People tend to sabotage themselves in a multitude of ways, including self-doubt, inability to accept mistakes, and consistent procrastination. Avoiding self-sabotaging habits is an essential part of becoming a healthy person, but it's not always easy to do. A number of these habits can be difficult to spot.
However, identifying these types of negative habits should be a priority for young entrepreneurs who are just starting out, as it can save them a lot of time. and grief in their professional and personal development. To find out more, we asked members of the Young Entrepreneur Council what self-sabotage habits are particularly common among leaders and how best to deal with them. Here's what they said to watch out for:
1. Imposter Syndrome
“I really don't deserve any of my successes; I am a fraud. This is a common thought among many successful leaders and can have a disastrous effect on their functioning. To prevent this from impairing your ability to lead, always remember the challenges you faced and overcame to get to where you are today. If you've come this far, you're not an impostor. You just need a little perspective.
—Bryce Welker, The Big 4 Accounting Firms
2. Overwork
Self-sabotage is inherently human because it stems from biases like cognitive dissonance, which we all have. Leaders in particular often get into the habit of self-sabotage from overwork. We think we have to constantly work because we are entrepreneurs, forgetting that rest and recovery are just as important. This can be avoided by planning regular breaks into your working day.
—Frederik Bussler, bitgrit Inc.
3. Not Admitting You're Wrong
It seems like a big problem these days is that everyone takes a stand on things and doesn't want to admit they're not always right. Instead of simply admitting that they are wrong, they do the opposite and double down on their original opinion. No one is perfect and it's okay to be wrong sometimes. True self-growth comes from lessons learned and how you grow under those circumstances.
—Scott Kacmarski, Direct Reps
4. Procrastination
It's so easy to let yourself go at the last minute, telling yourself you have even more time. Unfortunately, waiting for a project or job to be completed leaves little or no time to fix mistakes and do thorough work. You can break the habit of procrastination simply by setting deadlines and mini-deadlines for yourself to achieve your goal.
—Blair Thomas, eMerchantBroker
5. Externalizing Blame
Excluding blame can be a major obstacle to personal growth. I often hear people blaming others when they fail at a job, when they let their health slip away, or when they drop the ball on their personal passions. Owning it does not mean that you are solely responsible, but it is free and productive because it allows you to accept your part and grow.
—Ashley Merrill, Lunya
6. Apologize
There is usually at least one variable to blame for an unexpected result. However, blame should be avoided, as it is an obstacle to solutions. By taking responsibility for the failure, you give yourself the opportunity to identify how the problem happened and how to prevent it from happening again. Otherwise, you'll continue to make excuses for problems, rather than solving them.
—Matthew Podolsky, Florida Attorneys, P.A.
7. Apply emotion in decision-making
Typically, the fastest way to make smart decisions is to use data to determine an initiative's ROI to justify progress or handover of opportunity. Many business owners, however, think too emotionally and limit themselves to being able to pursue promising campaigns or partnerships that can truly grow their business.
—Firas Kittaneh, Zoma
8. Outsourcing Your Thinking
I see a lot of entrepreneurs and busy people outsourcing their thinking to so-called experts and relying too easily on their conclusions without exercising critical thinking and research themselves. Yes, it's important to outsource your time to experts and qualified personnel, but it's always prudent and wise to check their conclusions for big decisions, because everything hangs in the balance.
—Justin Faerman, Conscious Lifestyle Magazine
9. Having no vision of the future
A self-sabotaging habit that leaders should be wary of is when they only think about the here and now. A great leader must have a vision of the future in mind. Of course, the leaders must be able to be present. But the present must be decided based on the vision of the future.
—Diego Orjuela, Cables and Sensors
10. Lack of Confidence
If you're a leader, you've probably achieved this by doing a lot of extra work yourself. It's really easy to fall into the trap of "if I want it done right, I should do it myself." This mindset is a great way to burn out and lose your creativity. Remember that other people have good opinions and a good work ethic, so don't lose your trust in others.
—Andrew Saladino, Kings Kitchen Cabinets
11. Not having a routine
Having a daily routine can help you stay on track. For example, without any kind of daily routine, you may find yourself running to the grocery store several times a week to get the items you need, or you may leave an important task until the end of the week and have to rush to finish it. Instead, create a routine for yourself for work and personal tasks.
—John Turner, SeedProd LLC
12. Lack of planning
"Winging it" works if you're going out for the weekend or playing a game. You should never do this if you hope to run a profitable business. Be sure to plan what you hope to accomplish, your future goals, and your struggles throughout the year. Review, grow, and improve based on what you learned in the previous term to reduce the chance of sabotaging yourself.
—David Henzel, LTVPlus
13. Doing tasks without concentrating
I find it difficult to concentrate on one thing at a time, especially when I receive emails, messages and when I am interrupted by others. I have now put a calendar event for whatever is on my agenda for the day, so I have no choice but to do so. I also uninstall Instagram or Facebook when I have an important task to do, and I delegate more tasks now too.
—Daisy Jing, Ban
14. Lost Interest
A common self-sabotaging behavior I've noticed is that business owners often keep pushing long after they've lost interest in their idea. When this happens, you need to take a step back and analyze the situation. Ask yourself why you feel this way and what can change your thought process. Sometimes there's a simple solution, other times you need to move on to something that inspires passion.
—Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner
15. Perfectionism
Will you remember that email you spent 20 minutes writing, or would it have been just as effective if you hadn't rewritten it twice and pulled out a thesaurus? It's often our instinct to give it our all, but reducing the level of effort we put into certain tasks can free up time to invest in more important things where that extra attention can yield more returns.
—Sam Saxton, Paragon Stairs
