The 7 Weaknesses of Self-Sabotage
You have the perfect opportunity laid out before you but, once again, your brain squanders it — leaving you feeling lost, unsuccessful, and hopeless. What your suffering from is not your fault, it’s a common occurrence known as self-sabotage.
What Is Self-Sabotage?
Self-sabotage refers to behaviors and thought patterns that interfere with your life and goals.
What Are the Signs?
- You neglect your health.
- You procrastinate things important to you.
- You hate your job.
- You are surrounded by toxic people.
- Your have no new experiences.
- You try to make everyone happy.
If this sounds like you, keep reading. Self-sabotage has likely led to your dreams and happiness being put on the back-burner, but there are ways to overcome it.
“The reason that I can’t find the enemy is that I have yet to look within myself.”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough
The 7 Weaknesses of Self-Sabotage
1. Self-Awareness
In order for you to beat self-sabotage, you must recognize when it is happening. Self-sabotage can be extremely subtle and hard to notice. Do you constantly second-guess your decisions? Are constantly paralyzed by fear and worry? Take a moment to realize what is happening in order to fix it.
The basic idea is to to understand your self-sabotaging habits.
2. Positive Thoughts
Our brain can be loud. Really loud. When we make a mistake, our brain is usually the first to chime in and say negative things about us. This thought pattern is unhealthy. In fact, studies have shown that prolonged negative thinking diminishes your brain’s ability to think, reason, and form memories
The basic idea is to replace our negative feedback with positive thoughts.
“Self-destruction and self-sabotage are often just the start of the self-resurrection process.”
― Oli Anderson
3. Plans
If you don’t have a plan for the future, you won’t have confidence in what comes next. Set goals for yourself and make a clear visual of things you want to achieve. Having a plan is said to put you back in control and give your goals focus.
The basic idea is to create a plan that gives you more guidance.
4. Tolerance
When self-sabotage comes around, it is easy to pick up our phones and scroll until the negative feelings slip away — but all that does is avoid the problems and interfere with your goals.
Try this:
- Recognize the behavior.
- Understand how it makes you feel.
- Allow yourself to feel that emotion.
- Write a short journal entry on it.
All in all, this helps you have a healthier relationship with yourself.
The basic idea is to become more comfortable with uncomfortable feelings in order to overcome them.
5. Values
Self-sabotage is actively trying to destroy your confidence. If you understand who you are, know your strengths and the things that you like about yourself, it gets a little easier to combat these negative thoughts.
The basic idea is to know yourself enough to challenge self-sabotaging thoughts and understand their absurdity.
“Never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armor, and it can never be used to hurt you.”
— Tyrion
6. Understanding
It’s important to be honest and compassionate with yourself. No matter how much has gone wrong along the way, how much you feel you have failed or missed out on, you still have a bright future ahead. Hope is not lost.
The basic idea is to not be hard on yourself because that, in itself, is a form of self-sabotage.
7. Communication
You do not have to go through this alone. The best thing you can do is speak to someone about these feelings that you are having. It can be a friend, family member, or — if it has become something that is negatively affecting your life and health — a certified professional.
The basic idea is to talk to those around you about you struggles or to seek further help if needed.
If you are feeling unproductive and detached in your workspace, check out my article on burnout.
Thanks for reading.
