Educational articles

Photo by Sandra Martinkutė-Grigaitienė

We have probably all noticed that when an opportunity arises to move up the professional ladder, people "put on the handbrake". Why does he do this? This phenomenon has deep psychological causes and is called self-sabotage, i.e. "I am bothering myself". This behaviour can be observed in normal everyday situations, but the greatest danger is when a person has the opportunity to "grow up".

What are the causes of self-sabotage?

In the subconscious, of course, where inner complexes block our vital energy. We acquire complexes in childhood, long before rational thought is formed, so we don't even suspect that some of our beliefs are "constructed" on the foundations of trauma. We seem to forget those painful experiences, but they remain in the subconscious. We run away from some situations because our inner complex acts defensively: it signals that we are in danger of experiencing the same existential pain we once experienced.

What happens then?

In self-sabotage, we begin to censor external information and, without realising it, we misinform ourselves. We do not see the reality that our inner complex sees as dangerous to us, and we look for information that is consistent with our beliefs. It is not for nothing that they say: 'People tend to hear what they want to hear and see what they want to see'. This disconnect from reality also means a disconnect from one's inner potential. This state of mind stifles our energy and limits our capacity for action.

How to recognise self-sabotage?

It usually manifests itself as an alibi (a retreat to buy time) or as a compensation for a completely dysfunctional goal, such as proving something to others, gaining public attention, or taking revenge on a competitor, rather than the main goal based on economic logic.
By the way, often the economic problems of a company start from the internal problems of the leader. And it is not the market situation, the actions of competitors or a pandemic that is to blame. It is in the leader and his wrong choices. And the mistakes are made because the consciousness, censored by complexes, does not reflect all the information.

So the better we know ourselves, the more accurately we can see reality, and therefore the fewer mistakes we make.