Those of you who work with people (and ultimately: who doesn’t) know how easily they can push your buttons.
If you are explicitly in the people business (coach, therapist, healer, trainer, teacher etc.) you will have had some training on this aspect of your profession – transference and countertransference and all that.

Nevertheless, people are a challenge. And, most likely, since you chose your profession as a helper and care-giver, you are well endowed with sensitivity and empathy. Which is great; you ‘get’ people, you can hold space for them, you’re a great listener, you are non-judging and probably exude compassion.

However, there is a huge downside to this wonderful gift of yours. You also soak up other people’s ‘stuff’, you forget to set clear boundaries (or don’t even know how to do that) and tend to make yourself responsible for the other person’s trouble – if not their entire life. 
So soon enough, your work will start to drain you and you may even doubt whether you are in the right profession. 

Every gift comes with a pitfall. This is, when we do too much of what we’re good at, and forget to counterbalance it with the opposite quality. So care of others needs to be counterbalanced with self-care. And I don’t mean just eat and sleep. It is your soul that needs nourishing.

I had a beautiful talk on this topic with Brigitte van Tuijl, my business coach. You can listen to it here.

And if you’re interested to know more about core qualities and pitfalls, come join my lifestream this Monday (10-10-16) in my facebook group, Awakening Wise Women.