Don't Let Setbacks Panic You

Hinzugefügt: 2026-05-13

[00:00:00]Hey everybody, Dan here with Painfree You.

[00:00:03]Today I wanted to talk about a concept that came up in group coaching today.

[00:00:08]Don't let the setbacks panic you.

[00:00:12]So, we'll get to that in a second.

[00:00:16]Beautiful sunny day.

[00:00:19]Gorgeous.

[00:00:20]Blue sky. Not a cloud in the sky.

[00:00:23]>> [snorts] >> Soften your body.

[00:00:26]>> [sighs] >> Slow your breath. Slow your thinking.

[00:00:30]Listen to the birds.

[00:00:33]Beautiful.

[00:00:35]All right. Setbacks.

[00:00:38]You know, that's when you're doing like steady and then all of a sudden things get worse.

[00:00:43]Or when you're feeling a little bit better, but then it comes back.

[00:00:47]Or you're feeling completely better and all of a sudden whammo, everything's back in its full force.

[00:00:54]The key here is don't panic.

[00:00:56]Why?

[00:00:58]Well, because when you understand that fear and the perception of danger is what causes symptoms to begin with, panic is counterproductive. It's not beneficial. It's not part of the solution.

[00:01:12]Doesn't buy you anything. Doesn't move you forward. It just reinforces to the brain that uh-oh, we're in trouble.

[00:01:19]So, the key here is when you have a setback of some sort, new symptom, old symptom, coming back from nowhere, um current symptoms getting worse, these are all considered setbacks.

[00:01:33]Setbacks can be mental, higher anxiety, higher depression, higher anger and sadness at the symptoms.

[00:01:40]Uh all of these things can really be viewed as setbacks.

[00:01:45]But don't let the sym- setbacks panic you. They're part of the journey.

[00:01:50]Right?

[00:01:51]You may say, "Well, I'm getting better, so I expect it to keep getting better."

[00:01:56]But what if it doesn't?

[00:01:58]What if it hits a speed bump and you dip for a bit and you have a setback and you flare for a while?

[00:02:06]Every flare-up every setback is an opportunity to teach your brain that you're okay, to respond cool, calm, collected as if you're unbothered or at least less bothered than you were before.

[00:02:27]The dips, the setbacks, the flare-ups whatever you want to call it it's all the same thing.

[00:02:34]Why do they happen? Cuz a lot of people get stuck on going, "Well, I had a flare-up. What did I do wrong? What happened?"

[00:02:40]And they loop and they cycle and they problem-solve and they look for the answers and there's one answer. The brain perceived some danger. Was it obvious?

[00:02:48]No.

[00:02:50]Okay.

[00:02:51]So put it down. You don't have to figure it out cuz you may not know what your subconscious perceived as dangerous.

[00:02:59]So just jump right to safety.

[00:03:02]Just know that you can and will get better.

[00:03:07]And and you're going to maximize your odds by not letting a setback or a flare-up or a dip or whatever you call it, by not letting those things panic you.

[00:03:19]Cuz panic is fueling the symptoms. It's not cooling them.

[00:03:24]So simple concept today.

[00:03:29]This is an up-and-down journey. You know, I used to joke that like and this is going to get a little crazy, but like you know, people want things to get better until poof you're all done.

[00:03:41]But symptoms are going to hit speed bumps and this is going to happen. And sometimes it feels like you're going all over the place.

[00:03:48]Don't let it panic you cuz you know what's going on.

[00:03:52]And when symptoms change, new symptoms arrive, old symptoms get worse, just means that the brain is perceiving danger. Period. End of discussion.

[00:04:04]That's all that's going on. And when you recognize that and can call call it out for what it is, and jump right back to, well, I'm actually doing okay, the brain's just temporarily perceiving some danger, and the sooner I remind the brain calmly with confidence and and uh with clarity that I'm not in danger, that this is just a blip, a dip, a setback, a flare-up, and it's all caused by the brain perceiving danger. So, let's not go into panic, cuz panic is not part of the solution.

[00:04:39]Panic is a core default response for so many people.

[00:04:45]But, the people who learn how to panic less, freak [snorts] out less, be less bothered, and more reassuring, and more calm, and more trusting, and more clear as to what's going on, those are the people who make faster progress.

[00:05:01]And so, why let symptom changes, up, down, sideways, new ones, old ones, why let those things panic you when you have a true understanding of what's going on?

[00:05:12]And if you're still doubtful about the cause of your symptoms, then let's do the assessment again.

[00:05:21]Let's say you got five symptoms, one of them you have doubt, do the assessment for the one doubtful symptom. That's it.

[00:05:28]And look, if you want some help, I run a group coaching program, and every Monday, 3:00 Eastern, um I do a new member welcome call, and we go over doubts.

[00:05:40]What things are you uncertain about?

[00:05:44]And we'll knock those doubts out of here.

[00:05:47]We'll eliminate the doubts. We will reinforce what's going on. And if you've been struggling for a while, even though you know about this mind body condition, we'll probably figure out in that very first new member welcome call, you know, what might be keeping you where you are and not allowing you to move forward and make progress.

[00:06:07]So, try not to let a setback panic you or the dip or the flare or symptoms changing or a new symptom.

[00:06:17]Don't let that panic you because it's just evidence of one thing, the brain perceiving danger. It's not evidence of failure on your part. It's not evidence that it's your fault. It's not evidence of any of that.

[00:06:30]It's evidence of one thing, the brain perceiving danger, resolution, safety, consistently over time, longer term. This is not a one or two-day job of like, I was safe for 2 days. It didn't work, Dan. Now I go back to panic because because I did it for 2 days and it didn't work.

[00:06:49]All right. If you have unrealistic expectations, you're going to be disappointed. You're going to fall back to panic. This takes time, repetition, practice.

[00:06:58]So, you can do this. I know you can.

[00:07:01]Don't let these setbacks panic you.

[00:07:05]And uh as always, I got your back. I'll be here every day.

[00:07:11]And uh as always, love you and we'll see you tomorrow. Take care.