20+ Quotes About Self Sabotage

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Self sabotaging is when you mess up things in your own life, usually subconsciously because you feel like you don’t deserve for life to be easy or good. Here are 20+ quotes about self sabotage and self sabotaging quotes.

Quotes About Self Sabotage | Self Sabotage Quotes
Quotes About Self Sabotage | Self Sabotage Quotes

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Self-sabotage is when you consciously or unconsciously do things that work against your own best interest.

It can be used to describe any kind of behavior that is self-destructive, like procrastinating, not doing something positive that you know you should, overeating, oversleeping, etc.

The biggest self-saboteur is fear, and fear is a big part of what stops people from taking action.

Fear of failure. Fear of rejection. Fear of criticism. Fear of standing out.

Most people don’t realize they’re self-sabotaging until after the fact.

Several of these self sabotage quotes are from The Big Leap, which is a great book by Gay Hendricks about upper limits and the way we start to sabotage ourselves when anything in our life gets “too good.”

We reach an upper limit of what we feel we deserve, and then we sabotage things until we get back to a level where we feel comfortable.

That’s why if you’re used to being unhappy all the time, if things start to go well in your life you might subconsciously sabotage things until you’re unhappy again, which is where you’re comfortable. The book is about how to transcend these upper limits and allow more good things into our lives.

20+ Quotes About Self Sabotaging | Quotes About Self Sabotage

“I manufactured the stream of painful images because I was feeling good! Some part of me was afraid of enjoying positive energy for any extended period of time.” – Gay Hendricks

“This is how women self-sabotage and self-destruct. Unless we have constant witnesses to our hard work, we are convinced we pull off every day of our lives through smoke and mirrors.” – Sarah Ban Breathnach

“Self-sabotage is when we say we want something and then go about making sure it doesn’t happen.” – Alyce Cornyn-Selby

“I have a limited tolerance for feeling good. When I hit my Upper Limit, I manufacture thoughts that make me feel bad. The problem is bigger than just my internal feelings, though: I seem to have a limited tolerance for my life going well in general. When I hit my Upper Limit, I do something that stops my positive forward trajectory. I get into a conflict with my ex-wife, get into a money bind, or do something else that brings me back down within the bounds of my limited tolerance.” – Gay Hendricks

“When we are succeeding – that is, when we have begun to overcome our self-doubt and self-sabotage, when we are advancing in our craft and evolving to a higher level – that’s when panic strikes. When we experience panic, it means that we’re about to cross a threshold. We’re poised on the doorstep of a higher plane.” – Steven Pressfield

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“How am I getting in my own way?” – Gay Hendricks

“Each of us has an inner thermostat setting that determines how much love, success, and creativity we allow ourselves to enjoy. When we exceed our inner thermostat setting, we will often do something to sabotage ourselves, causing us to drop back into the old, familiar zone where we feel secure.” – Gay Hendricks

“Withholding love is a form of self-sabotage, as what we withhold from others we are withholding from ourselves.” – Marianne Williamson

“Resistance by definition is self-sabotage.” – Steven Pressfield

“It was very humbling to realize that my worries were there just to make me miserable. It was even more humbling to realize that I was the guy who had his finger firmly pressed on the misery button. It was wonderful, though, to discover that I also had the power to quit pressing the button.” – Gay Hendricks

“I am really fascinated by self-sabotage. I think that there’s not a person I know who doesn’t fall victim to it. It’s essential to the human condition, and relatable.” – Kit Williamson

“If I could consider, even for a moment, that I was not upset for the reason I thought I was, I could break out of the trance I was in. Then, I could begin to see what the real issues were.” – Gay Hendricks

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“Most of us respond with panic when we get what we want. The moment of victory is often the moment of greatest peril. We let success get to our head and start acting in over-confident ways. This is the beginning of self-destruction.” – Mohadesa Najumi

“Your capacity expands in small increments each time you consciously let yourself enjoy the money you have, the love you feel, and the creativity you are expressing in the world. As that capacity for enjoyment expands, so does your financial abundance, the love you feel, and the creativity you express.” – Gay Hendricks

“I craft most of my own tragedies without ever having even the remotest understanding that it is I myself who have done the crafting.” – Craig D. Lounsbrough

“Procrastination is hands down, our favorite form of self-sabotage.” – Alyce Cornyn-Selby

“What important feelings am I not letting into my awareness?” – Gay Hendricks

“The question “Is this an act of self-love or is it an act of self-sabotage?” is one you must consistently ask yourself if you are committed to having all that you want and all that you deserve. When you love yourself you feel worthy and deserving of claiming the gifts of this world. Self-love gives you peace of mind and balance. Self-love gives you self-respect and the ability to respect others. It gives you the confidence to stand up and ask for what you want. Self-love is the main ingredient in a successful, fulfilled life.” – Debbie Ford

“The biggest thing holding you back is almost always… you. Start there.” – Hunter Post

“Getting stubborn and defensive invites the sledgehammer; getting open and curious invites the feather. It took me a long time to figure out who was in charge of the painfulness of my lessons.” – Gay Hendricks

I hope this list of self sabotage quotes has been helpful!