Spend a few minutes browsing YouTube or social media and you’ll quickly discover that almost everyone seems to know your destiny.
Apparently, you’re supposed to become wealthy.
Manifest abundance.
Drive the right car.
Live in the right house.
Travel the world.
And, of course, achieve financial freedom.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with any of those goals. The question is whether they’re everyone’s destiny.
I’m not convinced they are.
The Feeling That Something Is Missing
Most of us have experienced a quiet feeling that we’re here for some larger purpose.
Even when life is going reasonably well, there can be a sense that something remains unfinished.
It’s as though we’re being gently called toward a life that is more authentic, more meaningful, and somehow more fully our own.
But what exactly is that calling? Some people say it’s destiny.
Two Ways of Looking at Destiny
Over the years, I’ve noticed that most spiritual teachings seem to fall into one of two broad models.
The first is what I call the Earth School Model.
According to this view, we reincarnate again and again in order to learn lessons, overcome limitations, and gradually evolve spiritually.
Life is a classroom.
Every challenge is part of the curriculum.
The second is what I call the Actualization Model.
Instead of asking, “What lessons am I here to learn?” it asks:
“Who am I here to become?”
This idea reminds me of psychologist Abraham Maslow’s famous hierarchy of needs.
At the very top of his pyramid wasn’t wealth.
It wasn’t fame.
It wasn’t status.
It was self-actualization—becoming the fullest expression of your authentic self.
I find that idea deeply compelling.
The Prosperity Trap
Somewhere during the twentieth century, something interesting happened.
The New Thought movement, with its emphasis on affirmations, visualization, and the creative power of the mind, gradually merged with American ideas about success and capitalism.
Before long, spiritual growth and financial success became almost interchangeable.
Manifestation came to mean one thing:
More money.
Now, don’t misunderstand me.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with financial security.
Most of us would welcome a little more of it.
But if we believe that every soul reincarnated primarily to become rich, we end up with a rather curious picture of human existence. Can we really imagine that we’ve come back again and again because we should all be more like Elon Musk?
Imagine a shepherd whose deepest fulfillment comes from tending goats in the mountains.
Or a teacher whose greatest joy is helping children learn to read.
Or an artist who creates beauty that quietly changes people’s lives.
Would we really say that these people have somehow missed their destiny because they didn’t become millionaires?
I don’t think so.
Their success may have very little to do with the size of their bank account.
Listening for Your Own Call
One of the central ideas in my book, Tarot and the Art of Alignment, is that destiny isn’t something someone else can define for you.
It isn’t found in a bestselling seminar or a motivational slogan.
It arises from discovering your own authentic nature.
For one person, that path may indeed involve building a successful business.
For another, it may involve raising a family, creating art, caring for others, teaching, healing, or living a quiet life close to nature.
The Tarot doesn’t ask us to pursue someone else’s dream.
It asks us to discover our own.
Perhaps the real purpose of life isn’t to become rich.
Perhaps it’s to become ourselves.
And in the end, that may be the greatest success of all.
Just the Tarot 