As online marketers, we've all encountered challenges that sabotage us from achieving our successes. Some challenges we have little control over, but some obstacles, we create ourselves.
Self-sabotage comes in various forms: negative self-talk, imposter syndrome, self-doubt, procrastination, and other forms of unhealthy and unproductive habits.
Once you can identify the various ways you are standing in the way of your own success, you can straighten the path and get yourself back on track to achieving your goals.
This article helps you understand why you sabotage yourself, how to stop doing it, and suggests ways you can make your marketing and your life better moving forward.
Putting an End to Your Distraction Addiction
Distractions have the potential to become addictive. This is because the routines you adopt to distract yourself stimulate the brain.
When you participate in these routines, you generally get a reward, which causes dopamine to be produced.
Consequently, the more you do them, the more these distractions become appealing.
Cell phones, the Internet, social media sites, email, and frequent snack breaks are all common distractions that sabotage your marketing productivity.
If you're aware that this is a problem for you, there are options for overcoming your addiction. Begin with your most significant source of distraction. One thing you can do if it's your phone is turn off the notifications.
That way, you won't know when you get a new text message. If gaming and social networking applications have been a problem for you, remove them from your phone.
You'll not only be more productive without them, but you'll also have more time and be less stressed mentally as a result of the break from the continual flow of information.
On your laptop, turn off social media and email notifications as well. Too many marketers believe that receiving a message implies they must act immediately.
As a result, the "five minutes" to check becomes a half-hour or more of lost time.
Make a plan to return non-emergency messages on your phone and laptop on a regular basis. Then, until the time you've set aside for it, don't open your email program.
Use software to block distracting websites, whether social media or otherwise.
You may install a variety of apps that will block certain pages for you for a predetermined period. You may arrange the application to not let you on until that period is up if you require six hours of uninterrupted work time.
Define your limits. You've probably heard that setting boundaries are necessary to prevent friends and family from interfering with your work hours.
However, you must also establish limits for yourself.
You will indulge in self-defeating actions if you lack self-discipline. Make a plan and make sure everyone knows when you'll be working – and don't allow yourself to be interrupted during those hours.
"Am I busy or productive?" you might wonder. If the response is that you're merely keeping yourself occupied, you're dealing with a distraction. Your activities should be propelling you ahead toward your objectives.
Stop second-guessing yourself at every turn.
You are squandering time by overthinking. You're going over and over all of your options, weighing them carefully before deciding on the best course of action.
The difficulty is that thinking about the same circumstance or project over and over might lead to reluctance or even quitting since it inhibits you from making a quick choice.
If you have a business blog but don't know what to write about, this is an example.
So you sit for days trying to figure out what type of material you might upload that will appeal to your target audience the most.
It's also possible that you've been in business for a long time and there's nothing new under the sun. As a result, you develop a tendency to overthink what you should do or which direction you should go in.
You don't believe you have any unique or worthwhile items to provide. It appears as if you are saying or doing the same thing over and over again.
What you don't comprehend is that valuable material retains its value whether it's been a month or a year.
You can squander so much time overthinking that it begins to impede your business, and you won't be able to meet your objectives by your self-imposed deadline or at all.
Marketers overthink in a variety of ways, including reading all they can get their hands on about the industry but making little effort to put the advice into reality.
Alternatively, you may schedule meetings and attend conferences because you've been overthinking what success entails.
You're trying to make sure you're up to date on everything before starting a business or taking on a new project.
Overthinking like this is for folks who are busy but not productive. Running a business requires you to take a step forward at some point.
You can be afraid of failing. So that's why you're always overthinking.
Making no decision or doing nothing at all is a type of failure in and of itself. Stop listening to your mind's worst-case possibilities and take action.
Because action steps increase and develop into completed objectives, you'll need them.
If you spend too much time overthinking, you will miss opportunities to advance your business.
You don't need to be an expert on everything. It's not even conceivable since there are always elements that are absolutely beyond your control, and no amount of pondering will change that, so you'd better get moving.
Set a timeframe for achieving your goal and write out the measures you'll need to take to get there.
Recognize that you'll make smart decisions part of the time, but you'll also make mistakes. It's just human nature.
Stop Pursuing Perfection
Perfectionism is bad for any kind of business. If you're experiencing this problem, it suggests you're attempting to perform something without making any mistakes.
People who suffer from this issue frequently experience an internal conflict in which they believe that who they are or the things they perform will not be sufficient.
They feel that if their work is not flawless, it reflects their flaws. This mindset might force an entrepreneur to set impossible standards.
You'll seldom be satisfied with a project's completion, and if someone else is working on it, you'll always find something wrong with it. Because perfection is an impossibility, no one, not even you, will ever attain your standard.
Allowing perfectionism to take over will cause you a lot of stress. You may find yourself working more hours on a single job than necessary because you don't think it's good enough, even if it was completed days ago.
By projecting outside with your job, you're attempting to solve an inside problem. If you don't make a change, you'll eventually burn out. It is at the foundation of perfectionism, and fear may keep you trapped.
If you refuse chances because you are frightened of failing, this might be an indication that you have an issue that is destroying your business. You don't risk it because you're worried you won't be able to control the outcome.
You can't stand change, which is another symptom. You prefer things to be done "properly," which you equate with "your" style of doing things. No one else is capable of doing as well as you.
You may have multiple options for a project, all of which are viable options, but you are stuck on one.
The amount of time you spend working on a project is also an indicator of perfectionism. You're struggling to get things launched or completed on time because you're spending so much time going over what's been done to make sure nothing gets overlooked.
A perfectionist's problem is that they have difficulty letting go of things. An idea, a project, or a business strategy are all possibilities.
A perfectionist, on the other hand, has difficulty even starting a project because they are constantly checking to ensure that everything is in order and that everything is flawless before taking the first action step.
You may overcome this problem and quit sabotaging yourself by just finishing the assignment, faults and all. Tell yourself that once you've completed the job, you can go back and polish it.
If you're stuck doing things your way because you're frightened of making a mistake that would damage the project, learn to accept the errors as a necessary part of the learning process.
You may also avoid perfectionism by not attempting to eat every slice of the pie.
Allow others to assist you and come to terms with the idea that "done" is preferable to "perfect."
Perfectionism is bad for any kind of business. If you're experiencing this problem, it suggests you're attempting to perform something without making any mistakes.
People who suffer from this issue frequently experience an internal conflict in which they believe that who they are or the things they perform will not be sufficient.
They feel that if their work is not flawless, it reflects their flaws. This mindset might force an entrepreneur to set impossible standards.
You'll seldom be satisfied with a project's completion, and if someone else is working on it, you'll always find something wrong with it.
Because perfection is an impossibility, no one, not even you, will ever attain your standard.
Allowing perfectionism to take over will cause you a lot of stress. You may find yourself working more hours on a single job than necessary because you don't think it's good enough, even if it was completed days ago.
By projecting outside with your job, you're attempting to solve an inside problem. If you don't make a change, you'll eventually burn out. It is at the foundation of perfectionism, and fear may keep you trapped.
If you refuse chances because you are frightened of failing, this might be an indication that you have an issue that is destroying your business.
You don't risk it because you're worried you won't be able to control the outcome.
You can't stand change, which is another symptom. You prefer things to be done "properly," which you equate with "your" style of doing things.
No one else is capable of doing as well as you. You may have multiple options for a project, all of which are viable options, but you are stuck on one.
The amount of time you spend working on a project is also an indicator of perfectionism.
You're struggling to get things launched or completed on time because you're spending so much time going over what's been done to make sure nothing gets overlooked.
A perfectionist's problem is that they have difficulty letting go of things. An idea, a project, or a business strategy are all possibilities.
A perfectionist, on the other hand, has difficulty even starting a project because they are constantly checking to ensure that everything is in order and that everything is flawless before taking the first action step.
You may overcome this problem and quit sabotaging yourself by just finishing the assignment, faults and all. Tell yourself that once you've completed the job, you can go back and polish it.
If you're stuck doing things your way because you're frightened of making a mistake that would damage the project, learn to accept the errors as a necessary part of the learning process.
You may also avoid perfectionism by not attempting to eat every slice of the pie. Allow others to assist you and come to terms with the idea that "done" is preferable to "perfect."
Give Yourself Permission to Start Over
It may happen to anybody at any time. You feel enthusiastic about starting a business, but you soon find yourself doing the same thing over and over again and getting the same results.
You realize that your ideas aren't unique, don't stand out, and aren't converting as you'd want.
When you reach this point, you realize it's time to start over. Too many marketers fail to recognize that no marketing strategy is irrevocable.
Giving yourself a fresh start might help you transform the way you think about and act on your company ideas. However, it might have a negative influence on your company's growth. A new beginning may increase traffic and convert your viewers into purchasers.
It allows you to reevaluate your priorities. It's not giving up; rather, it's changing course. The best way to get out of a rut and get back on track in your internet company is to make a fresh start and cut out the bad habits that have been hurting your efforts.
Some marketers have taken risks that may have harmed their businesses. In the end, they succumbed to a mindset of "it's too late" or "too much time has gone" or "the business is renowned for one item or a certain project that they're no longer excited about."
You may have had a few company failures and are now having trouble trusting in yourself and your business concept.
One of the most effective ways to quit self-sabotaging is to make a fresh start.
You may learn new skills and ways of doing things. For example, you may have purchased hundreds of things in the thrill of building an online empire, only to learn later that they were ineffective or that you were no longer interested in that path.
Get rid of the stuff you'll never use and replace them with ones you will. Stop taking classes you know you won't finish.
Because of the amount of money they've spent, some people find it difficult to let go.
Instead, consider how much time you'll save by abandoning a non-profitable endeavor.
A new start might mean adopting new software for your business since the old one is no longer serving. It might even be something as simple as learning a new social media approach to increase traffic if the previous one isn't generating any results anymore.
A new beginning might mean developing a new product or offering a new service to your clients. It might also be a shift in your objectives. It may even mean changing niches if you have another idea that excites you.
As an entrepreneur, you must be willing to make mistakes, but you must also be relentless in your efforts to improve. That's how you overcome self-destructive behaviors and build a sustainable business.
It's easy to get irritated when you realize you've been standing in the way of your success. But don't think about it too much. Instead, do what you need to do to remedy the problem and position yourself for long-term success!
