Stop the Self-Sabotage

3 Steps to Stop the Self-Sabotage
February 27, 2012
By Patrick Llewellyn
Stop it Before it Begins

My running shoes are sitting by my front door. My sweats are folded on a chair in my bedroom and a Rolling Stones concert t-shirt with pit stains is draped over it. I’m all set to wake up at six am, suit up, and go for a run before work.

But the Tonight Show is on, and since I’m up late I get hungry again and I’m snacking. It’s after one before I fall asleep and when the alarm hits at six it hits hard. A few rounds of snooze later and I don’t even have time for breakfast as I rush out the door, passing my running shoes—which have been untouched for a month! Tomorrow, I promise myself. Tomorrow I’ll run. Though I didn’t consciously do so, this near-daily routine is a form of self-sabotage that’s kept me from meeting my goals and accomplishing what I want out of my life.

But if I want to run, why didn’t I run? It’s not just that it’s difficult or painful—we all do difficult and painful things every day. For many of us, a part of our inner psyche is afraid that if we rise we also risk falling—and it’s a malfunctioning safety mechanism that attempts to protect us from venturing into unknown territory. A mechanism that needs to be fixed if you want to live a successful and satisfying life.

Identifying and circumventing self-sabotage can be tricky—after all, this isn’t some arch-enemy spiking your drink at the Christmas party or deleting your work file—this is some part of you that wants to make sure you crash and burn before you get going.

While there are a lot of reasons that you may have developed these self-defeating habits, there are three easy things you can do that can really cut the self-enemy’s power to knock you down before you start.
1. PLAN AND PRIORITIZE

Procrastination is the most insidious form of self-sabotage—you may have an important project due tomorrow but you’ll find yourself cleaning your bathtub before you actually get to work on it, leaving you with little time to succeed or do your best. Put first things first. Make an un-ordered list of what you want to accomplish, then order it and tackle it in order. Writing things down keeps the self-sabotager inside of you from moving that idea to reorganize your closet by color and season to the forefront, and you get immense satisfaction when you cross your items off your list. You’ll be amazed at just how much more you can do in your day when you practice this.
“The most powerful moment of your life is now.” – Psychic Kelli ext. 5130

2. PLAN YOUR MEALS AND SNACKS

If you walked out the door to a gloomy black-clouded sky, you’d be silly to not grab a raincoat and umbrella on the good chance of rain—but every day millions of people don’t prepare for the inevitability of being hungry, and when we’re hungry we (A.) don’t concentrate well and have mood swings, (B.) have to adjust our schedules to make time to find food, and (C.) make poor choices to stave off the increasing hunger. If you were driving cross-country, you wouldn’t head out without a full gas tank and a map, so don’t do it to yourself. Plan out meals, and have snacks on you so you run on optimum fuel all the way through your day.

3. GET PLENTY OF SLEEP

Like the old Seinfeld routine—don’t let night guy screw up day guy. Day guy’s problem is also night guy’s problem. There’s only one you, so support yourself by making sure you’re well rested, and get over your self-declaration that you’re a night owl—this too is a form of sabotage. Give yourself enough time to sleep and be where you need to be, on time, well rested, and ready to seize the day. You’ll adjust and the successes you get behind you will fuel you to newer and greater heights.

Now those are three easy ways to offset self-sabotage before it begins—but what about the habits that are fully flourishing? Stopping those isn’t easy; in fact you may even require help. It’s scary to be this vulnerable, but your friends and loved ones know your faults and habits. Ask them and listen. You’ll naturally want to put up a wall and argue but listen and let it wash over you. You’ll be glad you did.

A coach or a psychic can also help overcome these habits. Ever wonder why it’s called a psychic reading? It’s because the psychics read you as if you’re a book. Ask for a reading without reference to other people or events—ask the psychic to reveal these self-sabotaging aspects. It’s going to be hard to hear, but once you see the face of your enemy, it has a much harder time hiding within you and you’ll see immediate improvements in all aspects of your life.
“Know without a doubt that nothing is impossible if we believe we deserve it.” – Psychic Claire ext. 5242

The definition of success is knowing you will be able to do what needs to be done when you need to do it. Start with these and you’ll be amazed how some basic footing will keep you from kicking your own chair out from underneath you.