A behavior is said to be self-sabotaging when it creates problems in daily life and interferes with your long-standing goals and is often linked to limiting beliefs you might be holding on to.

The most common self-sabotaging behaviors include procrastination, self-medication with drugs or alcohol, comfort eating, and forms of self-injury such as cutting.

It really is an act of self-betrayal where we convince ourselves that we don’t really want the things that we know, deep down, will actually benefit us. And that leads to not doing the things we need to do in order to get better or reach a specific goal.

Some of the most common ways we act against ourselves include:

• Procrastinating (like putting off work for hours, delaying a break up from a toxic partner)
• Choosing comfort over health (self-medicating, stress-eating, not going to the gym when you know you should)
• Negative self talk and letting our inner critic take over.

The results of all these little actions, or rather non-actions, results in us losing trust in our own words, and ultimately losing our confidence and self-worth.

Below are 8 signs that you might be self-sabotaging.

1. You are so fearful of criticism that you avoid doing anything outside of your comfort zone even though you might really want to.
2. You have negative beliefs about yourself like I am not good enough or I am boring which you then allow to control your choices and decisions.
3. You make excuses for your unhealthy habits despite knowing they aren’t good for you.
4. You do not communicate your expectations or feelings with others which leads to misunderstandings and stress.
5. You often second-guess yourself which prevents you from seeking out new opportunities and achieving your goals.
6. You do not set boundaries with people who deplete your energy or allow them to take advantage of your kindness.
7. You refuse to seek help or support even though you could really use it. And you know you do.
8. You often break promises to yourself, so you keep repeating the same behavior and patterns despite knowing they do not serve you in any way.

If you recognise yourself in any of the above points then hey, you’ve taken the first step! 😊

Will dig into this more in a future but below are four way in which you can start breaking negative, self-sabotaging behaviour.

• Examine the root causes of your situation.
• Stop procrastinating and start taking action.
• Stop looking solely at the big picture.
• Stop perfectionistic thinking.

And hey, think about this… self sabotaging behaviour is very resource demanding.

It takes a lot of hard work! 😅

Changing this kind of behaviour and the way we think is not easy because is has become a habit for us.

But again, once you recognise the fact that you are deploying self-sabotaging behaviour and that you want to break these non-productive patterns you are already well on your way to making the change you need.

If you’d like to share, I’d love to hear if YOU recognised any of the above 8 points in your own life and behaviours.

Even just verbalising it is another step in the right direction.

Good luck.

You’ve got this. 😊🙏🏼

G.
✌🏼