You're Playing the Wrong Cards—Why Your Life Feels Hard Even When You're Doing Everything "Right"

You can achieve everything on paper—the dream job, the income, the title, the business success—and still feel empty. Harvard to Wall Street sounds like the path to fulfillment. It wasn't. Alexander Dunlop and Vicky Scudery work with high achievers who've checked every box but feel deeply misaligned. Today we're breaking down why success without self-knowledge creates suffering, how to decode your authentic blueprint, and why playing someone else's game keeps you stuck.

Introduction:

What happens when you build the career, the income, the title, or the business and it still doesn't feel right?

This is the quiet misalignment that high achievers don't talk about—the sense that you're performing well but not fully living aligned with who you actually are.

Alexander Dunlop spent years climbing the corporate ladder after Harvard and Wall Street, only to realize achievement alone wasn't enough. Vicky Scudery, an intuitive healer, discovered that energy work and deeper self-knowledge create the breakthroughs that strategy can't.

Together, they've developed a system based on the Source Cards—an ancient mathematical language hidden in a standard deck of 52 playing cards—that reveals your authentic blueprint based on your birth date. This episode breaks down why high performers feel empty despite success, how to identify repeating patterns in relationships and business, and how to build a life that feels aligned, not just impressive.

If you've ever wondered why achievement doesn't automatically create fulfillment, this conversation is for you.

5 KEY TAKEAWAYS:

1. Success Without Self-Knowledge Is an Empty Mountain (The Alignment Gap)

You can reach the top of any ladder—corporate, entrepreneurial, social—through sheer grit, intelligence, privilege, and luck, but that doesn't mean you know yourself. Alexander explains that many high achievers climb because they know how to play the game, not because they're living authentically. The mountain top feels hollow because you got there following someone else's map. Fulfillment doesn't come from more achievement, more money, more philanthropy, or even more gratitude. It comes from being in harmony with yourself—literally tuning yourself like a musical instrument. The itch in your soul that persists despite external success is your system telling you: "You're out of alignment." It's not about working harder or doing more good. It's about knowing who you actually are beneath the performance, the title, and the achievement metrics.

2. Your Birth Date Contains Your Life Blueprint (The Source Cards System)

The Source Cards system is built on a mathematical principle: based on your date of birth, you're assigned specific cards from a standard 52-card deck that represent your life path. Your birth card is your essence—the light you're here to shine. Your personality card is how you show up in the world. Together, they create a template of how you naturally operate, your strengths, your challenges, and your authentic way of leading and living. Linda (born November 6) is the Ace of Diamonds—entrepreneurial, single-pointed, focused on initiating tangible things in the world. The accuracy is uncanny because it's not psychology or opinion; it's mathematics. You can find your first two cards free at TheSourceCards.com. This isn't astrology or tarot—it's an ancient language encoded in a game, revealing your blueprint so you can stop trying to be someone else.

3. Patterns Aren't Things to Overcome—They're Messages to Decode (The Pattern Wisdom)

The biggest mistake high achievers make is thinking patterns are problems to fix through sheer willpower. Vicky explains that patterns are information. They're showing you something about the low side of the cards you're playing. Instead of "overcoming" patterns (which keeps you spinning), you need to witness them, accept them, and choose to play them differently. Alexander's example: his birth card is the Nine of Hearts (emotions, relationships). The low side pattern was playing the victim, feeling sorry for himself, wallowing in private pity parties. When he realized this pattern was a recurring way he played his cards, he gained power. He wasn't controlled by the pattern; he was observing it. And in observing it, he could choose: Do I want to stay in this low emotional place, or do I climb toward bliss and lift others with me? The same pattern appears in relationships, business, money, and life. The pattern isn't the enemy. Your unconsciousness about the pattern is. Awareness = choice.

4. Your Relationship Patterns Reflect Your Inner World (The Mirror Principle)

Vicky spent 20 years in self-discovery before meeting Alexander, who showed her in 20 minutes what she'd been learning for two decades. But the breakthrough came when she realized her pattern of attracting emotionally unavailable men was a mirror of her own emotional unavailability. Her Pluto card (unconscious hidden fear) is the Four of Hearts—she was literally putting all her emotions in a box, creating a facade of "everything is fine" while being numb inside. When she finally started to access, honor, and express her actual feelings, the men she attracted changed overnight. A different person showed up because she had shifted. The outer world is always a reflection of your inner world. When couples both understand their cards, acceptance and compassion multiply. Instead of judging your partner's behavior, you understand their pattern. You know what card they're playing and why. Suddenly you can meet them with grace instead of frustration.

5. One-Size-Fits-All Advice Works for the Person Who Gave It, Not for You (The Authenticity Principle)

Every guru, every successful entrepreneur, every mentor tells you their secret formula. "Work hard," say the Shark Tank investors. But when Alexander looks up their birthdays, they're all playing power success cards—Eight of Diamonds, King of Diamonds. They think they succeeded because of hard work; actually, success is in their cards. Their formula works for them because it matches their blueprint. If you're an Ace of Diamonds, your strategy is to start it yourself, do it solo, initiate without waiting. But if you're a Two of Diamonds, you need partnership. The King of Hearts leads with emotional intelligence; the Queen of Spades leads with zen presence. You cannot follow someone else's map and expect it to work if you're playing different cards. This is why so many people follow "the formula" and still feel stuck—it wasn't designed for your blueprint. The deprogramming phase (unlearning corporate advice, MBA frameworks, and inherited beliefs about how you "should" operate) is often the most important part of awakening to your authentic power.

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RELATED TOPICS: #SourceCards #SelfAlignment #AuthenticSuccess #HighPerformerCoaching #SpiritualEntrepreneur #PatternBreaking #RelationshipHealing #BusinessStrategy #PersonalTransformation #KnowThyself #EnergeticHealing #LifePurpose #AlignedSuccess #IntuitiveLiving #LindaVo #InspiredBySuccess

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

The fundamental issue is that they're out of harmony with themselves. They're trying to follow a preset script that somebody told them, and they're not following their authentic inner guidance. They may have it all on paper, but be quietly weeping when they're by themselves because their life isn't fulfilling for them. Every single shark on there said that their key to success was hard work. Then I look up their cards to play, and they're all playing power success cards.

SPEAKER_03 0:28

And my patterning was I would get into romantic relationships where men were not emotionally available. And then I finally discovered, oh wait, I'm not emotionally available.

SPEAKER_02 0:39

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SPEAKER_03 2:24

Linda, thank you so much for having us. It's a pleasure to be here.

SPEAKER_00 2:27

Thanks for having us, Linda.

SPEAKER_02 2:28

No worries. I'm curious to know, first of all, Alexander, you followed the classic success path. You know, you went from Harvard to Wall Street. When did you realize that achievement alone wasn't enough?

SPEAKER_00 2:38

Ooh, uh, when did I realize that? You know, that's a good question because I honestly had that inkling all along. I at first never imagined myself going into corporate America as I kind of was going through my education. I always thought that it might not be fully for me. I always kind of had that kind of intuition, let's say. After Harvard, I actually went to graduate school before going to Wall Street. I thought I was gonna go into academia. I have a master's degree in Roman Catholic theology, and I thought I was gonna go on to study philosophy of religion, comparative religion. After my master's degree, I realized I'd had enough of academia. I had enough of reading all day long in the library, and I wanted to change. So I decided and I was tired of being a broke graduate student. So I thought I want to make money, I'm gonna go into the corporate world. I loved my time in corporate America. I learned so much from that and the people who I worked with, but I kind of always knew that that wasn't gonna be my long-term path and that there was something deeper calling me, and that's really because at age 17 I'd had a surprising spiritual awakening. So I was already looking for the deeper meaning. And what I've found over the years among my clients, and then since we started working together, our clients, is that there's a lot of more than you might think on the surface. There are a lot of very spiritual people and spiritual seekers, even within Wall Street or corporate America. They can't really talk about it professionally, but it's there and and it's a human need, and people want meaning and fulfillment, and they may have it all on paper, but be quietly weeping when they're by themselves because their life isn't fulfilling for them.

SPEAKER_02 4:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:31

I always kind of had an inkling, but it did take me on my journey to really like I tried it out for myself. It's like I need to eat the broccoli first to make sure I don't really like it. I worked in corporate America, I was like, yeah, I I kind of thought that wasn't gonna be for me, but at least I have that experience and I and I know firsthand what it's like.

SPEAKER_03 4:49

You don't like broccoli?

SPEAKER_00 4:50

I do like broccoli, but that's it's a metaphor. It's a metaphor.

SPEAKER_02 4:54

Yeah, I I totally get you because like I I love growth, I love business, I love building, but I also want that deeper seeking and understanding, and I know that spirituality and self-development plays into it as well. And there are a lot of things that can help us build success, and there's also a lot of things that can block our success too. So that's why I'm really excited to have you guys both here. And I'm curious to know about you too, Vicky, because you know you're the intuitive one, the feminine energy, the one that understands the healer. So tell us about your journey and what led you to where you are now.

SPEAKER_03 5:26

So in my late 20s, I had a medical issue. I actually didn't get my period for six years. Went to a lot of doctors, doctors couldn't figure out what was going on with me. And then I went to an energy healer and had one session. And after I would say it was between one to three days, um, I got my period. It was like right after having the session. It was really profound, and I it just got me going. Like I was like, wow, it just catapulted me into the land of healing, of spirituality, of who am I, why am I here, wanting to learn as much as I could about energy and what is God and what does that mean to me. So I really went on this, you know, like 20 years of searching, working with different healers, of going to the Barbara Brennan School of Healing and you know, lots of weekend workshops, lots of tools in my toolbox, looking at my shadow side, looking, you know, going into the depths of my own self, of my dark places, of my wounds, and things like that. And then 13 years ago, I met Alexander and at a cafe, and he came up to me and we started he started chatting with me, and then he asked me my date of birth and basically told me everything about myself in about 20 minutes. And we joke that I had spent up until that point, it had been 20 years that I spent, you know, like on this journey of growth in myself, and in 20 minutes, he tells me all the same things that I had a lot of the same things that I had learned on this 20-year journey. He just sort of he put the cards on the table, you know.

SPEAKER_02 7:03

Using cards, playing cards, or cards? What cards?

SPEAKER_03 7:08

So basically, the cards he put on the table are the source cards, they're the regular deck of 52 playing cards that we know as a game, that we play Jin Rummy with and bridge with our kids, you know, and they're actually an ancient language, and it was hidden as a game. It's a language of life, and we have cards that we're dealt based on our date of birth that we have for our whole life. We have a life path of 13 plus cards, and each card shows a different aspect of who we are, and it's so accurate that I just like, you know, once I learned it, I was like, wow, this is like really accurate about me. So then I started looking up all my friends and family in my life and past relationships and past lovers, and you know, everything like so much made sense because I just kept having these epiphanies and aha moments continuously because I was like, wow, that's why this, that's why this relationship, that's why this dynamic, and you know, things really fell into place for me knowing these cards.

SPEAKER_02 8:11

Wow. That's pretty good. Powerful. We'll get we'll get to that too. But uh no, that's that's that's fascinating. Because my mum used to always do every night she'd use the cards and just read her I don't know what she was doing, but I I think she was reading her signs or future of that and you know I never thought deeply about it too. But I guess yeah, the power of numbers is uh the power like the the birth signs and numbers. That's the thing, you know, like that's the the mystical side of things as well. We'll get to that too, but now I want to know about um you know the the things that the business people, the high achievers, the entrepreneurs don't understand and where they can help themselves be aligned as well. Because, you know, you guys have worked with high achievers who've checked every box but still like what you mentioned, they still feel like something is missing. So can you get into uh a little deeper into that and and and explain why sometimes we create even though we've hit those goals or you know, you hear about stories of people that have hit those milestones and then they feel empty and not fulfilled. And my perspective was maybe because they're not there's not enough gratitude or enough purpose to to make an impact, because when people give to and make an impact or donate to charity or something to a strong cause that they believe in maybe that might fulfill them. But is there anything else that you think is missing and why people that are high achievers and super successful sometimes don't feel that they still feel empty?

SPEAKER_00 9:33

Yeah, absolutely. Um, so I want to speak to that a little more specifically. It has to do with not being in tune with yourself. It does nothing to do with how much charity you do or philanthropy or so-called meaningful work. I would say it also has nothing to do with your levels of gratitude or appreciation. What it has to do with is whether or not you're in tune with yourself, whether you're in harmony with yourself, literally, as if you yourself are a musical instrument. People can reach to the mountaintop just through sheer grit, just through hard work, or maybe they're also really smart, and they got a great education, and they had supportive parents, and they had some privilege, and they had, you know, the right things fell into place to enable them to climb the corporate ladder. They can get to the top, but they may not know themselves. That whole maxim of know thyself, they may not know themselves. They may have just worked really hard and been really smart and or gotten lucky. And they get to the mountaintop not necessarily because they are living a meaningful, fulfilling life. They get to the mountaintop just because they knew how to play the corporate game and climb the corporate ladder. And they get to the top, and then they're like, now what?

SPEAKER_02 10:44

Yeah, what next?

SPEAKER_00 10:46

Sure, it can help to do some philanthropy, of course, that's nice, and to look around and get maybe some hobbies and start playing pickleball or do other things that may fill your time. But the fundamental issue is that they're out of harmony with themselves. They're trying to follow a preset script that somebody told them, society told them, corporate game told them, maybe their parents told them, and they're not following their authentic inner guidance. They're not really listening to what their soul is asking them to do. I see this, and and we see this all the time. I'll give an example. Somebody could be born to play the four of diamonds, and the four of diamonds is about organization and structure. The four is a box. If you pull out any deck of cards, you pull it out from your game drawer, you dust off the cobwebs, and you can find the four of diamonds in the pack, and you can see that the four of diamonds is a box. So that's about organization and structure, organizing things, structuring what matters. If that's your birth card, then that's your way. That's how you operate. And for instance, I once had a client who was a woman who was running her business, and yet she felt really unfulfilled because she kept thinking that she should be doing something different. It was kind of the reverse, actually, paradoxically, of the norm. So it's an interesting example. She was a successful business owner, but kept thinking she should be more spiritual or be more creative, more out of the box. And when I showed her her card to play, that she's playing the Four of Diamonds, and it's all about structure and organization, and that that's her way, she was like, huh, no wonder I've always liked that. I always thought there was something wrong with me, that I like to have order and organization, that I'm not more dynamic, air quotes, or I'm not more adventurous, or I'm not more innovative. I'm perfectly happy in my routines and my structure. And I always judged that, and I always thought there was something wrong with me. Once she started accepting that she is born to play the four diamonds, and that's her life path, and it's all based on math, the cards that you're born with, so there's no shuffling and pulling. It's a mathematical system. Once she accepted that for herself, then the judgment melted away, and her she had physical symptoms that she couldn't get rid of, nagging physical symptoms that no doctor had been able to cure. The physical symptoms went away as well, and she felt happier and more content in herself simply by knowing herself, knowing her life path, knowing her template. Her career didn't change, her job title didn't change, but she knew herself. She knew what makes her tick. She knew why she's here, she knew how she operates, and that answered that kind of unspoken question of who am I and what am I really here to do? And again, once she found that, she found the fulfillment she was looking for.

SPEAKER_02 13:31

Wow, that's pretty powerful. Is that that is that what you mean by an itching the salt? Yes. Because often people put their finger on it.

SPEAKER_00 13:39

They don't even know what it is. And they've usually when by the time people come to us, they've tried everything. That tends to be our client base the person who's tried everything, read every spiritual book, met with every other healer, and nothing else has worked, but they still have something like, ah, there's something I know that's missing, and I can't put my finger on it.

SPEAKER_02 13:56

So for those who are listening and feel the same way, how you mentioned like you need to be in tuned with yourself. So how does one become more in tune with himself? Is it they need to do a deck of card reading with you, or like how do we know and how do we find out the cards that you're playing?

SPEAKER_03 14:13

So you can find that out on our website. We have a free reading of the first two cards in the life path. You go to thesourcecards.com and on the home page you enter your date of birth, and up pops the first two cards. Your birth card is your essence, your light that you're here to shine, and your personality card is how you show up in the world, right? And they kind of dance together. I find that they like play off of each other. One shines through the other, like radiates through the birth radiates through the personality and they work together. So it's first finding out the cards that you're playing, again, based on your date of birth, and then really, really taking that in. There's an acceptance of, oh, these are the cards that I am playing for my life. I believe we choose our cards that we're souls, and that we choose our birthday, and we choose to come in to play those energy patterns out, because there's a lot of lessons that come with those energy patterns, right? There's things that, you know, when we talk about people like repeating a pattern, it's always in the cards. You see, it's just laid out so beautifully, like how everything is in the cards. So you're choosing certain things to work on, I believe, by choosing the birthday, by choosing these, by choosing these patterns. And then it's really about accepting, taking it in, digesting it, and learning how to play the patterns well.

SPEAKER_02 15:37

It's something I'm fascinated by because some of these patterns could be really harming us, and you know, if we're not self-aware of it too. So I want to go a little bit deeper into those patterns. And, you know, you mentioned repeating the patterns, some relationship issues, like some people have the same patterns over and over, some people have the same business ceilings, and they can't achieve that extra, you know, limit that they want. And sometimes there's self-sabotaging patterns that we keep doing unconsciously as well. And it's not bad luck, but it's information. So what is it trying to reveal us? Can you go deeper into these these patterns as well and how we can overcome them?

SPEAKER_00 16:12

I know I was listening to it isn't about overcoming them. It's not no, it's not about overcoming the patterns.

SPEAKER_02 16:20

Learning about them and and learning and uh about what they're trying to teach us as well.

SPEAKER_00 16:24

Yes, there's that. And the idea of overcoming patterns sets us up for failure. It sets us up for the mindset that there's something wrong with what is in the present moment. And that's a typical kind of hustle harder mentality that business people have that I'm gonna fix something, I'm gonna overcome something, but that often keeps us spinning like a hamster on a wheel because that's not the right mindset, it's not the way to envision what actually leads to success. Because what actually leads to success, as Vicky just said, is to accept the patterns. The patterns are showing something, the patterns are revealing something. It can be that the patterns are something that you want to accept so that you can dissolve them and release them from your life and let them go. More often than not, though, what we see is that the patterns are a reflection of the low side of the cards to play. So it's simply a matter of being conscious of choosing to play your cards better, choosing to play the patterns out in a more fulfilling, meaningful way. I'll give you an example. My birth card is the nine of hearts. Based on math, that's my birth card, is the nine of hearts. The nine is a ladder. Again, on the patterning of the card, you can pull out a dusty deck from your kitchen drawer and look up the nine of hearts, and you'll see that the nine is a ladder. In hearts, it's about relationships, emotions, how I feel. When I didn't know my cards to play, there's uh my lovely Vicky holding up the nine of hearts. When I didn't know about my cards to play, unknowingly, I would often get in a pattern of feeling sorry for myself, playing the victim, which is the low pattern of the nine of hearts. And that would be a recurring pattern where I would feel a sense of loss, a tragedy, an upset that would take me down a few rungs in my heart. That was a recurring pattern in my life. When I found out my cards to play, it didn't instantly solve it, but it gave me a lens with which to see this pattern. It's not me, it's a pattern. That's the first important thing. It's a pattern that I can see and observe. And if I'm seeing it and observing it, then by definition, I am not this pattern. I am that which is observing the pattern. And instantly then we have a power of choice. Where before we felt controlled by the pattern that we can't get out of, where we then may feel like we need to air quotes overcome this pattern, which again doesn't work. Instead, we can start to witness the pattern and observe it, and in the witnessing of it, then we have space to make a different choice. And then, for example, I can choose do I want to stay wallowing in my private pity party? Do I want to stay in a low emotional place? Or do I prefer to climb up out of it into a higher expression emotionally? Where the highest expression of the Nine of Hearts is bliss, and I get to lift other people up and inspire other people and elevate other people from my own emotional barometer, my own emotional state. But if I don't know that, then I don't have any power to choose how to play it. I'm stuck in it, and it just happens to me as if it were fate, as if it were impossible to change, and that's just the way it is, and that's just how life goes. No, there are patterns in play, and this deck of 52 shows what those patterns are, so that then we have the power to make a different choice.

SPEAKER_02 19:50

It's interesting. It's like you it's like a game. Seems like it's like a game in a way. Life is a game, you know. The school of life is a game, a university. I don't know. But um these patterns that you mentioned, I personally see it in relationships as well. And I'm curious to know, like, as a solution problem solver, my natural instinct is if you're having a relationship pattern that keeps constantly happening in in your relationship, I wonder if having two people with their cards read would help them both understand the constant patterns they're doing and you know, if things aren't improving and things aren't changing. What are your thoughts on that? Do you have relationships that when both of the people, the couples together have their cards read and have a deeper understanding, does that help their relationship improve and work on it? Or does it also depend on the choices that we make as well? Knowing these these patterns, but yeah, what are your thoughts on that?

SPEAKER_03 20:46

Oh, it's my favorite topic. It really is. I mean, it improves relationships by thousands, you know, percent. You know, just knowing someone else's patterns that can be in play is illuminating for a relationship because there's an acceptance that happens. So I'll use us as an example. Alexander's talking about how he's playing the birth card of the Nine of Hearts and how he could go, you know, down into the low side, a pity party victim, you know, uh, and and if that were to happen to him, if I know his cards to play, I know exactly what's happening. I know exactly wow, he's feeling, you know, into that low emotional, you know, there's a something emotional happening for him. He's going really low. It's part of the patterning that he's playing out. I can have way more acceptance and compassion for him in our relationship dynamic. I can meet his need and where he's at. I can go to him and see how, you know, what what's happening for you and like, you know, um, and and hold the space for him in a better way because I know what's happening. Same thing with me. I'm playing as my birth card the five of diamonds. Five is about being out of the box, it's a change agent, giving a fresh new perspective. Diamonds represent what you value most. In your life on the low side, the five can spin and spin and spin all over the place. Like, oh, how about this over here? Over here. Go with the, you know, like, you know. And so, like, if he knows that about me, knows the five of diamonds, like she's going crazy right now, like she's, you know, all over the place spinning, it can be so helpful for him to be like, oh, okay, you know, I know what's happening. She's in the low side. Maybe he comes to me, like really in a grounded way to like help my energy. Like, I need to center myself when that's happening, you know. So even just coming over and like take a couple breaths with me, you know, could be really helpful. Again, there's an acceptance that happens, more compassion for the other person. Um, it's really wonderful. I mean, it's just like just it provides so much information as to how someone else is showing up and why what's happening is is happening. And then like you have more information, you know, about like the other person and about yourself, and then that dynamic, like how to, you know, have a different exchange, make a different different choice because you know the patterns that are in play.

SPEAKER_02 23:05

Okay, for those who haven't had the chance to do the cards, what happens when someone keeps attracting the same type of partner or repeating the same dynamic, the same patterns? You know, what's really, really going on deep beneath the surface for those that that haven't done the card game yet, is it just because they're unaware?

SPEAKER_00 23:21

Unaware, but maybe there's a wound that you're there's a recurring reason. What is interesting is that when we look up people's cards, then we often can see right away why they keep picking the same person. I'll take Vicky as an example.

SPEAKER_03 23:36

I was gonna say, yeah, I'm I'm the perfect example of this. You want to go? Yeah. I mean, I definitely had a pattern in relationships. It's one of the things I I really believe I came here to look at that and understand that energy of relationship dynamics more deeply, you know, to be able to receive love and express myself more deeply. And my patterning was I would get into romantic relationships where men were not emotionally available. And then I finally discovered, oh, wait, I'm not emotionally available, which is why I keep creating this pattern over and over, because these men are a mirror for who I am. Our outer world is a reflection of our inner world. I create my reality through what I believe. So um, in looking at my cards to play, we have, I as I mentioned, life path of cards. Our Pluto card is the ninth card in the life path. It represents our unconscious hidden fears. And my Pluto card is the Four of Hearts. And the Four is a box, and hearts represent emotions, feelings. So I would just shove all my feelings into a box and not express my truth and not express what I was really feeling. And I would have this facade which goes along with my personality card of the Queen of Spades, a queenly energy, Zen presence, and I'd shove the feelings into a box and I'd be like, everything is fine, everything is great. And yet deep down, I was numb to even what the feelings were. I finally started to explore what are the feelings I'm really having, and then accessing them and honoring them, acknowledging them, and then starting to express them. And it wasn't until I really started to explore that in myself that I changed the relationship dynamic, like who I was meeting. All of a sudden I started to meet a different kind of man, a man that was more emotionally available. And it was wild because I'd be like, wow, I'm changing in myself, and suddenly there's another a person is showing up that is completely real reflecting where I'm at now, you know.

SPEAKER_02 25:43

That's powerful.

SPEAKER_03 25:44

Yeah, it really is.

SPEAKER_02 25:46

When you mentioned that uh putting those emotions in the box, I can certainly relate to that because as an entrepreneur or a business owner, we sometimes we're programmed to be our best performing self and we haven't we've if we're leading a team, you know, you don't want to be that over-emotional and you like there's parts of me that want to be authentic, but I also don't want to be over-emotional and put my personal life into what I'm doing with my professional, like my business, for example. Over time, I do can definitely realize and I'm sure other entrepreneurs as well, you know, they need to have that strong toughness because they're building something, they're leading, and they have to put all those emotions aside as well. But can you go a little what was that?

SPEAKER_00 26:27

Unless you're born to play, for example, the king of hearts or the queen of hearts, and then you want to lead with your emotional intelligence, and that would be the best way to grow your business.

SPEAKER_02 26:37

Okay, so yeah, this is why I'm I'm just fascinated. I've got to do this with you know, when does that block our success and uh it blocks our abundance that comes through, do you think? When we're not fully self-aligned, or sometimes people use this pain as well from a wounded space, they use that like me. I've I've gone through a lot of things in my life and I've gone through a lot of challenges growing up, and I think it was all for a purpose, and I know that it was you know, forming who I am today, and I've used that. Um I've got this ability to be able to use my pain and use it as fuel to succeed. But uh one of the guests that I spoke to, she said, ambition is great, but it if it's coming from a wounded place, it doesn't last. So, how can entrepreneurs, you know, build from a place that's not from wounds and and feel like fulfilled from doing it because they're aligned? How can they do that? Do they have to go deep within, feel the pain, like you said, or just necessarily.

SPEAKER_00 27:32

I mean, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, the way that you can do that is by finding out your cards to play and consciously choosing to play your cards right. That's the simple formula. It's not necessarily easy because it's there's work to do, especially the work is to untrain yourself from all the ways in which you thought you should behave or act or run a business. More often than not, when I'm coaching high-level people in business space, it's helping them to unlearn, let's say, what they learned in their MBA program about the best way to manage people. And I look at their cards and be like, oh, you're born to play the Eight of Hearts. You need to manage people like this. This is your best strategy for how you best operate. It's not a cookie-cutter approach or one size fits all that you might have read in some management book. So often it's how the deprogramming phase is the most important part of being able to consciously play your cards right. Now, I will say that I had searched everywhere for toolkits, answers. You know, I study philosophy at Harvard, I have a master's in Roman Catholic theology, also went to India, meditated all day, became a Swami. I've worked with shamans, plant medicine ceremonies, read every esoteric book I could get my hands on. I found out my gene keys, my human design, my Mayan astrology, my Vedic astrology. I learned how to do palm reading, you name it, and I tried it to find the answers to my life, starting from that spiritual awakening when I was 17. And this is by far the simplest and most accurate toolkit I've ever found in terms of being able to diagnose your life and map out the template of your life. So that's why I decided to start teaching it. And my family thought I was crazy when I told them 15 years ago that this is what I'm gonna do with my life. Like, no, no, mom, this is what I'm gonna do. When are you gonna get a job? No, no, no, don't understand. This this is what I want to do with my life. I found it. I want to coach people to play their cards right because this is the secret formula that will help everybody get on track in life and know their way, know how to build that career path that will be fulfilling for them. That's the formula, and it's there, it's all hidden in plain sight all this time, right under our noses, and it's all based on our date of birth. So it's very simple. If you want, Linda, we can do a quick mini reading for you. Are you open?

SPEAKER_02 30:00

Oh yes. I mean, like I was gonna ask for this, like after the show, what sometime, but I guess putting myself out there, this is good. Everyone gets to know. But this is this is the thing, right? When I came to Australia, my mum, I don't know if she got the wrong date of birth, but because she she came to Australia, she got a different date of birth um on my birth anyway. It was just one date of birth is different, but the one that I know that's on my Vietnamese birth certificate is six the uh sixth of November 1979. But on another date of birth, she got the wrong date. And it was two years late, like 78 or something like that. So it was wrong, but I've always stuck with 6119 because of that.

SPEAKER_03 30:40

November is yeah, it's seventh birthday.

SPEAKER_02 30:47

And I'm curious to know what happens, like when when you know, you know all this, and I'm curious to know the the case studies when people understand this and what they've done with it and how they've grown. Have you got any case studies?

SPEAKER_00 30:57

That's a fantastic question. That's what we do on our podcast. We interview people, and it's like case studies of people playing their parts right in their life, and then we're gathering a library of all the different birthdays of people playing out different life paths.

SPEAKER_02 31:11

You can use me as a guest, you can use me as a guinea pig for the next one and see how we go after you read this and see how we go. Because I am a like a high, I like to strive, I like to have goals, I like to achieve, you know.

SPEAKER_00 31:20

Maybe it's very single-minded. You're very single-pointed. Your your birth card is the ace of diamonds. If your birthday is November 6th, and it does seem to fit with your interest as an entrepreneur, is the ace of diamonds is entrepreneurial.

SPEAKER_01 31:33

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 31:48

And as the ace of diamonds, you're here to initiate something tangible, physical. You're here to bring it forth. So you're here to be an entrepreneur, start a business to make money. And you can be very single-focused, single-pointed, and single-minded in your pursuit. Is that true?

SPEAKER_02 32:04

Yeah, yeah, that's true. Yeah, yeah, definitely true.

SPEAKER_00 32:07

It can be hard for you even to have relationships because you're so single-minded and so single-pointed in what it is that matters to you. You go all in on the one thing. So it's it's important for you to be aware of that. We were talking about earlier about patterns and awareness. It's important for you to be aware that you can have almost tunnel vision sometimes. You're just so focused on the one thing that then you may forget about the people around you.

SPEAKER_02 32:31

So, what's the so that's the negative side of being that, but in a positive sense?

SPEAKER_00 32:36

Negative, it's just it is what it is. It's a pattern. If you're not playing it well, people might think you're being selfish, or they might think you don't like being around them, that you just prefer to be on your own and have your own solitude, and that may be confusing for them. Like, why don't you want to spend time with me? What's going on? It's a pattern, and it's for you to be aware that you like your solitude and you need your solitude, and you are single-pointed and single-minded, and it just is what it is. But with awareness, you can soften that and choose to play it in a way that is a little more gracious and inviting to the people around you.

SPEAKER_02 33:13

So, when you do these readings, do you go into more cards or is it just that main one card?

SPEAKER_00 33:17

Well, that's the starting point, and then there's a whole life path of 13 cards, and then every year you have new cards to play based on your yearly cycle, and so then you get more tactical and very specific in your yearly cycles of what's happening right now, and then how to go about playing your cards right now.

SPEAKER_02 33:34

That's beautiful. And um Yes, I do agree. A lot of that was definitely true. And I have heard of that when you said, Why don't you spend time more? Yeah, it's just it's it's it's mind-blowing. Um, I just wanted to know when when um when you you you know, when you know this strategy and then you know you integrate the healing, what does real transformation require in both strategic and clarity and like also emotional and energetic healing? Do we need both when we have you know the strategic because like I think masculine and energy is very important together as well, that energy, but when it comes to strategy and healing and integrating them both, how does that work?

SPEAKER_03 34:11

Yes, um again, it's it's really like about learning them, accepting them. I feel like one of the keys is not judging them. So when learning, like what would we would say like the low side and the high side of an energy pattern, learning the low side is like you know, bringing light to that and saying, you know, I can do that, but then not judging when it happens, you know, it's not like, oh, I can only only gonna play this hide side all the time. You know, it's like we're human beings, we move in and out of things, we make choices, we learn from it, we make another choice, you know. So there's that acceptance, really digesting, you know, these these energy patterns that one is playing, and then also just really learning not to just to accept and acknowledge oneself, which I think is part of the healing process to really bring full acceptance and love for oneself in all the patterns that we play out, right? There's such an acknowledgement of like if I'm playing a low side of my five of diamonds, for example, the card that I'm playing, you know, it's like, oh, like really acknowledging what's happening for me in that moment and not going into judgment, like, you know, I did it again and I can't believe it, and I've got to be better and I've got to do better. So there's a it's like relaxing into the process of really learning the cards and how to play them well. And then yeah, there's you know, it's a practice. So I feel like some people could see this as novelty. Like, I'm gonna get a reading and look at this is so cool. Look at my cards, they're so accurate. And then it gives them confirmation of patterns that they're playing and things like that, their purpose. But it's not novelty. It is actually something to like use as guidance and a tool for one's life's journey, right? It's a continuous process of, you know, like I'm learning every single day. Like I have aha moments every day. I'm looking at things, I'm learning things, I'm continuously evolving in how I play the cards, you know. So it's a practice as to how to shift into that, you know, like by doing, you know, having the awareness, the acceptance, and then there's exercises of how to play it well depending on your cards to play, you know. Like I mentioned how I could be spinning and spinning and spinning. So one thing, and I could be spinning in my physical body because the diamond represents the physical five of diamonds. Anything I can perceive with my five senses, one of those things being my physical body. And so it's important for me to really find stillness in my physical body, right? To really like I do a lot of body work on myself, like I have my tools and working out and things like that, yoga stretching. That's really good for me, you know. Um, and and so that's a practice, that's a daily thing of how can I, you know, support my physical body that can be scattered and hold on to things, like I can hold on to things in my physical body, like tension and stress and worry and things like that. How do I help myself by using those things as a practice? And then there's exercises I can do every day. Like I like change, so changing it up every day or making different choices is very supportive for me. So depending on the cards, it's it's a continuous process and practice to play them well, to step into really activating them, you know, on a deep level. And it's with it's gonna be completely different for Alexander playing the Nine of Hearts, and it'll be totally different for a different yeah, I have a different game to play, literally, literally a different game to play than you or Vicky.

SPEAKER_00 37:57

And it's so important, as I mentioned earlier, because we try to follow a one-size-fits-all model, and we get advice, and maybe that advice worked for that person, and they'll be like, I'm your mentor, and follow me, and here's my four-step formula, and then you can't quite do it, but you have different cards to play, and I see it all the time, all across the internet and self-help books. Someone has a model that worked for them. I look up their cards to play if they're famous enough, find their birthday, and makes perfect sense. This is their model because that's their cards to play. But if you don't have their cards to play, then you will not be able to follow their model. You won't be able to follow their map or their program because that's not authentic to you.

SPEAKER_02 38:42

Do you believe in creating your own reality though? Because I remember speaking to a guest once and I asked, like, they did well during um the crash, you know, and I said, What how? How did you do well despite the crash? And they said they created their own reality. And I'm, you know, I'm into the quantum physics and I love learning about that too. But so do you guys believe in create our own vision?

SPEAKER_00 39:06

Absolutely. You can have your own vision, your own imagination, you can see it and then step into it for yourself. Absolutely. I would suggest also not knowing, but my hunch is that that person, maybe they're born to play a seven of diamonds, and they're very good at taking something when the stock market is low or working in contrary times and pivoting that around because the seven is a pivot, and knowing how to work in that situation. That that may be exactly what they're good at, and that's why it worked for them. Here's a funny story. Um, do you ever watch Shark Tank?

SPEAKER_01 39:42

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 39:43

You remember that show? I mean, I guess it's still popular. We used to watch it all the time.

SPEAKER_01 39:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:47

Every single shark on there said that their key to success was hard work. I worked hard, that's my key to success. Then I look up their birthdays, look up their cards to play, and they're all playing power success cards, like an eight, an eight of diamonds, power success, or a king of diamonds, success, mastery, and business. So they think that they're successful because they worked hard, but it's actually in their cards that they would rise to the top of their profession and be like a king of business, or the eight of diamonds, the alpha in business. So people can think, oh yeah, I'm creating my own reality, that's why I did it. But then you look at their cards to play and like actually, yes, and it's in your life path design that you would have been successful in that particular endeavor.

SPEAKER_02 40:32

Wow, that's pretty powerful. Uh, quick question for like if we because we're running out of time, but do you have have I missed anything? Is there any key piece of advice you want to share with the audience for the the entrepreneurs out there as well that want to succeed in life? And you've given some great advice and some different insights that I found fascinating as well. Do you have any key pieces of advice or anything that I've left out that you'd want to share?

SPEAKER_00 40:56

Many working.

SPEAKER_03 40:57

Learn your cards to play. Really? I mean, it's just first of all, it's a lot of fun. And uh and it just really it's accurate, it's fun and life-changing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:08

100%. And and here's an additional gem of wisdom nuggets specifically for entrepreneurs. By definition, you're marching to your own beat. You're on the new terrain, you're going into unknown territory, you are creating your own way, you're not following the corporate script, you're not trying to climb the corporate ladder. So you are by definition outside of the bounds of the structure, finding your own way. You need this more than the person who's climbing the corporate ladder. You need a map because you don't have a map otherwise. It's even more important for an entrepreneur to have a map like this. Maybe they use astrology or there's other esoteric tools as well. This isn't the only one. I think it's the simplest, easiest, and most accurate. But as an entrepreneur, you want a map so that you're not flying blind. So then at least you don't suffer decision fatigue where you're constantly like, which way do I go? You look at your cards to play. You're born to play the ace of diamonds. You will always need to initiate it yourself. That's always the way. That's always the strategy for the ace of diamonds. If you were born to play the two of diamonds, you would always need to partner. Your business strategy would be find partnerships. Ace of Diamonds, your business strategy is do it yourself. Where you may think I need to part find a partner or I don't know enough yet. I gotta gather more information, I gotta get more resources, and that will stop you. But in fact, your map playing the ace of diamonds is start it. You need to start. Start it and then learn as you go. But that advice for an entrepreneur playing different cards will be very different.

SPEAKER_03 42:42

Yeah, you don't want it. We wouldn't tell that to the King of Hearts. It's completely different.

SPEAKER_00 42:46

Completely different advice. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:48

Wow. Where can people find you if they want to connect and learn more about what you guys do?

SPEAKER_03 42:52

Come. We have lots to explore on the website. You can find the first two cards by entering your birthday, and uh you can get Alexander's book, Player Cards, Write a Sacred Guide to Life on Earth. You can look up all 13. All 13 cards in the life path you'll find in the book.

SPEAKER_02 43:07

So that's that on Amazon, is that on everywhere Amazon?

SPEAKER_03 43:10

Yeah, it's on Amazon and you can also find it on the website. And uh we're on all, you know, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube at the source cards.

SPEAKER_02 43:18

At the source cards. Thank you so much for your time, guys. It's just it's been very eye-opening, and I hope you guys listening or watching have found this very useful. If you have, please do me a favor and hit that follow button and subscribe. And um, yeah, let me know what you think if you found it very valuable. Thank you so much, guys, for your time.

SPEAKER_03 43:35

Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 43:37

Thank you. This is fun.