Eat, Pray, Love Lessons from Ketut the Medicine Man

It was a blistering hot and humid day on April 2 – about 90 degrees at 12:30 in the afternoon in Bali.  My friend Suzie and I sat with our plastic numbers in hand (#10 and #11) to wait our turn to see Ketut Liyer, the medicine man Elizabeth Gilbert wrote about in her book “Eat, Pray, Love”.  On a whim we had decided to visit him while on our trip to Bali.  It was a bit of an interesting full circle. My friend Suzie had convinced me to go to an ashram in India to learn how to meditate six years earlier. I had recommended she read the book “Eat, Pray, Love”, so when we arrived in Bali on vacation with our families, she convinced me we should visit Ketut.  I wasn’t really sure what to expect.  Nothing had really prepared me for the experience.  Here are some lessons about personal power that I took away from Ketut.

We arrived and waited our turn in the open compound area.  Ketut Liyer’s card says:

• Medicine Man
• Healing + Meditation
• Palm Reading
• Balinese Astrology
• Painter + Woodcarver
• Home Stay

My Palm Reading

There were several people (mostly women tourists) in line in the open courtyard.  Ketut whose age that day was 110 years old (over the last couple of years his age has been quoted between 84 and 100), sat on a covered platform on a mat on the floor wearing traditional Balinese sarong and a t-shirt.  For the privilege of giving up $25 per 20 minute “private session”, you get to have your own palm read and listen in on others’ palm readings.  There is no such thing as privacy and listening in to the two or three readings including ours, the content was 95% the same.  Smiling his big toothless smile, in his lyrical broken Balinese English, the ends of the last word in each sentence drawn out, here’s what Ketut said to me:

• “I so haaaapppy to see youuuuu”
• “You so pretttty”
• “You so smaaart”
• “You long life – 100 years old”
• “You so luckyyyy”
• “You so successfuulll”

It was almost as if he had memorized standard sentences in English and was repeating them indiscriminately to everyone.  What he did say that was somewhat unique to me was that I am “impatient” and mustn’t drive too fast.  He must have read my blog post on failure.  He also mentioned that I am an “influencer” and a “queen” (note to self – repeat this three times a day).

For a 110-year old man he is also quite the Hugh Hefner of Bali. Apparently Ketut has somewhat of a reputation as a ladies’ man as we discovered later in the week at a local market.  Upon hearing that I was single, he felt compelled to mention that although he already has two wives, they are somewhat old and are tired.  Then he smiled his big toothless smile and we all had a nice laugh envisioning me as his third “trophy” wife.  His standard medical exam includes him evaluating your gall bladder, kidneys, ears, nose, eyes, eye brows, back, and knees.  I offered to roll up my jeans so he could see my knees and he said that that would be “dangerous”.  He threw his head back and we all (including the audience) had another good laugh.

Lessons Learned from the Ketut Experience

Here’s what I learned from Ketut that day:

1) When life throws you an opportunity, make the most of it – At $75/hour, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, he’s bringing in $180,000 a year, which easily qualifies him within the top 1% of earners in Indonesia.  Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than to be good. Quite the entrepreneur, he is capitalizing on the instant stardom after the book and the movie.

2) Keep the customer happy – Most of us probably didn’t learn anything new.  But most of us did walk away with a large smile and happy for the adventure. We knew he was sincere when he kept repeating “I so happppy to see you”.  He made each of us feel very special in his presence.  Making a customer feel good goes a long way, even if the product isn’t what the customer expected.

3) We each have the power to choose our experience – In life and at our next meeting, we have the power to choose how we interpret events. I could have been disappointed, felt cheated for not getting any deep information, or even been turned off by his advances. But (like life) it was after all an adventure. For me believing that he is accurate when he says I’m pretty, smart, lucky, an influencer, and a queen is much more of a better spend of my $25! We each have a “consciousness filter” through which we can choose to experience the world. What is yours?

4) What action we take is what matters – “You will live a long time . . . You will lose all of your money . . . Don’t worry you will get it all back again … And you will come back to Bali and then I will teach you everything I know”.  This was Ketut’s prediction to Elizabeth Gilbert and with this she created the idea for the book.  The challenge to each of us then is to choose carefully what we believe, look for the good, and to take bold action toward it.  It is a big part of our personal power and happiness.  As for me, I shall be taking bold action today toward being an influencer and a queen by doing more writing for the book I am writing on leadership authenticity.

5) The future lies in our hands (and not just in our palms) – As human beings we are all curious to know about the future.  Basically we really want to know that everything will be okay.  This uncertainty, this not knowing is an uncomfortable experience.  What I learned from Ketut that day is that what matters is the present – how happy we are, and how we contribute to others’ happiness – and that is squarely in our own hands right now.

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This article was written by Henna Inam, C-level executive coach, global speaker, and author of the book Wired for Disruption. She helps leaders grow their agility to be a force for good and thrive in times of change. They create organizations that drive breakthroughs in innovation, growth, and engagement. In roles including Head E-Innovation and Chief Innovation and Marketing Officer, Henna drove transformation throughout her 20-year corporate career as an executive with Fortune 500 companies. Join the thousands who follow her blog here. Connect on Linkedin.