Focus on Awakening

We often speak of awakening as if it’s a thunderclap, a singular moment when our purpose is revealed and the clouds part to bathe us in clarity. Yet, for many, awakening is less a dramatic transformation and more a gentle, persistent unfolding. This was the case for Nathalie Cordell, my guest in this week’s Focus on WHY podcast episode.

Nathalie’s personal journey was not catalysed by one grand event but by a steady call from within. Decades spent in a well-trodden corporate world brought her comfort, success and routine. On the outside, life appeared ‘just right’: a supportive boss, a loving family, all boxes ticked. However, a yearning for ‘more’ nudged Nathalie quietly until it could no longer be ignored.

The tipping point didn’t come dressed as a major crisis. It came cloaked in ordinary discontent; an accumulating sense that spreadsheets and deadlines failed to nourish something vital inside. Only when personal hardship intensified, with the illness of loved ones, did the imperative to find meaning become impossible for Nathalie to dismiss.

Nathalie’s awakening began not with fireworks but with surrender. Surrender to coaching. To vulnerability. To admitting that the answers—though always ‘within’—needed gentle coaxing from behind the hard shell she’d built up over years. Awakening, Nathalie reveals, is not about finally getting it ‘right’ or hitting an external milestone. It’s about the slow peeling away of layers, the softening that happens when we turn inwards and gently ask: who am I when all the trappings fall away? What matters most?

This journey isn’t navigated in isolation. It’s supported by small, gracious interventions—an empathetic boss, honest friends, circles of women, and, crucially, the willingness to face stories of shame and pain previously kept in the shadows. By daring to name these stories, by speaking them aloud or writing them down, you liberate yourself and those around you. Healing takes place not in erasing the past but in giving it meaning and letting it inform a fuller, more authentic life.

Awakening isn’t a single event. It’s an ongoing process. Sometimes subtle, sometimes challenging which invites you to meet yourself anew, again and again.

Focus on Awakening. Focus on Why.

REFLECTION WITH ACTION: What layer could you gently peel back this week to reveal your own sleeping wisdom?