How Do I Tell If I Am Self-Sabotaging In My Business: How Do I Stop Sabotaging Myself

In this article, I’ll take through the common types of self sabotage that entrepreneurs tend to do most often

I’ll discuss each type from the following points why do you sabotage, how to tell if you’re self-sabotaging, how do you stop and keep yourself from self sabotaging

Here’s A Brief Look Into What You’ll Learn:

-Each type of sabotage

-Why do you do it

-How to tell if you are self-sabotaging

-How can you stop sabotaging yourself

The 6 Common Types Of Self Sabotage Are

1- overthinking

what to write, how to write your content, your offer, what to include in it,…etc

Why do we do it? good question

To avoid rejection, to avoid failure, to avoid embarrassment if it didn’t work,

It seems logical to think something through, however,

it is called overthinking since you spend too much time doing it to the point that you don’t take action,

to the point you let fear consume your thoughts and stop(or let you postpone) doing the action

you want to consider everything ( seems logical) when you need to make a decision,

you already have all the information you need to do so but still keep thinking about it

Signs and How it might show up: How Do I Tell If I Am Self-Sabotaging In THIS WAY

-You’re taking too long to decide on something when you have enough information to decide

Eg.what platform to use for marketing when you already searched about all the social media outlets out there

-Maybe you decide on selling a 1:1 coaching program but you hold on from announcing it to your audience

because it doesn’t feel complete or you might add something maybe you think you’re not clear enough

-You’re searching for the right answer, the right thing to do.

you think there’s a right answer that you don’t know yet and want to find

so, you don’t waste your time or effort until you find it(one more thing to learn, to do before)

-Having a lot of options on what to do, to work from eg. working from a to-do list

How to get out of it? How do I stop self-sabotaging in this way?

1- Awareness that you’re doing it. ⁣⁣⁣⁣in the beginning, you’ll catch it afterwards but with time you’ll start to catch it in the act⁣⁣

2-Journal why have you been doing it?⁣⁣ To understand yourself and what situations and emotions get you into this behavior⁣⁣ ➡️ so you can work on the real cause

3-Decide what you want to do such as when choosing your niche, what to offer… Etc ⁣⁣(give yourself a short amount of time to do that) ⁣

4-Schedule when you’re going to make the decision, do the thing you’ve been thinking about, implement the plan ⁣

5-Remember: overthinking leads to hesitation & to getting stuck in fear and doubt ⁣⁣👉 you may never get out of it because it can be so logical that you can’t catch⁣⁣⁣

it leads you further and further into fear so, when you notice yourself thinking about it for too long or if it’s something you don’t need to think about

 stop and do it

2-overcomplicating

the process of doing market research, doing sales calls, how to structure your program,..etc

Why do we do it?

Saying/thinking ” it’s hard, it’s difficult…etc”

-It can be a habitual thought pattern that you have been doing for a long time that you think you’re saying the facts but you’re not. nothing is hard.

yes, it may take time to do, learn, certain things and some things may take a huge amount of effort however, they’re doable

-When you say it, it discourages you from doing the thing since you don’t know if it going to work or not,

it gives you the excuse to postpone doing it

-We tend to say this as a way to avoid doing the scary things, the challenging things that you feel that you’re putting your worth on the line if you do it;

-if it fails you take that personally and feel embarrassed, feel shame and you want to hide from the shame

and if you succeed you’d feel happy, accomplished that you’re on the top

-you want to feel deserving since you think that you need to work hard, hustle to succeed to deserve money…etc

you don’t feel deserving if you’re not working hard, If things were easy

this comes from society’s messages that have been passed on based on the old way of living and from experts on productivity and business (hustle culture)

Signs; how do I know if I am doing it? How Do I Tell If I Am Self-Sabotaging In THIS WAY?

-It is your first reaction to something scary, outside of your comfort zone

-Postpone doing something because it’ll take time even though you already planned it

-Trying to find a different way to do something, change direction, niche, type of program…etc

How to get out of it? how do I stop self-sabotaging in this way

-Flip every thought of “ it’s hard, it’s difficult into I can figure it out or I choose to make it easy”

-Ask yourself what can I do to make it easy?

-Answer these questions: What benefits am I getting from doing it? why is it hard?

What can I do to make it easy( to become aware of your fears and deepest rejections)

-Awareness that you’re doing it

-What am I feeling about ( the thing you say it’s hard) most of the time we try to avoid feeling certain emotions by making things hard

eg. we try to avoid feeling embarrassed/getting laughed at if you make a mistake

then, choose what do you want to feel about it and I know you’re asking but how can I feel this.

simple by thinking thoughts that let you feel this way

For instance: if you want to feel calm about creating your offer you would think creating an offer is easy and fun

3-black & white way of thinking / all or nothing way of thinking

it comes as I need to do this before I do this if I don’t I can’t move on

eg. I need to have 100% clarity on my niche before I start creating content or worse before promoting my offer

all or nothing is about perfection. you either know it all, do it perfectly or not at all

you want to know it all before moving further,

while clarity requires action it’s not always easy to do that

when you feel I can’t move on to the next step while I didn’t do the previous step(at the moment it feels so logical and can be very rigid )

eg. I can’t start promoting my offer unless I’m 100% clear on my niche

either I know all the steps I can’t take action, I can’t promote, make offers, sell…

Why do we do it?

You want all the information before taking action on promoting your simple offer

because you don’t want to embarrass yourself if no one responds (failed/got rejected)

you don’t want the people you know to laugh at you if it didn’t work that’s why you try to know everything(be perfect) to avoid this pain

Signs: How Do I Tell If I Am self-sabotaging In THIS WAY ?

-You think you’re missing something crucial that you need to figure out before eg. promoting/selling

-You think you’re not clear enough(and maybe you’re ) but you need to take action on what you know and give yourself time to evolve.

you’ll not become clear by waiting for it instead say to yourself that you’re figuring it out and you’re getting clear

-you need this one thing figured out before moving on

-trying to learn everything you can before taking the action (you wither know all before you do or not do it until you do know)

-you only see extremes you don’t see the middle such as you think you need to choose between being a coach and a doctor instead you can do them both

-keeping yourself stuck because you feel you don’t know enough to start the membership site or the coaching program and help people

How to get out of it? how do I stop self sabotaging in this way?

1- Shifting your mindset to that “I can take action on what I know, it’s okay to take action with what I know” it’s a work in progress and it unfolds with time and action”

2-Working on fear of rejection, self-trust, and self-esteem ( will have a specific article on each soon, so, follow me on IG or subscribe to the email list to know when it’s out)

3-mindset shift: instead of waiting to figure it all out, to get clear>>> tell yourself that you can figure it out as you go, that you’re getting clear by taking action

4-in case of thinking you’re missing something and you can’t move without finding it shift into thinking” I can figure it out as I take action, I get clear every day, I trust myself to get it”

4-procrastination

getting busy with productive things like the daily posting schedule,

whether to be on video or not, spending all your time on the app engaging without really creating or vice versa,

procrastinating on writing the sales page and promoting it,

procrastinating on learning about how to do reels and actually doing them,…etc

Why do we do it?

underlying limiting belief, fear, or doubt about yourself

Signs you’re in it: How Do I Tell If I Am Self-Sabotaging In THIS WAY?

-Doing a lot of research instead of working on your business

-Feeling productive but when you look at what you did you didn’t do much in the business or didn’t do what matters(eg. selling, promoting..)

-Getting busy with admin work

-Being on social media, on your phone for too long

( you could be saying you’re doing research for when you’re in it but are you? does it need that much time?) 

-Working from a to-do list since you can add too many things that not all of them are important

so, you may do things that don’t matter first like editing your social media posts

& not having time to d what matters like promoting your program

How to get out of it: how do I stop sabotaging myself in this way

1-Awareness: this is the most important in any type of sabotage you can’t change what you don’t recognize

2-Schedule your time to see how you spend your time as you change it during the day to reflect the reality not the ideal day

3-Find out why you are doing it. It can be because the important work in the business is scary,

uncomfortable or that the time isn’t compatible with your energy & alertness level during the day

>>> knowing the reason will help you create a plan, do something when it happens or prevent it from happening altogether

4-Keep distraction journal: write everything your mind wants to do while you’re doing a work task

5-Use a timer to serve as your accountability partner whenever you start a task for work

6-If you find yourself postponing doing a task sit down & journal about why you’re resisting doing it then you can change

5-getting confused & overwhelmed

getting confused about your niche when you’re close to launching your program because your niche isn’t clear, right?

getting overwhelmed by information & advice out there about how to do something like how to write a great sales copy, market your offer…

Why do we do it?

Due to information overload, due to conflict information that you’re consuming from different experts on the same topic

>>> can lead to overwhelm and confusion easily.

another reason is that you’re overwhelmed by the amount of work you need to do

it can be an emotional home for you ( familiar)

that you prefer to be in it rather than being in clarity and ease since they’re not familiar states to you (give it a thought)

this sound outrageous I am hearing you say” how can I want to stay in these states?”

easily, as they provide comfort in doing what you’ve always done since when you’re in either state you can’t take action or do something that is scary

( sometimes the next step isn’t scary but the step after, right?)

Signs: How Do I Tell If I Am Self-Sabotaging In THIS WAY?

-Comparing yourself to others in your niche to the point of negativity; you lose objectivity

-You’re doing a lot of research to find the right answer>>> consuming a lot of the info in the process from different sources while trying to piece it together

-Consuming a lot of business, marketing ..etc podcasts & youtube

because you like them but they start to affect you negatively since you’re not yet strong in your mindset and still didn’t achieve what you want.

you just need a break from the information land and get into letting yourself truly act on what you learned and do what you decided to do

Solutions:  how do I stop sabotaging myself in this way

1-Limit content consumption to 2 people in every category especially business, marketing

Because conflicting advice can and certainly will put you in confusion

2-Familiarize yourself with clarity & be at ease(think of thoughts that help you be in these states)

For me these thoughts help:

3-Simplify things: get into the basic form. Break down things(information) into step-by-step plan and

if that is a lot for you ask yourself what’s the next step (eg. Market my business)?

4- Building self-trust, self believe so, you don’t need to find answers from the outside instead you turn inward

6-indulging in fear & doubt

getting stuck in the worst-case scenario  & repeating it over & over in your mind without addressing it which they can show as reasonable excuses

getting stuck in the negative what-ifs, I’m not qualified, I’m inadequate to do it…

Signs: How Do I Tell If I Am Self-Sabotaging In THIS WAY?

-Overthinking something( if you’re paying attention all of them relate to each other :))

-Thinking what if I can’t do it, what if I fail, what if I lose my job, family..etc,

-Overplanning to avoid embarrassing yourself

-Thinking you’re not qualified, you’re not enough, you’re inadequate and people would find out

-overcomplicating a task, a step

-Procrastination

-Over researching and learning. wanting to learn and know everything

Solutions:  how do I stop self-sabotaging in this way

1-Addressing the worst-case scenario and its effect and how you can get out of it if it happens (the fear-setting exercise is a great tool for that)

2-Build your self-belief, your belief in your ability, in your ability to learn, that you’re resourceful that you can persevere

3-Build your self-confidence, self-esteem, and self-trust

4-Learn to accept fear as your companion but not the driver. it’ll be there

however, it won’t have the upper hand on what you do and don’t. it’s only a sign of growth and getting out of your comfort zone

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How do I stop sabotaging? I share my personal experience with tips

to your success

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