Why Now Is The Perfect Time To Start A Membership with Natalie Walstein

Eric: Hey, Natalie, welcome to the show.

Natalie: Thanks so much for having me.

Eric: Yes, it’s my pleasure. I’m so excited to talk to you. I’ve been perusing your Instagram and your website and listening to some of your podcast episodes. So, I have a lot of great things that I want to talk to you about. But before we get into those things, can you just give us a little bit of your background and give our listeners the high-level view of who you are and what you do?

Natalie: I’m a career astrologer, which essentially means that I use astrology to help people find their calling, and then turn that into their career, to give them clarity and confidence to do what they really want to do, and not get stuck in a job they hate or even a business they hate, because that can happen too.

Eric: Is this what you’ve always done? Or have you always been on the track to this or that? Or is there something different that you were doing before?

Natalie: I had no idea that this is what I was going to do. I didn’t even know it was something that someone could do. It wasn’t until I was about five years into running my own design studio, which is what I always wanted to do my whole life. Since I was eight years old, I knew that I was going to grow up and people were going to pay me to design things for them. So, it was the weirdest thing when I wasn’t loving it anymore, and I didn’t know what else to do. So, I actually used astrology to help me understand what else is out there for me, why do I not love this thing anymore that I’d been doing my whole life. And it was through learning about myself through astrology that I realized what a powerful tool it could be for other people to find their ideal career or just to find more direction in their path and understand what they’re meant to do.

Eric: So, when you were like nine and 10 years old, were you actually doing design work and making things?

Natalie: At that point, it was just a Sharpie on printer paper I stole from my dad on my bedroom floor. I didn’t know what graphic design was necessarily until I was in high school. But that whole concept, the energy of it, I was very tapped into from an early age, which is really interesting.

Eric: Yeah, I remember when I was probably around that age, we had a dog who had run away all the time. And I was entrepreneurial when I was younger as well. And so, I made this print out that my parents could hire me as a dog catcher for $1. And it was like on this dot matrix printer. We had to strip the edges off after you printed it out. When you say the energy of design, that’s really intriguing to me. What does it feel like to you like design work? Because I think as experiencers of design, like we look at something, we pretty much see it on the surface. But when you’re approaching it as the creative element, how do you work with it?

Natalie: Well, now looking back and knowing my astrology chart, I can understand it a little bit better that what I’ve always been trying to do is make concepts easier for other people to understand. And one way of doing that is by making things beautiful, and thinking about the user experience when they’re going through it and/or experiencing it.

Eric: Yeah. And that skill of distilling, like you said, a concept easy to understand. There’s something really powerful on that, because there’s so much information available. There’s so much information you can take in. So, if you can kind of encapsulate all this stuff and lessons down into some sort of glyph or some sort of image that when somebody looks at it, maybe even on a subconscious level, it connects with them in a different way.

Natalie: Yes. Little did I know that it was all preparing me to explain this very complicated study, so that people can use it in their lives in a really practical way. So, it was a perfect training for me.

Eric: And how did astrology come into your life?

Natalie: So, I moved to Hawaii in 2015 to try to find magic in my life again, since graphic design wasn’t really doing it for me anymore. And just reading my horoscope was helping me so much. And there’s something about it that was so magical. And it always knew exactly what I needed to hear, which is really helpful because a lot of things happened in my life at that time. That was like a falling apart moment. I got very sick, I almost died. My relationship was in ruins. I was almost homeless at one point. I was running out of money because I didn’t want to work on my business anymore. And my horoscope was like this guiding force for me. And so, I wanted to learn more about it. And I didn’t know that you could learn about your own astrology chart. And there’s so much more to it obviously, than just horoscopes. So, that’s how I went down the rabbit hole.

And it was really cool too, because when I was a graphic designer, I found that a lot of people I was working with didn’t really know what they wanted. So, they wanted me to tell them what they want or I would design these elaborate projects, websites, brands, magazines, and then they wouldn’t use it. Or they would stop using it after a few months because they weren’t really in the right business to begin with. And so, I saw this as a solution for that, as well as for myself.

Eric: Now, did all that happen? Was that your Saturn return?

Natalie: It wasn’t. Actually, I had Saturn going over my rising sign. So, similar type of vibe, where I was being realigned to my ideal path in the most painful way ever, but it ended up being the best thing that could ever happen to me.

Eric: This time period sounds somewhat similar to what you described in your latest podcast, at least in some energetic aspects, where you talked about stepping away from your business for a while, reassessing. And to me, that’s a really intriguing thing, because I think as entrepreneurs, a lot of us can get stuck in a track, so focused on some objective, that we ignore the signs where we’re waking up each day, and maybe we’re not excited or passionate about what we’re doing anymore. So, how did you come to that this time around and give yourself permission to take that time for yourself?

Natalie: Yes, it was very hard. So, this time around, it was my Saturn return that was guiding the whole change. And I think when I discovered astrology, it was so life changing for me. I feel like it saved my life in so many ways, and gave me so much clarity and direction. Having almost just died, I would realize there was so much more I was here to do. And so, from the beginning, I was on this ruthless mission to spread it to as many people as I could. And when the pandemic hit, I really took on the fear and pain of everyone around me. And that made me want to work harder and do more and more and more and more for people. And so, by the time January came around, 2021, I was so burnt out from helping everyone. And I couldn’t stop the ideas though. They just kept coming up, like more ways to help people. But I realized I wasn’t really helping myself and everything that I do, I loved doing but I didn’t have time for self care, or friendship, or my family, or all those other things that could fuel me in having more energy to help people in a way that felt good to me.

So, I ended up taking a few weeks off of work, putting everything on a pause. It was really scary to do that, because I had a team of five at the time. So, I was like, “You guys, we’re not working right now.”, which is really hard to do. But I just felt like I couldn’t keep going at that rate with so many different projects until it was the stepping away that gave me new insights on how to approach my business differently.

Eric: Now, what is it in your chart that enables you to do that, from your perspective anyway, because I’ve heard a lot of people end up in situations like that, people I used to work with when I was in consulting, there’s a lot of people unhappy with what they’re doing. But it’s a smaller percentage of people who will actually look at that honestly, and make the choice, the courageous decision to make a change or do the switch. Is there something that somebody needs to have in their chart in order to facilitate this?

Natalie: I don’t think so. For me, it’s what I preach to all my clients, everybody I talk to is to be in alignment with what feels good to you. And so, to keep noticing these things coming up, that don’t feel good and me blocking it away, it wasn’t working for me. And it was actually through meditating that I realized I would get this flash insight at the end of my meditation that was telling me I think I’m evolving past my current business model. And I didn’t like to hear that because I had to work so hard. And I was doing so well, too. So, to hear that this voice telling me, “We need to rethink this.” I think it was just a matter of tuning in. And we don’t, as a society, give ourselves a chance to slow down very often. And I think that really was the key for me, is just drowning out the noise of the outside world and coming back to my own inner knowing.

Eric: Yeah, for sure. I had similar moments in my journey with MemberMouse, time and space basically coming to my rescue. And thankfully, I was forced into those because I was well on the track to losing my ability to go listen to that voice within that was saying, “This doesn’t feel exactly correct.” But like you said, societally, all these pressures can happen where we feel less than if we feel like we need to take some time. The unfortunate thing is if you do that long enough, you lose the ability to hear that voice. And what can happen then too is the voice won’t go away, but what it will do is it will start manifesting in maybe more physical ways in your life. And the scary thing, too is in regards to businesses, as an entrepreneur, I know this was my situation when I had to make some drastic pivots in my business, our businesses become somewhat a reflection of our identity. So, in a sense, taking a step away from the business and recognizing, “Hey, this isn’t working anymore.” It’s kind of like saying, “Hey, I need to be a different person.” And that can be scary.

Natalie: Yes, especially if the old version of you was really working for you on some level, maybe not the alignment level, but money, accolades, recognition, all of that stuff is very compelling until you take a break, and you realize, “It’s not really filling me up as much as something else might be able to.”

Eric: So, what are some of the, I guess, the most prevalent stories that you’re hearing collectively from people who could benefit from the work that you do?

Natalie: I think the main thing that my clients have in common is that something just isn’t feeling right for them in their work. And they feel, they sense that there’s something bigger and more meaningful they’re meant to do, but they’re not sure exactly what it is, or they don’t know how to do it. Or the biggest thing is, they just don’t believe in themselves. And the chart is so great, because it’s like no, no, no, you’re here to do great things. Stop settling for less. Stop messing around with these low brow projects that don’t make you happy, and maybe don’t even make you that much money. Whereas when you are following your calling, you tend to make money a lot easier, because you’re happy and you’re in the flow, and you have so much more energy.

Eric: Yeah, I heard a quote recently, it was about life purpose. And the person who said this was like, “Most people make the mistake of thinking that life purpose is something you have to know and think that’s something related to a goal. But really, life purpose is something that is about following your excitement, following your passion. And at the end of your life, whether or not you know what your life purpose is, if you follow your passion, you will have lived it.”

Natalie: Yes, I love that.

Eric: What was your journey like in terms of building your business? Just the nuts and bolts aspect of it, because you talked about how you ran a design studio. And now you’re running a membership site. So, can you talk a little bit about that evolution?

Natalie: Yeah, well, the graphic design business was quite a long time ago now. So, I don’t remember all the details. There definitely was a balancing where I was still doing some design work while I was starting my astrology practice. And I started off offering astrology reports that were just written and customized for each person. Then I moved into one on one sessions with clients as I started to get more comfortable and confident in what I was doing. And eventually I started a podcast, I created a whole astrology course. And then eventually, that evolved into experiencing success with my business, to the point where I felt like I could coach other people with their businesses. And then I added business coaching. And then I created a moon journal every year. And then in the midst of all of that, I got asked to write a book. So, it got to be a lot. And that’s when I decided to start a membership website instead and try to combine as many of those things into one place as I could.

Eric: Yeah, that’s really smart. And I think at one point, you had a Patreon?

Natalie: Yes, that too.

Eric: Well, it sounds like you’re an experiential learner.

Natalie: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yeah, you don’t know what works for you until you try it. You don’t know what feels the best to you until you do it.

Eric: I resonate with that, because I feel like I’m the same way. Do you find that other people are like that?

Natalie: I think to an extent we maybe should be. I don’t like the word should. But a lot of times people come to me wanting to know the exact steps to find their calling, but astrology is just going to explain the energy of it. And it’s very specific, and it really narrows it down quite a bit. But there’s so many ways you can express your calling. So, that’s why it is really important to just get out there and try it and do it.

Eric: So, let’s go into this concept a little bit, the concept of the energy of it. I struggle with okay, trying to explain this, but I want to try. It may not be something that people are familiar with.

Natalie: Yes. So, when it comes to energy, I think when people are looking for their calling, they’re thinking, “Okay, what’s my job title? Graphic designer, business owner, consultant, whatever your deal is.” But when it comes to astrology, It’s actually going to explain, you’re really good at understanding where other people are coming from, you’re here to be a guide, you’re here to explore all of your interests, and then bring back what you’ve discovered to share with other people. So, you can understand how that might seem sort of broad if you haven’t had experience with that yet. When I found out I was a Sagittarius rising, which means that my job is to be a guide, I was like, “What does that mean?” Because I wasn’t doing it before. And the closest I ever got to it was when I made a mini course on how to design your own graphics. And I was really surprised how good it felt. And I kind of just followed that thread. And now that’s all I do in my work is teach astrology.

Eric: It sounds like an important ingredient is there’s a difference. The energy is more like it inspires asking questions, whereas something concrete inspires action.

Natalie: Yes. So, if I told you exactly, you’re here to be a teacher and do it the specific way, that might not be the right way. Because I am really for the idea of creating a really unique career that’s special to you and what you’re the best at. And we have such a unique blend of talents that we can find on your astrology chart. So, that’s why it’s so much more fun to combine all your different interests into one thing, rather than be like, “Okay, let’s go on the job site. And this is specifically what you’re looking for.”

Eric: And I think that there’s this sense that we can get that we actually know ourselves a lot more than we actually do. And so, when we maybe are presented with our charts, and it tells us things, there may be some resistance be like, “Oh no, that’s not me, or I couldn’t do that, or whatever.”

Natalie: Yeah, I think at first though, most people are really excited about it, and then reality starts to sink in. And you realize where you’re at right now. And what you would need to do to shift that into being more in alignment with your calling, like my astrology charts, that I’m meant to be the teacher of the teachers. And at that point, I’m like, “What am I teaching?”

Eric: Yeah, but in that kind of description you gave of how people receive this information, the excitement first and then the reality. To me, I think that even speaks to the question about how this works at the energetic level, because that excitement is the reality because it’s the unfiltered reaction to the information. And then the mind comes in. And it’s like, “Okay, how am I going to do this?” And it’s going to try and control the situation and go about it in the way that it’s known how to do from the past, which ultimately in a lot of cases, if it’s truly transformational coming into something new, it’s going to have to have a different component to it than it did before.

Natalie: Yes, you don’t know what you don’t know until you experience it. But I think there’s no wrong turns here. So, if you follow what you feel inspired to do, even if it’s coming from your logical mind, you will be led to the next step from there too. So, there is no mistakes, really. Ideally, we want to be in alignment. Ideally, we want to feel really good about what we’re doing. But you get there by sorting through the data of your everyday life and work and be like, “Oh, I actually don’t like doing this as much as I thought.” Or, “Hmm, that was really fun. Maybe I should do more of that.” And so, it’s ever evolving. Even me as a career astrologer, I know my astrology chart inside and out. But there’s definitely an evolution that occurs. You can get tired of doing things you’re good at after a while, even if it’s really helpful for other people. And I really think we do need to keep growing and evolving. Because it’s easy to get in that stagnant place. Even if so many things are still in alignment, there’s always a higher level you can get to.

Eric: Yeah, and it’s a living breathing thing. It makes me think of like the astrological chart is like a prism. But the universe that shines light through it actually is moving and changing. So, what shines through the prism is going to be different expression as time progresses.

Natalie: Yes. And it goes back to the idea of being told you’re the teacher of the teachers, but you don’t know what you’re teaching. And then you start trying different things. And then you might realize you wanted to teach something different down the line, but you’re still in alignment with the core framework of your energetic makeup.

Eric: I’m noticing something in the moment that because you’re an astrologer, I’m going to say if you weren’t, I would just keep this internally. But it’s interesting, every time I record a podcast, I work with energy in terms of doing tea ceremonies. So, when I do tea ceremonies, it’s all about feeling out the energy of the space. And when I do podcasts with people, what I’m going for is more of like an energetic resonance with the guests. Where are they going to harmonize the most in terms of sharing? And it’s interesting with every single guest, it’s always a different process that I have to go through to kind of like tune into that. And with you in particular, it’s a very distinct flavor. I’m a Capricorn sun, Scorpio rising, Scorpio moon. It doesn’t really work for a podcast, but I feel like I’m noticing that my energy with you is like, it would just be nice to sit in silence with you.

Natalie: Thank you.

Eric: Yeah, which is a form of communication.

Natalie: Yeah, telepathy is the new wave of communication.

Eric: So, what do you want to talk about?

Natalie: Gosh, whatever you think your audience would be helpful to them. But I’m happy to go wherever.

Eric: Well, I think this is all helpful to the audience, to be honest. That’s kind of how I like to approach these things too is not have a formulaic approach to how it’s going to go, because to me, okay, the nature of discovery, the signature of discovery comes through in just a free-flowing conversation. Whether or not we actually talk about it, it will be communicated, because that’s exactly what’s happening.

Natalie: Yeah, you never know what aspect of a conversation is going to inspire someone. And it might not be the three-step method to starting over your business. It could be the idea like, “Oh, I can start over? Crazy.”, or you never know.

Eric: Yeah, and I find more and more that I actually like to avoid the three-step thing, because to me, the mind is so hungry for the path, that if you give it the three steps, it’s not even going to question it. It’s going to be like, “Okay, I’ll do the three steps.”, when really, I think questioning is a lot more important. And I think this year especially, there’s a different, the astrological environment is encouraging people to do things differently. And maybe that would be a good thing, if you could share a little bit more about that.

Natalie: Yeah, I love that. So, this year, in 2021, a lot of the planets, the major planets are in Aquarius, which is a zodiac sign that has to do with shaking up the status quo, doing things differently, maybe in a really shocking way that you never thought you could do before, or maybe making changes in your business or your life that might be surprising to other people. And it’s really stemming from this restless energy of being tired of the old ways, of the old paradigm, of even the hustle mentality is fading. Because Aquarius is about finding a better, more innovative way to do things to get to the result faster and more effectively.

And there’s also a really big push around creating community and coming together to share ideas with one another. So, membership websites are definitely on the rise from an astrological perspective. But even more than that, I think it’s really important to tune in and notice if you feel this itch to do things differently, to listen to it, because that is the presiding energy wave that’s guiding us at this time. And it’s only going to lead to bigger and better things. That liberation from the old way really opens up this channel for genius ideas to come through that you might not have gotten if you’re so stuck with the old way of doing business or the way you’ve always done things, or how other people in your industry are doing things.

Eric: Yeah, I’m totally feeling that. It’s not like okay, go and throw all the baby out with the bathwater, quit your job, take a break from your business. To me, it’s just make certain that there’s more space allowed for listening to happen, like you said, meditation. Have a practice where as part of a consistent basis, whether it’s daily or weekly, that time is allotted for that something that’s not directed, because like you said, things are changing. There’s new paradigms that can be operating. And so, if we’re not opening ourselves to hearing the guidance of the new thing, then we’re just going to keep hitting our heads against the wall with whatever we’ve been doing.

Natalie: Yes, and it can be uncomfortable. Like I mentioned earlier with my meditation practice, hearing this little voice saying I’m evolving past my business model, it can be really scary at first, but we need to follow that thread. Because even though it can be scary to change things, change is the only constant and the more we can have that daily practice, I think daily is the best to tune in to how you really feel and where things are not feeling right, the more it’s actually going to open you up to a better way of life that you just didn’t know could exist yet until you’re literally creating it in the moment. And I feel like that really inspires other people too. When we give ourselves permission to change things in our lives, it shows other people it’s okay too. So, even if at first you feel like oh, what’s my problem? I can’t find the perfect set method that I can follow until the day I die in my business, it’s so liberating for other people to hear when you shift things too. I can’t tell you how many messages I got from people. I was so scared to tell everybody that I’m taking a break. And I don’t know if this is the way I want to do things anymore. And the major response was, thank you so much for sharing this. So, I think we’re all kind of feeling that.

Eric: Yeah, I was just reading something by Jack Canfield, something he shared was about his vision of a world and why he does what he does, which is that he would like everybody to be doing what they would like to be doing, paraphrasing. But essentially, if we can all imagine a world where everybody’s doing what they want to do, and what makes them happy, that’s good for everybody. But the past situation, and what we’re transitioning from, is that we kind of ended up doing things that we got directed to do because of different societal things, family things, whatever it was, but there’s a lot of people who ended up doing things that don’t make them happy.

Natalie: Yes, that’s one of the most important reasons why I do what I do as well, because I would like to imagine that it’s possible to create a world where we are able to use what we’re naturally the best at, and use it to make a difference in the world in whatever way feels the best to us. Can you imagine if the heads of companies were people who are specifically born to create powerful ripple effects in that particular way? I feel like the world’s biggest problems would be solved so much more quickly.

Eric: Yeah, I agree with you. And it’s interesting to kind of make it more meta, given that this collective energy is happening, and you see in your astrology being a teacher of teachers, and at this time, you’re embodying that vibration of what the time is speaking to, and what people are going to need the most assistance with in shifting from the old to the new. So, you’re actually an instrument of the times basically.

Natalie: Yeah, it’s tricky sometimes to be able to predict the future, because you can see, or in my case, I can see there’s a really big shift coming. And it’s really helpful at the same time. But I do feel a responsibility to help prepare people for the energy by being a role model of what it looks like.

Eric: And that, to me, it’s so simple but so critical, because there’s been a lot of energy going around of like shooting, you should be behind this, you should be doing that, you should be taking action, you should be supporting these things, you should not be supporting these things. But the thing is, it’s all external facing. It’s about how you should be behaving externally. But again, there’s maybe could be a little bit more attention paid to what’s our relationship to ourselves, and having the faith and the trust that when we do look at ourselves and we better our relationship with ourselves, in a vibrational sense, when we come into more who we are meant to be, that vibration is going to affect our environment in the most impactful way, even more so than if we were directly just to act on something.

Natalie: Yes, I like to think that people are like planets. If you think about it, the planets are just this enormous power source that beams all the way down to us on earth. And when we’re in alignment with our calling, and the way that our energy was meant to be expressed, we can also become so powerful where just coming into a room, I think we’ve all had that experience before, where there’s that person who they just radiate out this confidence and this clarity and this sense of purpose, and that makes way bigger ripple effects than the person who’s just putting their head down and being the good girl or the good boy and doing their work that they are told to do.

When I’m looking for guests for my podcast, there’s an energy around them. People ask me, “What’s your process for bringing someone on?”, and I can just tell the way they do their work. There’s like an aura around it of wonder and magic. And those are the people that I want to show to my audience to show them what’s possible, because I think a really big problem is this question of how come people aren’t finding their calling. That’s really my job is to find the answer to that question, I feel like and a big reason why is we don’t believe that life can be better, that we can be happier, we can be more in alignment. And so, seeing what’s possible is important, I think.

Eric: And I think the one that I’ve run into there a lot or heard people talk about when they’re questioning what they should be doing is at least the way that they talk about it is I don’t know what I’m interested in. I don’t know what I should be doing. They may sense that there’s something off or they’re just not enthusiastic about what’s currently happening, but they don’t necessarily know what inspires them.

Natalie: That can definitely happen. And I think a lot of that is because we are looking so much outwardly around us at what everyone else is doing. And that kind of reminds me of this Aquarian energy that we’re coming into and we’re already in. It’s an electric impulse energy that comes from within. You can’t always explain it. A lot of us don’t know how WiFi works, but it does. And so, that’s why things like astrology or meditation, there’s so many different ways to come back to yourself. But just noticing throughout the day even, what brought you, even just an ounce of joy, and it could be the silliest thing. Some people love spreadsheets. Okay, that’s interesting. And just to realize that those little things you love aren’t what everyone else loves. And that’s what makes it special, I think is kind of the key to deepening into your calling, even if it seems really simple on the surface.

Eric: Yes, I feel like trust is a big component of it, too, because maybe the thing that brings us joy today isn’t going to be the same thing that brings us joy next week. And so, this being open to it showing up in different ways, it could also be part of the process of listening to discover what exactly it is because sometimes it’s not a linear process. Sometimes, at least I’ve had this experience with MemberMouse, the thing that ultimately leads to some big successful transition point in the company wasn’t some thought out linear plan of step one to step two to step three. It was like step one, and then between step one and step two, I tripped on something and fell into a ditch and ran into some person and whatever. And then that person knew somebody else and took me over far left to where I thought it was going. But ultimately was the thing that was the breakthrough.

Natalie: We’ve been trained in school to think logically, and it is helpful. But as adults, we need to seek out the more spiritual learning, the energetic learning, the fact that life is magic. And the same thing has happened to me too. When I try to plan out my business moves, I create this master plan for world domination. And then I immediately feel so stressed and overwhelmed. Whereas a big change that I’ve made in my business and my life this year, is that I don’t allow myself to work until I feel inspired. And that was really scary for a while because there was a good two weeks where I was not inspired. And I was like, “Oh my gosh, am I ever going to want to go back to work?”, but I just needed to refuel myself. And eventually, those impulses came back through of like oh, it would be really fun to create this class, or whatever it is. And that’s your zone of genius, when you allow those inspirations to come to you, and you take action on it right away, rather than hemming and hawing over the exact strategy and the exact plan, which is what society has taught us to do. So, it’s not our fault. We’re just learning how to break out of it.

Eric: And the interesting part about that doing the exact plan is that if you’re struggling to find a plan, and we’ve been taught in education, that it comes from something else. And naturally, we have to look to things outside of ourselves to give us the plan, in which case we’re already not listening to ourselves. It reminds me of a documentary on Philip Glass. He was talking about his process for writing music. I hear this from a lot of musicians, composers who are very successful. They have this great degree of anxiety when they start a new job, because they don’t know if they could do it, because so much of that artistic process is surrendering to the mystery. Philip Glass talked about it like this subterranean river that he knows is there, and he just has to show up and wait to hear it. And then when it does, when it starts to become clear, it just flows out.

Natalie: Yes, I love that so much. And it does take so much trust, to wait for it to show up because it might not show up at first. When you start a brand-new meditation practice for example, it might not be until like the third day, or the second week that actually feels good and you get the insights that you thought you would be getting from it. So, it’s interesting how we’re learning how to as a society, I see it in the astrology and I see it in people around me. We are learning how to trust more, that there’s more out there than we realize. There’s a guiding force around us that we can tap into and it knows more than us. Sorry to say, we don’t know everything, guys.

Eric: It’s actually a lot less stressful when you come to that realization.

Natalie: It’s such a relief. You do not need to figure everything out. How awesome is that?

Eric: It’s awesome. I was hanging out with a friend of mine and his two to three-year-old son yesterday. And just the joy of just, I’m sitting in a room having a conversation with my friend and this kid just comes over to me and hands me a block, doesn’t say anything but it’s an invitation to come play blocks and then I go play blocks and it’s just the most amazing meditative relaxing experience to play blocks, and he’s there playing blocks and we’re doing that for five minutes. And then he’s like, “All right, I’m done with blocks.” He throws the blocks away and does something else. That childlike energy, there is no filter there for his decisions and his actions. He just goes with exactly what is present and alive for him.

Natalie: Yes, I feel like we have so much unlearning to do to get back to that. But that is where the magic is at where you just follow how you feel.

Eric: Yeah. And then it’s kind of like this internal counsel where there’s the child and that childlike spirit that can listen and be patient and recognize excitement and enthusiasm. But there’s also the part of us that okay, once it’s time to take action, there are the logical things, there are the logistics that do come into play. I see it as kind of these different aspects and giving voice and presence and accepting all these different parts of ourselves, rather than just having a part that says, “Oh, you always need to be working or you always need to be being productive.”, which basically pushes the other kind of like parts of us into the corner, that may just mean to take a Epsom salt bath, or go walk barefoot in the grass or something like that and do nothing.

Natalie: Yes, allow the insights to come to you when they’re ready instead of trying to pull at them, and push for them.

Eric: So, I think we’re kind of getting close to the end. And I’m laughing because I was like thinking about, “Oh, wait, we’re on a entrepreneurship podcast right now.” So, in conclusion, go start a business. And yeah, it’s weird and it’s not weird, because I think this, I think is a demonstration of how things are shifting that we’re talking about this in the context of business, because I think this is a world where it needs to be brought up the most, because there’s such a stagnancy around thinking about how businesses should be approached.

Natalie: Yes. And there’s so many limiting beliefs that get in the way too where you’re looking for the podcast or the guru or the teacher to give you the exact steps. But really, it’s not to say like don’t listen to this podcast, but you listen, but also tune in to what you’re feeling.

Eric: Yeah, listen while not thinking about it. Just experience it. I feel like that’s an important word for me too now is experiencing, because I make a distinction between being involved in something like in a kind of not present way, and being involved in something with a presence. And being involved in a presence way is an experience and experience is usually joyful, even if it’s challenging. Even if it’s like you’re running and exerting a lot of energy, there’s still and there’s some pain involved there at a certain level, physically. There’s still a joy to it.

Natalie: Yes, presence. That’s when you can really tap into the flow of whatever is going on around you and respond to it. Whereas I feel like when we’re looking for the business plan, we’re kind of cutting everybody out and we’re like putting our head down. And we’re saying, “Don’t bother me world. I’m trying to think of something over here.:

Eric: I’m serious business-ing over here.

Natalie: Yes.

Eric: Well, before we wrap up here, is there anything that is present and alive for you right now that we haven’t touched on that you would like to share that advice for people who are out there maybe struggling with getting to a different level in their business or asking themselves this question about how do I start my business? What should I be doing?

Natalie: Know what lights you up. Know what makes you feel heavy. Honestly, that’s all I’m explaining with astrology is just reminding you of those things. But we already know deep down, it’s just like you said about being present and noticing. And also, I think one of the biggest things I teach and I’ve already mentioned this, but don’t settle for less. We are not meant to be heavy and sad and upset. Those emotions have their place and they can be really useful. But you don’t have to stay in that place. You don’t have to stay confused or blocked or desperate for money and just realizing you deserve better, I think is a big reason to tune in and find out what really lights you up the most.

Eric: That is great advice. So, where can people go if they’re vibing with what you’re talking about and would like to learn more?

Natalie: You can find me at soulshineastrology.com. That’s where all my other links are, my podcast, my membership and all that good stuff. And soon to be a book in 2022. It’s called Find your Cosmic Calling, and it will be a complete guide to decoding your astrology chart from a career perspective.

Eric: Sounds extremely useful.

Natalie: Yes, I’m so excited. I can’t believe they even let me publish it because it’s going to make people quit their job for sure. My editor actually quit as soon as she finished reading it.

Eric: Is that the subtitle? This book will make you quit, or warning, this book will make you quit your job.

Natalie: Don’t read this if you’re not ready to quit. But you will be if you read it.

Eric: It makes so much sense that that book is coming into the world at this time, right?

Natalie: Yeah, perfect timing.

Eric: Best of luck wrapping that project up. And thank you so much for coming on and chatting with us, Capricorn sun, Scorpio rising, Scorpio moon.

Natalie: Thank you so much from a Pisces sun, Pisces moon, Sagittarius rising.

Eric: Oh my gosh, Pisces. That’s what’s going on.

Natalie: Yes.

Eric: Okay. Great. Well, thank you, Natalie.

Natalie: Thanks so much.

OUTRO:

Thank you so much for listening to my entire conversation with Natalie. I hope you’re walking away with a greater sense of clarity and inspiration around your life and business.

Many thanks to Natalie for coming on the show and sharing so openly from her experience.

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