Top 5 Reasons to Get Rid of Your Mindset Limitations

"I don't know what that problem is," she told me. "I've been working really hard, but I can't ever seem to reach the success I've been chasing. There must be something wrong with me."

It's a common complaint I hear in many different forms:

• "I'm stuck."
• "No matter what I do, it doesn't seem to work."
• "Maybe I'm not cut out for this."
•  "I'm working as hard as I can, but I can't seem to get there."

All of these complaints have mindset at their core.  It isn't that you aren't working hard enough. Success doesn't have to be so elusive. At the core of all these problems is the thoughts, feelings, beliefs, attitudes and values that underlie everything you do.  Mindset is the voice in your head that tells you "I can't..."  It's the part that tells you "I don't deserve..."  It is at the core of your self-doubt and lack of confidence.

Usually these thoughts, feelings, beliefs, attitudes and values have their foundations in events from your past. They are the reactions to events in your life that didn't turn out the way you wanted them to.  As a result you jumped to conclusions about what the problem was.  You formed beliefs that began to limit you, and you found "proof" that you were right in your conclusions by doing what we all do when we form a belief. We ignore evidence to the contrary. We distort the evidence to "prove" we were right all along.  And we generalize from situations where the belief may be true to all situations or every single time.

Then to make it even more complicated, the beliefs, thoughts, feelings, attitudes and values fall out of our awareness and become unconscious.  We don't even realize these mindset saboteurs are chugging away under the surface messing everything up. 

As amazing as it may seem, 90% of your success or failure are the result of mindset issues.  Specifically, it's those mindset limitations you've unconsciously set into motion.  It is vitally  important to address your mindset issues. If you don't you'll continue to struggle.

The top 5 reasons to address your mindset limitations are

1.       To get rid of obstacles that block your goals--especially obstacles that are self-imposed.   

Your mindset limitations stop you just as completely as if you were running head-first into a           brick wall.

2.       To get off the roller-coaster and create CONSISTENT results.

Maybe you've had some success, but you can't seem to duplicate it and your ups and downs are affecting your confidence.

3.         To conquer your fears.

No matter if your fears are of a fear of failure, a fear of success, a fear of being noticed, a fear of rejection, fear plays a huge role in taking the steps you need to in order to be successful. If you are fearful, you'll avoid doing the things you need to do to succeed.

4.         To get rid of self-doubt.

Self doubt often keeps you stuck. You lack the confidence to get out there and do what you need to in order to achieve your goals. Self-doubt is composed of "what if's" and most of them are catastrophic. If you can get out of your own way, you are likely to discover that you are more capable then you thought.  You really CAN do those things you didn't think you could.

5.         To get rid of limiting beliefs that hurt your confidence and self-esteem.

Those may be beliefs like "I'm not worthy," or "I have to be perfect," or "I'm not good enough." If you've been thinking there's something wrong with you, there is likely a limiting belief that is feeding it.

The good news is that mindset limitations can be resolved. The bad news is that you can't just decide to believe or think something more helpful. Because mindset issues tend to lurk in the unconscious, you can't consciously change them--you have to change them with unconscious methods.  Think about it--if you chant "There are no weeds in my garden; there are no weeds in my garden; there are no weeds in my garden," a hundred times, what happens?  The weeds still take over your garden. You have to DO something, and it has to address the weed's roots.

Want to know more? Contact me, Linda Pucci at Linda@InnerResourceCenter.com to schedule time to talk over the phone about your mindset limitations and what you can do about it.  There are lots of techniques and methods that work. When you are ready to address your mindset, email me and we'll talk about what will work best for you.

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a personal and business coach and an expert in helping clients resolve mindset issues that interfere with their success and happiness.  For more information go to http://www.InnerResourceCenter.com to learn about her services. 

Great Things Are Done in Smaller Steps

"Great things are done by a series of 

small things brought together."

~ Vincent van Gogh

Whether you are doing all the small things yourself to create something bigger, or whether you are collaborating with others to put together the pieces that will make your outcome greater than the sum of each part, when you take small steps and put them together, you often get something greater than you had anticipated at the start.  The small steps make the task easier to accomplish.  Sometimes doing things in small steps is the only way to get things accomplished at all.  The job is too big to do all at once, or too overwhelming to achieve.  Small steps keep you from being overwhelmed, and allows you to build momentum towards your goal.  Take those small steps; do those small things and achieve something greater than you'd thought possible.  


This week:  Take a small step toward a big goal.  Do some small thing without expecting yourself to "do it all."  Notice what that feels like.  Although you may think what you did is pretty insignificant in the bigger scheme of things, beginning the journey toward that bigger goal or achievement starts you moving forward.  Do something little every day this week toward some outcome you'd like to accomplish.  Notice your progress at the end of the week.  You may still have a long way to go, but you've made a dent in it, have you not?  Congratulate yourself or reward yourself in some way.  If you like this approach, make a commitment to doing it again next week.  


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

Real Decisions Require Action

"A real decision is measured by the fact that you've taken a new action. If there's no action, you haven't truly decided."

~Anthony Robbins

Many people say they have made a decision about something; yet do nothing about it.  Real decisions require you to take some action.  The action brings that decision to life.  Deciding, then sitting and waiting keep you in the same position you were before you made that decision.  The purpose of the decision is to activate yourself in some particular direction.  If you are not ready to take action, you are not ready to make the decision.  That's OK.  It is better than pretending that you have made the decision, yet doing nothing to move forward. 

This week:  As you face decisions this week that need to be made, ask yourself as part of the decision-making process "Am I ready to take action on this once I decide?"  If not, look carefully at your reluctance.  Is it because of doubts about your decision?  Do you not have all the informatoin you need?  Challenge yourself to make a decision and take at least some small action associated with it.  That will help you move forward and actually make the decision easier to embrace.  Decisions often require us to stretch ourselves, and their may be some concern about whether we are ready to do that.  But if you take just one small action step, then another and another, you will build the momentum you need.  But you HAVE to take that first step.

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and expert in helping people sort through decisions, pick the right one for them, and take action to move forward.  She has more than 30 years experience helping people find the inner resources necessary to overcome obstacles to their success and happiness.  For more information, go to http://www.innerresourcecenter.com/ .  To find out how HORSES can help in the process, go to http://www.resourceswithhoreses.com/ .

Invest More to Get More

"I've found that luck is quite predictable. If you want more luck, take more chances. Be more active. Show up more often."

~ Brian Tracy

In order have more luck, you need to be willing to invest yourself.  You need to believe in yourself and the outcome you are seeking.  When you are willing to give your all, you will notice more and more opportunities.  You will notice that your passion for your outcome carries your forward and creates its own "luck."

This week:  What area of your life would you like more "luck" in?  Now look at how invested you really are in that area.  Are you taking chances?  Are you active?  Are you showing up fully and passionately?  Are you really invested in getting your results?  If not, take some steps in increase your investment and passion about this area and what you want to see happen.  Believe it.  Now notice what opportunities show up for you.  Althugh you may not take them all, you will begin to notice that the opportunities become more abundant. 

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and expert in helping people overcome obstacles and achieve goals they had not thought possible with her solution focused methods. She specializes in helping people overcome self sabotage--those often unconscious ways in which we block ourselves from success and happiness.  For more information, go to http://www.innerresourcecenter.com/

Don't Fear Time--Use It

"Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use."

~Earl Nightingale

Many people avoid starting something because they think it will take too much time.  They think they don't have enough time,so they end up wasting the time they do have.   The time will pass anyway, whether we are doing something that brings us closer to our goals or not.  When we avoid doing things because we think we don't have enough time, we are sabotaging ourselves and letting this excuse stop us from living fully. 

This week: Identify something you have been procrastinating about because you think you don't have "enough time."  Decide how much time you DO have--whether it is 5 minutes, 20 minutes, 1 hour or 3 hours.  Invest that time in the task you have been avoiding.  At the end of the time, evaluate. Have you accomplished more of the task than you would have if you had done nothing?  Are you further along toward completion than you were?  Of course.  Use little bits of time and build momentum toward achieving that goal.  It may take you awhile to complete it, but you will be further along each time you use your time for that task.

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and expert in helping people achieve goals, overcome obstacles and discover how to live a meaning life.  She specializes in helping people overcome self sabotage--those things we do unconsciously to block our success and happiness.  For more information, go to http://www.innerresourcecenter.com/

Moving Toward Your Goals Despite "Failures"

"Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.”

~Winston Churchill

Face it.  When you try to accomplish things, there will inevitably be "failures."  Accomplishing goals takes effort and enthusiasm to keep going when things are not going well.  That enthusiasm serves as motivation.  It allows you to take the so-called "failure" and utilize it as feedback.  When you are pursuing your goals, there may be obstacles and set-backs.  But you can count yourself successful when you keep moving forward--finding ways around those obstacles, and keeping your enthusiasm despite those set-backs. 

This week:  Think about a goal you have achieved in your life--despite the set-backs and obstacles.  Think back on the obstacles you overcame and how you did it.  What resources did you use?  What support did you need to keep going?  How can you use this information the next time you face obstacles in pursuing your goal? 

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and expert in helping people overcome the obstacles to their goals.  She uses her 30 plus years of experience and knowledge of solution focused techniques to support her clients in creating satisfying, meaningful, magnificent lives.  For more information about her or the services she provides, 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/

You Haven't Failed--It Is Just Feedback

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

- Thomas Edison

Imagine where we would be today if Edison had believed he had failed when those 10,000 ways did not work.  We might still be reading by lamp light. The lesson here is profound.  When we think we have failed, we often give up.  But when we think about those failures as feedback about ways that didn't work, we keep on going, integrating that feedback into our next effort.  If you find yourself stopping yourself, believing you have failed, think about that "failure" as feedback.  Keep going.  Use the feedback to guide a new approach.

This week:  For just one week, think of your mistakes or failures as feedback.  When can you learn from the things that did not work?  How can you utilize that feedback to modify your approach?  How can you do it differently?  What do you need to add or subtract from your approach?  What might help you to be more successful next time? 

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and expert in helping people overcome the obstacles to their success by getting rid of "mental clutter"--especially those limiting beliefs that block you.  For more information about her services or to get some free resources to help you become more successful, 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.

Being Authentic Creates the Climate for Success

"So often we wait for the climate and conditions in life to be perfect before we feel safe enough to step forward, trust, and be our authentic selves. What we don't realize is that in order to create the ideal climate we are waiting for, we must be authentic first."

~Sonia Choquette

Many people are reluctant to be their authentic selves. They are afraid they won't be accepted or liked. They often hold back, and think that they will wait until they have reached a greater level of success; then show others who they really are. They don't realize that by being authentic first, they can attact greater success.

This week: Take a chance on being authentic in some situation where you might ordinarily hold back. Notice what happens. Are you able to begin to build a more authentic relationship with someone? Isn't it likely that this authentic relationship will ultimately bring you greater success? And the success will be sweeter because it is achieved by an AUTHENTIC YOU!

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and certified trainer at Inner Resource Center, LLC. She helps people discover (or develop) their inner resources for a life of greater meaning, success and happiness. For more information, go to http://www.innerresourcecenter.com/

Let Go of Worries and Live Fully

"Live boldly. Take off those shackles and live life on your own terms."

~Varla Ventura

Have you ever noticed how much we keep ourselves prisoner to our worries and anxieties--all those "what ifs" that we conjure up? Have you noticed that when we focus on what "might" happen, we too seldom focus on the big success we might have? When you allow yourself to be imprisoned by your worries, you absolutely keep yourself from having success. You aren't living fully, and you aren't being yourself.

This week: Focus on what might happen if you took off the shackles of your anxiety, and began to live boldly. Imagine what could happen if you knew you could not fail. Embrace the possibility of living on your own terms. What would be different? Focus on the feeling you get when you are imagining that outcome. Breathe deeply several times. What would be the first thingyou would need to do to begin creating that outcome? Do it!

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach, certified trainer and expert in helping people overcome their limitations. She specializes in helping people let go of "emotional clutter"--those negative emotions and limiting beliefs from the past. For more information about her solution focused methods go to http://www.innerresourcecenter.com/ .

Explore Your Capabilities

"If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves."

~Thomas Edison

All of us are capable of doing more than we think we can. We have untapped reservoirs of strength and creativity, knowledge and experience in all sorts of areas that we don't utilize. We stop ourselves with limiting beliefs--"I don't know enough," "I can't do it," "I'm too old or too young or too poor."

This week: Allow yourself to imagine what you could accomplish if you allowed yourself to do all that you are capable of doing. Just take some time to dream about this. What would you do first, especially if you KNEW FOR CERTAIN that you could succeed?

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and trainer at Inner Resource Center, LLC in Maryville, TN. She specializes in helping people find the resources to access their capabilities, and overcome the limiting beliefs that block their success. She can be reached at http://www.innerresourcecenter.com/ .

Play Full-Out for Success

"I can't imagine a person becoming a success

who doesn't give this game of life everything he's got."

~Walter Cronkite

When you play at your goals half-heartedly, you get inconsistent or half-hearted results. In order to really be successful, you have to want it fully--your goal needs to be COMPELLING. When you have a compelling goal and play the game of life full out, you can create a life that is full and joyful.

This week: Think about your current goals. Are they compelling? If not, how could you redefine your goal so that you'd want to play full-out? Redefine your goal to make it compelling. If you want more tips about how to make your goals more successful, download Banish the Goal Setting Gremlins and Reach Your Highest Potential at http://www.innerresourcecenter.com/signupforteleseminar.html and click on "free audio."

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and trainer. She helps people discover their own inner resources for success at http://www.innerresourcecenter.com/ .

Success Does Not Mean Perfection

"Aim for success, not perfection.

Never give up your right to be wrong,

because then you will lose the ability

to learn new things

and move forward with your life."

~Dr. David Burns

When you aim for perfection, you insure frustration and disappointment because no one can be perfect. Often it is better to define your success as 90%. You will learned from your experiences and will be able to move on in your life. Often the best lessons are learned from mistakes--not perfection.

This week: Notice how often you attempt to "be perfect." This week, change your definition of success to 90%, and notice what happens. Are you able to move on more quickly and easily? Do you still have the learning necessary for future efforts?

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and trainer at Inner Resource Center, LLC in Maryville, TN. She can be reached through her website at http://www.innerresourcecenter.com/

Your Mental Attitude is Key

"Nothing can stop the person with the right mental attitude from achieving their goal; nothing on earth can help the person with the wrong mental attitude."

~Thomas Jefferson

Your mental attitude is really the key to success. When you have a positive mental attitude, believe in yourself and are determined to succeed, you can make it happen. When you believe "I can't..." or "I'm not good enough..." you will stop yourself in your tracks. Getting into a positive mental attitude and using that to your advantage isn't as difficult as you might think. The resources are out there to help you change your attitude--but you first have to be willing to look at what your attitudes are and whether they are working for you or not.

This week: Take an inventory of your attitudes. Write them down. Do they help you or hurt you? If you have mental attitudes that keep you from your goals, figure out what you would have to believe instead. The most important belief? Change is possible!

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and trainer at Inner Resource Center, LLC. She has 30 years of experience helping people overcome the mental attitudes that block their success. She can be reached at beliefs@innerresourcecenter.com

Success Often Comes From Failure

Most people achieved their greatest successes

one step beyond what looked like their greatest failure.
~Brian Tracy

Many times we think we shouldn't ever fail, but failure may provide us with the very feedback we need in order to refine our ideas and make them work. If you try to avoid failure, you often may not do the things necessary to succeed.

When you do fail (and all of us fail at some time or another), use that experience to guide you about what to do NEXT. How can you fix what failed? What is the next step? Focus on using the failure as feedback, and keep going!

Sometimes the success is even sweeter because of those failures along the way. Remember how many times Edison failed with the light bulb?

This week: Notice the things that didn't go according to your plan this week. Notice what didn't work. Use that as information to help you modify your plan, so that you keep moving forward. What will your success look like when you achieve it?

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and trainer at Inner Resource Center, LLC in Maryville, TN. She helps people overcome the obstacles to their success by connecting to their resources.