Do you ever doubt yourself? I bet you do. I do too. Permit me to share a story of someone who does not think they are special.


This morning I got thinking about the personality traits and characteristics of a German Shepherd dog owner/ handler. These traits and attributes were mentioned when I did some online research.


Strong, audacious, leader, determined, disciplined, courageous, bold, sensitive, loving, caring, emotionally aware, patient, tolerant, loyal, intelligent, reserved but friendly, energetic, relaxed, calm, in control, dependable, tenacious, focused, smart, active, loves hard work, natural born leader, fearless, someone with high moral values, and the list goes on… (Courtesy of Google search engine).


Now I own a two-year-old German Shepherd puppy and I can see these traits in my dog. It is often said a dog is a mirror of his owner, so I guess I too share these characteristics and personality traits. However, how often we don’t even see ourselves and all we see is our faults? That is my world, and I am sure this will resonate with you.


The point of this post is not to boast how brilliant and majestic I am, but I want to prove one point, and it is this. We can be well educated but we can also suffer from a blinkered view or rather a biased view of the self. Others see our qualities, but we cannot or will not either because we feel we are not enough. Not feeling enough is known nowadays as an imposter syndrome. Put simply we fear being ourselves. Now children, animals or indeed nature has no fear, but we adults live with it.


Modesty and humility have a place but acknowledging what we have is giving credit where it is due.


If I was not a Leadership or performance Coach, I would easily have not looked at this in the way I did. However, time and time again I coach very successful professionals who have blind spots about their capabilities. Confident people lack self-belief. If we trade expectation for appreciation for others, surely, we owe ourselves to recognise what we are capable of and stop using that as an excuse to play small.


The story I shared was about me and I am proud to walk next to my majestic dog knowing that he too is proud of me. When I walk with him, I feel I am walking with a rather expensive and powerful sports car, he is powerful, yet he feeds on my energy. I have learnt from the best German Shepherd teachers and trainers, and they will say if I am calm this will filter through the leash and in turn, I will have a calm, and confident dog. The morale of this story is we should never underestimate our qualities and the boomerang effect that has not only on those around us, but also on us.


If you are a professional with dreams that you cannot entertain because you are on the ‘treadmill’ of fulfilling your professional role, do not overlook the need to nurture your soul. Balance between life and work along with fulfilment is key to our happiness.

I help lawyers and professionals achieve career success and joy using my skills as an accredited ILM Coach and mentor for professionals in senior and strategic operational roles. My aim is to help my clients bridge the gap between where they are and where they want to be.
I am a lawyer turned Coach helping others to thrive, why because I have been through the deep valley of grief and burn out and have pivoted many times over to reconfigure myself. As Tony Robbins says, “Success without fulfilment is failure.”


Life is short and it is not a rehearsal. Taking action and achieving a balanced life is something I can help you do. Enough said.


Peace be with you.

©DMP

www.daxapatelcoachingsolutions.co.uk