Self-sabotage is when you set yourself up for failure. You become unconsciously satisfied with being your own enemy.
It seems backwards – don’t you want to be successful? Why would you run away from accomplishing your goals? Who doesn’t want to work towards a good life?
Your Level of Confidence
Being your own downfall begins with your self-esteem. Throughout life, you’ve become used to coming in last, being in the background or just being non-active.
Some people are born into environments that are anti-productive. This is a situation where you can respond one of two ways: you can become the opposite of your environment, or you can fall into it’s trap.
It’s difficult to go against the grain to become who you really want to be. When your surroundings don’t reflect a path to your vision, it becomes a challenge to fight against it. Even though gravity is pulling you down, you make an intentional effort to pull yourself up.
On the other hand, it’s easy to give in to what’s around you, good or bad. When you live in an unproductive environment, it starts to look normal. It weakens your self confidence and you accept the loser mindset. Your actions begin to mirror your poor self image and it causes self-sabotage.
Leave The Past In The Past
People make mistakes and bad decisions in life. Things can happen out of your control, but it’s your choice to either react or respond.
Another thing that causes self-sabotage is holding on to the past. Whatever happened may have been terrible, but you’re only hurting yourself when you constantly relive the memory and allow it to take up valuable space in your mind.
When you forgive, you’re not giving in to the person that hurt you, you’re allowing yourself to let go of the pain and move forward. Replaying the hurt as if it happened today is what holds you back. When you forgive someone, you free yourself – you take your life back and start to breathe again.
Holding on to the past contributes to self-sabotage. You’re prohibiting yourself from making progress because you’re stuck in that place. This leads to blaming others for your position in life, when really, all you have to do is let go and move on.
Forgiving is not as easy as it sounds, but it’s the only way to give yourself peace and reclaim your life.
Self-Sabotage Can Be Prevented
These are just a couple of ways that self-sabotage can destroy your progress. It can sneak in through various forms, but if you can recognize and prevent it from occurring, you’re one step ahead.
Instead of going with the flow with everyone else, think for yourself. Your choice may not be the most popular, but at least you know it’s how you want to operate.
Do the impossible. Always reach for goals that seem right outside of your grasp. Use your energy to stretch yourself to your potential. Don’t let anyone talk you out of your dreams – continue to increase your confidence (trust yourself), strengthen your mindset (listen to motivational speeches/podcasts and read inspirational books/blogs) and take productive action (learn from your mistakes and setbacks).
Don’t allow self-sabotage to take over your life. As you can see, some people live with it, yet, they don’t know why their lives are miserable or unlucky. When you decide to leave the past in the past, you can level up your surroundings, let go of what happened and create the future you dream of!