Reflecting on my Newfield journey, and the journey beyond

After 9.5 months, I finally graduated from Newfield’s Certified Coach Training Programme (ICF Level 2-Accredited Program) last Sunday. This program trained us to be of PCC-level competency in our coaching.

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲 𝐁𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 #𝐎𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡?

I was positively overwhelmed, and spent the past 5 days trying to process the entire thing. Then, I concluded, my first attempt at reflecting will be:

(1) through numbers, and

(2) the English language simply doesn’t do my experience justice. So, I turned to Google Gemini to help me find non-English words that can begin to describe all that.

(1)   The numbers, over 9.5 months

• ~100 hours of conferences including powerful somatic dance and tension-release classes
• 62 hours of teleclasses with masterful ontological coaches worldwide
• 12 hours being coached and mentored by 2 deeply experienced coaches
• 25 hours of small-group learning & peer-coaching with peers
• 50 hours completing 7 discovery & coaching assignment guides, 6 books, with in depth inquiry of self, of others, and attaining knowledge, skills and competencies on my ontology & ontological work with others
• > 80 hours of 1-1 coaching clocked with 25 clients from 6 countries whilst in the programme
• 1 written examination at the end
• In between the ‘activities’, a lot of mental, emotional and physical effort put into practising my  ‘way of being’ differently from my past defaults, with the intention to develop and reinforce a wider Mental, Emotional and Somatic range.

(2)   I’ll start with 3 non-English words:

#1: Paideia (Greek): holistic development of an individual’s mind, body and character

The journey taught me that true transformation of ourselves, from a version we aren’t satisfied with to one that’s more satisfying or productive, begins from within us (Being), and not from our Output / Actions. 

#2: Ethos (Greek): character, moral nature, and ethical principles, inner qualities that define a person

The success of an intervention lies in the inner state of the intervener.

Aligning my inner state (body sensations, emotions, beliefs) with my outer state (body language, actions, behaviour & verbal language) constitute wholehearted, authentic presence to best serve my clients, colleagues, family, friends.

With my clients’ wellbeing at heart, holding space for them with care and gentle irreverence, I can never do them wrong.

#3: Meraki (Greek, Turkish): heartfelt investment of one’s soul and passion in an activity, reflecting a deep sense of care and dedication.

I coach with ‘meraki’. That’s how I identify with this word.

I’m aware there’s the ‘high’ of completing a long programme, but, what remains unchanged is the relationship I have with coaching / self-work since I embarked on this journey 10 years ago – energised by gratitude, joy, confidence, humility, compassion.

(3)   On the last day of the Newfield programme,

I received a letter which I wrote to myself, 9 months before (May 2024):  

“I want to thank myself for FINALLY listening to my heart and body and treating them right. It has been a long time coming.

I want to thank myself for choosing to live for myself, for choosing to be open to thinking, feeling differently, for choosing to be alive differently, as a human becoming”.

Reading this brought me to tears. ‘Cos I’ve worked so hard the past 9.5 months to be a better human for myself and the people around me. I saw how much I’ve grown thus far, and I cried out of acknowledgement for myself, and in looking ahead to what’s to come.

(4)   The journey ahead

 So what’s next? The same ‘old’ i.e. coaching clients, podcasting, holding workshops, etc. But, I say this with a buzzing excitement in my body, a smile on my lips, a sparkle in my eyes.

If you resonate with what I wrote, however so, leave me a comment or ping me separately. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

If you’re interested to be coached by me, you can expect that I’ll hold our coaching relationship with respect, kindness, yet just a bit of steelness/ firmness so we can get real work done together (and not waste your time and money 😉). I will partner you through a coaching process, for you to find your own answers to the questions / problems you may currently be living in, to achieve powerful, lasting results in your personal and professional lives.

Ping me to learn more about the ontological & NLP coaching I do, and explore if this is for you and how we can best work together =)