Who’s big but is getting in your way?

A colleague of mine wrote about her big but getting in the way of her success.

It got me thinking about my big but:  How it snuck up on me, why it’s holding me back, and what the heck I need to do to get rid of it.

I remember clearly when it was my Mother's big but that got in my way - when I left home, I found I had my own big but to maneuver around.  How could this have happened? 

It happened because my BUT was bigger than my WHY.

Growing up, my Mother said things like "Lifting weights is good, but you're a girl", "Traveling is a great idea, but you're not old enough to drive alone".

In these cases, her but's became the why I did certain things and the way I did them:  I lifted weights and I tried lifting more weight each time.  I didn't just fly across the country, I took my two young kids to prove I can take care of me and them, too.

I used my Mother's but's as motivation to accomplish things I may not have otherwise.  It's given me strength, experience, and independence. 

Her but isn't enough anymore, though.  These days, I need to have more value.  I choose based on what is important to me, now.  In doing so, I've found my own why's:  I lift weights to relieve the pain from accidents;  I travel with my kids to spend holidays with grandparents and cousins.

I am grateful for the big but's that were once my Mother's.  If she didn't have them, I wouldn't be aware of the really big but in my life right now.  It's been there for a long long time.  This one, oooh, it's a doozy.  This is the Biggest But and it should have been obvious to me, but wasn't - probably because it's the one I believed the most.   It's been driving my thoughts, my feelings, and my actions every single day.

I've been thinking small.  I've been living small.  It's time to get this big but out of my way!

What big but has gotten in your way?  Create a bigger why and watch your but melt away!