"Self-doubt does more to sabotage individual potential than all external limitations put together."

Brian Tracy

Five Ds Of Self-Sabotage

Today, I'm going to share with you the "5 Ds of self-sabotage". This is a concept I learned from Jon Gordon who is a mindset coach for a lot of elite athletes, politicians, and influencers.

However, before I share them with you, let's quickly take a look at the meaning of self-sabotage.

Self-sabotage is when people engage in behavior that blocks their success or prevents them from accomplishing their goals. For example, making excuses for not completing a task, repeatedly putting off something that you need to do, setting standards for yourself that are impossible to reach, etc. And that brings us back to the " 5 Ds of self-sabotage".

1. Doubt

When we think about self-sabotage, the first thing that creeps into our minds is doubt. As entrepreneurs, sometimes, we are not 100% positive or have confidence in what we are doing, and when we don't have the results that we want, we begin to question everything around us. We begin to ask ourselves if it's the marketing, the employees, the leads, or even ourselves. And to be honest, it's very easy to get caught in this kind of trap which then leads to the next D.

2. Distortion

What is distortion? Distortion simply means lies. When we have doubts because we don't have the results that we want, we usually end up telling ourselves lies.

For example, if you are not getting the result you want in your business, the reason for that you might tell yourself is because you have bad people in your team. Meanwhile, the main reason could be because you're not yet the right leader or because you have not equipped your team with the right tools and skill set necessary for them to thrive and succeed in any position. And when that happens, you simply get discouraged, which is the third D.

3. Discourage

When we get discouraged, what happens next is that we have little or no will left to fight or keep pushing. We lose all our enthusiasm and try to distract ourselves as much as possible from the results. Which leads us to the next D.

4. Distraction

To distract ourselves, we resort to taking drugs, alcohol, or anything outside of what is truly necessary that will help us take the next step and move us closer to our ultimate goal. And finally what happens next is that there's a divide.

5. Divide

The word "anxious" in Latin simply means divided. So what occurs after this distraction is that we start to feel divided and super anxious which ultimately leads to demise.

Now, how do we avoid these five Ds of self-sabotage and keep ourselves on track? Jon Gordon advises we use a framework called TUNE. TUNE is an acronym which stands for the following word below:

T- Truth

You must learn to find the truth in every situation and deal with it. For example, if you are having a bad week in sales, it's very easy to blame the market shifts or your salespeople but sometimes that's not the case. The truth in such a situation could be, maybe you targeted the wrong people in your marketing campaign, or maybe you made some offers and they didn't come to fruition because you didn't handle certain objections the right way. That's the truth and not the lies of market shifting or salespeople not effectively doing their job.

U- Unite With Love

When we neutralize the negativity and unite with love, we'll begin to have clarity that gives us confidence in the decisions we are making and courage as business owners.

N- Neutralize

When we focus on the truth, we can effectively neutralize any negativity or lies. So no longer will we be focusing on the market shift or the salespeople, rather we will focus on the truth which is targeting the right people and handling objections the right way.

E- Elevate Your Thinking

After identifying the truth, neutralizing the negativity, and uniting with love, you'll be able to level yourself up and elevate your thinking so you can be a better leader and a better manager. That's it.

I hope this was helpful to you.

Have a lovely day!