8 Ways to Stop Self-Sabotaging Your Success

Here are a few common self-sabotage habits to be aware of:

• Procrastination . Instead of tackling an important project in a timely manner, you allow yourself to dawdle to the last minute. It's hard to shine when you don't give yourself time to fix mistakes or do a thorough job. Start setting deadlines and mini-deadlines to work toward your objective
• Negative self-talk/negative thinking. Your inner dialogue is constantly critical. Are you chastising yourself for past mistakes? Are you constantly criticizing yourself? Be patient with yourself; be kind to yourself. Work to build yourself up.
• Perfectionism . You tell yourself you can't take action until the right time, or believe you need to perfect your skills before you move forward. These are forms of self-sabotage. Perfection is an impossible standard that keeps you from moving forward.

Related: 18 Destructive Habits Holding You Back From Success

Many of us develop unhealthy ways of coping with stress . We repeatedly drop the ball on commitments or fail to take adequate care of ourselves, or we take our relationships for granted. We allow ourselves to react adversely to situations. But sometimes these things are so subtle that we can't see how self-sabotage is at the root of many of our problems.

Often, self-destructive habits are rooted in our feelings of self-worth. You don't feel like you deserve to be successful. You're plagued with feelings of inadequacy, even when you're trying to overcompensate by setting high goals for yourself. Some may even use self-sabotage as a twisted form of controlling their own fate.

It's better to be at the helm of your failure than having unknown circumstances blindside you. Work on identifying and acknowledging what is causing you to sabotage yourself, and then start making changes to stop those behaviors.

It takes serious self-reflection to understand why you keep shooting yourself in the foot in the first place.Taking the time to peel back the issues you seem to be inflicting on yourself can lead to a deeper awareness, as well as give you insights into yourself and your underlying motivations and desires.

The most successful people are those who take the time to think through their choices, decisions and actions. Successful people learn from what worked or failed to work. They then adjust their course of action by taking a different approach. Only through self-reflection will you gain the necessary insight, perspective and understanding to begin the process of change and transformation.