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About Sylvia Holtslag | Self-Leadership Coach | The State Shift Method
Sylvia Holtslag, self-leadership coach

About Sylvia

Self-leadership coach. Mother. Spartan in training. Always moving.

I help you break through the patterns that hold you back. The self-criticism. The perfectionism. The fear of failure. You can't think your way out of those. You move through them.

And yes, I fall flat on my face regularly. Sometimes literally.

The moment everything changed

In 2016 I pulled over on a highway. Not a metaphor. Hangover. Another night of Netflix. Too much food. Completely done with myself.

From the outside my life looked fine. Inside? Exhausted. Never enough. Always needing something external to feel okay. I'd studied psychology. Done coaching certifications. Been to therapy. It helped. Temporarily. But nothing stuck where it actually mattered.

Then I found The Tools by Phil Stutz and Barry Michels.

Spirituality. Made practical. Finally something I could actually use. Every day. In every situation. That moment on the highway was the beginning.

Since then I've brought together everything I've learned into The State Shift Method. The awareness work of Michael Singer. The Tools by Phil Stutz. The daily discipline of Heroic. And 25 years of falling down, getting up, reading, trying and starting over.

I'm the first and only coach in Europe listed on the website of Phil Stutz and Barry Michels. I'm not saying that to brag. I'm saying it so you know: I don't do this halfway.

Sylvia Holtslag coaching

How I work

I combine The Tools by Phil Stutz and Barry Michels, the surrender practice of Michael Singer and the philosophy of Heroic into one method: The State Shift Method.

No talk sessions. No new theory to understand. Action. In your body. In your nervous system. Where the patterns actually live.

STATE. SHIFT. STEP. Every day. Notice where you're stuck. Shift your state. Take the step. That simple. That hard. And it works.

I don't believe in perfect. I believe in being honest, staying in motion, and choosing yourself every single day.

Sylvia Holtslag coaching session
10,000+
people reached
600+
clients personally coached
25
years of personal development
1
European coach on thetoolsbook.com

And beyond all that, I'm just Syl

I live in Meppel, a small town in the Netherlands. Thought it would be temporary. Turns out I like it here.

Single mom to Jimmy. The funniest, most athletic kid with a secretly spiritual side. We meditate together every night he sleeps at my place.

CrossFitter for almost 16 years. Cold water dipper. Quit drinking in 2024, best decision I've made. In May I'm doing my first Spartan Beast on the beach in Zandvoort. Running it, I say loosely. Let's call it surviving.

Grew up close to addiction. Prone to it myself. Wrote two books, started my own practice, seven years in business now. All done by someone who never used to finish anything.

I read or listen to something every day. Phil Stutz, Barry Michels, Michael Singer. Never ran out of things to learn. Catching a movie is my way of relaxing, because otherwise I'm always working. Recovering perfectionist. Work in progress.

There are two ways to live your life. As if nothing is a miracle, or as if everything is. I choose the second.

Background

Studied psychology

Plus multiple coaching certifications and personal therapy. The foundation.

Heroic Level 2 Coach

Ambassador and workshop instructor. I organize Heroic community days in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Only European coach on thetoolsbook.com

The official website of Phil Stutz and Barry Michels. Certified Tools coach.

Author and speaker

Two books: What IF? and What's Next? I write for Powervrouw Magazine and speak at events on shadow work and The Tools.

The State Shift Method

My own method. 7 lessons, 52 cards, built on 25 years of experience. The training with card deck is available now.

Podcast: Ontslaafd

Conversations about the addictions we don't call addictions. On YouTube and Spotify.

Sylvia Holtslag as a child

What clients say

I was feeling stuck, lost direction, and had a lack of confidence. Sylvia gave me tools to use in any moment to shift the vibe to positive action. I rate her coaching a 10.

Gwendalyn Thompson

Sylvia helped me see the parts of myself that I didn't realize I had been avoiding, and offered a way to accept and love myself.

Sherri Hatch, coach USA

Sylvia has an incredible talent for listening, picking up the essential information, naming it, and then working on it together. She was able to support me, challenge me, and I have been able to change the direction of my life.

Paria

Ready to stop waiting?

Work with me. Discover The Tools and The State Shift Method.

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