Everything seems to be going in the right direction: you’ve started your new habits, picked out a routine that will lead you to success, and solidified what goals you want to reach and when.
You’re doing well for a few days, or maybe even a few weeks, and then all of the sudden you fall off the path for seemingly no reason. One morning you just wake up and don’t feel like tracking your food, or working out, or cooking a healthy meal. You’re not sure why but all of the sudden you lose motivation and tiny thoughts start creeping into your head: maybe this is too hard, maybe I’m not ready to commit to these changes, I’ll reach my goal eventually what’s a few days off? Maybe it’s just not worth it.
Then those days turn into weeks and then sometimes even months before you look back and wonder what happened.
This is what we call self-sabotage, and it’s something that most people experience at some point in their journey. Self-sabotage is when we do something that gets in the way of our intent. Why do we do this? Sometimes it’s because of our past—maybe you’ve tried to lose weight in the past but were never able to keep it off, maybe you have a history with emotional eating and don’t believe you can overcome it—sometimes it’s because we listen to those around us who don’t share in our values and goals, whatever the reason behind why we self-sabotage there is good news: you can overcome it.
These three tips will help you when you find yourself sabotaging your goals.
1. Recognize self-sabotaging habits
Often we don’t even recognize when we’re sabotaging ourselves, we just know we’re frustrated because we’re seemingly failing. Self-sabotage can come in many different forms and looks different for different people. Here are some common forms:
- Procrastination
- Negative Self-Talk
- Perfectionism
The one we see most often when it comes to folks reaching their goals is negative self-talk. The words your speak about yourself (and think about yourself) have a profound effect on self-confidence and your ability to believe that you can do whatever you set your mind to, and perhaps more importantly that you are WORTHY of reaching your goals. The beautiful thing about the mind is that two opposing thoughts cannot exist at the same time, so if you find yourself speaking negative or thinking negative recognize it and decidedly change your thought pattern to something positive.
Here are some examples:
- ”This is too hard.” -> “This is challenging, but I can overcome any challenge.”
- ”I’m not good enough.” -> “I’m growing and getting better every day.”
- ”I can’t do it.”-> “I can do it, it’s just going to take patience and hard work.”
A good exercise to do is to make a list of the limiting beliefs you have about yourself, your goals, your journey and write a positive spin on them!
2. Practice S.A.V.E.R.S
S.A.V.E.R.S is an accornym for a daily mrning routine that will set your day off with a positive and reflective mindset. It combines a few different tools that are designed to set your mind right first thing in the morning. It carves out space to focus on yourself. Although each S.A.V.E.R is meant to be 10 minutes you can truncate it based on what you feel you need for your day.
60 minutes of S.A.V.E.R.S. to begin your day with excellence.
- S- Silence
- A- Affirmations
- V- Visualization
- E- Exercise
- R- Reading
- S- Scribing
S.A.V.E.R.S.
Silence
- 10 minutes of silence
- Empty your mind of thought, become aware
- Examples- meditation, gratitude, prayer, reflection, deep breathing
Affirmations
- “I am the greatest!” –Muhammad Ali
- Becoming vocal in the belief of excellence and success, letting go of limiting beliefs, letting go of fixed mindset
- 5 steps in creating affirmations:
- what you want
- why you want it
- who you are committed to being in order to create it
- what you’re committed to doing in order to attain it
- inspirational quotes & philosophies
Visualization
- Visualize what you need to do, and who you need to be
- Vision boards
Exercise
- 10 minutes of morning exercise
- Enhance mental clarity
- Sustain energy throughout the day
Reading
- Immediate method of acquiring knowledge, ideas, and strategies for achieving success
- Read for personal growth (great book is "What to say when you talk to yourself" by Shad Helmstetter)
- Re-read an old favorite
Scribing (Journaling)
- Emptying your thoughts and ideas from your head through journaling
- Gain clarity
- Capture ideas
- Review lessons
- Acknowledge progress
3. Find a coach
True coaches have the unique ability to help you recognize self-sabotaging behavior from an outside persepctive and the experieince to help guide you to overcome it. At CNU Fit we like to say that friends tell you what you want to hear, and coaches tell you what you need to hear. We believe that everyone needs someone to hold them accountable to their goals and intentions, as well as someone to support them when it does get challenging.
A good coach is someone who can help you obseve and reflect on your own thought processes.
They’ll offer a compassionate, unbiased perspective as you work together as a team to figure out what works (and what doesn’t work) for you.
If this sounds like what you need, check out our 1:1 Nutrition Coaching. We’re here to support you!
