How I went from corporate leader to purpose guide, shamanic healer & spiritual mentor
By Lian Brook-Tyler
This post is one I needed 12 years ago, but then maybe if I had I would have dismissed it, and maybe just upon seeing the title…
• Dismissed it as woo woo nonsense… “shamanic”, “spiritual”, please. Why not throw “astrologist” in for good measure?
• Dismissed it because it was an uncomfortable provocation… If this woman has left the corporate world and is happy with her choice - what will that say about me and my choices? I am still here after more than a decade and with no plans to leave, despite the growing and inconvenient sense it’s not what my soul came here for (not that I would have used the word ‘soul’ then)
• But perhaps the word “purpose” would have caught my attention… As much as I had my dream job in so many ways, I knew deep down I hadn’t found my purpose, and what gnawed away at me even more was the fear that maybe I never would
So if you’re still here reading, I’ll start there - with purpose. But first, we’ll rewind a few decades (depending on your age)…
1. What was it that you loved to do as a child that made hours feel like minutes?
2. What was the belief or curiosity - the one that drew you into the world of spirituality, myth, mysticism, poetry, dreams, astrology, fantasy and magic - that one day you put aside, thinking it had no place in the real world?
3. What is that recurring message - that shows up in psychometric profiling, 360 degree feedback, and conversations with wise friends and mentors - that whispers that you have more depth, more power, and more possibility than you dare to admit to yourself?
Your answers to those questions are breadcrumbs that, if you follow them, will lead to your purpose.
I’ll share my own answers to those questions, so you can see how they’ve led me into discovering and living my own purpose.
And of course, my own purpose is quite meta in that I’m here to help others find theirs, and I do so using ancient ways alchemised for modern days - such as wild nature immersion, archetypes, shamanic soul retrieval, and non-dual spirituality - maybe you’ll see the breadcrumbs in my answers.
1. What was it that you loved to do as a child that made hours feel like minutes?
- I spent hours in nature, lost to and found by the trees, the lizards, and the birds. I also wrote voraciously - poems, songs, stories, and plays about love, beauty, magic, and truth.
2. What was the belief or curiousity - the one that drew you into the worlds of spirituality, myth, mysticism, poetry, dreams, fantasy and magic - that one day you put aside, thinking it had no place in the real world?
- I lived with one foot in Narnia and the other in the Shire, I devoured books of myths and legends, at 13 I studied A-level psychology textbooks for fun, I read the astrological charts of anyone who would tell me their birth details (plotting out their sun, moon and ascendant by hand using a kit I had been given as a present - it was one of my most prized possessions).
3. What is that recurring message - the one that shows up in psychometric profiling, 360 degree feedback, and conversations with insightful peers and wise mentors - that whispers that you have more depth, more power, and more possibility than you dare to admit to yourself?
- When I did 1:1s and performance reviews with my team members we’d go deeper than deep, diving into their hopes, fears and dreams in a way that felt natural to me but I was told how they felt my eyes were boring into their souls, eliciting answers from places they didn’t know existed… Not a typical exchange over a desk in the head office of a FTSE 100 company.
Psychometric profiles would talk about how I could connect with others on a deep level, my ability to see future possibilities, my perceptiveness, and my role to inspire and guide others into greater meaning and purpose.
And the final, most obvious, recurrence of this message was when I agreed to coach my then manager - a senior leader - about finding her purpose.
You might be wondering why I asked question 2, the one about the belief or curiosity that drew you into esoteric worlds… Although it’s perhaps clear why that’s a relevant question for me given the work I do now, why is it relevant to you?
It’s because when I’m talking about purpose, the only true purpose is not that of your ego, not your parents’ idea of what you should be doing, and not based on society’s view of success… Your true purpose is that of your soul.
And without a re-opening of the doorways to the mystery (call it the universe, God, Spirit or Source)… It is unlikely you’ll be able to hear the voice of your soul.
Sometimes those doorways open spontaneously - or blasted open in my case, upon the sudden, shocking death of my father - but most of the time it requires a conscious choice to dust off and turn a handle that you perhaps haven’t even set eyes on since childhood, and to allow the door to fall open, hinges creaking, until the gentle glow of your own soul’s light pours through.
If you’re feeling curious about opening that door, Waking The Wild co-founder Jonathan Wilkinson and I are leading a 12-month immersion called Medicine. It is a journey into discovering your soul’s purpose and uncovering your unique gifts, what we call ‘becoming your medicine’… The next step is to book a free call with one of us to explore whether it’s aligned for you to join us.
All my love,
Lian ♥️
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