Walking the Mystical Path with Practical Feet: Why I Started "Surrendering to the Signs"

In the introductory episode of "Surrendering to the Signs," I share the personal journey that led me to create this podcast - from selling software on Wall Street to wandering with Aboriginal healers in the Australian Outback, to coaching leaders at some of the world’s largest organizations - and how losing my sister gave me the courage to share my spiritual journey with all of you!

The Doorway to Larger Consciousness

If I were able to go back in time and meet my younger self, I would reassure her that all of the life lessons that were going to happen - although they might feel painful, tragic, or unbearable - would actually be powerful turning points. Without those turning points, life would not be as rich or as full, and my destiny would not have been unlocked in the same way.

When I talk about spirituality, for me it's this sense that there's both a destiny for us and free will within that destiny. We make choices and decisions, sometimes thinking we're conscious in the moment, then realizing ten years later that it was an unconscious decision.

It’s this idea that the universe is trying to get our attention, trying to show us the way through signs and synchronicities - for me, it's a doorway into a larger collective consciousness, into a larger wisdom that perhaps in my day-to-day life I don't have access to.

The Parallel Life I've Been Living

I feel like I've had this parallel life for many decades now. I've studied with mystics and shamans, gone to healers and attended workshops around the world - wandering with an Aboriginal healer in the Australian Outback, attending a workshop with a world-renowned astrologer to Kauai, studying with a well-known shamanic teacher in the desert in New Mexico. I’ve done yoga and meditation retreats, ten day green juice cleanses, Lakota sweat lodges and Buteyko breathwork training.

Each and every time I embark on one of these quests I always hold the same question. What is my purpose? Why am I here? What gives my life meaning and purpose?

These are journeys I've gone on for my own spiritual exploration, and I felt like, "Oh, I can't really bring that into the business world. I can't really talk about those experiences."

But the truth is, there are many ways we can connect with the divine. There are many ways to have a spiritual experience that doesn't have to be "out there" and esoteric. For some people it's classical music, for others it's sitting amongst trees. I just happen to have chosen many esoteric ways of learning and understanding for myself.

From Wall Street to Spiritual Seeker

My journey has taken me through transitions that sound like there was some grand plan, but to me, it feels like I just kept powering through, trying to figure out why I'm here and what I'm here for. From selling software for Citibank on Wall Street to leaving that job and traveling South America for a year (having my own "Eat, Pray, Love" experience before "Eat, Pray, Love"), then moving to California and starting a marketing business during the dot-com era, to doing what I do now, coaching leaders and teams from Silicon Valley to Washington DC.

Even if you feel lost or confused, what I've seen is that people really do know what they want. They'll say, "If I only could do what I really wanted to do, if I only knew what that was." But when I ask them, "Well, if you knew what that was, what would it look like?" they often get very quiet, lean close, and almost whisper the thing they truly know they want.

We all kind of know it. We just often don't believe it's possible or don't want to admit that it's possible. Because if we pursued that dream, things would have to change!

The Secret Weapon: Your Zone of Genius

One concept I've found very helpful is thinking about your "zone of genius" -which I first learned about in Gay Hendrick’s book, The Big Leap. It’s this idea that when we're in a state of flow, doing the things we're not only good at but designed to do, life becomes more effortless.

There are four zones: incompetence (things I'm not good at and should delegate - which I have a fantastic team for!), competence (things I can do but might want to outsource), excellence (where people often get stuck - they're really good at what they do but feel something's missing), and genius (that state of flow where you could spend hours without noticing time go by).

What I often advise clients is: instead of being indispensable, can you make yourself dispensable? Can you start to outsource the things you're really good at and make space for this zone of genius?

The Risk of Living vs. the Risk of Not Living

People say to me, "Oh my God, you quit your job and moved to South America, then quit again and moved across the country." That didn't feel like a risk to me - that felt like I didn't have a choice. I felt like I was being propelled forward.

What might be risky to me and what's risky to you are very different things. We often feel like we're behind, like we've missed the boat. I see this especially with people in their forties, fifties, or sixties - they feel like it's too late. I refuse to buy that. The fifties were some of my most productive years.

My biggest regrets are the times I didn't take the risk, whatever ridiculous reason kept me from embracing the moment. Truly living is when we step out of our comfort zone and do the thing we know we want to do, despite that little voice saying, "Don't do that. You're going to look ridiculous."

The Catalyst That Changed Everything

A huge catalyst in moving forward on this work was losing my sister in October 2022. As painful and completely devastating as that was, it was also a catalyst to say, "What are you waiting for, Laura? What are you waiting for? It's time."

I had written an earlier version of my eBook called "Surrendering to the Signs" back in 2011, and it had been hidden on my website ever since. But grief has a way of clarifying what really matters.

Bringing the Unconscious into the Conscious

Part of what we're looking to do with these conversations is make the unconscious conscious - make us aware of the places where we're not completely in tune with our heart's desires, our true wishes and dreams, or the wisdom of our body.

I was coaching an executive once, and I said to him, "I really hear your grief in what you're saying." He was astounded that I named something he didn't even know he had - a feeling of grief about a career situation. We don't often associate grief with the workplace.

If we tune into our true feelings, the wisdom of the body, the signs and synchronicities, and our dreams, there's real wisdom and guidance available to us right here and now. We don't have to climb to the top of a mountain and spend ten years in a cave - we don't have time for that these days.

The Permission to Do What You Came Here to Do

Part of my mission in life is to wave my little fairy wand and say, "You now have permission to do the thing you came here to do."

It's almost like a door opens, and once someone sees a glimpse of what's possible, they just go on that path. The fear goes away, the doubt goes away, the mental back and forth goes away.

Where people get stuck, feel trapped: "This is my job. I have to do the same job till I retire. This is what I was trained in, educated in, invested my whole career in." Part of my quest as a coach is to unlock those "shoulds" and help people see a different path.

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My hope for this podcast: I want to make people aware that these ways of communicating with the universe exist. Through hearing other people's examples of how signs and synchronicities have guided them through illness, death of loved ones, and extraordinary turning points in life, we can all become more conscious of the destiny that's mapped out for us. We are living in a participatory universe which requires our participation!

We're living in a time where there's a greater sense of urgency around finding our purpose. More and more clients are saying, "This executive coaching stuff is great, but what I really want to figure out is: What am I here for?"

The more we ask ourselves that question and allow those answers, the more we tune into that wisdom, the more change will be facilitated for us. We just have to be willing to embrace it.

Listen to the full introductory episode to hear more about my journey from Wall Street to spiritual seeker, and why I believe we all have permission to live the purpose we came here to fulfill.

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Welcome to "Surrendering to the Signs" - where everyday people share their stories of walking the mystical path with practical feet.