Today's challenge called for drawing a card from the minor arcana excluding aces and court cards. The card drawn would represent advice for the month of August.So what does August have in store for me?! Yesterday's draw revealed that the theme for this month will be a personal learning journey into wild as the Hermit, and today's advice card fittingly is the Eight of Pentacles.It takes hard work and dedication to hone skills to a point that they bring you success. The eight of pentacles shows a young man hard at work on his craft while a cat lazes about in the sun, birds nest and drink water, and quite frankly, it's a beautiful day outside. The young man at work isn't distracted by any of those things. He has shut out the world (much like the Hermit) and has zoned in entirely on the work at hand. As he works, he continuously creates a product equal in quality to the one he made before.So what advice does this carry for me? As I mentioned in yesterday's post on the Hermit, I've recently slacked on my journaling and daily pulls. Some of that stems from having reached a point spiritually, that I don't feel as reliant on daily affirmations to have a positive day. However, part of that daily pull was learning, reaffirming, or discovering something new about the tarot. My slacking has also stemmed from the opening of my Etsy shop , which has taken a considerable amount of time to plan, build, etc.In other aspects of my life, I have started a new job. It has taken some time away from my daily affirmations, but it is also part of why my daily pulls have slowly petered away to none: I have found myself in a position that deeply satisfies me. I can put all of my skills and abilities to use and feel a sense of being satiated at the end of a day. All of this is great and wonderful of course, but what can I take away from it? Clearly the card's advice is not, "Okay, you're done. You've reached your goals. Now chill."I haven't reached my goals at all. Some of them maybe. All of them, definitely not. Though I've managed to garner some excellent reviews and fabulous feedback since I've "gone pro" at reading tarot, I still have not made my first sale on Etsy. I would be a liar if I said that isn't frustrating. Despite years of work, I still haven't written my final paper to finally graduate and receive my master's degree. Until I recently started the couch to 5k app, I dropped every exercise and diet plan I started when I became frustrated I was not as active (or proficient) as I once was.For me, today, the advice the eight of pentacles is, "See how hard work has paid off when you don't give up? Do that again. Work hard. Achieve." So far the month of August, I'm going to do my damnedest to participate in this challenge with the intention of growing as a tarot reader. If you build it, they will come. And I will build myself into a tarot reader people seek. I will finish that couch to 5k program, and I will be proud of myself for being able to run a 5k again. As for that paper, well, I'm going to have to find time to fit that in somewhere... maybe next month? (I kid, I kid...)With a bit of elbow grease and putting one foot in front of the other (literally in some cases), I believe this month will be one of growing and do my darndest to achieve my goals. And if I fail? Then I start over and try again. I try until I win.