I see it all the time. Sales professionals, entrepreneurs, and business owners continually do the same thing over and over again and can’t understand why they aren’t getting different results.
It’s actually really easy to see. They have laid out a self-fulfilling prophecy of self-sabotage. There are a few sabotage strategies that I see people doing on a continual basis. These create less than average and less than desired results. They prevent you from achieving the success you’ve dreamed of, desire, and deserve.
Here are the top five ways people commonly and continually self-sabotage:
1. No Clear Plan
You’ve heard it before, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” If you want to achieve success and show up 100%, you need a plan. How could you do it without a plan? In order to achieve anything, there must be a clear roadmap of how to get there. You must know where you’re starting, where you want to go, how to get there, and you must continue to fuel the machine that is taking you on the ride.
So, do you have a business plan? A sales plan? A marketing plan? A clear plan for this year?
2. No Clear Boundaries
The biggest way I see this in business is that people CAN NOT say NO. What you might not realize is by saying no to other people, you are actually saying yes to yourself. That is a HUGE gift to give yourself.
I invite you if you always say YES, then regret it later, and do it anyways, set clear and actionable boundaries. Allow yourself to embrace the fact that not wanting to do something doesn’t make it wrong. And, saying no is not wrong.
Saying no to others allows you to say yes to your dreams, goals, and your own success.
3. Negative Self Talk
Negative self-talk is so dangerous because it can cause all of the other ways that we self-sabotage. Do you know the itty-bitty-shitty-committee in your head? It’s the voice that probably just said, “I don’t have a negative voice in my head.”
- I can’t sell.
- I can’t make money.
- I can’t afford that.
Whatever your negative self-talk is, it’s holding you back. When we’re part of the problem, we can not be part of the solution.
4. Procrastination
I hear it all the time. No one can stop procrastinating, but everyone wishes they didn’t procrastinate. “I’ll do that tomorrow.” Or, “I’ll get to it next week.”
Part of why you procrastinate is because your goal is too ambiguous. What I mean by that is, it didn’t get scheduled, action steps weren’t planned, you didn’t set boundaries around getting it done, the negative self-talk was continually deployed, over-and-over-again. All of this prevented you from realizing it was a priority.
The other reason why procrastination gets deployed on a continual basis is lack of self-discipline. If you would just sit down and create a plan, action steps, calendar those action steps, and then take action – procrastination would just about disappear.
5. Excuses
The person we lie to the most is ourselves. Because of that, we turn around and make excuses so that we don’t have to take on the responsibility.
- The economy tanked.
- We’re in the middle of a pandemic.
Those are just excuses. Even in today’s environment. Excuses do nothing but disempower you.
If you look at the big picture and say, “That didn’t work. Now, what can I do differently?” That allows you to find new strategies that could work. You’re the captain of your ship. You’re the designer of your destiny. You’re the writer of your story and the architect of your life. Once you embrace that fact and remove excuses, you can more clearly see what’s not working, then adapt and adjust.