335 SelfWork: The Quartet of Self-Sabotage: Procrastination, Perfectionism, The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy, and Imposter Syndrome
The SelfWork Podcast
Margaret Robinson Rutherford PhD
4.8 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 21 April 2023
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today on SelfWork we’re going to focus on self-sabotage – when you are doing things or not doing things that seem to get in the way of achieving something or creating the life you say you want.
I want to talk more about the fear that’s underneath self-sabotage. Because one way of looking at sabotage is that it’s not sabotage at all. It’s really one part of you – the part that’s afraid – protecting that fear or avoiding it. So, what can seem as if you’re “getting in your own way” can actually be your mind working to keep you safe from a fear that you may be conscious of, or not conscious of at all.
Let's focus on a quartet of players in the self-sabotage realm: procrastination, perfectionism, a negative self-fulfilling prophecy, and of course, imposter syndrome. And as always, we'll talk about... what you can do about it.
The Speakpipe voicemail for today is from a woman who’s realized that, in order to have a sense of control, that she not only lives out her plans for today, but tries to complete things early – things she might have a plan to do tomorrow – she does today. And yet as she says, “That’s not how time works." Loved her comment and wanted to share.
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My book entitled Perfectly Hidden Depression is available here! Its message is specifically for those with a struggle with strong perfectionism which acts to mask underlying emotional pain. But the many self-help techniques described can be used by everyone who chooses to begin to address emotions long hidden away that are clouding and sabotaging your current life. And it's available in paperback, eBook or as an audiobook!
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is Selfwork, and I'm Dr. Margaret Rutherford. |
| 0:14.1 | At Selfwork, we'll discuss psychological and emotional issues common in today's world |
| 0:19.0 | and what to do about them. |
| 0:20.4 | I'm Dr. Margaret, and Selfwork is a podcast dedicated to you taking just a few minutes today |
| 0:26.2 | for your own Selfwork. |
| 0:29.8 | Hello and welcome, or welcome back to Selfwork. |
| 0:32.8 | I'm Dr. Margaret Rutherford, I'm a clinical psychologist, and I've been in practice for |
| 0:36.8 | over 30 years in Favil, Arkansas, and I welcome you to Selfwork. |
| 0:41.7 | I started this podcast to extend the walls of my practice to many of you who are already |
| 0:46.0 | interested in psychological or emotional issues, maybe you're in therapy, to those of |
| 0:50.4 | you who have new questions, or maybe you've just been diagnosed with something, but also |
| 0:55.3 | to those of you who are quite skeptical about the whole mental health thing, or you |
| 1:01.7 | think that mental illness is a joke, or you think that therapy is a joke. |
| 1:07.1 | And I hope that you're curious enough, or sadly, perhaps unhappy enough, to listen. |
| 1:14.4 | Welcome to all of you. |
| 1:16.4 | Today on Selfwork, we're going to focus on self-sabotage. |
| 1:20.1 | When you're doing things or not doing things that seem to get in the way of achieving |
| 1:24.5 | something or creating the life you say you want, there are a lot of behaviors or habits |
| 1:29.6 | that can factor in here, developing addictions can be a huge one. |
| 1:34.0 | But today I want to talk more about the fear that's underneath self-sabotage. |
| 1:39.2 | Because one way of looking at it is that it's really not sabotage at all. |
| 1:45.0 | It's more that one part of you, the part that's afraid, is protecting you and protecting |
... |
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