What animal are you?
I am reading a book called ‘Dare, take your life on and win’ by Gary Leboff and normally books that ask me to work through all sorts of exercises before moving on to the next chapter annoy me as it disturbs a peaceful read. This one triggered some interesting questions, so I decided to play and have fun with it. So in the first chapter the author asks you to pick an animal that represents you and then he asks you to explain why.
I thought about it for a while and decided my animal was a Koala bear, as a child it was a favourite teddy bear and one of the first I ever received and the Koala creature has always intrigued me, so it felt like a match. Then the description made me think a little more, because most pictures of Koala’s are high up in a tree overlooking things and whilst they look nice and cuddly, I have been told they can be quite vicious when they lash out.
Hmmm, so what does that tell you about me…? (and some of my clients will now be sniggering at this stage)
My explanation is quite simple, I do like to see the bigger picture and will often distance myself to gain perspective, whether that is in business or in personal situations. I am generaly quite friendly and I often am told that I have an air of serenity about me, but equally can be found guilty of sledge hammer subtle comments. I do tend to do my own thing and like my independence a lot, so maybe the analogy and choice of animal is rather more revealing and accurate than I had originally thought.Considering I grew up in the Northern Hemispheres I havent actually learned an awful lot about Koala’s and have only seen them whilst on holiday in Australia, but even with limited knowledge I did gain a few nice insights. If there are Koala experts out there that feel like filling me in on the other attributes, please do let me know.
I question you, what animal represents you and what does that say about you?
It is fascinating once you detach yourself from the actual being and transfer yourself on to something else like an animal, what you learn in terms of perspective. I love learning, so I am always reading new books and keeping up-to-date with tools and techniques that may help my clients, but before I implement the techniques in my practice I try them for myself, because if they work on me I can give firsthand feedback on why it is a useful technique.If you have an animal insight or story to share as a result of this blog post, please do contact me, I would love to hear the insight you gained.