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by Alexandra Chauran

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

Developing your psychic abilities to the next level can take time, but if you don’t take that first step you might not make time for the opportunity. Here are five days of psychic development exercises that you can try for yourself. I’ve given you the weekend off, which is a good idea if you want to save your energy. By the end of this week, you should be able to decide whether you can fit psychic development into your life at this time, and how far you’d like to take it.

Day 1: Starting a Daily Personal Practice
Starting psychic work or divination is an exciting thing indeed. I recommend getting started with divination, which means fortune telling using tools such as runes, tarot cards, a crystal ball, tea leaves, or nearly anything else under the sun. In most cases, kits and books are available to help you interpret your new divination tools. For example, if you bought a deck of tarot cards, you’ll have a book to help you learn how to lay them out and how to tell the story from the cards in front of you.

In order to make this into something you can use as an expert, however, you can’t just leave your divination tools sitting dusty in a drawer. You’ll need to practice frequently, even daily, in order to gain proficiency with your tools. If it is tarot cards you’ve chosen, you can draw a card a day for yourself in order to get familiar with your new tool. The aim is to not wear yourself out with a very long reading. You can also start making yourself a cheat card. Write down the meanings of your tools on a single piece of paper so that you don’t have to consult the book every time. This will make it more likely that you’ll gain comfort reading your tools of choice. Pretty soon, you’ll find yourself throwing the cheat card away.

• Acquire some divination tools and make yourself an interpretation cheat card.

Day 2: Getting Daily Practice Reading for Others
Reading daily for yourself is an excellent start, but you’re going to have to do a whole lot more reading if you intend to become fluent with your new craft. Decide how much time a day that you can devote to your psychic development. How many readings is that, according to your practice with yourself? Once you’ve settled on a reasonable number of readings a day, you’ll need to find some volunteers. Thankfully, in the modern world that includes the Internet, you’ll easily find enthusiastic test subjects.

You can start your own blog, offer readings on social networks or forums, or work through an organization that provides free readings already. Whatever you choose, make sure that you stick to your chosen number of readings per day, and consider giving yourself a break on weekends. You don’t want to burn yourself out early. The trick is to choose a sustainable practice that will help you gain experience by leaps and bounds without souring you on the craft.

• Line up a specific number of practice readings a day with others, perhaps on the Internet.

Day 3: Soliciting Feedback
In order to improve your practice, you’ll need to get some feedback about how you’re doing. After reading for your volunteers, consider asking what stood out for them about their reading, and if there’s anything that you could do to make the reading experience better. If you’re especially ambitious, you can even design a survey that you can send out, asking people about aspects of your reading that concern you. Do you talk too quickly? Too slowly? Do you give too little information? Is the reading accurate? Is the reading precise, or too vague?

Once you’ve gotten feedback, you can start working on changing your readings according to how people like them. Know that there will always be room for improvement, so don’t be disheartened by hearing that you’re not perfect. Look for signs of improvement moving forward. Try working on just one aspect of your reading at a time, and celebrate any small improvements that you see.

• Try asking for feedback after a reading and then acting upon that feedback.

Day 4: Being Resourceful
Next, it’s time to try doing some readings in other formats. You might want to volunteer to set up a table and do readings at a fundraiser or benefit. You’ll get a lot of practice in all at once, and draw attention to the charity of your choice at the same time. Another opportunity to perform psychic readings is in a local coffee shop or even a pub. This works best if you can pick out a mom and pop establishment and talk with the owner directly. He or she may be so happy to have you drum up business that you might get a little free advertising and draw even more potential reading subjects.

Make sure to represent yourself well whenever you’re out reading in public, since you’ll be representing all psychics in general. A lot of people meeting a psychic for the first time in public may be more interested in asking you questions about your practice than in getting a reading. Indulge them! Also, don’t be afraid to limit your time out reading. You may find that, if you’re not properly grounded, you end up tired if you read in public for too long. Know your limits and stick to them.

• Try reading in-person out in public.

Day 5: Reading for Money
Performing psychic readings for money is a game changer. The extra pressure and responsibility that comes from a professional-client relationship can be daunting. You may now have to consider getting a business license and other licenses as required for giving advice, counseling or otherwise giving psychic readings in your area. You’ll need to figure out how to track your earnings and pay your taxes. Here are some tips I wish I knew before I got started:

Firstly, charge as much as you can. Your time is worth money; it’s easy to lower your price and keep clients, but impossible to do the reverse. Also, you’ll not make friends among existing professional psychics if you sweep in and undercut all their prices. Secondly, hold off on expenses as much as possible. You don’t have to buy a shop or even a booth. Partner with local businesses if you can. And finally, don’t bite off more than you can chew. If this is a hobby business, be reasonable with your approach.

• Try charging for a reading. Perhaps tack your first payment to your wall with pride.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2015. All rights reserved.