5 Ways to Stop Self-Sabotaging and Be More Successful in the Workplace
Publié le 18 July 2022
If you are ready to take the next step forward in your professional career, it’s important to understand 5 ways to stop self-sabotaging and be more successful in the workplace.
Everyone has goals and ambitions, and understands that they must take certain steps to fulfill them. What can be difficult to understand is how we can get in our own way. While it’s surprising, some people actually undermine their own intentions and ambitions in life and hinder their own success in the process. When people take such destructive steps to sabotage themselves, however unintentionally, it can have a huge impact on almost every aspect of an individual’s life, not just in their career.
If self-sabotaging sounds familiar to you, you need to know that it is possible to change this behaviour. In this article we will look at 5 ways to stop self-sabotaging and be more successful in the workplace.
What is self-sabotage?
Self-sabotage is characterized as getting in your own way, hindering your own happiness and success. It can appear in various ways and more often than not, we don’t realize straight away that what we’re doing is actually self-sabotage. It can seem illogical that someone would go out of their way to sabotage themselves, but it happens more often than you might think.
There are various reasons for self-sabotage, from low self-esteem and performance anxiety to unresolved trauma or emotions fuelled by mental well-being issues such as anxiety or depression. Research suggests that self-sabotaging is a way of protecting ourselves from disappointment or emotional pain.
There are several signs of self-sabotage to watch out for, from gaslighting yourself to being prone to jealousy and always having an exit strategy in place. Imposter syndrome can also be a cause, which is when you do not believe in yourself and your own skills.. A examination of multiple studies has shown that as many as 82% of people report feeling some level of imposter syndrome at some point in their careers.. These unhealthy patterns of behaviour can distort our belief in our own abilities and skills, self-sabotaging ourselves without fully realizing it.
How can self-sabotage manifest in the workplace?
Self-sabotage can look different to everyone, but some of the most common ways that it can manifest in the workplace include procrastination, perfectionism, and self-medication.
Those who self-sabotage tend to procrastinate as a way of showing other people you’re never ready to proceed and as a method of preventing a good outcome. It’s a way of avoiding disappointing others and failing on your own terms.
Likewise, if you’re constantly holding yourself to impossible standards that no one can ever reach, it’s bound to cause setbacks since perfectionism is known to impede success. Over time, it can impact your mental health in a negative way and contribute to multiple negative issues such as anxiety and depression.
5 Ways to Stop Self-Sabotaging and Be More Successful in the Workplace
5 Ways to Stop Self-Sabotaging and Be More Successful in the Workplace
- Recognize your habits
- Identify the causes
- Nurture your positive inner voice
- Focus on your strengths
- Stay open to feedback
Recognize your habits
Before you can deal with self-sabotage, you need to be able to recognize your bad habits. One method to do this is to try observing your days as an outsider. What might someone watching you and listening to you see? Maybe they’d see you procrastinate on projects, leaving tasks to the last minute when you had plenty of time beforehand. Or maybe they’d hear negative self-talk and criticism. If this is the case, plan out your time more effectively, work on projects and tasks well in advance of the deadline so you don’t feel pressured or risk not achieving your best. And be patient with yourself – remember that you have skills and experience required to get the job done correctly, so don’t put yourself down.
Identify the causes
When you repeat the same habits day in, day out, it’s easy to develop unhealthy ways of coping with stress and workloads which can lead you to take inadequate care of yourself. You might react adversely to situations and stressors, and that can result in you self-sabotaging in the future and lead to burnout in the workplace. Work on identifying the situations that lead you to self-sabotage and make changes to avoid those behaviours. For example, if you always find it difficult to complete large projects and therefore never start, one method can be to break it down into several smaller tasks. Completing a short task is much simpler, and you are more likely to get started if it seems readily achievable.
Nurture your positive inner voice
If you’re prone to self-sabotage, you’ll be familiar with that nagging, negative inner voice that brings you down every day, telling you you’re not skilled enough, that you’re not efficient or productive, and that you’re not contributing enough to your work team. But that negative inner dialog is not accurate and is only serving to fuel your self-limiting thoughts. When that voice starts to talk, replace it with encouragement and positive thoughts instead to drown out that critical voice. You can even try looking at your portfolio of completed projects, which is tangible proof of your skills and abilities.
Focus on your strengths
We each have our own unique set of skills and experiences to offer, but we often don’t see ourselves in the same way that others see us. We might attribute the skills we’ve acquired or the experiences we’ve had as simply being down to luck or knowing the right people, but this can exacerbate your self-sabotaging behaviour. Instead, make a list of your accomplishments, your qualifications and certifications, and the achievements you’ve had at work. It might help you to look through past performance reviews or positive emails from colleagues and clients, to remind you of what you’ve achieved when you’re finding it hard to focus on the positives.
Stay open to feedback
Being open to feedback is also essential to being more successful in your career and improving. Don’t wait for others to provide you with feedback though – make a point of asking for advice and feedback from your colleagues and managers, and take a proactive approach to your learning. It can help you improve in areas that you may not know you needed, helping you to progress to higher levels in your career. Continuous learning is an integral component of every successful career, and you must remember that even if you lack specific knowledge needed to complete a task, it only means that you haven’t learned it yet. In being open to feedback, searching out new learning opportunities and keeping an open mind, you can stay on track and you’ll have a reminder that you’re doing well for added confidence in your abilities.
Final thoughts
Self-sabotage can be hard to get out of – it’s a habit that you might have been pursuing for years, knowingly or unknowingly. But getting out of your own way is essential if you want to progress and do well in your career. There are so many opportunities available to you, but you first need to believe in your capabilities and know that the negative voice in your head isn’t necessarily stating facts about what you can achieve. If these issues are having a serious negative impact on your emotional and mental well-being, never hesitate to seek support and guidance from qualified professionals. Stop holding yourself up to impossible standards and instead focus on your own inherent worth and what you’ve already achieved, knowing you can continue to do more. Put 5 ways to stop self-sabotaging and be more successful in the workplace into practice, and you will be on the right path for professional growth and success.
Please note: This article is for educational purposes only. For any and all issues related to mental and emotional well-being, do not hesitate to contact qualified professionals.
