How to stop sabotaging your own career

Most people experience ups and downs during the course of their careers.

Sometimes those bumps in the road are caused by external factors that are outside of your control, and the challenge will be how you respond to or navigate those bumps.

But, sometimes, the biggest obstacle to your own career or happiness at work is… you.

The dictionary definition of self-sabotage as ‘the act or habit of behaving in a way that interferes directly with one’s own goals, wellbeing, or relationships.’

Are you a self-saboteur? Here are some things to watch out for.

You have ‘imposter syndrome’ thoughts/ believe negative things about yourself
“Who on earth do you think you are?”
“If you try that, it’ll go horribly wrong.”
Who needs enemies when you have your own nagging voice in your ear? People with low self-esteem are particularly likely to sabotage themselves, even if they don’t realise that’s what they are doing.
It's something we often see in the APC candidates we work with, or surveyors who are perhaps relatively recently qualified, taking on more senior roles, and suddenly plagued with self-doubt.
Start by asking yourself if there is real evidence to support what you believe about yourself or tell yourself. Sometimes these negative thoughts are based on assumptions, or something that happened in the past, rather than the present reality.
(You may also find it helpful to watch our Beyond Imposter Syndrome webinar here  or listen to this podcast episode, LionHeart Talks… imposter syndrome here)

You’re prone to procrastination
You put things off and put things off. It might be because the task in hand is less interesting than others on your to-do list, but often it’s because it feels too big or overwhelming. It’s great to have a big goal, but sometimes you can flounder around wondering where to start - so you don’t start at all.
Setting smaller, more manageable goals can help something feel less daunting and make the bigger ‘thing’ look more achievable, so you are less likely avoid doing something.
It's something we often encourage APC candidates to do when they are feeling stressed and overloaded, and find they respond well to breaking down how they approach their final assessment into smaller chunks, for example.

A tendency to focus on the negatives (even among a sea of positives…)
Imagine you’ve just done a talk in front of 5,000 people; you’ve been given a standing ovation, freedom of the Town of Bolton and a season ticket for Bolton Wanderers for life (*other teams and towns are available!)
But all you can think about is the fact that you put ‘your’ instead of ‘you’re’ on Slide 3 and you fixate on this detail and let it mar the success.

You constantly downplay your achievements
People who continually use self-deprecation or downplay their achievements are often actually a bit afraid or uncomfortable with the idea of success.
Next time you catch yourself saying, ‘oh it was nothing’, take a breath and learn to accept the compliment!
Allow yourself a pat on the back or a quiet celebration of even small achievements or successes because it will help remind you of your progress and boost your confidence and self-esteem.  

Being too perfectionist
Over-thinking every detail and wanting everything to be “perfect” (whatever that is) sets you up to fail. Falling into the perfectionist trap can stop you from trying something because you’re afraid it won’t live up to your unrealistic expectations or standards.
Aim for good, but accept that nothing and nobody is perfect, and sometimes ‘good enough’ is exactly that.

Fear of failure stops you from trying
Sometimes self-saboteurs fear success because they are afraid of increased expectations and additional responsibilities.
Sometimes it’s because you fear disappointing other people. You might fear failure or - conversely - you might fear success, because success means it’ll all go pear-shaped later, right?
Self-saboteurs might feel ‘unworthy’ of praise or progression, so they either won’t go for that big promotion, or they’ll somehow do something to mess it up for themselves, because deep down they don’t believe they deserve it.

If any of the above sound familiar, why not talk to a professional? At LionHeart, the team of support officers and counsellors have helped many surveyors learn to unpick the habits they have spent years building up so they can enjoy and thrive at work again.

Ben Halpin is one of the LionHeart support officers. He is also a lifelong Bolton Wanderers fan… (but other teams are available!)

You might also be interested in:

• Webinar: Beyond Imposter Syndrome 
• Work-related support from LionHeart
• Podcast: LionHeart Talks... imposter syndrome
• LionHeart counselling