An Elephant and Powerful Lessons on Perspective, Truth, and Judgment

In this blog and latest episode of my Mindful Poetic Stories Podcast I explore an 19^th Century poem which holds an important key to personal growth and coaching.

Though John Godfrey Saxe penned this story in this wonderful poem written in 1872, the parable itself is much older, originating from Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain traditions. It offers an enduring lesson on human perception, limited understanding, and the power of perspective.

In Saxe’s version, six blind men each examine a different part of an elephant and confidently conclude what it is: a wall, a spear, a snake, a tree, a fan, or a rope. Each man is correct, from his limited vantage point. But their fierce disagreement reveals a greater truth: no one sees the full picture alone.

This parable is more than a charming story. It’s a metaphor for life, conflict, and self-awareness. It’s also deeply aligned with the core of life coaching, which helps individuals uncover limiting beliefs, explore blind spots, and ultimately unlock their true potential.

In mental fitness coaching, [read my blog here] everything starts with self-awareness. Just like the blind men clung to their limited experiences, many of us cling to outdated beliefs, thought patterns, and behaviours. These can act as blind spots, keeping us stuck in cycles of self-sabotage, defensiveness, and emotional reactivity.

“As Stephen Covey said: Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”

A very powerful transformative process in Coaching is called holding up the mirror, this technique helps us to truly look at ourselves, our patterns, our language, and our beliefs. This is where real change happens. We stop operating on autopilot and start making conscious choices that align with our core values and desired outcomes.

When I started my coaching journey, I was fascinated by this reflective process which allows individuals to see what they otherwise cant, not because they are unwilling, but a lot of the time it’s because we lose the ability to see, due to conditioning, unhealed pain and our blind spots.

The terms in fact comes originally comes from the world of art, painters would use mirrors to gain a new perspective on their work. Seeing the painting in reverse via a mirror could reveal imbalances or errors they’d missed with the naked eye. I think we will all agree that when we look at anything for long time it becomes so familiar that we lose the ability to spot errors/mistakes.

It’s the same with us: sometimes we need to look at our lives from another angle, another perspective to spot what’s really going on.

And that’s why coaching, when done with care, integrity, and compassion, doesn’t offer solutions but it awakens us to the truth we already carry inside. When a coach gently reflects our words, energy, and patterns back to us, without judgment, with what Carl Rodgers coined as “unconditional positive regard”, something shifts. We begin to see what we couldn’t see before.

We become aware of our own interference.

Nancy Kline says the mind that holds the problems also hold the solution probably the best one.. that was an empowering thought for me and certainly through coaching, we gain insights into:

• Self-sabotaging behaviours
• Negative internal dialogue
• Unhealed emotional triggers
• Outdated belief systems

When we become aware of what’s interfering with our performance, we can remove those blocks. As Timothy Gallway’s powerful coaching principle puts it:

Performance minus Interference = Potential

In this podcast episode I share perspectives about our blinds spots and our triggers. We all have blind spots, mental blocks or emotional pain points that keep us stuck. These may come from childhood conditioning, past trauma/distress, or ingrained cultural narratives. Left unexamined, they influence our thoughts, reactions, and relationships.

You may have heard triggers described as buttons, like when someone says they really press my buttons, well the fact is if you didn’t have the buttons there would be nothing to press. We often blame our triggers, or we blame the people who trigger our triggers! However, “people don’t trigger you; they trigger your triggers.”

But the fascinating thing is, our triggers are often hidden messages pointing us toward healing. When we take responsibility for them, instead of projecting blame, we reclaim our power and open the door to emotional freedom and personal empowerment.

In this podcast episode, I share a pivotal moment in my relationship with my mum when I realised, she got it! She understood what triggers meant when she started speaking the language of awareness and this opened up to a beautiful space where we could talk with honesty and curiosity, not blame.

I am so proud of my mum who in her 80’s embraced the coaching, inside-out, journey and you can read the blog about our journey together here.

The biggest takeaway from The Blind Men and the Elephant is this: what we see is not always all there is. A fixed perspective can keep us stuck in judgment, resistance, and conflict; a fixed mindset.

Wayne Dyer’s powerful quote sums it up nicely, “Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at change.”

By cultivating a growth mindset, we open ourselves up to learning, curiosity, and the freedom to evolve. This is the essence of mental fitness, the ability to shift perspectives, manage triggers, and stay in our empowered state with a positive mindset.

Mental Fitness Coaching using positive intelligence is not about fixing you. You’re not broken. It’s about helping you reconnect with your inner wisdom, dissolve the interference, and step into the version of yourself that is already whole, wise, and capable.

In my coaching practice I help my clients with my 3 R’s framework:

• Recognise harmful patterns
• Realise what is and isn’t serving
• Reconnect with your true essence with self love

This 3-step process fosters self-acceptance, self-love, inner peace and more harmonious relationships, both personally and professionally.

I something think, perhaps in this life we were never meant to see the whole elephant as our journey through life is ever evolving, a continuous learning and unlearning. Each belief we challenge, each blind spot we illuminate, and each perspective we consider expands our consciousness. My journey is forever a work in progress.

“When the student is ready, the teacher appears.”

So the next time you find yourself in conflict, stuck in self-doubt, or resisting change, ask yourself:

• Could I be only seeing one part of the elephant?
• Is there a belief I can reframe?
• What does this trigger want me to learn?

Remember, coaching isn’t about being told what to do, it’s about discovering what’s already inside you.

Because when we choose curiosity over judgment, openness over certainty, and love over fear, that’s when true transformation begins.

Are you ready to explore the whole elephant?

Book a free 1 hour discovery session today via my website and begin your journey to self-awareness, empowerment, and personal freedom.

Listen to all episode of Mindful Poetic Stories Podcast here