Are You Your Own Worst Enemy -- a.k.a. Self-Sabotage

How often have you given up doing something evenRecords for delivering 12 punch lines per minute. Anne
before you gave yourself an honest chance ofFrank was a young girl when she wrote her diary
succeeding?which is still published and continues to be read
Perhaps you started a redecorating project or writingthroughout the world by the next generation.
a novel. You purchased all the necessary items and- I don't know what I want to do: You may not know
then never painted or wallpapered the room becauseexactly what you want to do, but there is something in
you thought you couldn't do it perfectly. You wrote thethe back of your mind that is important. Especially if
outline, table of contents and the introduction to youryou know you're not happy in what you're doing now,
novel, without giving your literary talent a chance toyou know there's more you want out of life. Do
flourish you abandoned it, because you think no one willwhatever your heart desires and see where it leads
read it.you.
You begin a diet. Within a few days, you revert to- I want to do too much: No one says you can't do a
your normal eating habits because you didn't seelittle of everything. Just pick one that will set the
immediate results.groundwork for the others. Find the common thread in
Because of your past experiences when you havethe things you like, and start there. You can branch off
not achieved all that you wanted, you only rememberonce the foundation is in place.
getting bombarded with more and more work when-The universe is against me: Hm-m-m-m-Not at all.
you thought the project would take only a few days.Once you set your mind to something and begin
You think the next project will end up the same, soheading in a direction, the universe will open up in ways
you don't begin or you slack off and let the fruits ofyou can't see right now. People will come into your life,
our dreams fade away.events will take place, and you will begin to see more
You need to become an expert at getting out of yourlight at the end of the tunnel each day. But you have
own way when it comes to achieving your dreams.to make the first moves. Nothing takes place for you
After all, you've gotten in your own way over andunless you do something. Do something, even if it is
over for years.wrong, you can learn from that. Thomas Edison was
We sabotage ourselves in any number of ways byasked if he was discouraged because he had 100
our thoughts.failures in his quest to invent the light bulb. "Discouraged!
- I'm not good enough: On Monday, a group ofEdison exclaimed, I am closer to inventing the light bulb, I
students will be given a lecture by the worst teacher.already know 100 ways how not to invent a light bulb,
The worst actor will star in a made-for-televisionthe next idea may be the one that works."
movie. And the worst boy band will put on a mini show- Motivational speaker Les Brown in his book "It's Not
for friends and family in their garage. I don't have anyOver Until You Win," tells a story of a keynote
more talent than them, you say. What if the boys whospeaker at a National Speakers Association
became the Beatles had stopped practicing in Ringo'sconference he attended. The speaker was perhaps
garage-because, they thought they weren't goodthe worst speaker Les had ever heard. The man
enough.spoke in a monotone voice and was dull as a butter
- No one will be interested: Just look around at someknife. By the end of his presentation, more than
of the things you see on television or read intwo-thirds of the audience had walked out. The
newspapers or books or magazines. It is amazingspeaker, noticing this said something that pretty much
some things have lasted this long-you intone. What ifsums up the message of this article. "The reason I am
J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame would have toldup here (Doing) and you are sitting down there
herself-No one will be interested, so why bother writing(watching) is because I represent the thoughts you
this novel.have rejected for yourself."
- I'm too old/young: Colonel Sanders was sixty-fiveGive yourself a chance, get out of your own way and
when he began his Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant.persevere. Perseverance pays off. If Edison could
He died a multimillionaire. Phyllis Diller was 40-somethinginvent the first light bulb after 100+ non workable
when she became a star as a comedian-old byprototypes, you can create what you want too. It isn't
industry standards at the time. Diller achieved a recordthe amount of genius, it is the amount of
that still stands today in the Guinness Book of Worldperseverance.