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Have you ever committed self-sabotage? According to Nick Wignail, self-sabotage is when you undermine your goals and values. In other words when you know something is good for you but do things that cause you to fail to reach your goal or to live beneath your espoused values. He goes on to say that self-sabotaging behavior can be conscious or unconscious.

When this topic came to mind, my initial thought was, I’ve never had self-sabotaging thoughts or committed self-sabotaging behavior. At that moment I was in denial. I actually fostered a self-sabotaging campaign. 

After serving as a mid-level manager for five years, borrowing from Jim Collins, of Good to Great fame, I had gotten the right people in the right seats. I called this staff my “Super Bowl” team. On a whim, I applied for two positions to test my marketability. It took so long for them to get back to me that I forgot I had applied. Then both scheduled an interview within four days of each other. As fate would have it my second choice called me first. An unbelievable offer came two days after the interview. I hadn’t met with my first choice yet, but more importantly, I didn’t want to leave. So, I looked for reasons to turn it down. There weren’t any good ones.

 With major soul searching I realized I was about to pass up a golden opportunity because of my comfort with the familiar and fear of the unknown couple with self-doubt. In that scenario, I found the enemy and it was me. I took the promotion and had an excellent experience. Being aware allows me to confront whatever is holding me back.

 Self-sabotage can be caused by low self-esteem, commitment aversion, doubt and fear. Behavioral cues include but aren’t limited to the following: procrastination, chronic tardiness, substance abuse, stress eating and intimacy issues. Don’t let you hold you back. Changed your thoughts and changed your destiny.