person who has to explain what they do for work at dinner parties. I wanted to live a nice, quiet life and mind my own business.Alas, I am plagued by ideas. Cursed, some might say. I truly felt possessed by the idea for Holisticism — it stalked me in my dreams like a la Freddy Krueger, eavesdropped on my conscious thoughts and left cryptic messages in my unconscious until I finally said, "F**k it, we ball," and begrudgingly decided to go through with it.But once you commit to the FIWB (F**k It, We Ball) lifestyle, then you actually have to do the thing.The Inconvenient Truth About Starting ThingsHere's the thing: There's not one right place to start.There are approximately 47,000 things to do when you decide you want to launch a website/business/album/book club/digital course/501c3 that protects endangered sea algae of the Mediterranean. (Respect to the sea algae protectors — someone's gotta do it, and its definitely not me because slimy things make me gag.)And it's tougher than a two-dollar steak to figure out where to prioritize your energy. Where do you start when everything feels both critically important and completely overwhelming? When your to-do list looks like it was written by someone having a caffeine-induced panic attack?I'm going to do the extremely annoying consultant thing and say, "It depends!" because that's legitimately the truth, and also because I've been in this business long enough to know that anyone promising you The One True Path is probably selling something snake oil adjacent.BUT (and this is a big but, I cannot lie), I can give you a high-level, non-custom quickstart guide for getting your potentially brilliant idea out into the world without completely losing your mind or your life savings.Below is my recommended order of operations for birthing your brainchild into reality. I've also included the courses and challenges from our member community, The North Node, that I'd personally add to your study guide to navigate each stage without having a complete breakdown. (Partial breakdowns are still on the table — this is creative work, after all.)Step 1: Figure out why you're doing thisWhile it can be interesting/fun/mildly terrifying to start hammering away at a project without an ounce of self-reflection — purely operating on vibes, adrenaline, and whatever energy drink is on sale — at a certain point, you gotta ask yourself the timeless question: "Bella*, where the hell have you been** loca?!"*Your name, obviously **What's your actual aim hereWe've talked about intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation before (intrinsic = "this feels meaningful," extrinsic = "this will impress people at high school reunions"), so I won't belabor the point. But the same exact project could have WILDLY different outcomes depending on why you're doing it.Getting clarity on what actually motivates you will help you keep going when things get hard. (They will get hard. They always do. This is not pessimism; this is physics.) It'll also help you stay on track when you inevitably get distracted by seventeen other shiny ideas that seem way more fun and way less complicated than whatever you're currently building.Check out:* The Ruthless Clarity 8-week email course (you can literally start this right now, like while you're reading this!)* The Subconscious Audit (10-day challenge) in the North Node* The Audacious Abundance Shadow Work Challenge (5-day) in the North Node* Building Your Spiritual Operating System course in the North NodeStep 2: Look around and see what else is out thereThis is a crucial step that approximately 73% of enthusiastic idea-havers skip because it feels boring and also because they're secretly terrified they'll discover someone already did their idea but better.Before you charge onto the scene, you gotta see who else is already doing what you want to do. If there's truly nobody else on the case, it's crucial to investigate why that might be. Is it because you're a visionary genius ahead of your time? Or is it possible that people have tried to execute on this idea before and failed spectacularly, leaving behind only cautionary tales and abandoned websites with broken links?Necessary research, my friend. Like checking if the ice is thick enough before you decide to ice skate on the pond.During this delightful process of internet stalking (sorry, "market research"), you'll also need to get clear on who you're making this thing for. Who's your ideal client/customer/audience/person who will give you money in exchange for your creation? What do you actually know about them vs. what you're assuming? What do you need to learn about them to avoid creating something nobody wants? (This happens more than you'd think. See: Google Glass, Crystal Pepsi, whatever happened to Segways.)Check out:* The Ideal Client Casting Workshop for authentic ideal client work* The Ideal Client Tarot Spread* Market Research and Analysis Process WorkshopStep 3: Come up with a prototypeListen, this isn't the Old Testament. You're not Noah getting divine instructions to build an ark for the first time in human history because an omniscient voice told you to.You're not gonna build a massive, perfect thing in the middle of nowhere, fill it with everything you think people need, and then miraculously have it work WITHOUT LEAKS for 40 days and 40 nights while chaos reigns around you.Absolutely not.You're going to test your idea like a normal person who lives in the 21st century and has access to the internet.Piece by piece. Bite by bite.You don't have time to waste building something that's completely wrong. You don't have the money to spend on creating elaborate solutions to problems that don't actually exist. You don't have the emotional bandwidth to discover that your "visionary" idea is actually just a slightly different version of something that already failed in 2019.Life is just one big experiment anyway, and so is literally anything you create. It's a process of trying something, seeing what worked and what flopped harder than a fish out of water, tinkering with the pieces that didn't work, and trying again. Iteration, as the business bros say. (BTW, publishing content is an excellent way to prototype or test an idea for the low, low price of free.99)Check out:* The Heroic Imperfect Action Course and Challenge, a 30-day process that helps you develop a product or service, prototype it, and launch it in 4 weeks (because if you're gonna do something potentially stupid, might as well do it quickly)* The Holographic Sales Universe 3-day class, which has an entire day dedicated to validating your ideas but also covers positioning and pricing your creationsStep 4: Build your brand stance (aka figure out your vibe and commit to it)There's one piece of advice I received while trapped in a tech accelerator program a million years ago (fine, it was 2017 or 2018, but in startup years that's basically ancient history) that I repeat constantly like a mystical mantra: Fall in love with the problem, not the solution.This might be a controversial take that will make some brand strategists clutch their Pantone color wheels, but I don't think you should build out all the pretty details of your "brand" until you've completed the previous three steps.Once you know who you're helping or talking to (aka your ideal client/customer/human who will hopefully give you money), it becomes exponentially easier to define what your "brand" should be. It's like having a conversation with a specific person instead of shouting into the void and hoping someone cool hears you.Check out:* The Baddie Brand Book template* Stages of Awareness Workshop* The Growth Edging Course (listen, I hate that I named it this because it sounds vaguely inappropriate and tells you absolutely nothing about what this incredible course actually contains, but basically this is my copywriting masterwork and I'm too stubborn to rename it now)Ready to take the leap, but want to pack a parachute just in case? Welcome to The North Node, where we’re there to help you build the plane as you fall through the sky. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thetwelfthhouse.substack.com/subscribe