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/ 

In Order to Change, Keep Moving

"The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving."

~Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

If you don't like the way your life is going, take steps to change it.  Most of us have some thing that we would like to change, but we have to be willing to take the steps and move in the direction we want to go.  Just sitting and wishing things would change is not going to get you there.  You have to be willing to take action.  You have to be willing to MOVE.  Sometimes all it takes is small steps in the right direction to begin to build your momentum.

This week:  Identify some change you would like to make--big or small.  What small step could you take that would BEGIN to move you in that direction?  First, state your intention to change.  Next, begin to take a small step in direction of the change.  How was that?  How do you feel having taken that first step towards changing something you have identified that it is your intention to change?  What is the next small step?  Keep your steps pretty small, and notice that it isn't as difficult as you might have first thought.  Do this all week.  At the end of the week, evaluate your progress toward a change.  While you may not have reached your outcome, you probably have moved forward.  If you keep this up, you will build greater and greater momentum.  Before you know it, you will have changed in the direction for which you were aiming.

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and expert in helping people make changes they did not think were really possible using her solution focused approach.  At the Inner Resource Center, LLC, she helps people access their inner resources for success, happiness and greater meaning.  For more information and several free resources, go to http://www.innerresourcecenter.com/ .

Peace in Your Heart Comes from Meaning

"Fill your mind with the meaningless stimuli of a world preoccupied with meaningless things, and it will not be easy to feel peace in your heart."

~Marianne Williamson

When you spend your time and energy on things that do not have real meaning, you are swept into clutter and "noise."   When your focus is on such things, there may not be room to focus on the things that are really important.  Our lives have much that can occupy our time and energy, but things that have meaning may be less obvious.   Looking for the meaning in your activities is worth the effort.  It gives you a richness in your life that bring not only peace of mind and heart, but which can be shared with others for the betterment of the planet. 

This week:  Just for this week, take ONE DAY to focus your attention away from the noise of meaningless things, and focus you attention on something that is truly meaningful to you.  Notice how you feel at the end of the day.  Do you feel inspired?  At peace?  Energized?  Go back to your usual approach and notice how you feel at the end of that day.  Do you feel tired?  Depleted?  Bored?  Disconnected?  What one thing would you like to add to your daily life that would bring you more meaning? 

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and expert in personal and professional growth at the Inner Resource Center, LLC.  She specializes in helping people let go of "mental clutter" in their lives--those negative emotions and limiting beliefs that block their success and happiness, and helps them create lives of greater meaning.  For more information, including some free resources, go to http://www.innerresourcecenter.com/

 

To Succeed You Must Overcome Self Doubt

"If you doubt you can accomplish something, then you can't accomplish it. You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through."

~ Former First Lady Rosalyn Carter

What we believe guides what we are able to achieve. When you doubt yourself, you plant the belief that you cannot accomplish it. The key to success is the belief that you WILL succeed--because you will do EVERYTHING necessary to make that success happen.

This week: Think about what you would like to accomplish if you believed in yourself enough to make it happen. What are you "tough enough" to follow through on, no matter what it takes? What are you absolutely committed to? Until you know what you absolutely, positively MUST accomplish no matter what, you won't have the determination necessary overcome those doubts and make it happen.

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and expert in helping people achieve goals they might not have thought even possible by using her solution focused approach. She helps people overcome limiting beliefs and negative emotions--what she calls "emotional clutter"-- to create enough space in life for success, happiness and greater meaning.

Find Passion in Your Career

"If you can't find passion for anything in your business you are in a wrong business - get out now!"

~Adam Urbanski

Life is too short to spend your time and energy working at something for which you feel no passion at all. You owe it to yourself, your customers or clients, and your employer (especially if your employer is you) to bring passion to your business.

This week: Ask yourself: What excites me about what I do for a living? What do I really enjoy about it? What special talent or product do I bring to the world? What do I want the world to know about what I do? How does what I do make a difference, even a small one, in the lives of others? If you are bored and jaded with your career, remember what it was that appealed to you about it in the first place. See if you can reconnect with the passion that you once felt. If not, ask yourself: "What DO I feel passionate about?" It may be time to redesign your career.

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and expert in helping people design a magnificent life--a life that reflects passion, meaning and authenticity. She helps people discover a career path that fits with their needs, values, personality and life's purpose. For more information go to http://www.innerresourcecenter.com/

Be the Best You Can Be

“Whatever you are, be a good one.”

~Abraham Lincoln

All of us have a path to take in this life, and no matter what you are, you owe it to yourself and others to strive for excellence. If you want to make a difference, if you want your life to count, be the best that you can be. No matter what career you hold, be good at it.

This week: Identify an area in your career (or in some other area of your life) where you could improve. What would you need to do differently? What would you need to know? What steps could you take to bring about that improvement? What is the first step? Begin to do it. Notice how it feels to commit yourself to excellence.

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and expert in helping people achieve excellence in a way that is meaningful.

Having a Clear Purpose Gives You Focus

Above all be of single aim; have a legitimate and useful purpose, and devote yourself unreservedly to it.

~James Allen

As we start the New Year in a challenging time, it is vital to have a clear focus. When you connect that focus to a "useful purpose"--what I often think of as your "life's purpose," you will be amazed at how things begin to fall into place. Having that central theme and purpose to your activities gives you the energy and focus to make things happen.

This week: As you go through your daily activities, think about how those activities are related to your Life's Purpose. The more you can related even the most mundane things on your "to do" list to what is most important to you, the easier it will be to accomplish them.

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach, trainer and owner of Inner Resource Center, LLC in Maryville, TN. She has 30 years experience helping people live with greater ease and meaning. She is the author and creator of Discover Your Life's Purpose: 7 Steps to a Life of Meaning & Authenticity, an audio/CD program which takes participants through a simple 7 step approach to finding their true meaning. For more information, go to http://www.innerresourcecenter.com/

When You Live Your Beliefs You Can Change the World

"Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around."

~Henry David Thoreau

As we start 2009, this quote captures my sentiments for the New Year. We all have the opportunity to turn the world around. In the U.S., we've seen what can happen when people are willing to get involved. My wish for 2009 is that all of us with begin to live what we believe, and in doing so, make our world a peaceful, healthy, prosperous place for all it's inhabitants.

This week: Spend some time at New Year's thinking about what just what you believe. How will you carry these beliefs into your daily life?

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and trainer at Inner Resource Center, LLC in Maryville, Tennessee. She is passionate about helping people find their life's purpose in order to live their lives in meaningful ways. She is the creator and author of Discover Your Life's Purpose: 7 Steps to a Life of Meaning & Authenticity. For more information go to http://www.innerresourcecenter.com/