It’s likely that there isn’t a single person in existence who doesn’t have at least a few bad habits, at least a few unhealthy behaviors that prevent them from reaching their full potential. Usually, these habits are minor things. Occasionally, however, they can veer over the edge into full-on self-sabotage.
The good news is that these unhealthy behaviors are neither unavoidable nor insurmountable.
With practice, self-awareness, and determination, you can overcome them. It all starts with understanding how you’re undermining yourself, and why you might be doing so. Armed with that awareness, you can tackle your issue at its roots.
Some common self-sabotaging habits include:
Excessive Pessimism
Do you feel perpetually overwhelmed? Does your mind focus squarely on what’s wrong about a given situation? Are you concerned with the impossible rather than the functional?
If you do not properly manage your internal dialogue, it can easily lead to a glass-half-empty mindset. In extreme cases, this can leave you hyper-focused on all the bad things that have happened or could happen to you. You’ll lose sight of your accomplishments and the recognition you’ve received while you obsess over the worst-case scenario.
Remind yourself that these are behaviors you’re trying your best to change. Set boundaries to break negative patterns, and understand that you do not need to engage with persons or situations that cause you to feel drained. Finally, if positive self-talk and discipline don’t help, you may want to consider speaking to a licensed therapist.
Poor Work Habits
None of us are as productive as we want to be 100 percent of the time. We all have work habits that can trap us in unproductive or unhealthy behavior patterns. Tardiness, poor time management, careless communication, indulging overly gossipy co-workers, or a tendency towards substandard work.
These work habit traps are easy to fall into, especially if you’re not diligently working to avoid them. To pull yourself up and pursue healthier workplace behavior, try to come up with ways you can support and reward positive actions whilst avoiding and discouraging negative ones. How this looks depends on how you tend to work.
It may help you to set up an artificial, early deadline for projects to help yourself deal with procrastination and poor time management. Maybe you need to spend a bit of time organizing and scheduling each morning. Or maybe you simply need to set a concrete schedule and stick to it at all costs.
Negative Self-Talk
Closely-related to pessimism, negative self-talk refers to a set of mental assumptions and beliefs that actively impede your progress. It’s a constant voice at the back of your head that magnifies and pulls at your greatest insecurities.
You’re unworthy. You’re an imposter. You aren’t good enough. You aren’t hard-working enough for the challenges ahead.
Maybe this makes you avoid more challenging assignments. Maybe it stops you from seeking that promotion you’ve been working towards. Or maybe it causes you to adopt a defeatist attitude, putting in low-quality work because why bother trying to be better?
Whenever you feel yourself falling into these thought patterns, take a step back, and start reflecting, objectively, on your successes. Maintain a collection of positive performance reviews and compliments about the quality of your work. You can use this whenever you need a quick boost to pull yourself out of a rut.
In some cases, this may not be enough, however. You may need to consider a career counselor, mentor, or therapist to help you. Understand that there’s no shame in this and that everyone could use therapy now and then.
Build Positive Habits
We’ll leave off with the most important advice of all. Understand that these behaviors are not something you can change overnight. True and lasting change takes time.
You might stumble. You might make mistakes. And that’s okay.
Focus on changing yourself for the better, and keep your eyes forward – you’ve got this.