Most of us have had an enemy or two, but little did you know your biggest enemies are living inside of you and they’re called saboteurs. Saboteurs are the set of mind patterns that govern your every move. They automatically influence your beliefs, thoughts and behaviors, and they are steering you in the wrong direction that is, you’re sabotaging yourself. But, you cannot talk about the saboteurs without talking about something called the sage. The sage is your infinite wisdom and it’s the good part of this equation. When your sage is activated, you’re operating from another part of the brain.
It guides you to your deepest insight. It helps you make good decisions; it is balanced and does not involve the ego. It’s the classic case of 'good' versus 'evil' but in this case, they are called the sage and saboteurs, and your success depends on which one is stronger. You cannot master anything, your business, your relationships or your finances unless you first learn how to master yourself by dis-empowering your saboteurs and empowering the sage.
LET’S NOW LOOK AT 4 COMMON SELF-SABOTAGING TACTICS TO AVOID:
Settling for less than your best
When you settle for less than your best, it causes you to stop short of unleashing your fullest potential. Sometimes you settle for less because you’re scared of encountering failure, other times, you may settle simply because you lack awareness of your own strength. But you have to start testing your strength constantly by going out of your comfort zone. Face your fears, because more often than not, your fear is the only obstacle between you and ultimate success. The challenge is moving from knowing about it to doing something about it. So, take a piece of paper and draw a big circle on it. Name it your comfort zone. Outside of the circle write down all the things you would like to achieve but have failed to so far. Inside the circle, write down all the reasons or excuses that have kept you inside that circle. Next, come up with at least one strategy that will challenge these reasons or excuses, that will move you outside of your comfort zone and closer to anyone of the results outside of the circle.
Expecting too much from others:
When you automatically expect help from others, or anticipate that others will bail you out of a tough situation, you’re expecting too much. You are only responsible for yourself. Even if your friends and family have helped you in the past, they won’t always be around to help you out. It is great having people we can call on at any time, but you have to always be prepared to suffer the consequences of your actions and clean up your own mess. When you are automatically expecting help from others (long before you actually need it), you are setting yourself up for sabotage. Because in the back of your mind you know there is an scapegoat. You have a safety net. Consequently, you end up pursuing certain goals with the unconscious belief that you will be bailed out if things go bad.
You feel sorry for yourself
Feeling sorry for yourself is a sure way to set yourself up for self sabotage. With a defeatist mindset, or victim mentality, you can forget about any progress in your life or business. No matter how sorry you feel for yourself, or how much you blame others for your misfortune while they get to enjoy the pleasures of life, success will always elude you as long as you harbour this mindset. Therefore, instead of dwelling on what could have been and focusing on the unfortunate hand you’ve been dealt, seek to learn from every experience and focus on solutions, instead of problems. Society is filled with people blaming, complaining and finding excuses for why they not living fulfilling lives. Don’t let that be you. Choose to be different. Avoid setting yourself up for failure through sabotage, because you’re harboring a mindset of a victim. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, and start getting excited about all the possibilities this world has to offer. And in this age of information where you have access to everything you need to know to improve your life, spend your time and energy focusing on that, rather than wasting your time away on social media. It’s distasteful and won’t ever make you more successful.
Lack of a second plan
Another common self-sabotaging tactic to avoid, is lacking a second plan to your first one. It’s kind of like having one goal without any progressive goals. If your initial plan gives less than desired results, your only chance at success is your ability to adapt. Everyone needs a Plan B. You may feel like a person who tends to see the worst aspect of things by planning for an unfortunate outcome, but this planning is actually proactive. It shows your mind that you’re serious about reaching your desired destination. What this means is, you have goals that follow on from one another. So when you reach one, you already start moving towards the following one. And each goal takes you forward to even greater levels of success or achievement. In this way, you never run the risk of reaching a point where you’ve reached your goal but it failed to be as great as you anticipated initially. You simply use it as a stepping-stone for the next.
If you often find yourself doing any of these self-sabotaging behaviors that hinder your chances of success, decide that today is going to be a new day.