‘’Yeah, but a diet like that is very hard to maintain when you’re living with a family.’’

‘’Yeah, but after a day at work, even ten minutes of exercise is asking for too much.’’

‘’Yeah, but exercising in the morning will totally throw my day’s schedule out of gear’’

‘’Yeah, but I’m a foodie, sticking to a diet like this will totally drive me nuts.’’

‘’Yeah, but quitting cigarettes really messes with my head.’’

All of us know the Yabut monster – he kills our quest for a better life while it is still a thought. Most of us have some sort of a life goal – something that we want to change about ourselves to be stronger, wiser, healthier, or more attractive. Being thinking people, we also know what would get us there. Unfortunately, the evil Yabut monster rears his ugly head to nip our efforts with a ‘but’.

Growth is a never-ending process, and especially in matters involving the human body or mind, change is never a phase. If you strive towards something, you will have to push far beyond, because complacency and stagnation at your goal will cause you to lose your gains.

This means that any change that you wish to make in your life requires a much greater commitment than you actually think. Indeed, as soon as you make a decision to change, your mind starts putting up resistance, giving you reasons to back out gracefully with the satisfaction of having noble intentions that were unfortunately thwarted by insurmountable obstacles.

All the obstacles are inside your head – it is mainly the really smart people who fall prey to the Yabut monster. Only once you have defeated the voices inside your head, will you be able to make any lasting changes in your life. So every time the possibility for a desirable change comes up, and your response to it begins with ‘Yeah, but’, remember that the Yabut monster is just behind you, setting you up for failure.