Have you ever had that inner voice that whispers, I just can't do this, right before you're about to take on something new?

Or maybe it's a louder, persistent chant of self-doubt that seems to paralyze you, keeping you stuck where you are or not really moving

forward in life. I get it. We've all been there at some point. Here's what I wish I knew sooner.

For years, I thought putting things off was just putting my dreams on hold.

What I didn't realize was that every time I listened to that doubtful programming and talked to myself out of something

or just didn't do anything about it at all. I was strengthening that voice. So I wasn't

staying where I was. I was actually moving backward.

I started thinking it was my intuition, guiding me to safety.

And I did get one thing right. Our brains do try to keep us safe, which is why we get

nervous or anxious when we step out of the familiar. But what I didn't know is that that is not my true inner voice.

It's my reptilian brain.

It's the part that's been running the show since our caveman days.

I didn't realize that if I don't learn to manage that part of my brain, I never clear the weeds

to hear the true inner voice, the part of my soul that's guiding me to my highest path,

rather than just keeping me where I am so I don't get eaten by

lions.

Let me share a story.

A few years ago, just before my son was born, I was overwhelmed with fear and self-doubt. I worried endlessly about being a good mom,

balancing work and family, not losing myself in the new identity of mom. Well one day after a very sleepless night mostly due to

acid reflux and baby kicks I looked in the mirror and said,

Melissa you have no other choice. You're doing this so be in it. There was no room for

try or maybe. It was more like, I must.

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