Take Your Own Life's Journey

"No one saves us but outselves.  No one can and no one may.  We ourselves must walk the path."

~Buddha

People often look outside themselves for something or someone to save them or change their situation.  While it is fine to get information or assistance, the decision of what to do and how to do it remains with you.  It is ultimately your journey in this life and no one else can take it for you.  Pretending you are not responsible for your life keeps you stuck waiting for a rescuer that cannot save you.  It keeps you a victim.  To save yourself you have to take your own action.

This week:  Look at your life honestly.  Are you waiting for someone else to tell you what to do?  Are you waiting for someone or something to happen to allow you to move forward?  If so, look inside.  Challenge yourself.  Ask yourself if you are hoping someone else will do the hard work for you?  Are you hoping someone else can/will save you?  If so, make a decision that you can and will do it yourself.  Find one small thing you can do that will orient you toward solving your problem.  It doesn't have to be big.  Relegate others to being your support or your consultants, but stop expecting them to fix things for you.  It is your path to walk and you CAN do it! 

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and expert at helping people find their Inner Resources.  She knows that people can achieve anything if they have the right tools and she is committed to helping you find what will work for you.  She works with people in Personal Breakthrough Intensive Sessions in order to help them transform their lives quickly and relatively easily with her solution focused approach.  For more information, go to http://www.innerresourcecenter.com/ .   

Share Your Love With Special Friends

“I love you,
Not only for what you are,
But for what I am
When I am with you.


I love you,
Not only for what
You have made of yourself,
But for what
You are making of me.


I love you
For the part of me
That you bring out;

I love you
For putting your hand
Into my heaped-up heart
And passing over
All the foolish, weak things
That you can’t help
Dimly seeing there,
And for drawing out
Into the light
All the beautiful belongings
That no one else had looked
Quite far enough to find.


I love you because you
Are helping me to make
Of the lumber of my life
Not a tavern
But a temple;
Out of the works
Of my every day
Not a reproach
But a song.


I love you
Because you have done
More than any creed
Could have done
To make me good
And more than any fate
Could have done
To make me happy.


You have done it
Without a touch,
Without a word,
Without a sign.
You have done it
By being yourself.
Perhaps that is what
Being a friend means,
After all.”


~ Roy Croft

This is one of my favorite poems.  I discovered it college and like to share it with those special people who touch my life in such meaningful ways.

This week:  Think about someone in your life with whom you would like to share these sentiments. They may not be your spouse or lover, or even someone you know very well.  They can be one of those special people who have touched your life and made a difference.  Reach out to them and let know what they mean to you.

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and expert in helping people discover inner resources that can transform their lives.  For more information, go to http://www.innerresourcecenter.com/

Are You a Pessimist or an Optimist?

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

~Winston Churchill

It all has to do with your perception.  Pessimists focus on what isn't working or won't work--all the difficulties.  An optimist focuses on opportunities and doesn't allow the difficulties to block them.  Which are you?  Which focus would help you move forward in your life? 

This week:  Experiment with focusing on the opportunities in the obstacles that confront you.  It may seem artificial or contrived, but it will allow you to practice changing your focus.  Notice what the difficulties allow you to learn.  Assume, just for this week, that you can overcome any obstacle or difficulty that presents itself.  Sometimes that is enough to change the focus on the obstacle and find solutions.  Put your brain to work at solving the difficulty.  Your brain is exceptionally good at finding solutions when you get your pessimism out of the way.  At the end of the week, notice what your experience was like.  Can you build on it? 

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and expert in helping people find their own inner resources and solutions to their life's challenges.  She has over 30 years experience helping people overcome self-sabotage and other obstacles to their success and happiness.  For more information and free articles, go to http://www.innerresourcecenter.com/ .  

You Become What You Think

"You become what you think about all day long and those days eventually become your lifetime."

 ~ Wayne Dyer

We attract those things we think about.  The thoughts you think are very powerful, because your brain tries to create all those things you think about--positive AND negative.  If you are constantly self-critical, or mired in self-doubt, you create that life for yourself.  If you don't like the way your life is going, the fastest way to change it is to change your thinking.

This week:  Catch yourself when you are thinking something negative about your life or yourself.  Challenge those thoughts.  Ask yourself "Is this really true?"  If it is, then ask yourself "What do I have to do to change it?"   Even though you may not be where you WANT to be in terms of success or happiness, change your thinking to reflect that you "just are not there yet."  Since you are in charge of what your life becomes, why not create the life you want rather than the life you don't want?

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and expert at helping people reach goals they had not thought possible.  At the Inner Resource Center, LLC she helps people identify their inner resources and build on them for greater meaning, happiness and success.  For more information, go to http://www.innerresourcecenter.com/

Value What You Are

Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.

~Malcolm S. Forbes

For some reason we often place a lot of emphasis on what we are lacking. While some people think that should motivate them to change or to become what they are lacking, it usually doesn't work that way. It is more important to accept and value what you are. After all, you are unique in all the world, and although you may not be quite what you want to be--yet--you cannot become that desired person until you really value who and what you already are.

This week: Spend some time focusing your attention on what you are, as opposed to what you are not. Appreciate yourself. Notice those things that you value about yourself. Treasure your idiosyncracies. If you have trouble doing this, ask a close friend or loved one what they value about you. This allows you to see the value that you bring to others. Understand that you don't have to be perfect to bring value to the world.

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and expert in helping people find their inner resources--those resources they may have buried inside. By connecting with your inner resources, you can solve your life's challenges and live lives of meaning and authenticity. For more information go to http://www.innerresourcecenter.com/ . Check out her self-help CD audio and workbook: Discover Your Life's Purpose: 7 Steps to a Life of Meaning & Authenticity.

Live with Meaning and Joy!

"Maybe you are here on earth to learn that life is what you make of it, and it's to be enjoyed."

~Dick Sutphen

Sometimes people think that they are victims of Fate or circumstances. They work hard to live their lives in a meaningful way, but forget to enjoy the time they have on this earth. I believe that when you have discovered your life's purpose, and begin to live it, you can more fully enjoy your life. You can choose the life you want to live--by choosing how you react to the circumstances that occur. You make the meaning of your life, and you can choose to live your life with with joy!

This week: Look for opportunities to choose to change the meaning you assign to the circumstances and events in your life. Put yourself in charge of making your life the way you want it, rather than reacting to it. And along the way, look for opportunities this week to enjoy yourself. Then, at the end of the week, notice what you think about the week that has passed. Is it better? More joyful? Do you feel less like a "victim?"

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and author of the audio CD/workbook program: Discover Your Life's Purpose: 7 Steps to a Life of Meaning and Authenticity. For more information go to http://www.InnerResourceCenter.com and sign up for her monthly report Inner Resources.

Your Vision Reflects What Is In Your Heart

Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.

~Carl Jung

Your vision is closely linked which who you REALLY are in your heart of hearts. Your vision needs to reflect your values--what is most important to you. You can only know this by connecting with the wise part of you, inside yourself. Too often we try to set our vision according to what someone else wants, whether it is a member of our family, close friend or even our target market. When you focus on what others want and make that your vision, you can lose the authenticity of that vision. The more the vision reflect what is inside YOU, the more it awakens your passion and becomes clearly expressed in everything you do.

This week: Spend some time connecting with YOUR vision. Look inside yourself and connect with that wise part of you that knows what is most important to you. As you think about your vision for your life or business, allow yourself to allow the passion you feel INSIDE to awaken and express itself. Capture it in words or pictures.

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and expert in helping people create lives of meaning and authenticity. She encourages people to connect with the inner resources inside themselves, and, in fact, the name of her company is Inner Resource Center, LLC. She has spent the past 30 years helping her clients grow--in their lives and in their businesses. For more information go to http://www.innerresourcecenter.com/

Facing Your Challenges

"The best way out is through."

~Robert Frost

When you are stuck or are faced with challenges, the best way out of your dilemma is to face the challenge and move on through it. Even if you are afraid, if you can face your fear, you can conquer it.

This Week: Think about what is challenging you. Is there something you've been trying to avoid? Hoping it will just go away or resolve itself without your doing something? Sorry, it usually doesn't work that way. This week, see if you can face that thing you've been avoiding. Take it on. Do some small thing to address it. If you keep putting the small steps one in front of the other, before you know it, you'll have passed through the challenge to the other side.

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and trainer at Inner Resource Center, LLC in Maryville, TN. She has spent the past 30 years helping people face their challenges and move through them toward their dreams. If you would like some tips in reaching your dreams, sign up for Inner Resources, her f'ree report at http://www.InnerResourceCenter.com .