Self Sabotage and Sticking Points
Have you ever been boggled by your inability to get over the proverbial hump?
You work your tail off trying to achieve a certain goal(s), trying to attain a certain stature in your life – whether it’s fitness goals, business goals, self-discipline, writing, or whatever – and at some point, you get to a place and you screw it all up.
Sometimes it’s a minor screw up and only lasts a short period of time…
…but other times it’s a “I royally screwed up and now I’m screwed!” type of thing.
I have a philosophy when it comes to those things and that philosophy is that we all reach Sticking Points.
Those are points in your life, when you are on a path to greatness, that something happens, either outwardly or subconsciously, where you screw yourself.
If you’re trying to lose weight, it could be stumbling on fast food for 3 days in a row when you are nearly to the point in your physique where you’re comfortable and happy.
If you’re self-employed, it could be the point where you’ve been busting your tail for months and you’re starting to see the fruits of your labor, then you just stop.
If you’re a student, you could have been working your butt off studying, doing projects and going to study groups, in an effort to achieve a certain GPA or standing in your class to get a scholarship, grant of prestigious job/internship and then all of a sudden you stop all that and stumble.
Somewhere along the line in all of those examples, a Sticking Point was reached.
A point in time where you sabotage yourself - and actually another term we could use is Self-Sabotage.
One of my favorite movies is “Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang” starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Val Kilmer. Great movie. Robert Downey Jr. is trying to explain himself to the foxy Michelle Monaghan and says “I don’t know what my problem is. I get to a point where things are going great, and then I just bolt. It’s like my brain can’t handle it.”
That, my friends, is self-sabotage.
Not everyone experiences it, but it happens to a great number of us for various reasons.
Maybe we’re not comfortable enough with ourselves, or confident enough in our abilities.
Maybe we’re afraid of what success (whatever your definition of that term may be) feels like and what it will do to our lives.
Maybe being someone different freaks us out.
It is frightening if you’re not prepared. Succeeding and being great is scary if you’re not comfortable with yourself.
You’re going to have to get to a point where you say; “Screw it. I want this. I desperately want to achieve this goal and I’m not going to let fear of the unknown stop me. I will not sabotage myself. I will see this through and I will be great. If I stumble, I don’t care. I will pick myself up and move forward, no matter how difficult the stakes get and no matter what obstacles pop in my way. I will succeed…I have to succeed.”
You’re also going to have to get to a point where you say, “What’s the worst that could happen?” Most of the time, the worst isn’t that bad. You may stumble, you may make a fool of yourself, you may not achieve your goal, but you will become a better person. You will become a smarter, more intelligent and rounded person. Everyone fails. Everyone screws up. All successful people screw up and fail more often than they succeed. The difference is they wanted it, they weren’t afraid of success or failure and kept moving forward. They kept pushing. They stuck to their guns no matter who told them they couldn’t do it and no matter what saboteurs popped up (including self-inflicted sabotage).
If you want something desperately enough, you have to get to the point where you say, “Screw it.” It is integral to success.
You can achieve anything you want, but you have to get past those self-sabotaging Sticking Points.
Let’s say a massive “Screw it!” and move forward and bust through our Sticking Points with guns a blazin’!
