Why Your Nervous System Determines Whether You Follow Through on Your Goals
Dr. Tracey is an educator, coach, and chiropractic clinician whose work bridges genetics, nervous system regulation, functional wellness, and human potential. Known for her compassionate and insightful approach, she empowers individuals to create lasting transformation by aligning science, self-awareness, and personal leadership.
Do you ever feel like you know what you want, but just can’t get yourself to follow through? People often assume they need more discipline. But many actually need a nervous system capable of holding more stress, visibility, responsibility, uncertainty, and success. This article introduces the idea that inspired action requires both vision and nervous system capacity.
Why motivation comes and goes
Your nervous system is designed to prioritize safety over growth and action. There are two main parts of the system: the sympathetic and the parasympathetic. The smaller sympathetic area is responsible for handling danger or stress and is designed to turn on and off quickly in short bursts. The larger parasympathetic region maintains processes such as digestion and detoxification, which are designed to remain active most of the time. When stress is high, your nervous system may keep the smaller sympathetic system activated for a longer period, prioritizing survival and safety over calmness and regulation. This makes it difficult to maintain focus or act on goals or aspirations.
What happens in the brain under chronic stress?
Stressful information activates a portion of the brain called the amygdala, which is responsible for detecting danger and responding quickly to threats. When this area is activated, the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for logic, reasoning, and calmness, is suppressed. Without the reasoning ability of the prefrontal cortex, we are left to experience heightened emotions of stress without the capacity to calmly consider all the factors affecting the situation. We become unreasonable.
Your nervous system is always asking one question: Is this safe?
The body interprets change, growth, uncertainty, and visibility under the lens of safety. A new opportunity can feel exciting, but it can also trigger underlying feelings of doubt or fear, which in turn activate the brain's safety protocols. When presented with something unfamiliar and new, the brain will scan past experiences to create a response. It may connect your excitement with a previous experience of becoming excited that led to feelings of being unprepared or overwhelmed. This can happen very quickly and subconsciously, causing you to act in a way that prevents you from achieving the desired outcome from the new opportunity. The brain has succeeded in keeping you safe at the cost of a growth opportunity.
How even positive stress can overwhelm your system
Stress can be defined as a state of mental or physical tension arising in relation to a challenging situation. What the brain sees as challenging can depend on previous life experiences. The brain consolidates memories by association, then connects them to experiences it perceives as similar, helping us act. These memories are affected by beliefs, behaviors, thought patterns, and experiences. A new situation, even a positive one, can become connected to a prior difficulty if the brain perceives it as similar enough. The nervous system can then respond with fight, flight, or freeze - even though the stressor may be a positive one.
Related article: Stress Is Not the Problem, Staying In Stress Is
Why smart, capable people still avoid action
Avoidance. Procrastination. Staying busy but not productive. These actions can sabotage even the most successful individuals. They aren’t the only ones that show up regularly. Overachieving as a coping mechanism, decision fatigue, and hypervigilance all play a role in keeping people from their goals. What do these things have in common? They are all signs of a nervous system in need of regulation.
Overthinking something can be a way the brain protects itself from taking an action that may have an emotionally painful outcome. Focusing on creating perfect results can keep us from actually getting our work out into the world, thus preventing possible failure.
The body must support the vision
Sleep, nutrition, movement, and recovery each play a role in the ability of the body to support what you envision. You may want to accomplish something that feels challenging and exciting, but if the body isn’t rested or you aren’t eating because of high stress levels, reducing your appetite, you will not be able to take the inspired action necessary to succeed. Dehydration can cause fatigue and brain fog. Pushing through physical boundaries can cause overwhelm. This can lead to difficulty making decisions. You may miss opportunities because your brain is focused on survival and not scanning for new possibilities. If you are physically drained, you are less likely to be able to adapt to challenges or to be resilient in the face of setbacks.
Creating a sustainable routine, like consistent waking and sleeping hours, starting or ending your day with a few minutes of quiet or reflection, or pausing to breathe in between tasks, can reduce overall stress on your nervous system. These types of practices allow your system to adapt to gradual changes over time, which add up to big shifts. In terms of neuroplasticity, habits like these create new neural pathways that become stronger with repetition and take the place of older pathways you no longer use as often. What we don’t use, we lose. What we focus on grows, literally.
Regulation creates capacity for inspired action
As the body begins to feel safe, we are more able to take consistent actions. We start with small, simple practices that reduce stress in the moment or help us focus on something other than the problem that has us stuck. We keep practicing them, even when we are not sure they are working. We breathe, move, notice items in the room around us, or notice the support of the chair we are sitting on.
These small acts begin to regulate our system. As this happens, we get better and better at finding our center, feeling grounded, and returning to these states when we are pulled away. We begin to recognize the signs of dis-stress earlier and more easily, and we use the tools we have learned to shift back into calm. We fail faster and recover more easily. Over time, these compounds, and we are able to anticipate challenges with a more positive attitude, plan for smooth navigation, and expect quick recovery. We now have the capacity to envision, embody, and live the inspired actions that once were so difficult.
Related article: Five Ways to Rebuild Your Energy Without Burnout
Five practice tools you can use now
Morning nervous system check-in: Before stepping out of bed in the morning, take a few minutes to scan your body and notice what you are feeling. Notice your breathing and where you feel tension or tightness. Notice if your mind is already racing through your day. Noticing allows your amygdala to calm down and signals your parasympathetic system (rest and digest) to activate.
Walking in quiet: Take a 15-20 minute walk in nature without listening to a Podcast or presentation. Just listen to the natural sounds around you. Connecting with nature and reducing stimulation from electronics and other daily activities allows the nervous system to release tension, freeing up energy for other tasks once you are back to your regular activities.
Breath work: Breath is the one automatic activity that we can also control. When we are breathing fast or shallowly, we are not taking in the oxygen we need, and we are holding on to carbon dioxide. This signals to the brain that we are under threat. When we take a deep inhale, then follow it with a longer exhale and repeat this several times, we start to take in more oxygen and release carbon dioxide. We also signal to the brain and heart, slowing the heart rate and telling the nervous system that we are okay.
Reducing digital load: Try this. Turn off notifications and put your phone and tablet at least six feet away from your bed before you go to sleep. This will reduce blue light, which interferes with melatonin. You need melatonin for deep, restful sleep. It will also reduce cortisol spikes from sympathetic nervous system stimulation that can impact sleep cycles.
Reflect & Journal: This doesn’t have to be time-consuming or highly structured. A simple journal and pen by the bedside, and five minutes will do. You could write five things you are thankful for today. Or answer a question about what you want to focus on today or how you want to feel. What is important is that you take a few minutes to reflect. This process moves emotions into your language centers, calming your stress response system.
You do not need to become fearless to move forward
Confidence is often built as we act and in the wake of action, not before it. As we learn to regulate our emotions and nervous system, we become more able to act from greater calm. We make better decisions, and we build confidence that isn’t so shaky. We learn that we can move forward without having it all figured out. We can move forward, even with fear, but we have faith that we will learn and grow. Challenge becomes opportunity. Discomfort becomes a signal that we are on the right path. When we become dysregulated, we use the tools we have learned, combined with self-compassion and the understanding that we are where we need to be. We act from greater resilience, calm, and wisdom acquired from the simple daily practices that we have used to create a stronger, more regulated system.
We have not eliminated fear. We have become someone whose nervous system can stay present while moving through it.
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Read more from Tracey L. Curtis
Tracey L. Curtis, Chiropractic Clinician, Educator, Coach, Advocate
Dr. Tracey is a chiropractic clinician, educator, and coach specializing in nervous system regulation, functional wellness, and personal empowerment. Known for her thoughtful and compassionate approach, her work integrates genetics, human behavior, and neuroscience-informed wellness practices to support lasting transformation. She is passionate about helping individuals reconnect with their innate resilience and capacity for growth through greater self-awareness and intentional living. Through her clinical work, coaching, and writing, Dr. Tracey explores the intersection of biology, mindset, and human potential to empower meaningful and sustainable change.
