Self-Sabotaging Behaviors That Keep You from Earning What You’re Worth

We all do it. No matter how successful we are, at one time or another, we’ll fall into the self-sabotage trap, and this can cost us:

• Our income suffers
• Our self-esteem plummets
• Our confidence disappears

The result being:

Frustration.

Burnout.

Resentment. (Of your clients or your business)

Which then leads to even more self-sabotaging behaviors. This downward spiral can quickly turn devastating, but we can avoid it when we recognize the symptoms.

Symptom #1 Procrastination

When we find ourselves procrastinating, we need to pause and do a self-check-in. We can ask ourselves, what am I afraid of? Because usually, the culprit behind procrastination is fear.

If you’re prone to procrastination, try these techniques to put an end to it:

• Recognize your fear. What often keeps us stuck is simply fear of failure, fear of success, fear of being judged, and the list goes on and on. But if you want to be successful in business, you must learn to face your fears, then do the work anyway.
• Visualize the life and business you desire. What are the desires of your heart? How will your life change when you accomplish your goals? Picture your ideal workday, working with ideal clients, doing work that makes your heart sing.
• Celebrate your wins! It’s okay to give yourself a little incentive for getting things done. Take yourself out to lunch; pamper yourself; take an afternoon off. Do what’s most likely to motivate you to power through your fears and take the next step.

Symptom #2 Failing to Complete Your Projects

Be honest. How many half-written books, partially planned programs, and unfinished products are cluttering up your hard drive right now? (Ouch, I’m guilty!)

If you’re like a lot of entrepreneurs, the answer is probably several.

We start our projects with great enthusiasm. We plan out the modules or chapters, create the slide decks, and even outline the sales page. And then we just stop working on it.

Sound familiar?

Maybe you tell yourself that you’re too busy. Maybe you “need to do some more research.” Or perhaps you lost interest.

But the truth is, none of those are the real reason. For many coaches and solopreneurs, this self-sabotaging habit is a symptom of a lack of confidence, and it’s keeping you from the success you deserve.

Consider this: You cannot know the actual success rate of a program you’ve never finished, and you cannot improve upon something you’ve never completed. So rather than filling your hard drive with half-finished projects, power through and start releasing them—even if you believe they’re not perfect, and even if you think they’ll never sell.

Other self-sabotaging behaviors keep us from earning what we’re worth, too. But procrastination and failure to complete projects seem to be the most common.

Here are my top three strategies for overcoming self-sabotage.

1. Cultivate self-awareness – know your areas of weakness and where you tend to give up on your goals. Working with a life coach can be of tremendous value here.
2. Be honest with yourself – stay out of denial by acknowledging your fears, hopes, dreams, strengths, and weaknesses. Hold yourself accountable to do what you know you need to do to reach your goals. Conduct weekly reviews of your progress toward your goals. Again, this is where working with a life coach can keep you on track and catapult you to the next level of success.
3. Identify core limiting beliefs and release them at the limbic brain level where fears and negative experiences are recorded. When dealing with persistent self-sabotaging behaviors that won’t shift no matter how hard you try, limbic brain work (such as EFT Tapping, EMDR, and emotional aromatherapy) will provide the breakthrough you’re looking to get.

As women entrepreneurs, the bottom line is this: if we want to grow our impact and our income, we have our personal growth work cut out for us. We need to stay focused and plug into an environment that will keep us motivated and accountable daily, so we can reach our goals and accomplish all that God is calling us to do!

Especially when it comes to overcoming self-sabotaging behaviors that keep you from earning what you’re worth.