by Paul Casey

8 Ways We Sabotage Ourselves


  1. Procrastination:
    Otherwise known as hesitancy and a lack of urgency. You cannot grow forward if you continue to stay here where you are. Putting off action items that have potential for payoff only causes regrets and lost time/opportunities.
  2. Negative self-talk: Life is brutal enough to not require you to add multiple blows to your self-esteem with powerless or victim-like internal thoughts. You will begin to believe/live out those lies by continuing to let your inner critic rule your brain.
  3. Jumping to conclusions: Otherwise known as speaking before or without listening well. Foot-in-mouth syndrome can cost you key relationships when you pre-judge before getting all the facts. Blurting out before evaluating what’s true hurts your credibility and increases your negative stress.
  4. Not dealing with an issue: If you think you can run fast in your life with an anvil on your back, you are deceiving yourself. Avoiding counseling/coaching and side-stepping limiting beliefs or the elephant in your room prolongs its negative effects on your trajectory.
  5. Choosing short-term over long-term:  While instant gratification gives you some dopamine highs now, not putting in the time doing the hard work for the future will stunt your growth and never lead to a breakthrough.
  6. Building walls instead of bridges: Sure, you might have been burned in relationships before, but closing down your authentic self to others simply isolates you from those around you now. A lack of transparency naturally results in distrust toward you.
  7. A too-fast or too-slow pace: These extremes don’t “keep up with the flow of traffic” or a rhythm that produces quality, prolific results. Burnout is the consequence of zero margin, and unachieved goals happen when dragging your feet.
  8. Being a know-it-all: Otherwise known as pride/arrogance. No one wants to be around a person who has an authoritative answer for everything. Unteachable/uncoachable non-learners repel other people with their haughty, non-relatable aura that they project.

Now that the invisible enemies have been made visible, which one are you stepping too close to? Want to talk about it? Reach out at pcgrowingforward@gmail.com, or message me through Linkedin (Paul D. Casey).

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