What Are You Thinking?

"Any idea, plan, or purpose may be placed in 

the mind through repetition of thought."

~Napoleon Hill

This can be either very helpful or not very helpful.  If you are thinking empowering thoughts, and repeat them often enough, you can be empowered.  You can create ideas and plans that inspire you.  You can allow purpose (and passion) to move you forward toward great things--just by thinking those thoughts repeatedly.  AND if you are thinking thoughts that limit you, those thoughts will just as surely keep you from getting the outcome you were seeking.  What are limiting ideas or thoughts?  Ideas that contain a negative--for example, when you think about what you DON'T want, rather than what you DO want.  Thoughts that focus on failure, anxiety, worry, memories of bad experiences, self doubt, fear, guilt, hurt, sadness, or anger.  If you are going to be putting ideas, plans and purposes in your mind through repetition of thought, why not make them empowering ideas rather than liming ones?

This week:  Sit down with a piece of paper divided into 2 columns.  At the top of one column, put "Empowering"; at the top of the other column, put "Limiting".  Now spend some time brainstorming.  Identify those thoughts you think regularly and repeatedly.  Write it down in the column it belongs in.  Does it empower you or limit you?  Continue you doing this until you have captured them all (or at least the most frequent ones).  This may take you a few days.  Then look at the "Limiting" column.  See if you can reword them so that they are 1) positive 2) empowering and 3) could be true (you have to be able to believe that the belief could be true, even if it isn't quite true yet).  Practice REPEATEDLY saying the empowering thoughts OUT LOUD this week.  Do you get more confident about it the more you say it.  If not, practice changing your body language and say it like you MEAN IT!  

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and expert at helping people overcome mindset limitations that block their success and happiness.  Many people stockpile negative emotions and limiting beliefs from past negative experiences (what Linda calls "emotional clutter") and it keeps them stuck.  For more information about how to change this, go to http://www.InnerResourceCenter.com . 

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/ .   

You Have to Take a Chance

Progress always involves risks. You can't steal second base and keep your foot on first.

~Frederick B. Wilcox

So many people are afraid to take chances.  They stay stuck in place, afraid to reach out and go after what they really want because they are afraid to move from the safety and security of their daily life.  Even if they aren't happy in their daily life, they are afraid to step forward.  The problem is that until you are ready to take a risk, you will stay on "first base"--stuck in place. 

This week:  Acknowledge to yourself what risk you need to take to move forward.  Identifying it and owning up to it brings it out into the light and allows you to begin to assess just how great the risk is.  Sometimes we make the risk so much worse in our imagination.  In the light of day, what are you really risking?  How probable is that risk?  Ask yourself:  What one small step can I take that will move me forward?  When you are focused on what step you need to take, you can shift your focus away from the fear.  Ask  yourself:  What am I risking by NOT taking that step?  Decide to do one small thing this week that will help you take that step.

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and expert at helping people face the fears that block them and move beyond them.  Her Life Moments Makeover System allows people to let go of fear and anxiety quickly and easily.  For more information, go to http://www.innerresourcecenter.com/

Postponing Things Until Tomorrow Keeps You Stuck

"Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week."

~ Spanish Proverb

Too often we postpone taking action.  We procrastinate.  We decide that we don't have time today to do what needs to be done.  We postpone relaxation or happiness for vacation or retirement.  We postpone telling a loved one how important they are until it is too late.  We think we will be successful tomorrow--when some special project is completed or some award has been earned.  The problem is that we postpone living a full and satisfying life.  And tomorrow never comes...

This week:  Identify something you have been postponing, something you have put off until "tomorrow."  DECIDE that you are going to take an action to accomplish it TODAY--maybe just some small action.  Then, each day take another small action.  You will find yourself slowly and steadily building momentum until your project is completed or until you have begun living in the present moment instead of postponing being satisfied until some far off "tomorrow."

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and expert in helping people live happy, meaningful, successful lives.  She is good at helping even the biggest procrastinator take action, helping them build momentum toward their goals.  She specializes in helping people overcome the "mental clutter" and limiting beliefs that often contribute to procrastination.  For more information, go to http://www.innerresourcecenter.com/

"Look at life through the windshield, not the rear-view mirror."

~Byrd Baggett

Too many times we are focused on things that happened to us in the past. It is as if we are looking at life through the rear-view mirror. When you focus on the past, you remain stuck in the past. If you want to get unstuck and move ahead toward your goals, you need to look where you are going. Focusing on where you want to go helps you create the circumstances that carry you toward your goal.

This week: Imagine you are taking a trip someplace you have always wanted to go. Now, imagine as you move toward that destination, you are looking behind you. Imagine taking this trip totally focused on where you have been. Can you even get to your destination when you are focused in another direction? Now, imagine aiming for a place right in front of you. Move toward it. Look in the direction you want to go, not in the direction you have already been. Now imagine how much easier it will be to reach your GOALS if you focus on what is ahead of you, rather than what has happened in the past.

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and expert at helping people overcome the obstacles to their goals with her solution-focused approach. She specializes in helping clients overcome "emotional clutter"--those negative emotions and limiting beliefs that often keep us stuck in the past. For more information and free resources, go to http://www.innerresourcecenter.com/ or http://www.emotionalclutter.com/

Be Willing to Change Your Plans

"We must be willing to get rid of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us."

~ Joseph Campbell

So often we allow ourselves to be "stuck" because we are waiting for or struggling to have the life we had planned to have. While there's nothing wrong with setting goals for your life or planning the sort of life you would like to have, sometimes you have to be willing to let go of those plans. You have to be willing to embrace the life that is presenting itself. Unless you are willing to explore the opportunities that are presenting themselves for a different life--one you had not planned for--you may miss out on great joy and a chance to make a difference.

This week: Allow yourself to notice the direction your life seems to be going. Are there opportunities there you had not allowed yourself acknowledge? Ask yourself: "What would happen if I let go of the life I had planned to have? Are there new opportunities out there for me?" Explore possibilities, if only in your imagination.

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and expert in helping people create new directions in their lives and take action to achieve those goals they had not even dreamed possible. She specializes in helping people overcome negative emotions from the past and limiting beliefs that block success and happiness. For more information about her solution-focused approach, got to http:www.InnerResourceCenter.com

You Have to Take Action

"Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there."

~Will Rogers

It doesn't matter if you are on the right track if you don't take action to move forward. You can have the best ideas and they won't get you anywhere. Steady movement forward towards the outcome you have envisioned builds momentum and speed, and, just like the locomotive, you'll reach your destination.

This week: Take one of your ideas and take some action to move forward. Now build on that and continue to take action, doing something every day. At the end of the week, take stock in what you have accomplished. Are you on the right track? If not, shift gears and take some more action on another track. The key is taking action.

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and expert in helping people take the necessary action to reach their goals. She knows you can create momentum by taking small steps and continuing to move forward. She specializes in helping people who are feeling stuck in their life or their careers. For more information go to http://www.innerresourcecenter.com/

Success Requires Focus

Concentrate all your thoughts on the task at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus

~ Graham Bell

You can have a lot of great ideas and dreams, but until you begin to focus your attention and energy on them, they remain unrealized. The key to success in any project or goal is putting your focus where you want it. This means focusing your time, your energy, your focus and your money on the outcome you want to achieve. Without that focus, you are likely to remain stuck--floundering around--despite those great ideas and dreams.

This week: Determine some area of your life where you need to increase your focus. Just for this week, concentrate your attention and energy on this area or specific task. Commit some time to it, maybe an hour a day or whatever you can manage. At the end of the week, notice what has happened. Have you made progress? Do you feel less scattered? Consider how you can increase your focus next week...

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and expert in coaching people to success with her solution-focused approach For more information go to http://www.innerresourcecenter.com/ or check her out on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/getunstuck .

Changing Your Perceptions Changes Your Outlook

"If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change."

~Dr. Wayne Dyer

How you choose to perceive things that happen in your life really determines what you think about them, and how you feel about them. For instance, when you perceive something as a problem, it takes on a certain heaviness, and may even seem insurmountable. If you perceive that same situation as a challenge, it energizes you to seek solutions.

I recently had the opportunity to relearn about this when my husband was burned in a fire at his equipment building. We didn't look at this as a catastrophe; we looked at it as a challenge to be met. His injuries have been a set-back, not something we choose to perceive as permanent. As a result, I think, he has made a much speedier recovery.

This week: If you feel stuck in some area of your life, check to see how you are looking at it. Is there a way you can change your thinking? Can you reframe it as a challenge? Or maybe even an opportunity? Or even as "life's little hiccup?" Notice how your feelings change when you change how you look at things.

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and trainer at Inner Resource Center, LLC in

Maryville, TN. She specializes in helping people overcome obstacles by changing their perceptions with her solution focused methods. 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 .