A Toolbox for Finding Direction in Life

You get a job, you sign a lease, you network, and you get to know your town. You get better at your job; get more furniture, you become a regular at the coffee shop, you hang out with all the same people, your calendar is always booked. You set life on autopilot for a minute. Forget to take it off. And wind up at a dead end.

Neel van Lierop was at one of those dead ends. It wasn’t tragic. She was bored. Her life path had never been straight and narrow: She’d left law school for night classes at a fashion academy, partied through Amsterdam’s fashion scene as a stylist, and started her own headhunting company for creative agencies. She had always had fun creating and telling visual stories. But at some point, she realized she wasn’t creating from inside—you know, where the good stuff comes from. She wanted focus, not distraction. She wanted to hear from that inner voice—where had it gone?

In search of it, van Lierop built a tool to clear her head that became a powerful deck of cards, which she later named Inner Compass. Designed around forty-nine life themes, the cards incorporate Mayan culture, Taoism, Buddhism, and I Ching. You might think this would make for an abstract experience. But the messages the cards carry are straightforward: “Slow Down,” “Surrender,” and—our favorite to pull—“Party Time.” So there’s no pretending you didn’t get the memo. And there’s more guidance for you in the booklet to explain the deck of cards.

The opposite of distraction, van Lierop says, is direction. And the more we can connect with our inner compass, the better our chances of choosing what’s good for us. Call it intuition, call it higher intelligence, call it anything you wish. If you need a game plan for when it’s time to let go and take a deeper look inside, these cards are here to help.

Finding Your Inner Compass

By Neel van Lierop

Some people like to use the deck every morning for a specific card to guide their day. Others might pick a card periodically to shed light on an urgent issue, a question they might have, or a business or financial decision. If you are struggling, the cards can provide comfort and direction toward a new perspective. Sometimes we want someone to tell us we are headed in the right direction. The cards make you that person. Set your focus to a question you want to be answered, shuffle the deck, and blindly pick one or more cards.

If you don’t know what to ask, try:

• What do I need right now to feel well?

• How will this situation develop?

• What should I focus on today?

• Why has this situation come into my life?

• What can I do now?

• What is the best way to approach this situation?

• What can I expect from this person/issue/job?

• What should my next step be?

If you’re worried about which card to pick: Don’t. Your intuition will guide you to the right one. It is impossible to choose the wrong card. The different layers of the card you have chosen will unravel themselves. Even if it’s not clear at first, trust that your subconscious mind is helping you process the information and connect it to current situations in your life. Every turn will be different. Every reading will be unique. Allow this awareness to guide the next steps on your personal journey.

Neel van Lierop is an entrepreneur and spiritual motivator. She is the founder and creator of the Inner Compass deck.