{"id":38651,"date":"2016-04-01T22:10:31","date_gmt":"2016-04-02T06:10:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=38651"},"modified":"2016-04-04T20:00:32","modified_gmt":"2016-04-05T04:00:32","slug":"3-thoughts-that-sabotage-your-success-and-how-to-change-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-thoughts-that-sabotage-your-success-and-how-to-change-them\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Thoughts that Sabotage Your Success and How to Change Them"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

<\/p>\n

Every single one of us is capable of greatness. So what is it about the human psyche that insists on casting a continuous shadow of self-doubt over our dreams? Why do we seem to sabotage our own success by taking actions that deliberately conflict with what we know we truly want? The answer certainly isn\u2019t simple, but if we trace these thoughts all the way to their root cause, we usually find a great deal of fear and a poor sense of self-worth.<\/p>\n

Sounds bleak, doesn\u2019t it? But rest assured that fear can be managed, and better self-worth can be cultivated through a few simple changes in our thought patterns. Listed below are a few common, self-defeating thoughts, and how to transform them into more helpful, positive affirmations.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u201cI\u2019m not good enough, so I shouldn\u2019t bother trying.\u201d<\/strong>– Of course you\u2019re not good enough\u2014yet<\/em>. True greatness takes lots of practice, and that is one of the toughest things I have had to learn as a writer. It\u2019s painful and discouraging to see how much improvement we need in order to reach the level of brilliance we see in others we admire. I find myself avoiding writing sometimes just because I don\u2019t want to see the awkward sentences that come before I refine my work. I cringe a bit when I read some of my first blog posts, but when I read my more recent work I can see that those beginning writings were part of the evolution that was necessary for me to grow my talent.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    So this statement becomes: \u201cI must try, so I can become better.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. \u201cIt\u2019s too late for me to follow my dream\u201d- <\/strong>It\u2019s easy to think our \u201cwindow\u201d of opportunity has passed, and could be gone forever. I look back at the 4.5 years I spent in college and think about how much freedom and opportunity I had to develop my talent. Now I am 31, with 2 young kids and very little time to work on my dream. But guess what I didn\u2019t have while I was in college? The insight to know what I am truly meant to do with my life, and the maturity to know that it will take lots of hard work. After years of thinking success should come easy or that I will someday just be \u201cdiscovered,\u201d I finally have the wisdom I need, and a clear, realistic path to reaching my dream. I may only have a couple hours a day to work at it, but at least I know where I am going now. It doesn\u2019t matter if you are 31 or 72, it\u2019s never too late to start something. The time we spend dwelling on wasted time could be spent moving towards our goals.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      So this statement becomes: \u201cIt\u2019s time to move forward now<\/em>.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

        \n
      1. \u201cI don\u2019t deserve happiness and success\u201d- <\/strong>Here\u2019s a funny little fact about true happiness: Most people are actually afraid of it. Maybe it\u2019s because we are scared that too much success or happiness means some impending doom is inevitable. We think that at some point, we\u2019re bound to lose everything. Maybe suffering is a safer place for some people, because it means they can\u2019t be let down if they are already down. When we are up\u2014happy and successful, down seems much scarier and more hurtful.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        The thing is, you are going to have ups and downs. But as you work harder you will have more frequent and bigger ups, and you will learn how to handle your downs better. It helps to remember that many successful people before you have come back from some pretty massive downs.<\/p>\n

        So this statement becomes: \u201cI am worthy of happiness and success.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

        Everyone must start from the bottom, and the top can seem impossibly far when you let fear and self-doubt drive your thoughts and actions. When you learn to recognize self-defeating thoughts for the un-productive lies they really are, your self-worth can have room to grow and flourish. There will always be a small voice inside you that whispers,<\/p>\n

        \u201cYou aren\u2019t good enough.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

        Know that you have the inner strength to ignore that self-sabotaging voice, and move forward.<\/p>\n

        ———-<\/p>\n

        Ivy Shelden is a freelance writer and the founder of The World is Yours<\/a>, a blog dedicated to helping people get in touch with their free-will and the power to create their own lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Every single one of us is capable of greatness. So what is it about the human psyche that insists on casting a continuous shadow of self-doubt over our dreams? Why do we seem to sabotage our own success by taking actions that deliberately conflict with what we know we truly want? Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12163,"featured_media":40230,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[205,32,9],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n3 Thoughts that Sabotage Your Success and How to Change Them<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Every single one of us is capable of greatness. So what is it about the human psyche that insists on casting a continuous shadow of self-doubt over our dreams? Why do we seem to sabotage our own success by taking actions that deliberately conflict with what we know we truly want?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-thoughts-that-sabotage-your-success-and-how-to-change-them\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"3 Thoughts that Sabotage Your Success and How to Change Them\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Every single one of us is capable of greatness. So what is it about the human psyche that insists on casting a continuous shadow of self-doubt over our dreams? Why do we seem to sabotage our own success by taking actions that deliberately conflict with what we know we truly want?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-thoughts-that-sabotage-your-success-and-how-to-change-them\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-04-02T06:10:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-04-05T04:00:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Screen-Shot-2016-04-01-at-11.09.39-PM.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"756\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"493\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erin Falconer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-thoughts-that-sabotage-your-success-and-how-to-change-them\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Screen-Shot-2016-04-01-at-11.09.39-PM.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Screen-Shot-2016-04-01-at-11.09.39-PM.png\",\"width\":756,\"height\":493,\"caption\":\"3 Thoughts that Sabotage Your Success and How to Change Them\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-thoughts-that-sabotage-your-success-and-how-to-change-them\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-thoughts-that-sabotage-your-success-and-how-to-change-them\/\",\"name\":\"3 Thoughts that Sabotage Your Success and How to Change Them\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-thoughts-that-sabotage-your-success-and-how-to-change-them\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-04-02T06:10:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-04-05T04:00:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5\"},\"description\":\"Every single one of us is capable of greatness. So what is it about the human psyche that insists on casting a continuous shadow of self-doubt over our dreams? Why do we seem to sabotage our own success by taking actions that deliberately conflict with what we know we truly want?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-thoughts-that-sabotage-your-success-and-how-to-change-them\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-thoughts-that-sabotage-your-success-and-how-to-change-them\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-thoughts-that-sabotage-your-success-and-how-to-change-them\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"3 Thoughts that Sabotage Your Success and How to Change Them\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5\",\"name\":\"Erin Falconer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Erin Falconer\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/author\/erin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"3 Thoughts that Sabotage Your Success and How to Change Them","description":"Every single one of us is capable of greatness. So what is it about the human psyche that insists on casting a continuous shadow of self-doubt over our dreams? Why do we seem to sabotage our own success by taking actions that deliberately conflict with what we know we truly want?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-thoughts-that-sabotage-your-success-and-how-to-change-them\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"3 Thoughts that Sabotage Your Success and How to Change Them","og_description":"Every single one of us is capable of greatness. So what is it about the human psyche that insists on casting a continuous shadow of self-doubt over our dreams? Why do we seem to sabotage our own success by taking actions that deliberately conflict with what we know we truly want?","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-thoughts-that-sabotage-your-success-and-how-to-change-them\/","og_site_name":"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickthebrain","article_published_time":"2016-04-02T06:10:31+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-04-05T04:00:32+00:00","og_image":[{"width":756,"height":493,"url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Screen-Shot-2016-04-01-at-11.09.39-PM.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary","twitter_creator":"@pickthebrain","twitter_site":"@pickthebrain","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Erin Falconer","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/","name":"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-thoughts-that-sabotage-your-success-and-how-to-change-them\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Screen-Shot-2016-04-01-at-11.09.39-PM.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Screen-Shot-2016-04-01-at-11.09.39-PM.png","width":756,"height":493,"caption":"3 Thoughts that Sabotage Your Success and How to Change Them"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-thoughts-that-sabotage-your-success-and-how-to-change-them\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-thoughts-that-sabotage-your-success-and-how-to-change-them\/","name":"3 Thoughts that Sabotage Your Success and How to Change Them","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-thoughts-that-sabotage-your-success-and-how-to-change-them\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2016-04-02T06:10:31+00:00","dateModified":"2016-04-05T04:00:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5"},"description":"Every single one of us is capable of greatness. So what is it about the human psyche that insists on casting a continuous shadow of self-doubt over our dreams? Why do we seem to sabotage our own success by taking actions that deliberately conflict with what we know we truly want?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-thoughts-that-sabotage-your-success-and-how-to-change-them\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-thoughts-that-sabotage-your-success-and-how-to-change-them\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-thoughts-that-sabotage-your-success-and-how-to-change-them\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"3 Thoughts that Sabotage Your Success and How to Change Them"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5","name":"Erin Falconer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Erin Falconer"},"url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/author\/erin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38651"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38651"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38651\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}