A client considering my Coach Training & Certification Course asked me this, this week.
Immediately, I thought of the title of Drs. John and Julie Gottman’s course: “The Art and Science of Love!”
Then my mind shifted to what Tony Robbins says: “The two master skills of life are: The Science of Achievement and The Art of Fulfillment.”
Hmmm … art and science.
Those thoughts informed my response: “Actually, it’s BOTH!”
I shared with him how to best business book I have EVER read uses as the book’s foundation the work of Michelangelo.
I shared the story …
When Michelangelo was tasked with sculpting “Hercules” … he became acutely aware of the necessity for both art and science to deliver the BEST Hercules possible.
As Dr. Benjamin Hardy wrote: “He determined that the only way he’d be able to draw and sculpt the human form with living vibrancy would be to study the intricacies and functions of the body directly – outside and inside.”
The challenge was finding available corpses to study.
He knew the corpses of the rich were well guarded.
Not an option.
Yes, you read correct … Michelangelo studied the human anatomy by using corpses to sculpt Hercules.
He knew he had to locate the morgues of the poor, orphans, and beggars. He found the Santo Spirito, the charity hospital in Florence.
He would slip in at night and sneak out before sunrise to respectfully explore the intricacies of human anatomy.
He was 19 when he finished Hercules.
But that was just his beginning of combining science and art.
At age 26, he convinced the overseer of the Florence Cathedral he could take the 17- foot slab of marble that had been sitting in the sun for 40 years …. and create “The David.”
When Michelangelo completed his masterpiece of the David, he was 29 years old. He showed all of us that every masterpiece requires a combination of art and science.
What did sculpted statue of the David do for Florence?
Dr. Hardy writes: “David renewed Florence’s courage and pride, and the people and city began prospering greatly.”
That’s what a masterpiece does.
Our job as Coaches is to reveal the greater good in others. To do so we must:
Learn to combine the miracle of art and science
By catching a vision of what’s possible in others
By carving, chipping, shaving until all that is left is their gifts, talents, and all they were created to be
Then watch as they are renewed with courage and pride
And witness the miracle as they begin prospering greatly (in body, mind, spirit, relationships, and finances)
I noted the reddening and watering of my client’s eyes as he whispered: “I’ve wanted to do that since I was a little boy!”
The tear escaped as I validated, “All you need now is the art and science of Coaching!”
Now, before you move on because you don’t want to “hang out a shingle as a Coach” … let me clarify who Coaches are.
Certainly, it includes those who desire a career change from the endless grind and the stress of meaningless meetings and quotas. Those folks often take their expertise in their arena and become Coaches to others who desire to become the accomplished experts they are.
But consider other definitions or portrayals of Coaches:
Moms (or dads) who desires to pour truths into their children that will facilitate their gifts with a rich life and future
Teachers who yearn to pour into their students what those students might not be getting at home to set them up for a great future and a great life
Executives or managers who have a tug to call out the best in their employees, to ensure a bright future personally and in their careers
Clergy members who desire to deliver messages and programs that raise up an army of healed parishioners, to reach out and spread healing in their communities (and beyond)
Trauma survivors (whether yesterday or decades ago) determined to heal their own wounds, so that no one else would have to suffer alone like they have
Doctors, nurses, hospice providers, etc. who aspire to deliver more than diagnoses … but to have the combined skill of art & science to deliver hope
Volunteers who have their hearts set on giving more than just their time, whether in hospitals, homeless shelters, community events, memory care facilities, or to those incarcerated (and many more volunteer opportunities)
I could go on and on.
But whatever category you fit in, I’d like you to acquire the art & science of transformation.
As someone has said so articulately, “Life is a struggle for one thing … balance.”
The art of vision and identifying gifts.
As Coaches, we must be able to catch a vision of who our clients were created to be. And to see and call forth those gifts in them.
We must be able to see what others cannot see. And to believe that behind all poor choices, everyone has a destiny that will make a major difference when called forth … and released to serve.
Usually, we must see in others what they cannot see in themselves.
We must understand (just like those we serve) that all trauma, shame, life’s difficulties … blind us to who we are and who we can be.
Those things pre-program us to pursue a life of barely getting by.
Of settling.
Of having low standards.
Of abiding in low expectations of ourselves.
When the truth is … there’s pure gold inside each of us.
And when we trust that gold in us to the truth of the science and spirit that can and will change us, the art that’s created becomes the discovery of who we were designed, destined, and called out to be!
Michelangelo said it beautifully: “A beautiful thing, never gives so much pain, as does failing to hear and see it.”
Way too many do not hear or see.
Much less believe in the beauty within.
We must develop the art of catching that vision before we can masterfully begin to carve, chip, and melt away all that blocks it, and prevents it from the sun shining on it.
I’ve never heard that urge deep within me more beautifully described than Michelangelo when he stated: “Can’t you see the angel imprisoned in the block of stone trying to get out? I am trying to free him!”
That’s EXACTLY how I feel when a client steps into my office.
I see it.
I know it deep in my soul.
I’ve dedicated my life to freeing them.
You know what that feels like, don’t you?
Learning to see that, to catch that vision in every human is something that comes with seeing it revealed by our own truth. That’s why my Coaching Candidates love seeing me do the transformative work with clients.
In my last cohort, there was someone who was a long-time alcoholic in total denial. He had burnt bridges with family and friends because of who he’d become. He was disruptive in the training at times, and his cynicism often filled the room.
Yet I saw the vision of who he really was, all he was created to be. It HAD TO be seen in order to carve away all that clouded the true picture of who he was.
As I worked with him, carving away the shame, chipping away at the trauma, melting away his need to medicate with alcohol … the entire group began to catch the same vision I had.
Even he was surprised as new insights of who he truly was began to take shape.
When it comes to that art, I agree with Michelangelo: “I couldn’t give you something mediocre even if that’s all you asked for.”
“Your gifts lie in the place where your values, passions and strengths meet. Discovering that place is the first step toward sculpting your masterpiece, Your Life.”
You have to be willing to see things that others simply cannot and do not see! “Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” – Michelangelo
Everyone who’s ever made a difference not only saw something no one else could see, but they saw how to start and trusted that after the starting … their effort would define what they saw to begin with.
The science of neuroplasticity.
What is neuroplasticity?
“Neuroplasticity is the mechanics that allow your brain to adapt when you gain knowledge or skills, encounter something new, or experience profound emotions like awe or grief. It also helps your brain respond to challenges.” WebMD
Dr. Rudy Tanzi (Director of Center for Brain Health at Massachusetts General Hospital) says: “It’s happening all the time, in every experience you have, even when you’re dreaming. You’re reshaping 100 billion neurons (and tens of trillions if not hundreds of trillions) of synapses – those connections between these neurons.”
We now know, can change our brains.
As Dr. Tanzi declares, if all that’s happening all the time unconsciously … just imagine what can/could happen when we understand the science of changing our brains.
I have to say that I didn’t have to work with cadavers as Michelangelo did. And for that I’m truly grateful.
But in my work with thousands of people in my inpatient and outpatient treatment centers, I was able to take the scientific research and create the art of experiential exercises that successfully rewire our brains in a fraction of the time we might expect!
When I had people (so to speak) as a “captive audience” … there was no time to waste.
They had marriages, families, lives, careers to get back to! I never wanted them to leave with a “bit of improvement” … I deeply longed for and was resolutely determined for them to leave … transformed!
I was in complete agreement with Michelangelo that: “There’s no greater harm than that of time wasted.”
Clients arrived prisoner to their programming, or as Michelangelo stated it:
“I am a prisoner of my thoughts.”
They were indeed prisoners of the thoughts and the beliefs of their programming. And they usually hadn’t a clue what the thoughts and the beliefs of their programming was.
All they knew was that their lives were in trouble.
With deep depression…
-Severe anxiety…
-Devastating choices…
-Addictions, or some other horrible symptom.
Yes, we addressed the symptoms, but we spent most of the time reprogramming their brain.
Carving out the negative.
Chipping away at the shame.
And melting away programming that led them astray, that they were not even aware of!
Usually, they had no belief in themselves.
Even those that “appeared” to be narcissistic.
They had such low views of themselves that they had “settled into” a life so much less than all they were created to be. They were reeking of regret, disappointment, and lack of fulfillment.
They were a walking talking false version of themselves.
They had either lost their ability to dream, or had decided it was for others better than them. For people who hadn’t made as many poor choices or mistakes.
They had become “shells of who they once were.”
Sound familiar? I bet you’ve had those moments. (I lived in those moments … and it drove me to find answers and healing!)
If you haven’t had those moments, I’m sure you serve those who have (or who do) have them. We must carve, chip, and help melt them away until they’re able to raise their standards, raise their expectations. To BELIEVE again!
Or they will remain in that dreadful place Michelangelo speaks of: “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark.”
Victimhood haunts us all. We all have faced things that we’ve pledged our trust to, only to discover it wasn’t what we perceived it to be. Victimhood will vanish when know in our hearts that trust is the door to every freedom.
And … life is worth that risk!
The art and science of transformation.
I love this art and science of transformation.
I’ve given my entire young adult days and most of my adult life seeking it. Designing it.
Creating it.
Practicing it.
Living in the fulfillment of seeing those results.
I work with people to transcribe their programming, to rewire it, to call forth their best. Helping them chip away at what diminishes them, to carve away at what lies in those disempowering programming, and to melt away all that dullens their gifts and talents.
It’s the art of seeing and visualizing who each human is.
With the science of neuropsychology and neuroplasticity.
Combining both of these, to reveal in those I serve, the true masterpieces that live within them that … waiting to live in the light of who they were meant to become.
If I had my life to do all over again, I’d do the same with my time, energy, intellect, my spirit, my heart, my gifts, and talents.
I’d make less mistakes.
I’d be more resilient.
I’d waste less time.
Only so that in my lifetime I could have freed more angels from the marble!
Now I spend more time multiplying myself by training and certifying Coaches.
My heart’s longing is that no marble block of trauma holds anyone captive. That the masterpiece of all they were created to be is set free!
I realize that the more people I teach the art and science of transformation … the more angels (authentically wonderful humans, becoming all they were created to be) that will be set free!
My coaching candidate asked me if I could share one of the greatest transformations I had witnessed. I paused a moment before I smiled and sincerely shared, “That’s hard. Because each one is a miracle.”
And I meant that.
But I shared the story of an amazing young woman who was held captive with her mother and brother in a basement by the dad/husband for a very long time.
They were beaten and misused and brutalized over and over again.
When they escaped, she vowed to figure out a way to ensure no child would ever have to endure such torture.
As a schoolteacher, trauma coach in the school district, a prolific author, an advocate for children’s rights, an executive coach … she has emerged as a miracle. She is deeply passionate about making a difference in the world of trauma.
From a lost, heinously traumatized little girl to one of God’s brightest shining lights in this world, she exemplifies in all she does … the miracle of transformation!
I am now honored to call her one of my dearest friends.
She could have shrunken back and become a victim of a life that was unfairly dealt to her.
But she chose to defy limitations within and become a miracle so that others would find the freedom of transformation.
She overcame the warning given by Michelangelo: “The limitations of the world are none, the limitations of the heart are many.”
She overcame the limitations of her heart.
She and I both agree with Michelangelo: “No great work of art is ever finished.”
We serve, we study, we grow, we pray, we broaden our horizons.
Why?
Knowing that we’ve not arrived.
But we are grateful for transformation, and for the opportunity to pay it forward!
***
One of my favorite quotes of Michelangelo is: “Many believe – and I believe – that I have been designated for this work by God. In spite of my old age, I do not want to give it up; I work out of love for God, and I put all my hope in Him.”
He was indeed designated for great works of art, and I believe he was designated by God.
It’s with true humility that I confess that I believe I was designated for the work I do.
It is an honor that I do not take lightly.
In whatever you’ve been designated to do, I hope and pray you will utilize the art of catching the vision for others (that they cannot see) the science of neuro rewiring, and the art and science of transformation.
Together, we can make a difference!
Life is a struggle for one thing … balance. And art and science create the perfect balance to find our truth.
PS – If you are interested in or feel a tug inside about the art & science of transformation … On Monday, September 1, 2025, my next cohort for Essential Life Trauma Coach Certification begins. Click here to learn more or to register: https://bit.ly/GetCertified2025
