conscious self sabotage

**Posts:** 102 · by **mute** » Mon Jan 11, 2021 5:16 am

why does it happen?
why would you continue to do so if you are aware of sabotage and know when its happening

yet i cant prevent it

its like i have no control over it and just watch it happen and wait it out every time ...

if self sabotage serves a purposei cant seem to find it within.
assuming that its also part of self sabotage lol
how do i even stop this if its an infinite loop of self sabotage

**Posts:** 9156 · by **Candid** » Tue Jan 12, 2021 10:16 am

I believe it's about self-love, or rather the lack of it.
Self-sabotage means self-punishment. If you truly love yourself you'll stop doing it.

**Posts:** 102 · by **mute** » Thu Jan 14, 2021 1:16 am

is there another term for this?
google doesnt show any results for conscious self sabotage
onlygeneral self sabotage
to me it seems illogical for one to continue self sabotage when you are aware of it
and yet it is happening still and all i can do is watch it happen
i cant afford to go to a psychologist at the moment(not in a long time actually) so im attempting to figure out on my own

i tried to think abotu what would cause this behavior but its just not popping upin my head

because logically it makes no sense

i sabotage myself when im on the right track to improve my life financially or any other way
and then i completely **** it up while being well aware of what im doing will cost me but i dont know why i continue doing so.

**Posts:** 11104 · by **Richard@DecisionSkills** » Thu Jan 14, 2021 1:51 pm

mute wrote:is there another term for this?

Everyone "self-sabotages". Look at the very simple example of weight loss. Look at the epidemic of obesity. Even though people know the solution, they keep repeating the same patterns. They lose some weight, but then put it all back on if not more. Why?

Self-handicapping is one reason.

Self-handicapping is a term used by researchers to discuss how people "sabotage" their own performance. You can read plenty of articles on the topic if you go to "Google Scholar".

And you might want to look into "goal commitment". One reason we self-sabotage is we begin striving for a goal full of commitment. As we get closer to achieving a goal sometimes we lose focus, we lessen our goal commitment.

**Posts:** 9156 · by **Candid** » Thu Jan 14, 2021 2:21 pm

mute wrote:google doesnt show any results for conscious self sabotage
onlygeneral self sabotage

What do you think is the difference between these two?

to me it seems illogical for one to continue self sabotage when you are aware of it
and yet it is happening still...

But it ISN'T happening TO you. It's something you're consciously choosing to do.

because logically it makes no sense

A flashback-inducing inner critic is typically spawned in a danger-laden childhood home.
~ http://pete-walker.com/shrinkingInnerCritic.htm

i dont know why i continue doing so.

I seem to remember we've been here before, mute: me recommending Pete Walker's work and you doing everything you can to ignore the elephant in the room.

I did the same, for almost 10 years after a counsellor told me my relationship with my mother was at the root of my malaise. I didn't want to believe it. No one does.

Finally when I was 35 I was in a room with my mother for a showdown I wish I could have avoided. It was so horrific that my hair turned completely white within a matter of weeks.

I hope and believe you can do better.

**Posts:** 102 · by **mute** » Sat Jan 16, 2021 2:57 am

i remember reading something but i think it was another article
im checking this one now

i also believe it is something to do with my mother but my memory is very faded and i have a complete blackout for about 3 years of my childhood...
her almost dying of suicide attempt but i cannot tell if that might have been the setting point or something else entirely unrelated...

if i was to talk about energetic level ( im sure not everyone believes in that) i would say that her attempt at taking her own life exhausted her own energy and turned me and my dad into life support for her for the later years and she might have manipulated us and drained our energy while at the same time blaming us for being energy vampires every chance she gets and manipulating us in many other ways as well especially with guilt and fear of her dying (aka. watch im gonna die and yall gonna live with guilt...)

by American standards they were batshit crazy all the time
but by European standards they were a normal European family that spends free tine fighting and then have evening tea together and talk about current events...

i did cut her off few weeks ago and she reacted just as i expected with alot of anger and drama.

**Posts:** 9156 · by **Candid** » Sat Jan 16, 2021 8:55 am

mute wrote:i did cut her off few weeks ago and she reacted just as i expected with alot of anger and drama.

If you'd TRULY cut her off, you wouldn't have known about the drama.

There's "low contact" in which you attempt to set boundaries;
and, if that fails, there's "NO contact" in which you don't accept calls or letters, and you ask other people not to carry messages from her or tell you anything about her.

It isn't easy. It's a drastic, last-resort decision and marks the first step in claiming your selfhood. From what you've said, you're long past the breached boundaries stage.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog ... -your-life may have some helpful suggestions.

If you want to talk it out with people who've been through similar, you may prefer https://www.reddit.com/r/RedditForGrown ... nt_out_of/

**Posts:** 11104 · by **Richard@DecisionSkills** » Sat Jan 16, 2021 1:34 pm

mute wrote: i sabotage myself when im on the right track to improve my life financially or any other way
and then i completely **** it up while being well aware of what im doing will cost me but i dont know why i continue doing so....

Your mother is to blame?

Maybe part of your self-sabotage is that when you begin to "completely **** it up" you turn towards scapegoating another person, e.g. mom.

**Posts:** 770 · by **Wave** » Sat Jan 16, 2021 2:33 pm

Richard@DecisionSkills wrote:Maybe part of your self-sabotage is that when you begin to "completely **** it up" you turn towards scapegoating another person, e.g. mom.

There is no where enough information for your to make that conclusion, putting "maybe" in front of this doesn't change anything. I assume you also don't have any experience of a toxic family but yet you are an expert?

You seem determined to call people out while there are in the middle of a specific difficulty, can you refer me to the cognitive strategy that says this will help?

**Posts:** 11104 · by **Richard@DecisionSkills** » Sat Jan 16, 2021 2:48 pm

Hi Wave, thanks for contributing your opinion.

Cognitive dissonance. Read up on it.

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