I am a massive fan of Kung Fu Panda and so I was thrilled that my kids suggested we go and see the 4^th movie this week.  What has this got to do with you?

Firstly, if you haven’t cried with laughter for a while, go and see it.

Secondly, there was a great life lesson given in the form of a peach seed.  In the film, the lead character Po gives his apprentice Zhen a peach seed, teaching her that new flowers grow from old seeds.  In other words, and to borrow another metaphor, ‘it’s never too late to teach an old dog new tricks’.

Often when clients come to coaching, they’ll be stuck in a  ‘oh it’s just the way I am’ belief, often confusing their sense of self with the skills or behaviours they have yet to acquire.  I wish I had a pound for every time I heard that line.  The truth is, changing repeated behaviours or learning new skills requires conscious effort.  And unless our ‘why’ is more powerful than the pain of going through that process, we’ll always trot out the ‘it’s just the way I am’ line.

We just have to decide whether we want to be a gnarly peach seed or a beautiful flower.