Harry Potter is not my cup of tea.

But Loazzadog Lauren is a huge fan.

So much of a fan, in fact, that a couple of years ago I was gently encouraged to participate in an eight-part Potter movie marathon in the weeks leading up to Christmas. And when that was done and I thought I was free from Voldemort's clutches, we followed that up with the three Fantastic Beasts movies.

While I wouldn’t wish such a wizarding world endurance test on my worst enemy, one good thing did come from that Potter-thon:

Daily email inspiration!  

Take Hermione for instance.

She’s the model overachiever. And I don’t mean that in a good way.

In one of the movies (I can't remember which one), Hermione decides to sign up for a cauldron-load of extra classes and uses a magical Time-Turner Device to travel back in time to go to them all. 

Sneaky stuff from Miss Granger.

But her sneaky ways eventually take their toll. Hermione starts to stress herself out and in one scene she storms out of her Divination class, overworked and exhausted.

In another movie (could be the same movie – it’s all a blur!), Hermione has the idea to knit hats for the Hogwarts house-elves. 

A touching gesture for sure. 

But when she gets no support from her wizarding chums, Hermione finds herself swamped and more & more annoyed at her slow progress and how little everyone else seems to care.

In another movie, Hermione accidentally turns herself into a cat when she puts the wrong ingredient in her Polyjuice Potion. Then she berates herself for her mistake, even though she’s still lightyears ahead of her classmates.

When you put this all together, it’s clear Hermione sets herself high standards.

Nothing wrong with that of course.

And yet…

I wonder if Hermione ever lets herself off the hook?

I wonder if she thinks that perfect is really possible?

And I wonder if Hermione knows she’s already enough? Regardless of her grades, her potions and how many hats she knits.

If Hogwarts ever decides to hire a resident coach for overachieving wizards, these are the sorts of questions I’d explore with her.

And if you can see a bit of yourself in Hermione, these questions might be worth a ponder too.

If you feel like nothing you do is quite good enough, if your health suffers because of the pressure you put yourself under and if you've got so much to accomplish that you’ve got no time to relax, I can help with that.

There's no wand-waving or wizardry involved. 

Just a conversation where we explore what might be getting in the way of your calm, clarity and peace of mind.

If you like the sound of that, hit reply and we'll take it from there. 

To fulfilment, 

Tom