Powerful Tools To Wake You Up with Veronica Love

You know, for me, happiness is so intimately connected with presence and with being with. So there's an element that when I am with the moment, when I am present to what is arising, that is where joy shows up and happiness shows up. And so, as I mentioned, that can be nature, it can be my daughter also. It can be. I personally am fascinated and just in love with art. And so in the creation of painting, in the creation, right. There's something that I think evokes and amplifies our own passion and purpose when we're in a creative endeavor.

Hey there friends. Welcome to Happiness Squad. This is the podcast dedicated to helping you unlock your full potential by mastering the art and science of happiness. We bring on the best leading experts on these topics to help you unlock your true potential and live with more joy, health, love and meaning in your life. Your host is no other than the star combo of Ashish Kothari and Anil Ramjiani, who are both on a mission to provide you with an unfair advantage to be the masters of your experience and leaders in your industry. Get ready to be moved, challenged and enlightened on this podcast. It may change your life. Thanks for being here and joining the squad.

Hey Happiness Squad, welcome back. Ashish and I are so excited to be with you. What if I told you that billions of people around the world are walking around but are not truly awake? Are you one of them? Ashish and I dive into this with our next guest who will share simple yet powerful tools. Better than an alarm clock that will wake you up. And I promise, once you're awake, you will be curious for more. That's right, no snooze button. Our guest is Veronica Love, the global CEO of the Newfield Network. She holds a master degree in acupuncture and is a professional certified coach. She's led Neufeld's signature Coaching for Personal and Professional Mastery program for over 18 years in eight countries and in two languages. She has trained leaders, coaches from organizations including NASA, Google, Fortune 50 consulting firms, Nike, IBM, and Fannie Mae. In fact, as you'll soon hear, Ashish is a testimonial of this work. How does she do this? She powerfully integrates linguistic, emotional and somatic awareness to foster potent learning environments, equipping coaches and leaders with the capacity to generate transformative and sustainable change in their clients and organizations. As we spoke today, I could feel Veronica's unique light and playful demeanor that complements her capacity for depth and impact. The combination of Ashish and Veronica is truly powerful. Veronica kindly talks us through Two models that will allow you to develop your own self awareness. What resonated for me was the difference between remaining asleep or setting aside the time to become aware and emotionally agile. I encourage you to reach out to Veronica and the Newfield Network and check out their programs that start in March and september@newfieldnetwork.com and stay tuned till the end when Veronica shares her tips on how to unlock your potential and find real meaning. Let's get started. Please join Ashish and I as we welcome Veronica to the Happiness Squad. Hey, Ashish. Hey, Veronica. How are you guys doing?

I'm wonderful. I'm very delighted to be here with you both.

I am smiling from one year to the next year to be here and to kind of just have this conversation. Thank you for joining us, Veronica.

Thank you so much for the invitation.

Yeah, it's a pleasure to meet you. We were chatting just before we got started and again, we just had just a great connection from the start. Excited to kind of get to know Veronica, chat more with her and Ashish around Veronica, the work that you do and how it links back to the Happiness Squad. So we're excited for our listeners to for an exciting podcast that lay ahead.

Absolutely. Yeah.

So just as we get started, you know, something we love to ask our guests is what does happiness mean to you?

That's such a gorgeous question. You know, what really comes to my heart when you say that is one of the happiest moments in my own life when I connect to that moment of profound joy is I'm thinking about, I. When I was pregnant, I had a very difficult first trimester. I had to stop working and just be with all the. All that was happening in my own body. And after about 20 hours of labor. Right. My daughter was born. And when she arrived, the very first time that I gazed into her eyes, there was such an explosion of joy that just coursed through my whole being. And it was this simultaneous stillness and expansion in that moment. And I think that's one of the deepest moments of joy that I've encountered. So when I connect with your question around what is happiness? I think at the heart of happiness is joy, which for me is profound connection. And it's a profound connection. It can be in this case with another human that just came into this glorious world. And it can be a joy that emerges when we deeply connect to our own humanity, our own hearts, or with nature. Right. There's some communion that arises that puts us in contact with this virtue of joy. So that's what comes to mind. Initially I feel like I could, you know, continue, but I'll pause there.

Wow, it is so beautiful. It's so beautiful. You know, and as you spoke about it, what was also kind of emerging for me was, Veronica, that there is connection, but with that connection is also a dissolution of these hard self boundaries, right. That we often create around me and mine. And you know, it's such. So beautiful. Right. As your daughter was born. But you also talked about how with nature, right, we forget. We forget this huge identity of me and we connect to something that is divine, which is all around us. I love it. Thank you.

Yeah, absolutely. I feel that, you know, in the dominant culture, our conception of self is very much skin in. And it's encapsulated and there's a sense of meanness, I. Ness. Right. The. The small self. And. And as we begin to recognize the permeability. Right. Of our skin, our pores can open and they can close, our eyes can open and close. And so we have that capacity to recognize that inherent oneness that exists.

I mean, now that I'm hearing you and I'm thinking about my next question, which is, you know, what brings happiness in your life? So we know one is definitely your daughter. What else would you like to share with our listeners that brings you happiness in your life?

Know, for me, happiness is so intimately connected with presence and with being with. So there's an element that when I am. With the moment, when I am present to what is arising, that is where joy shows up and happiness shows up. And so as I mentioned, that can be nature. It can be my daughter also. It can be. I personally am fascinated and just in love with art. And so in the creation of painting, in the creation, right. There's something that I think evokes and amplifies our own passion and purpose when we're in a creative endeavor. And creativity not just in 2D art or visual art, but creativity in everyday moments and including in how we the. The art of conversation. And I, I speak a lot about the necessity for us to resuscitate the art of dialogue and. And being with each other, being with humans that this very moment, right. Is joyous if we're really here and in the texture and the nuance and the richness that bubbles forth as we show up to meet life in its full range of spectrum.

You know, I. I was actually just thinking, I had a chat earlier with Ashish and we were talking about self awareness and we were talking about how you're the creator of your own experiences. And I think you know, like, I almost feel like, in a way, like life is art. You know, you look up to the sky and you admire the sun or, you know, what you see in nature, you know, what you see just in your surroundings. And I love how the way you described it almost made it feel tangible, like you can almost feel in touch, you know, what may be abstract or, you know, those aspects of life that bring us joy, that bring us happiness.

So with that question so beautifully around art, Veronica, and you talked about, you know, how just the creation of art, right, brings you so much joy. And I think implicit in that also is just, you know, what pours, right, like the art of creation. There's a part of us that pours in. So. And I've seen the amazing work you do. I'm like, you know, I am the recipients. I consider you and Julio, your father, truly one of several gurus who have kind of initiated me into. Into the work that I do now. Self awareness, right, is one of the key practices in the book Hardwired for Happiness, and it truly unlocks all other practices. And I know of nobody else who's spent more of their life and touched more lives, helping people become more self aware, become more aware of how they see the world and how they can become better observers of self. So share with our listeners, Veronica, a little bit about the importance of self awareness and why you dedicated your life towards helping people wake up.

Well, first I'll say that self awareness, just as we were talking about before, where we're in connection to everything, I find, is a bit of a misnomer because it has the sense, like it's just me, myself, and I'm becoming aware. And so I find that many of us never learned basic human skills. So in our education, for the bulk of us, my experience is that we weren't taught the beauty of really being human. And so self awareness, the cultivation of becoming aware, is our own practice of seeing deeply. And if we recognize that our self is a self of profound wholeness, so we're moving into more and more contact, greater and greater wholeness. And Oscar Wilde says this quote that is one of my ultimate favorite quotes. And he says, to look at a thing is very different from seeing a thing. One does not see anything until one sees its beauty. Then and only then does it come into existence. And so for us to fully come into existence is the practice of seeing the wholeness and the beauty of ourselves, meaning our own being, but every being we encounter. And so the practice of awareness is that we connect and see that wholeness. And I want to be sure here to say that it's from that wholeness. We're often in culture taught that there's something wrong with us, we're not enough, right? We have to hide these aspects of ourselves. But when we look at wholeness, we recognize that it's the wholeness that has gone through a challenge, that has gone through a hard time, that, right, we're struggling through something. We're always on this unfolding in this path of exploration. But fundamentally, the core of our existence is wholeness and tremendous beauty. And so for us to be able to experience the challenges of life and see possibilities, when we frame it in this and experience it from a place of wholeness, it radically alters our experience of aliveness.

That is so beautifully put, Veronica. So beautifully put, right? This notion of self awareness being a misnomer and, you know, and I highlight these three things in the book.

The.

There are three core levels, right? Awareness of just consciousness. How do we make sense? And that is an element of wholeness. When we realize what is in us, that sees and hears is everywhere else too. And that wholeness that you also talked about, I loved how you said, when we are whole, we can no longer. We no longer need to say, this is me. This is the part that the world likes and I like and. And this is not me. Because in wholeness, all the parts are integrated. And we can truly accept. And we can truly accept the beauty in that, right? There is a beauty. And oh, my God. And even then, your quote of the Oscar Wilde, I had not heard that, but I think it will go down. I need to, like, find it. I need to write it, right? This notion of only when we see the beauty do we really actually see, right? Does it actually resonate? I love it. And the fact that we can see beauty in everything, it is not that the beauty doesn't exist. We are oftentimes blind to it because we're not looking at it from the lens. Thank you. Thank you for that beautiful articulation of self awareness.

Well, I mean, you know, I think that, you know, I'd like to say over the last five to seven years, I've become more self aware. I've really tried to take and invest the time, whether it's giving myself the space. But I'm sure our listeners may also say, well, hang on a second, my eyes are open and I'm awake. I don't know why you guys are saying I'm asleep. And I would say to them, well, hang on a second. Are you truly self aware. And so I think a question to you Veronica, for our listeners is how does one go about developing the practice of self awareness that both you and Ashish have alluded to in your own ways?

Well one, I would say that awareness is an ongoing practice. We never fully arrive like oh, I've landed and now I have nothing to do. Yes, it's an ongoing practice. So I think that's essential that we're all, you know, on this journey of, of practicing awareness. And one element that I think is so essential is what I like to say, be in good company. Who are your partners in crime? Do we have a community of learners? Are we, do we have folks that we can count on to reflect to us? Because we will always be blind, right? Every single one of us has blindness or an area that we do not see or have yet to discover. And so other people can reflect, can illuminate aspects that we would never see on our own. So the practice of actually having good community, right. True relationships and friendships where people can point to things that we would otherwise miss. So there's an element of recognizing the value of being in relation to others. The second piece is, you know, there are 10,000 practices out there in this universe and they're all amazing and to see what really resonates with your being in this moment in time, right? Some practices resonate, don't work for us and then we discover next year they do or the next season, they're really valuable. And so the beauty is that there's such a wide array of practices but to, to actually put in the commitment and the dedication to say, you know, for this time, I'm choosing this one or these two practices as a way to commit to some rhythm and to some commitment of time that we dedicate to ourselves. And the other piece is, you know, curiosity and compassion, right? Are we, are we even in our practices, even when we're in good company, are we navigating life through curiosity? Right? What do, when am I going to discover? Like in this dialogue? I have no idea where, what we're, what Ashish is going to say to me and where we're going to go and what will arise and, and so can I be present and open and curious, right. There's an element of lightness and even play and delight that can come forth in the conversation because we have curiosity about this moment and the next.

You know, I love those, Veronica. And I think for our listeners, look, I think that is the aspiration that is at the heart and center of the work Right. That you know, that we are in the midst of doing at Happiness Squad. Veronica and I are collaborating. There's so many others. So just two or three resources. Right. For you to kind of think about just building on that one. You know, the community that we are building to Veronica's exact words, is a community of learners, teachers, and most importantly, practitioners. It's an invasion to show up with others who are like minded, who are constantly looking to discover and practice because it is a lifelong journey. That's why it's called a practice. It's not called a skill. That. Yes, now I am a black belt and I'm good, Right? No, it is something that you practice, by the way, most black belts practice every day. Little same thing that many people don't think I graduated. No, you're a lifelong learner. So I think that's important. So I think folks can check that out. But the second thing that she also mentioned was really powerful, which is what might work for you today might not be what actually serves you tomorrow. There might be something else depending on where you are right now. And so both in the book, there are a series of practices that I think you could actually choose from and that was the intent behind it. It's a collection of tons of great work done by many, many researchers that you can look into. But that's, by the way, our aspiration for this podcast. And that's why Veronica is here. And we're going to continuously keep having experts because there's so many people who are doing amazing work. And look, we don't want to be the one to decide. This is the one for you. We want you to kind of hear from them, try it and choose what is serving you in this moment. That is our aspiration behind this podcast and this community. So engage, listen. But my biggest invitation to you practice. Right. Don't just listen, don't just read. Actually practice, put it into your life. Because only through that act do we become more self aware and continue actually increasing and going deeper and deeper into our whole being.

Yeah. And I would add to that, Ashish, just, you know, the beauty of, I feel with Newfield in our community is that as we develop our coaching skills, our leadership skills, all those elements, part of it is looking at how do we design the right practice for the right moment. Right. And that is an element where we need to be paying attention to so many aspects of what's happening in our, in the moment in our lives, whether that's struggling in our organization that we're in or struggling in Our personal life or whatever it is that there are ways in which we can design these practices to really meet us where we're at.

I totally agree. And I know that you touched on curiosity and I think this is, this is one way in. Compassion was your third. And I, someone once explained to me, hey, Neil, there's sympathy and there's empathy and then there's compassion. And I was like, come on. I mean, how have I not known this? And so when you talk about curiosity, I'd like to now talk more about that. Maybe you can share more about Newfield, maybe help our listeners understand. What is Newfield about? What are you practicing? How does it work?

Yeah, what is Newfield about? I love that.

What is Newfield about?

Tell me more.

Yeah, Newfield is about a new way of learning. And it's about a. I love to, I love the term radical revision, right? It's, it's a radical revision of learning. And also it's a, it's an invitation for us to shift from a focus on doing, doing, doing right. We talk about the haze of disorientation at the velocity that us human folks are navigating. In fact, yesterday I was at a dinner and someone talked about the decelerator, which I loved, right? Instead of calling things we're in an accelerator program, we're in a decelerating program in the sense that it's an invitation to pause, an invitation to slow down and to actually reflect and live into inquiry, live into deep questions. And so Newfield is about those aspects of becoming more human and through our own self reflection, becoming of service to the world. And we utilize a few models to really help us in this capacity, to strengthen our capacity to be leaders of, of our own life and the organizations that we're a part of, the communities that we're a part of and the services that we want to give to the world. So one model is the, what we call the or model O A R. And the O is about what we've already been talking about in terms of awareness. How do we observe? And the way in which we observe is not innocent, right? It's not just a neutral. Everybody observes the same way. So when we notice how we're observing is at the heart of the work that we do. So we observe and then from that observation we take action. It could be a methodology, it could be a practice. We take action and then we obtain certain results. And when we're not satisfied with our results, our tendency is to inquire and to shift in the realm of action. That can be wonderful. But often the, the shift that we see that's available in action is limited. I can either do a. Or a little bit more of a. Or a little bit less of a. Right. Whatever A is. And so we often say at Newfield, it's more of the same. Yeah, basically. And yet when we're wanting a substantial change in results, the invitation is to, rather than change simply our action, I'm going to work longer, more hours, I'm going to work harder, more, more, more of the same is to actually look at the observer. And when we shift in the realm of how we're observing life and ourselves, all of a sudden that same small, limited range of possible actions expands tremendously. And so now we have all of these options and all these possibilities that we were blind to previously. And it's that shift in placing our attention instead of simply the action we look at, how we're observing that enables us to expand possibilities, expand what worlds we are co creating.

Are you enjoying the show so far? Let me ask you a few questions before going back. Have you ever wondered why so many of us struggle with stress, anxiety and burnout and feel stuck in life? Heck, maybe you're going through this right now. Well, the reason for this lies in the evolutionary biology of our brains, which are hardwired for fear. It's part of the reason why our team named this podcast Happiness Squad. It serves as a reminder that happiness is what really matters and that we are in this together. And that is why we are so excited to share with you a resource to help you on your journey. One of our hosts, Ashish Katari, launched a book, Hardwired for Happiness and it is a 1Amazon bestseller. When you get access to this book, you will discover nine secular practices that can change your life and are backed by scientific evidence from psychology and neuroscience. Learn how you can integrate Hardwired for Happiness practices in every part of your life to unlock your best self, regardless of how busy you are. Shift from knowing to doing to being with a range of journaling, meditation and group coaching exercises and so much more. Go to www.happinesssquad.combook to get access. Right now we also have bonuses on the page that you don't want to miss. Once again, www.happinesssquad.com book. And now back to the show.

It is beautiful. It is all about the observer and to our listeners who oftentimes, you know, look, I spend a lot of my time in the business world. There is this immediate push, right? In a world that is more Volatile and more uncertain, more complex. A standard tendency is what Veronica alluded to. When something doesn't work, we push harder. I'm going to shout, I'm going to try and oh, they're not working. I'm going to like threaten or I'm going to like. Or I'm just going to work longer hours, right. It's, that's the way I'm going to do it. And the answers are never, they keep getting worse. Right. There's a lot of people who feel, you know, I'm running harder but I'm still staying in the same place. So for any of our listeners who are finding themselves in that place right now, the invitation that Veronica made and this, you know, really something that you know, her work and they teach is how do you actually shift your observer? How do you actually truly observe your observer for whom there's a set of actions available that are not working, keeping you stuck in same place. Yeah. That is what at the heart of that model that Veronica is talking about.

Yeah. Ashish, I love what you said. When we're stuck, right? When we, where we're going through a transition, a divorce, a death, a financial crisis. Right. Or just we can't up level to the next vision that we have when we're in that sensation of right, we're, we're, we're in this place that we don't know how to navigate. And so exactly what you said, we, I love that we, we yell more and we listen less. Right. We, we, we, we become more entrenched in, in the patterns that we've already developed. And so the aura model then invites us to look at well, how are we observing and recognizing that our observer is individual. It's based on my own life experience, my own right. All the components that make up who I am. And also cultural. It's also collective recognizing if I work for one organization or another, they have different ways of observing life and we take those on. So the other element, then the second model that we play with is focused on the observer, which we call the Bell Model. B, E L. And what I love about the Bell model is that it makes it so tangible and we can work it so readily. Something that is fairly complex. We as humans have so many dimensions and facets right to our being. And so what the Bell model does is it creates a very simple way of becoming aware of how we see the world, seeing how we see, observing how we observe. So the B is for our body recognizing that we're just, we're not just cognitive human Beings, we're not solely rational. Yes, we have a rational aspect, but that's only one part of many. And so often I spoke about a revision of learning. Often the body has been excluded from how we learn. And so to integrate this aspect of self, like, oh, I am always in my body. And what is the wisdom that I can gain from learning how to access and to connect with my own physicality, my own biology? And it's not just for some. It's not just, oh, you're more, you know, body oriented than I am. Again, we spoke about practices. It's a practice to begin to come into awareness of our own body. And then the E is for emotion. So we just spoke about happiness, right? And this. Why does happiness matter? Why do emotions matter? Because emotions, emotion that which puts us into action, into movement. So emotions aren't just something fluffy and, oh, isn't that nice if I was happy. But we recognize that when we're anchored in joy, the actions we take and that become available are so different than if I'm in depression or, or resentment or anger or frustration. And so when we become emotionally literate and emotionally agile, then we recognize that, oh, this also impacts how I'm engaging in conversations, in relationships, in my organization. And so emotions become a critical center point to examine and to observe and to cultivate. So again, we have the body, we have emotion. And the third arena is language. Most of us are like a. Like a little fish in water. We don't even recognize that we. We use our language. And traditionally, we have thought of language as simply descriptive. I say red shirt, and then we know, right? That's a thing out there. But what many of us aren't in contact with is that language is generative. If I say Ashish, yes, I accept. And I will be at your podcast today. Suddenly, there's a new future that has emerged. And so language has this power to shape the future, which is phenomenal. It's an incredible thing that can happen. It's magical. So we have the body, we have the emotion, we have the language. And all of that is steeped in culture and history. And so when we are attuned to body, right? What, what is my stance? Are my arms crossed? Are my legs crossed? Am I, you know, or in my arms open, are my eyes open? What. How does that make this encounter, in this speaking different? So I begin to look at all of these elements, body, emotion, and language, to see how I'm observing life in this moment.

Veronica. So, so beautiful. And, I mean, this is something that I'VE learned so much from you. You know, this notion of how these three elements together create a unique observer. And often with language, you know, we also have beliefs of what's right and what's wrong, what's good and what's bad, that then creates an emotion associated with that because of a boundary being crossed or a boundary being honored, which then translates into feeling. And we just get stuck in it. And it's good to be stuck in that place, quote, unquote. Not really, but I'd rather be stuck in a happier place than unhappy place because we don't have an issue with that. But when we are in a state where we are not necessarily we're sad or we are kind of angry or we're in that state, sometimes we struggle. And this work that you and so many others, right, Julio, and all the work that you've done and the coaches do in the world is around like this notion of waking up to the unique observer. And this had never come to me. But, you know, as I heard you talk about new field, I just want to read for our listeners this poem from Rumi. And the work you're doing is a way for people to actually not just get and get it cognitively and feel it, but actually put it into practice because what you are doing is helping people do that. So here's the poem, the little piece, right? And Rumi says the poem is called I think the grand great wagon. And the middle one of race is the following out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing, there is a field. I'll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass. The world is too full to talk about ideas, language. Even the phrase each other doesn't make any sense. The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don't go back to sleep. You must ask for what you really want. Don't go back to sleep. People are going back and forth across the door sill where the two worlds touch. The door is round and open. Don't go back to sleep. And to me, when I first experienced Newfield, when I walked into that room and started my nine month journey, you opened up and I went to that field, that field where these concrete ideas of right and wrong just dissolved both for me and, you know, and so my invitation to listeners is to really look into the work, I mean, that you are doing with Newfield as a way for us to increase our own awareness, our own sense making and through learn the skills by being our own designers of language worlds. We generate from our language moods and body somatics to create better worlds, kinder worlds, happier worlds, more connected worlds, worlds filled with more meaning.

Thank you. I love what you said. Worlds filled with more meaning. I think often in the, in the wanting to achieve and, and this narrative, the dominant narrative of wanting to attain more and more, which I think has its purpose. But I think what often is neglected or is lost is to come into contact with truly at our depth, what is meaningful, what is joyous to us and to what happens when we build a life with that foundation of joy.

Ashish and I were actually talking about this earlier. Health, love, wealth. He's like meaning because if you don't know your why you're lost, you're going to be listless and listening to you both. And Ashish, something that you and I spoke about as well and you reference it in your book is if we think of leaders and the higher you go in your company, whether it be in banking, consulting, corporate, the opportunity to get feedback, the opportunity to either observe yourself or be observed by others probably shrinks. And I guess what I'd love Veronica, for you to share maybe is have you seen a story of a personal transformation or maybe if not an example, what have you seen as a common theme that gets in the way of people developing their self awareness? Whether it be something common amongst cultures or even different amongst cultures. Knowing that your work has actually spanned the globe and you've been very fortunate to work with and people have been very fortunate to work with you in different places.

Yeah. When I look at, you know, what are some of the things that keep us from really working with our capacity to observe and our awareness? One I would say I like to call them the villains. They're often hidden, you know, they're very sneaky. And one of them is really our attachment to being right. I've got this, I'm right. Right. My perspective is the correct one. And in that there's often a shutting down and away from curiosity when we're really in that place of I know, I already know and not only do I know, but I am correct. I believe that that is something that often takes us away from being curious and to say, oh, I hadn't thought about it, you know, just the sense of openness and curiosity. So that would be one. The other one I would mention is, is the sense of well that's just the way I am. This belief. Right. Ashish mentioned beliefs earlier around language. If I'm just oh, that's the way I am and then I immediately close the possibility for Change for evolution, for movement. Often I like to say that we are a process, we are a verb, we are a becoming. And in that we have the possibility to change. Maybe that's the way I was a moment ago, but how will I show up in this new moment? So I think when we believe very strongly that's just the way I am. I don't do that. Right. I don't dance, I don't. I'm not a thinker. I'm not this, I'm not that. Then we disengage from, from really cultivating our capacity to become aware and to observe. And the other one that I think is huge right now in this moment in time is I have no time to learn. I don't have time, right? Oh no, I gotta get on to the next thing, the next meeting, the next post, whatever it is. We don't have time. And so as soon as we say don't have time, that is, that hurts not only ourselves, but you know, what, what becomes possible for the future and how we want to engage in life. And then you asked about stories. One of my favorite stories about a student in our program. She came in a handful of years ago and she was one of the eldest people we've ever had in our program. I think she was close to 80 at the time. And after our program, at the end of the eight or nine months, she said, my life is filled with possibilities. And to me that made my heart sing that no matter how far along we are in life, we can see life as discovery. Life as discovery. That at 80 years. Ish. Right. That she would hold her life in the space of sheer possibility. And I asked myself what happens when leaders, when people in positions of influence invite everyone to be in a space of what is possible, what can be discovered? And secondly, how can I be of service? How can I come into deep joy and be of service from that wellspring of discovery? How can we engage with each other and collaborate and build worlds that are based in true care and purpose in life when we come into contact with our own authenticity and that deeper drive that comes from the heart, not of ambition, but of simply of this deep generosity that comes from that wellspring of joy. That is gorgeous.

You know, Veronica, for our listeners, I want to highlight these two things because I think and really write an inspiration for 80 year old to describe their world and say so many possibilities, right? I invite listeners who are younger, in their, often in their 20s, 30s, you know, this work that we're starting to do with colleges around Mental health. There's so many kids who'd say my life is hopeless. Suicide is on the, on the rise, you know, And a big part of suicide is they don't see any meaning in go forward. There are no possibilities. We can make meaning in life. And an invitation that if, you know, that participant at 80 sees these possibilities, how are we being, how is our awareness? Why as an observer do we not find those possibilities we have our whole life, Even in pure timeline terms of how many years we have to even discover a possibility, we have more than that, more than her. Right? So I think that's the first one that I would really invite listeners to think about. If an 80 year old sees so many possibilities, how can we push ourselves even if we find there is nothing out there right now? Seek the help to create the possibilities. Right? That's number one. And I think the second one I would invite is, and I think Viktor Frankl also talked about this in his book Man's Search for Meaning. We can't ask life for the meaning of life. What is the meaning of life? Is an abstract question. And there's so many people who say, I don't know what my meaning of life is. Like, I don't know. But this notion of meaning in life, and often we can create meaning in life by actually tuning away from me to how can I be of service to others? How can I create meaning in life by serving others? And he talks about this beautiful story, you know, of this man who was like completely depressed. His wife had suffered and died and he had been left and you know, he, and he talks about, and it really touched me because he said Viktor Frankl asked him to, said, would you, would you have cared to swap places with her? Would it rather have been that you died, not her? And he said never. I could never subject her to what I am going through right now. And I said that is your meaning in life, right? You, you have made her by living, you can honor her and you've like created that, you know, that possibility that she actually didn't have to go through this. Right? And like literally he talked about the transformation. So this notion of finding something to serve others with can be a big part of meaning and possibilities. I mean, we have so many strengths and talents, what we love. There are so many ways we can serve the world and serve others. There's so many crises in every area. Pick, pick one that calls to you and dedicate your life to that. And I think through that we will have meaning and you will create possibilities and you Will invite others to join your community and unlock joy for yourself, joy for the world. Yeah. So no, thank you for sharing that story. I mean, I'm just so excited. I cannot tell you. I have this bubble of joy just like bursting in me about possibilities. Right, possibilities. I'm 48, so I have at least 22 more years of possibilities. And then plus, plus plus. Thank you.

Not that far behind you, Ashish. I think I've got just five on that, so you'll hear it. But do you know, I think what's beautiful about what you're sharing is that you're never too old and you're never too young to wake up. And I know we always joke when you're a teenager and you got to go to school, you'll hit the snooze button and you'll be like, okay. Or as you get older, you're getting out of bed and you know, you know, imagine if you're jumping out of bed even before your alarm clock goes off because you're just awake, you're excited. You want to take these practices, these ideas, this awareness to you, both in your personal life and your professional life. So I just want to say, just listening to the two of you, this is beautiful. It's absolutely brilliant. And I think on the back of that, I mean, maybe, you know, what I'd like to ask Veronica is how can people learn more about the coaching program that Newfield runs? And I know that this is an area that I'm curious about. I know, Ashish, you're an ontological coach.

I think.

You know what, what? Maybe you can share a little bit more, Veronica, about new field, what other people can do to learn more about your practices in ontology.

I'll start with saying that one of the elements that really distinguishes new field is that the first part of the program is all about cultivating self awareness. It is a reflection to really check in and inquire about your own way of living your life, both in your personal life and your professional life and to be in a community where that is happening and to have a coach that is dedicated to you as well. So it's very much an embodied learning. How do we take all of these distinctions and models and apply. Apply them to our own life? And once we have that right, the first half of the program is really dedicated to that. Then we begin to layer in the second piece, which is actually about developing our own capacities to. To take these distinctions and work with another and help someone else in their journey. So just as ASUS was Mentioning around being of service. It's then taking all of this tradition and this knowledge and these capacities and being able to put them in real time in our relationships, right. With our clients, with our teams and organizations and really being able to make it tangible in the world. So I think we're one of the very few coaching schools that really orients in this way. And we've been around for about 33 years. We were, you know, the one of the first school to be accredited by the International Coach Federation. So we have a long history and as was mentioned, we've done programs in many countries throughout the world. I think we've touched over 70,000 people in the time of our organization, which is incredible. So I would invite anyone who feels that this resonates with them to reach out to us to explore, explore and see if it is a fit for you. You can connect with us@newfieldnetwork.com we have two programs a year and one begins in March and the other begins in September. And we would be so honored to, to have you join our community and to learn how this ontological work can be applied to organizations, to teams, to clients, to family life, community, all of it. So, yeah. So newfieldnetwork.com thank you, Veronica.

And you know, as somebody who has actually gone through the program, it changed my life. And you know, I use this analogy, you know, look, I always, I always, even as a young child, looked at the sky and I saw the stars and I was mesmerized by the beauty in this night sky. Going through the program, Julio and Veronica showed me not just the sky, but the constellations. And once you see it, you can't unsee it. Right. I'm borrowing this as well from something that they had talked about in the program. But that is how it transformed me. Once you see the complexity of us as human beings and the ability to at any moment be able to generate possibilities by not waiting for the world to change, but by changing ourselves and how we make sense of the world. Once you see it, oh my God, like it made such a big difference. And I think as I talk about self awareness being at the heart of the nine practices. Thank you for helping me. And I really hope our listeners take your invitation to learn more about this beautiful, powerful work that you're doing. Because what the world needs the most right now are people who have truly come alive, come alive and are filled with possibilities so that we can just make a kinder, happier, healthier world. I really, really believe that. So thank you. Thank you, Veronica. And as we close, you've shared so many amazing tips models, but what might be one or two tips that you would share with our listeners as your parting thoughts on how they can truly unlock their full potential? How can they wake up into their full breadth of possibilities, endless possibilities and multiverses that exist?

Yeah. First, let me just say, Ashish, you know, as, as a grad of Newfield, the amazingness of what you are doing with the Happiness Squad, and that just brings so much delight to me. We spoke about possibilities, and right here, right now, right, we can see possibility turned into concrete action and service and, and giving. And I think this is what becomes possible in collaboration. This is what becomes possible. And so I just wanted to. To really acknowledge what the Happiness Squad is doing because I think it's phenomenal. So back to your question around unlocking potential. I, I'm going to reiterate what I said in the beginning, which is connect to community. In this day and age, there's so many humans on this planet, I don't even know what the number is currently, but there's so many of us, and so many of us are so isolated. And we spoke about depression, we spoke about human suffering. And isolation will perpetuate in so many cases, will perpetuate that. So when we talk about unlocking potential, it's our potential collectively. So be part of the community, whatever communities work for you. I'm not just saying one community. I'm just saying engage with others and be a part. Recognize that we are part of something bigger and to actively engage in that way. And the other piece I mentioned before is life is discovery. Can we practice curiosity? When we meet someone at the grocery store, can we be curious about their beauty and their goodness? When we engage in our next business meeting, what is the goodness? Can we orient to the goodness in every human we encounter from a place of curiosity? Life is discovery. And so, and the last piece is to which really brings those two together is, you know, at Newfield, we teach that conversation. We look at the etymology of the word conversation. It means turning towards. It's coming together. My perspective is amplified when I am in dialogue, in conversation and truly take in and listen to your perspective. So when we converse, right in this conversation, I'm learning from Ashish, I'm learning from Anil. So we're learning from each other and we're nourishing each other. So to be in conversation from that space of turning towards and amplifying our perspective, we spoke about waking up, right? Ken Wilbur's term, waking up, growing up all of those. If you're into the integral world and. And conversation invites us into an expansion of our perspectives, which is exactly growing up. As we grow up, our compassion and our hearts expand because we can hold as legitimate each person's perspective and views. And I think we're at a critical time where we need to learn how to honor different views that aren't necessarily our own.

Wow. Beautiful, beautiful. Parting thoughts, Veronica. And it just brings me to this. I invite listeners to talk about this connection, but I'm going to share two stats with you. If Veronica's invitation to connect wasn't strong enough. Look, 60% of Americans report that they feel lonely. 60%. That means six out of 10. If you have 10 people around you, six are. Also, if you feel lonely, there are five others who are feeling lonely too. We are lonely together. So don't be lonely together. Let's actually connect with each other. I'll give you a setting statistic that really breaks my heart. 10% of people say they don't even have a single friend, not one person. So 1 in 10 of us is that reach out. Because you will find it's only 10 conversations. But, you know, the chances are high that in the ninth conversation, you're going to find somebody else who'll be like, oh, my God, I don't have a friend in my life. Be there for them. Connect. I think in a world which is going crazy, we're getting more polarized as a country, as a world. Connect. Thank you, Veronica. I learned so much. I always learned so much. But more than learning, it is this joy, this emotion, and this feeling of just my body expansion. Just I can feel your love, your care, and just, you know, truly, thank you for being you, for the amazing, amazing work that you're doing and all this amazing, heartfelt wisdom that you actually shared with our listeners.

You know, Ashish, I just want to say thank you as well, Veronica, and I'm hoping that every listener out there, basically, as soon as possible, can turn Ashish's stat basically on its head. Because I think this conversation, listening to both you and Veronica, it makes me want to make sure that that stat just gets wiped out. So thank you for sharing that.

I have so much gratitude, Ashish, for you and Anil. Thank you so much. Thank both of you so much for this gorgeous conversation. I have deep appreciation. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

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