Therefore, the third and final stage involves the seemingly Herculean feat of overcoming the given challenges and obstacles arising on our path of self-transformation. Each of our journeys will be unique, replete with its distinct challenges and obstructions; however, all will include similar strategies of empowerment, critical reflection, endurance and hard-won insight—the necessary flash of lightning in the forking of the road. At this stage, we no longer need to wax and wane exclusively in self-effort; instead, we must open up to the instruction of our higher self speaking to us via our intuition. In this stage, meditation is critical to the spiritual unfoldment and real and lasting transformation. Thus we must deepen in this lofty practice and allow the energy of transformation to seep trough, trickle by precious trickle. We must surrender to a greater force that holds us and everything else in our continuously expanding universe. Until we have done this and grown in practice, we will not be made stronger, wiser or more loving. Rather, we will remain arrested in our growth, frozen in time and space like some giant meteorite revolving ceaselessly around the light body of true knowledge and wisdom.
In conclusion, the beingness model offers us real possibility of transforming our nature while moving closer to our innermost state of being where the true source of our power dwells. Through the three main stages of groundwork, development and surrender, we have a chance of arriving at the point of semblance where we began in earnest the slaying of our own imaginary dragons which we have created layer after putrid layer of refuse that has never served us well. Although these three stages have been delineated individually, they overlap each other throughout the process and thus allow for the gradual integration of parts into the whole. Once we have successfully completed the first cycle of our transformation, we will then be aptly guided by our higher self—our spirit— to a greater and greater state of transformation where the state of beingness unfolds into the immediacy of any given moment beckoned by our unwavering creative will and our unyielding inner presence of peace, love, and wisdom.
Coaching application
The application of thismodel begins with us coaches by first learning and mastering some of the aspects or qualities discussed up to the second stage so that we may learn how to apply it to our coaching process and thus serve our clients to the best of our potential and inner abilities we are continuously developing and advancing through each subsequent stage resulting from our efforts and in turn supported and guided by our higher self.
This is a process of getting to know our growth and of integrating it into the entirety of our larger life experience. The growth often serves as the lens from which we seek into wider and deeper inner experience through the faculty of our intuition. It is in this way we become more adept at sensing, measuring and advancing in successive steps. The various self-enhancement tools we utilize along the way become the instruments by which we also test, measure and advance our inner journey, and the progress we make is absorbed into our deeper structure, the spiritual nature we are evolving.
There will be enough of trial and error in the beginning, missed opportunities, the lessening of the desire to continue seeking into our nature. We will need to learn how to be more compassionate and loving with ourselves and allow for the time to grow in inner patience which is submerged in surrender and inner knowing— the state of coming to know ourselves anew in the moment. It is here that our next step will be mapped out for us or the right direction indicated.
We are thus free to expand in our inner space, growing in confidence and self-awareness which is markedly different from the awareness we cultivate externally in our daily exchanges and interactions with others. This inner self-awareness is imbued not only with the intuitive qualities we have come to rely on in our states of awareness but with a direct knowing that seems to come outside of us in the moment of direct perception where we glimpse our deeper or higher self which will become our inner compass, our own guide par excellence. It is our job to teach ourselves how to first make the contact before we begin establishing the necessary relationship if we are to seek into our higher nature.
Although some of this may sound abstruse and/or incompatible with our daily activities and engagements, it is through the cultivation of inner wisdom and knowledge that we come to further develop our skills and talents, all of which makes our life’s journey that much more significant and richer. Throughout our learning process, we also begin to touch others in their place of higher knowing where their resourcefulness resides.
Now, how do we apply all of this to coaching? Do we tell our clients to quiet down in reflection and start meditating when they feel the time right? Ideally, that is all it takes, but fortunately or unfortunately, our clients are also dynamic, vibrant entities with unique skills, talents and attributes; they not only have the capacity and the creativity to solve their own problems, but more importantly, they are the ones who attract their opportunities which often come with challenges. Spiritually speaking, this is of paramount importance; in coaching, this is starting to be integrated into a more holistic discipline even though there is still much stress on doing, mobilizing and making things happen externally. A happy balance between doing and being needs to be struck to harmonize progress with the deeper state of beingness which not only helps to define our clients’ higher purpose but brings new meaning to their lives both as individuals and as responsible members of our communities.
Practically speaking, we coaches can begin with listening—deep, expansive listening of not only what is being said, but how and even why our clients are communicating to us their experiences, challenges and ultimately their levels and states of consciousness. Training ourselves in this powerful coaching skill is vital if we are to effectively hold the space for our clients and cultivate the sensing and knowing of how to offer support to the best of our abilities. And as we tune in deeper and surrender to the coaching process, we will be guided by our intuitive self to our next question which arises from our higher wisdom and which we are slowly learning to cultivate into a skill of its own. To draw on this kind of support, we need to have mastered a certain degree of inner composure and resourcefulness to be able to offer this kind of support and insight to our clients. This approach will also demand more of our flexibility and patience as when we challenge our clients and tease and probe for additional content to arrive at the next right question. By holding the client accountable, we are similarly held accountable not only throughout the coaching process but by our own inner development and deeper journeying into our resourceful states by means of our curiosity, adaptability, creativity and professional skillfulness.
In summary, the purpose of the beingness model is to construct a semblance of an open-minded system that relies on the multiplicity of tools, structures and approaches best suited to each individual client as we journey together with the client along the designated path of our unique coaching process. It is also a model that urges us to be open and inquisitive into our own inner states of beingness by opening the gates to our higher mind and wisdom through self-reflection and regular meditation practice. Once we have accessed this space and grown in learning and exploration, we then begin to integrate our new knowledge and, by extension, nurture, support and offer any useful resource(s) to our clients to assist them in reaching their goals through their own learning, growth and exploration.