In my last post, we explored how to identify your saboteur patterns—those internal voices that keep you safe but small. Maybe you recognized yourself postponing that major donor call, over-researching instead of writing, or talking yourself out of personal experiences you actually want to try.
Now that you can predict how your saboteurs operate, you’re ready for the next step: practical strategies to stop self sabotage in real-time and choosing a different path forward.
Think of your saboteurs like that colleague who always has”urgent” requests that distract you from your most important project. Once you recognize the pattern, you can predict and intercept it.
Use Past Experiences
Start by reflecting on recent saboteur interference. When have you suddenly found yourself procrastinating, nitpicking a colleague’s work, or feeling overwhelmed by conflicting ‘urgent’ tasks? Can you identify a judgemental thought or withering internal voice that contributed to that behaviour or feeling? Is it part of a pattern of thinking and behaviour?
Then, look ahead at your current goals and imagine how your saboteurs might show up to block your progress. If you’re writing a new grant or proposal, will your saboteur demand perfection and six more revisions? If you need to have a difficult conversation, will a saboteur convince you to avoid it “just one more day” or word it in such a way that the message fails to land?
Progress happens when you catch these patterns of self-sabotage in real-time and choose to act differently.
Build Tolerance for Discomfort: How to Overcome Unhelpful Patterns
Like any skill, overcoming self-sabotage gets stronger with practice. Start with small steps and build your confidence; build your mental muscles with repetition.
Maybe you notice your inner critic trying to delay sending an important email until it’s perfect. Instead of getting caught in self-doubt, you pause, acknowledge the saboteur interference, and hit send anyway.
Each small victory builds your tolerance for discomfort and your ability to tackle bigger challenges. You strengthen your ability to act in alignment with your goals even when your saboteurs are throwing you off course.
The Path to Self-Actualization
This work to intercept our saboteurs isn’t just about productivity, managing ‘better’ or success metrics. It’s also about stopping for a hamburger at a place you’ve driven by hundreds of times–because you want to. It’s also about following your interests, curiosity, and deep desires.
Psychologist Abraham Maslow defined self-actualization as “the realization or fulfillment of one’s talents and potentialities.” To be self-actualized is to become everything you are capable of becoming.
Every time you intercept self-sabotage and instead choose action aligned with your values and goals, you’re building mental muscles to support your highest potential. You’re developing the capacity to handle bigger challenges, take meaningful risks, and create the impact you’re here to make.
Your Next Step
Start today with this simple practice:
- Identify one small goal where you’re stuck or one pattern where you consistently get in your own way.
- Get curious about what saboteur interference might be at play.
- Pause and ask yourself: “What would I do if I trusted myself completely?”
- Take action based on your answer.
The path to self-actualization isn’t about eliminating your saboteurs—they’re part of being human. It’s about building the strategies to stop self sabotage through mental fitness and then choosing to take action.
To say yes.
Want to identify and understand your top saboteurs? For only $37, I can help you understand exactly which patterns are holding you back and how. Click here to book your 45 minute Saboteur Discovery session.