If you’ve been thinking about becoming a spiritual healer or lightworker in a professional capacity, good for you! This type of work is incredibly rewarding and challenging both personally and professionally. However this is not a typical industry or occupation, which means many of the hustle-oriented models and messages out there aimed at small businesses aren’t going to apply to you. For starters, a spiritual business is always going to be a slow burn rather than a commercial venture you can expand by burning the midnight oil.
Here are some of the lessons I’ve learned as an angel card reader and energy healer. I can only speak to my own experience, so please regard these as general guidelines based on my life rather than hard-and-fast rules that offer guarantees. Ready? Let’s go!
(Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash)
1. Start small and play the long game
I’ve probably told this story before, so bear with me if you know it. Years ago I went to a spiritual workshop where we were essentially told: ‘If you build it, they will come’. An anecdote was shared about a woman who rented a studio room immediately after a retreat, opened her doors and people started flocking to book angel-card readings with her. It’s a lovely story, but experience and conversations with other healers have taught me that this just isn’t how it works for the majority of people. I’ve been doing this business for five years and it’s still only part time. That’s because a spiritual practice takes a long time to build up, so please don’t be discouraged if progress is slow. The aim isn’t to be an overnight success, the aim is to help people – and if you only have one client a week for the first 18 months, that’s bringing love and light to the world, which is the ultimate goal.
2. Have other revenue streams
As I mentioned, progress is likely to be slow, which is why it’s important to have other ways of making money while you wait for your practice to build up. Don’t let your client work be your only income source. You might continue to work full-time or part-time, take on short-term contracts or do something else like selling a product or public speaking.
(Photo by Katie Harp on Unsplash)
3. Charge what you’re worth
This is a big one. So many spiritual people I’ve met seem to feel apologetic – guilty, even – about charging people reasonable prices for their services. The thing is, if you don’t recognise the value of what you’re offering and price it appropriately, clients won’t either. The sort of clients you’ll attract by charging too-low prices are the sort of people who aren’t invested in truly changing their lives – they’re the sort of people who want a quick hit of good vibes and will forget everything that’s been said or learned in a matter of hours. Spiritual work isn’t a shopping-mall massage, it’s something that helps people change their lives. Being paid for your work is a key way the Universe supports you on your path. Money is an exchange of energy, after all.
(Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash)
With that said, there is, unfortunately, a lot of privilege around spirituality which makes me uncomfortable. Personally, I don’t want spiritual guidance to be only accessible by economically privileged people. I have offered discounted prices to people who I sense intuitively are committed to their own growth and genuinely limited by financial constraints. Other options are offering a couple of concession spots, doing regular giveaways of free sessions (ask the Universe to guide you to the winner who needs it most) or do what I do and provide tonnes of spiritual guidance for free online and on social media.
4. Set clear boundaries around your time
In the digital age, there can be an expectation that people can reach out to anyone via the internet 24/7 and get an instant result. Don’t fall into the trap of pandering to this unrealistic expectation. One boundary I set is not responding to emails after-hours or in weekends (unless I’m really behind in my emails). Don’t let your work consume your life, or you’ll become so exhausted you’ll be no help to anyone. Boundaries, people!
(Photo by Paola Aguilar on Unsplash)
5. Don’t try to appeal to everyone
Spirituality isn’t for everyone. You might be super passionate about your ability to enhance people’s lives, but not everyone is going to share your belief system, so don’t get discouraged if some people just don’t get what you do. It isn’t your job to convince people of the merit of your work. It’s your job to explain it to those who are interested. If someone thinks spirituality is BS, that’s fine – they aren’t your people.
6. Don’t overstate the importance of social media
Someone wise once told me that having lots of Instagram followers is like having Monopoly money – it looks impressive but doesn’t have any real-world value. The aim of social media for spiritual people is to share your messages and showcase what you offer your clients – it isn’t to build up a massive following for the sake of popularity. You aren’t an influencer, you’re a business owner. Being popular on Instagram doesn’t necessarily mean a huge influx of clients, so don’t get sucked into the numbers game – most of the people who become your clients will probably come from word of mouth or Google searches anyway.
(Photo by Susanna Marsiglia on Unsplash)
7. Continue your own self-development
I cannot emphasise this enough. If you aren’t working on your own personal development, you will lose your way – which has happened, unfortunately, to some prominent people in the New Age community in recent years. It’s imperative that you work with a spiritual coach or mentor regularly to help you continue to progress on personal and professional levels. Attend retreats and workshops, and stay connected to other healers you resonate with. Your ability to help people is directly proportional to your investment in yourself. This does not mean you have to be perfect in order to be a healer – far from it! – but it does mean committing to working through your own emotional baggage and stuck points. This keeps you grounded, helps you empathise with your clients and sharpens your ability to shine a light on what those clients need to work on.
Learn more about my healing work here or book a session to work with me here.