Why “Yeah, But…” Stops You in Your Tracks

"Let go of the oars… everything you want is downstream." - Abraham Hicks

You know the moment...

You have an idea or an exciting opportunity appears...

And for a brief moment, something inside you lights up… and then two seconds later you hear the dreaded words...

“Yeah, but...”

Yeah, but what if it doesn’t work?

Yeah, but what if I'm let down?

Yeah, but what if this _____, that _____, and the other _____ go wrong and I end up in the deep end of _____ and then ________ (continue on the doomsday roll...)... Argh!

That sudden resistance feels real, like your inner voice wants to protect you. It isn’t.

It’s your nervous system jumping the queue.

That “yeah, but” isn’t intuition (that's a whole other post!) and it isn’t your truth. It isn’t you being broken or afraid of success.

It’s your nervous system doing the job it was designed to do — keep you safe.

Here’s the thing to remember: your nervous system only has one goal, and that is to protect you. It doesn’t care about your goals, your soul’s calling, or the fabulous future your soul has on hold waiting for you to claim it. It cares about survival. It scans for risk based on past experience. It doesn't consider the millions of wonderful opportunities that are also possible.

Because that would be scary!

If something new even slightly reminds your nervous system of a time when you felt hurt, let down, or disappointed, it immediately responds with caution, even if moments before you were ready to take the next step. It can also be programming you've learned from those around you in your early years.

Having resistance isn't a bad thing. It’s your body providing valuable information about where you're out of alignment. It's reacting from a time when it learned it wasn’t safe to let go, trust, or expect things to work out. Your body remembers experiences and when something new and aligned does show up for you, your nervous system kicks into gear, asking if it's safe... and if there's the slightest bit of uncertainty, resistance slams the door.

The conscious shift is simple, but powerful. Slow down, take a deep breath, and focus your attention on the experience you want to have. Feel the relief, the joy, and the grounded excitement of it being real. Let that sensation move through your body. You're not pretending. You're training.

And when you reach that point of feeling good, celebrate it!

When your nervous system feels safe to receive, expand, and safe to release control, the brain updates the software and the nervous system resets. Alignment stops being a concept and becomes a state...

And that “yeah, but”?

It slowly disappears because it no longer feels the need to protect you.