Who Am I?

Who am "i", who is "self"? Am "i" all the experiences; the pleasurable and the uneventful? Am "i" all the good which has happened to me? Am "i" all the bad which has happened to me? Am "i" what "i" believe "self" can and cannot be? Am "i" what "i" think and what "i" feel? Am "i" what "i" believe and what "i" imagine to be based on my history? Am "i" what "i" see in the mirror (likes and dislikes)? Am "i" only what "i" can see?

When "i" dream of becoming a celebrity but only to gain fame and fortune and to boost "i's" false sense of "self" confidence, one can conclude "i" has a big "ego". And at the other end if "i" is considered passive, nice, wouldn't kill a fly, one could generally conclude "i" is "egoless" and might have low "self" esteem. But in reality both the good and bad are egoic expressions based on "i" the personality.

95% of what "i" does today will be an egoic expression. Everything from operating a motor vehicle to how "i" responds to its environment. "i" relieves "self" from the automatic functions which "i" executes moment-to-moment such as the amount of pressure "i" puts on the gas pedal and to the breaks, while "self" has conscious thought towards the vehicles ahead and to the traffic light that is just about to turn red. "SELF" is responsible for the remaining 5%.

A true understanding of the word "ego" is all inclusive both the good the bad the nice and the ugly. It is everything including the saboteur who creates "self" doubt and the "self" limiting beliefs stopping "self" from new experiences and from growth. And it is also the unconditional loving, helping and caring person that "i" wants to be. It doesn't matter if "i" is a superstar or if "i" is a saint, whether "i" is shy and quiet or if "i" is loud and obnoxious. "i" is ego and that is what "self" sees.

But what if "i" had nothing happen; "i" doesn't have much of a history - nothing good, nothing bad, who would "i" be? What if "i" isn't defined by history, not by the pleasurable nor the uneventful, who would "i" really be? What if "i" is stripped of the status, the fame and the fortune, what would be left for "SELF" to see?

Who am I?

Bruno LoGreco Life Coach, Toronto Mentor & Motivational Speaker

Who Am I?

How to get back onto your life path

Just like that it happened again – I lost my way. I must have taken a detour onto another path. For the past several months I’ve been working on a number of new projects as well as doing my own thing. I am writing a new book, preparing for seminars, and developing a new program for a high school among other things. With so much happening all around me I knew it was just a matter of time before something would take me off the path.

Towards the end of February I suspected that I had taken a wrong turn somewhere. I try not to react when I get this feeling. I believe that wrong turns are open doors for us to peak into. Sometimes an open door leads to another door and behind it is an opportunity, and sometimes it leads to another door and another and before you know it you are onto a new path. I recall saying to myself to take a peak and come right back. But I found another open door that led to a door with multiple doors – that’s when I got lost.

Behind each door were new and exciting opportunities. They all seemed like fun and within the realm of my expertise. But it wasn’t exactly what I envisioned or planned for. But it was close enough – “Shoot for the stars” I reminded myself. Me just like many of you, I got sucked-up by the attraction to instant gratification, prestige and status. I swallowed the bate.

A New Beginning

This path looks a lot different than the one I was on not long ago. I don’t feel like myself and I am doing things I would not normally do. I feel my insides screaming: Warning – Warning – Warning! But I ignored the warnings. Nothing I do feels right. It feels like everything I do I am doing it because I believe it is what I should do to get more of the same, and nothing for me. I even avoid talking to me.

This is definitely not the right path. “How do I get back?”

It was long over due. I took a timeout. I shut down for a few hours and reconnected with me. I turned everything off: computer, television, and people. And after a few minutes of breathing I was able to turn down the noise – the constant wave of chatter. And there he stood patiently waiting for my arrival.

A familiar happy face finally appeared. I smiled back and said, “hello, where have you been?” “No, where have you been”, he said. It did not take us long to get reacquainted. Within a few minutes he drew a map and showed me the way. He also pointed at where I went wrong and why. After spending quality time with each other, he provided the encouragement and support i need for the next leg of my life journey. His final words to me were: “Don’t be gone for too long next time.”

It feels great to be back.

Bruno LoGreco Life Coach, Toronto Mentor & Motivational Speaker

How to get back onto your life path

Extra - Extra Read All About It: Emotional Time Bomb Waiting To Happen

We all have one of those environments that we walk into, that no matter how hard we try to keep our emotions in check, somehow every time the usual suspects are together one thing leads to another and before anyone could see anything coming, emotions spew themselves everywhere giving everyone something to talk about. We lo-o-o-s-s-e it, then burst out of there.

"Why does that always happen?"

The worst part about it is, when you reflect on those experiences you realize the big to-do, which left everyone with something to talk about, didn’t even resolve the question that was asked at the beginning. You were speaking about apples and them bananas. Everyone missed the boat - and the boat before that, and the one before that one too.

The trick to learning to defuse those situations from catching on fire in the first place is to become an observer. As hard as it is for some of us to do, a key skill needed to be an observer is to listen. We must sit and listen; watch on as others interact with one another, and listen to the many conversations and the responses to questions.

When the brain is not lit light a Christmas tree, there isn’t a need to react to whatever is happening in front of us. We observe and take-in everything from body language to the energy within the room. We can even feel the tension rise. But if the brain is stimulated, hot and heavy and ready to fire torpedoes from one neuron to the next, we miss everything and never learn how to defuse a situation.

After sitting through several experiences as an observer, only then could we really know who the troublemakers and instigators really are. And lets not forget about Debbie Downer. She knows how to suck the life out of anyone with her stories. Now we are armed with a wealth of information and we will think twice before allowing them into manipulate us into a full out war.

Bruno LoGreco Life Coach, Toronto Mentor & Motivational Speaker

Extra - Extra Read All About It: Emotional Time Bomb Waiting To Happen

The power to influence the course of events

What do you think it would be like to be able to influence the course of events - The power to change something and to create a desired outcome? What could you do with this power if you knew you had it? What if you possess this power already but haven’t been shown how to use it? Would you want to know how to use it to improve the quality of your life?

Imagine for a moment what your life would be like if you had the power to alter the path you’re on this very moment. Imagine possessing a force so powerful that it pushes through any barrier, which might prevent you from choosing another path. The energy to leap and to jump over any hurdle in your way, and the courage you long to take the step that you know that you must.

Take a moment and imagine living in a fantasy world. Here you can wish for anything. Create a vision and fulfill it with delight – look around you for inspiration. It is everywhere and could be anything you care for it to be - It can be a world far from reality. It is a world fulfilled with whatever life the imagination can dream. When you’re ready and have a vision close your eyes and hold on to it real tight.

What does it look like; how does it feel? What kind of world did you imagine could come real? Did you get excited at the idea? Did you believe for a moment that it could be real? Hold on to that feeling and make it be real.

You already have the power to influence the course of events. All that you must do is take a conscious decision and say that you will. Everything you will need to know will be known when you need to know it so try not to think ahead. Now all that is left is for you to take the step that you know that you must.

Go on, what are you waiting for?

Bruno LoGreco Life Coach, Toronto Mentor & Motivational Speaker

The power to influence the course of events

"Figure it out!" The "right" thing to do for the "right" life to live

Lets face it the majority of the population doesn’t have the means to send their children abroad for education. Most of us graduate high school and go onto college either in state or somewhere within the country. The only inspiration many of us got before having to choose a career path were all-inclusive resorts somewhere tropical and school trips to museums, which many of us hardly paid any attention to. And somehow we were expected to “figure it out” all before going onto college.

Unfortunately, most of us do not "figure it out." Actually, many of us don’t figure it out until late in life long after graduating from college, if we do at all. And yet there is this overwhelming expectation, which is on us from a very young age, plus the pressure we put on our self to become that illusionary person. We don’t even know our identity yet let alone the person we believe we must become.

Into the 20’s the goal for many of us is to hurry up to find a mate – a connection with someone to settle down and start a family with. So we scramble to find a career so that we can earn money to buy a home with a white picket fence before the children arrive. Some how that is what we believe is the "right" thing to do, adding more pressure onto our shoulders as we chase what we believe is the “right” life.

What happens when we can’t achieve what we believe we must do to become the persona we believe we should be?

It is difficult to live up to those expectations because they are not real – they’re illusionary making it impossible to achieve. It knocks out the self-confidence within us when no matter how hard we try it never seems "good enough", so we give-up. We become unmotivated to try new things or to meet new people, and slowly draw a box around our lonely existence hoping to lure another person into joining us. Some of us do find that other person to join into our box and some of us don’t.

That overwhelming feeling created from the self-belief of not being "good enough" doesn’t have to be there. Nobody told us that we need inspiration before we could really “figure it out” and find a career path that serves us. But nobody told us that we couldn’t find our own inspiration and career path which best serves us either. It’s simply a choice we choose to make based on what we choose to believe.

Who am I?

We are not defined by what we do or the roles we play, nor is it by our material possessions and the perception of others. We are defined by core values, morals and ethics, strengths, talent and the skills which we are shy about, and by our weaknesses too - the things we don’t do so well. We are even the things we don’t like about ourselves.

Those are the things that make us, and the sooner we learn what those are the sooner we will stop chasing what we believe is the “right” thing and the “right” life and really “figure it out” once and for all so that we can feel good about ourselves and know that we are "good enough."

Bruno LoGreco Toronto Life Coach & Mentor, Motivational Speaker and TV Personality

"Figure it out!" The "right" thing to do for the "right" life to live

Get a life! You need one with Love, Growth & Fulfillment. Here's how:

Why do so many of us seek self-improvement? Why do we have a need to improve upon our overall behavior and to become better individuals? Is it because we see others on a similar journey and wish for the same? Or is it mankind natural development to fulfill the need for purpose, love, continual growth, and fulfillment?

Are we naturally programmed physiologically to fulfill a need? If so why is it so unnatural and difficult for many of us to fulfill this need? Why is it difficult to make the necessary life changes? We know we must do something to change our way to gain a better perspective on life but we simply don’t know how. Most of us have a basic understanding of what it will take to make a life change: Identify the problem, create a solution (plan), and stick to it. And if we think positive we are more likely to succeed. But something always happens along the way. We get distracted and focus our attention onto something else and forget about the plan. We forgot that we even tried and whatever lessons that came with it. And without any real explanation as to “why”, we sweep the problem under the rug, to be forgotten. And if we should get questioned by anyone; defend and makeup excuses to why its impossible to make a change.

So is it really mankind’s “natural development?” If it is, it sure is very difficult to achieve. Or so we may think. Maybe it is simpler than we believe and we just aren’t aware how to develop it…

Happiness is, love and success. However, everyone’s interpretation of happiness is different. Some of us interpret happiness a feeling of contentment or a sense of confidence; some of us interpret it as achieving a level of success, which comes with status, material wealth and gain. For others it will be for being grateful for life. And to a very small minority it will be for the Love of Life, the gift, which is shared. Any one of us could arrive to any one of those interpretations. It is based upon our internal belief system – what we believe about ourselves, and life. If we believe happiness comes from the external world, then at any moment something can make us happy and by the same token it can also make us sad. If we believe we will only be happy once we achieve success as defined by “status” we might have to work hard before we experience it, but we will definitely need to pray to never lose it. But when we have passion within our soul, happiness flows like harmony and it will never leave us.

Passion, purpose, love, growth, and fulfillment - Every need we have originates from within our soul. It is part of our physiological makeup. We all have the same opportunity to develop those needs, if we believed in, and valued those needs. We want to become better people, but not all of us are willing to put in the time to do the work to become better people. Living with passion, purpose, love and growth which leads to fulfillment begins only when we take a close and hard look into the mirror.

Where do I even begin?

It starts with us. When we begin to appreciate what we see when we look into the mirror and start to develop a relationship with our inner soul without distraction or self-judgment, that is when we will begin to learn who we really are and what we are meant to do. Our purpose is based upon our true identity. We can't have a purpose unless we know who we are and what makes us special. And Everyone is special or we wouldn't be here trying to serve a purpose.

Our identity determines our purpose and what we deem intellectually stimulating. When we learn about new things, which are congruent to our identity, we develop natural skills and become that much more effective at it. And because it is our identity – we don’t consume nearly as much energy living our purpose, it is second nature to us, and life becomes effortlessly. When life becomes effortlessly, we find love in everything. We become passionate about what we do, we grow as individuals and fulfill our need for fulfillment.

Life: "The capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity and continual change preceding death."

Bruno LoGreco Life Coach & Mentor

Get a life! You need one with Love, Growth & Fulfillment. Here's how: