Getting Outside Your Comfort Zone Is Necessary For Success

"To be successful, all you have to do 

is give up everything you know."

~Asara Lovejoy

O.K., this isn't quite true, but it seems like it.  To be successful, you need to be able to let go of preconceived notions, long-standing limitations and habits that don't serve you.  You need to get out of your comfort zone and stretch yourself.  Sometimes when you are doing things that feel uncomfortable, or struggling to learn new skills, you may feel like you are having to give up everything you know.  Remember that new skills feel uncomfortable until you practice them.  In time and with practice, they become second nature.  

This week:   Take an honest look at where you stand with your success, however you define it.  How well is your old approach working for you?  Do you need a new approach?  Do you need to find new models for success?  Do you need to develop new skills?  If you could stretch yourself in only ONE area, would it make a difference?  Use this inventory to identify ways you may need to "step up your game."  Identify an area in which you could stretch yourself.  Outline a plan for making that happen.  Now, this week, before any more time has passed, take the first step in that plan.  Congratulations!  You are stepping outside your comfort zone!

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and expert in helping people achieve goals they had not thought even possible using her solution focused approach.  She specializes in helping people overcome the mindset limitations that block their success (and happiness).  For more information, go to http://www.InnerResourceCenter.com .  

Find the Place Inside You Where Nothing Is Impossible

"You must find the place inside yourself 

where nothing is impossible."

~Deepak Chopra

We are all capable of so much more than we believe is possible.  We limit ourselves by our thoughts that we don't have the skills, don't have the capabilities to achieve what we'd like to dream.  In order to really succeed, we each need to find that place within ourselves where nothing is impossible.  If you can conceive of something, you can find the way to achieve it.  But you have to let go of the beliefs and the mindset that limit you.

This week:  Imagine what you would do if you knew that you could not fail.  If you knew that anything was not only possible, but you could achieve it, what would you do?  This connects you not only with what is really most important to you, but also where you've put limitations.  Spend some time this week considering whether those limitations are really true, or have you imagined them.  Understand that anything you can imagine can be changed to something less limiting.  Take time to imagine what you would need in order to have a mindset that "I can do it; anything is possible."  What do you need to do in order to make that a reality?  Write down the steps and commit yourself to taking at least one step this week.

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and expert and helping people achieve goals they had not thought possible using a variety of solution focused methods.  She believes that you CAN achieve anything if you have the right tools, and at the Inner Resource Center, LLC helps people find the resources necessary to transform their lives.  For more information, go to http://www.InnerResourceCenter.com . 

Change Your Thoughts and Beliefs to Change Your Perception of the World

"Every thought you have makes up some segment of the world you see. It is with your thoughts, then, that we must work, if your perception of the world is to be changed."

~A Course in Miracles

Our thoughts are very powerful.  We each view the world in terms of our thoughts, feelings and perceptions, which have been based upon our experiences in life.  We act as if our thoughts are true, when, in fact, they may be distortions filtered through our experiences.  If the world is not as you would like it to be, and if your life is not the way you would like it to be, you first need to examine your thoughts, your beliefs and your feelings.  You can change your perceptions if you choose, but you need to be willing to look at what you think and believe. 

This week:  Challenge yourself to examine your thoughts and beliefs. Are there things you think or believe that limit you?  Write these down.  You don't have to change them right now, but understand clearly how they limit your success and happiness.  What would you be able to do if you thought or believed something different?  If this is too difficult to consider, look at how the beliefs and thoughts others have limit them.  It is often easier to see limitations in others than in ourselves.  Notice how the way people think impacts their perceptions of the world and their experiences.  This week, identify ONE limiting belief or thought that you would like to change.  Write it down.  Every time it comes up, challenge it.  Ask yourself, "Is this really true?"  Ask yourself, "What would I need to believe instead that would empower me?" 

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and expert at helping people change limiting beliefs quickly and easily with her solution-focused techniques.  Her business, the Inner Resource Center, LLC helps people find the best resources to help them transform their lives and move forward toward greater success, meaning and happiness.  For more information, go to http://www.innerresourcecenter.com/ or http://www.emotionalclutter.com/ 

Keep Your Focus on the Main Thing

"The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing."

~Stephen Covey

The New Year presents an opportunity for us to DREAM BIG and to create what we most want.  But to do that we must keep our focus on what is the "main thing."  What is most important in order to create the life we want?  What must we do to keep focused on the main thing and not be distracted by the bright shiny objects that surround us.  Our lives are full of opportunities and we must decide which of them most suit the outcome we really want.  When you keep the main thing the main thing you can most easily and effectively pursue that outcome.

This week:  Decide what is "the main thing" for you some time period--this month or this quarter or this year.  What do you really want and need in order to create what you most want?  Write it down and post it where you will see it several times during the day.  Keep your focus on this main thing during each day for this week.  At the end of the day, evaluate how well you did.  If you need to do something to keep your focus on the main thing, determine what that is and make adjustments.  At the end of the week, decide if you want to continue this exercise for another week.  How many weeks will it take for you to have made the main thing the main thing?

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and expert at helping people make big changes in their lives.  She specializes in helping people determine what is most important in their lives and to rapidly move beyond self-imposed limitations by using her toolbox of solution-focused techniques.  For more information and to find resources to help you make changes quickly, go to http://www.innerresourcecenter.com/ .

Change Your Beliefs to Change Your Destiny

"Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds."

~Franklin D. Roosevelt

It is not our fate or life circumstances that limit us.  We are limited more by what we think and believe.  When we believe we are less than we could be, we limit our success and keep ourselves from living the life we could be living.  When you change your beliefs, you change your destiny.

This week:  Examine your beliefs.  What do you believe about yourself or your circumstances that keep you stuck?  What would you need to believe in order to empower yourself?  Challenge those limiting beliefs.  Are they really true?  Or have you just distorted events so that you can continue to believe them?  While you might feel safer limiting yourself, you won't be living the life you were really intended to live.  Write down the beliefs that need to change.  What empowering beliefs would serve you better?  Write them down.  Ask for help changing them if needed.

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and expert in helping people change the limiting beliefs that block their success and happiness.  For more information go to http://www.innerresourcecenter.com/ or for downloads of free articles to get rid of this type of "emotional clutter" go to http://www.emotionalclutter.com/ .

Fear Is Preparing You to Take Action

"When you feel fear, ask yourself this question. What positive action is this fear preparing me to take?"

~Ralph Marston

Sometimes we allow ourselves to be stopped by our fear. We think it must signal danger. We worry about negative results. Fear can actually signal that you are ready to move outside your comfort zone. When you can face that fear, you can stretch yourself beyond your limitations and achieve things you didn't know you could.

This week: Pay attention to what causes you feel fear. Are you worried about failing? Do you think you can't do something? This week allow the fear to be a signal that there is a positive action you are getting ready to take. Identify it. Ask yourself: "What positive action must I take to overcome this fear?" Take that action. Notice what happens to your fear. Does it disappear when you think about it as signaling a positive action? Notice how empowered you feel.

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and expert in helping people overcome their limitations using her solution focused approach. For more information or to get her monthly tips and coaching challenge, go to http://www.innerresourcecenter.com/ .