Why Are You Self-Sabotaging?
by Cat Alexandra
Working all day but ending the day with nothing done?
Busy, busy, busy but your “to do” list never getting any smaller?
Enjoy working from home but don’t understand why you can’t make any money?
If you answered yes to any of these questions then chances are you are the victim of your own Self-Sabotaging and its time to “face the music” and take responsibility for your own actions or rather the lack thereof.
What is the definition of Self-Sabotaging?
Self-Sabotaging is the act of doing things, deliberately or unconsciously, that counter any good or productive actions you may make.
This can be broken down further for online marketers and home business owners and look something like the following:
Having no goals, essentially operating in La la land.- Don’t know your why (the reason behind your working for yourself, this is usually so strong it will make you cry when you think of it).
- Spending time with non-income producing tasks such as: playing online games, answering emails, watching television, goofing off on facebook (Yeah I said it!)
- Frequent non-business related conversations or chats online or off.
Being busy doesn’t mean you’re productive any more than sitting in a garage is going to make you a car.
There is a distinct line between income producing activities and the self-sabotaging action of just being “busy” with a whole lotta nothin…
So how do you stop the Self-Sabotaging in your life?
For starters, write down your why…
Start by asking questions of yourself:
- Why you are doing this?
- What are the benefits to you?
- Your family?
- What problems will gainful self-employment solve that working a J.O.B. will not?
- What goals do you hope to achieve by making this change?
Make an action plan and set goals
Make a plan and stick to it.
Set actionable goals (goals that require action to make them come to pass).
You should set both long term and short term goals.
Some ideas are:
- Talking to 5 people a day about your business, online or off.
- Doing lead generation activities.
- Sending out information to leads about your next event
- Listening to an hour of training or reading a self improvement book (The learners of the world will inherit the earth…)
Have a business plan to prevent self-sabotage:
Believe it or not, an important step in preventing or stopping self-sabotaging behavior is having a good understanding of your financial standing and how much money you have available for running your business.
Only then can you determine what to spend on advertising and other related financial obligations.
Overextending yourself is a bad idea.
Quick fact for you…
The #1 reason small businesses go OUT of business is U-N-D-E-R-C-A-P-I-T-A-L-I-Z-A-T-I-O-N! (It was so important that I literally spelled it out for you!)
Don’t be undercapitalized. Learn what you can spend prior to spending.
This all boils down to pre-planning. It ain’t sexy, but it works.
Don’t be afraid to spend money in your business!
Just be wise about how you do it.
Plan first.
Then ask yourself how what you can spend will put money into your pocket in the next week, month, year, 5 years, etc.
Sometimes people polarize paid marketing because they want something free or cheap. Look, cheap and free are cheap and free for a reason! It doesn’t mean they’re good, just because they don’t require you to financially obligate yourself!
Most free and cheap stuff ends up taking a lot of time to set up anyway…so choose wisely.
Be laser focused on what you want to do and make sure your various programs compliment each other. If you have your hands in too many fires you will not accomplish anything.
At the end of the day, we each only get 24 hours, so every minute counts!
Cartoon by www.markstivers.com
Finally, be grown up enough to recognize why you are self-sabotaging.
There are many reasons for this and most are unconscious or reasons you aren’t really aware of until you start to think about it. A great book to read that will help you understand why you self-sabotage is Noah St. John’s “The Secret Code of Success.”
Noah St. John is known worldwide as the man that teaches you how to “dump your head trash.”
Recognize how your own self-sabotage also affects others…if you can’t find enough merit in dropping the self-sabotage act for your own benefit, do it for those you care about!
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Cat,
Having a big WHY and having a game plan are absolutely vital to success in any business.
Success will never happen by accident. It takes focused effort and discipline.
As always, thanks for sharing your wisdom.
Chuck
Hi Cat
It’s my first time to your blog. It’s looking great!
I do try and formulate a plan for my day and future goals but I also find myself going off track sometimes. I think when you work from home it can be hard.
I’m not great at self promotion so I need to work on that. I definitely have a focus though and I’m going to start listening to some training as you suggest.
Thank you for your insights!
Tim
Tim Bonner recently posted..Comment Kahuna – Friend Or Foe?
Hey Cat,
I use to do this early on. Heck, it takes so much to get things up and running that I concentrated more on those tasks then actually productive tasks. I mean we do have to have everything perfect and then of course know what the heck we’re doing right!
I know that once I started studying, I do much better if I apply what I’ve learned. So many people think you have to wait but the actual doing part will get you there much faster.
I then started writing down five things that I needed to do everyday in order to get me to my goal faster. Like you mentioned here though, they need to be money making tasks. I was also taught to do those first because they are the most important ones. Then do the rest of what you have written that you need to accomplish for the day.
Playing around on Facebook is fun but unless you’re connecting with prospects who are interested in what you have to offer, get the heck off and get to work. Once again, you’re only hurting yourself in the long run.
Once again, great post Cat. You hit the nail on the head here girl. Let’s get to work people, we have businesses to run, people to help and money to be made. Oh yeah.
Great job Cat and thanks again. Now, you enjoy your week and I’ll see you around.
~Adrienne
Adrienne recently posted..Why Network Marketing Gets Such A Bad Rap
Isn’t that Patrick’s (From Sponge bob) hand I see there on the picture?
Ah, self sabotaging.
I am always doing this – being lazy, goofing off – and always wondering why I didn’t get the results I expected. But, now (Especially after the break I took recently), I realize my real goals with blogging: To learn. My goal with blogging is to gain experience in the field of business, marketing and dealing with others (visitors/clients).
I think the main thing we need to do is to find our passion and avoid distractions while working with it (less chances for goofing off).
I have a small plan as of now:
To do actual business by writing a Kindle book and selling it (Relationship Marketing is my topic). Right now, I am in the process of applying those principles (which I am going to talk about in the book) and seeing how the results will turn out.
I hope everything will turn out to be great. Anyways, thank you for the post, Cat!
Jeevan Jacob John
Jeevan Jacob John recently posted..Content isn’t the King, Blogging Isn’t a Monarchy!
Thank you this is a great awareness call. I see some of the points you have here in myself. Being busy is important if you want to earn money. But money is not the only thing you can have in this world. You may be blinded by money and its power to give you anything. You should always give time for your family and get to know them. Many a man have died without knowing how great his children are.
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