When You Feel Like Your Own Worst Enemy - Breaking Free from Self-Sabotage

Have you ever felt like you're your own worst enemy when it comes to achieving your health and fitness goals?

The good intentions are there… but the follow-through? Not so much.

Some examples:

• You plan to cook a healthy meal at home… but when dinnertime comes around it seems like a lot of hard work, so you end up getting take-away.
• You tell yourself you’ll go to the gym for a workout/do your home workout session… but when the time comes, you tell yourself you’re too tired and not in the mood.
• You plan on going to bed at 10 o’clock so you can be rested for tomorrow… but then you get caught up in a show and end up streaming it until midnight.

If any of those scenarios ring true for you, you are NOT alone.

Almost ALL of us sabotage ourselves at some point or another. We skip workouts, eat food that is not in line with our goals, don’t get enough sleep, or even go out for a little excess “socialising” with our friends.

So how do you bust out of the self-sabotage cycle?

Try following the 5Rs:

1. RECOGNISE when it’s happening. Get to know your patterns.

Are there times when it’s more likely to happen than others? Have you gotten into some unproductive habits, like night-time snacking?

Try to look at these patterns without judging them – imagine you’re conducting a study on yourself and gathering evidence.

 2. Get to the ROOT CAUSE of why it’s happening. This is a big one, and your answers may change over time.

Some possibilities:

• Fear of failure
• Self-doubt
• Boredom
• Self-esteem issues
• Loneliness?

When you know WHY it’s happening, it can give you powerful info that will help you overcome it in the future.

3. RESET your goals into small, achievable benchmarks you know you can reach.

On a practical level, this will 1) help break the self-sabotage cycle and 2) help you build confidence and motivation.

For example:

• Exercise for 10-15 minutes before work
• Eat a serving of vegetables with every meal
• Read a book instead of watching TV before bed

4. REACH OUT to an accountability partner or coach. They can help you create goals that set you up for SUCCESS (vs. overreaching) and gain real traction.

5. REMEMBER that setbacks are opportunities to learn what works for you (and what doesn’t!).

Focus on progress, not perfection!

Struggling to be “perfect” won’t help you move closer to your goals – in fact, it can move you further away from them.

If you’re a busy professional woman working from home who is struggling with the knowledge and motivation to improve your health and fitness, and you want to see if working with me 1:1 could help you achieve better energy, shift unwanted kgs, gain a strong body and more confidence in just 10 weeks, then book a call with me to see exactly what the process could look like for you and if it’s the right fit for your goals. I am now coaching online so you don't have to be located in Queenstown for me to help you.