3 Hidden Reasons That Could be Sabotaging Your Success

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Does success in whatever way you define it, always seem to be just out of your reach?

Could you be one of the many people who unknowingly hold themselves back from success because of one or more of the following hidden reasons?

More specifically could you be sabotaging your success because you’re protecting, punishing, or pleasing someone else?

Sound crazy?

Of course it does but that’s because there’s nothing logical about this. These are unconscious reasons that become part of your ‘head trash’ without you even knowing.

If you can be open to considering whether any of these reasons are true for you, you’ll be taking the first step to changing this if it is.

Noah St John deals with this in more detail in the 5th step of The Secret Code of Success: 7 Hidden Steps to More Wealth and Happiness and as always I encourage you to consult his work for more thorough information.

Ask yourself the following questions:

Am I trying to protect someone by being less than I am? Why? What is the payoff for me?

Here’s an example taken form Noah’s book about a woman he knew who was doing this. She was a network marketer.

“I’m trying to protect my husband from being more successful than he is.”

We all know that this is very possible when you allow yourself to be successful in this industry.

Why was she doing this?

“Because I’m afraid he’ ll be jealous of me and leave me if I’m more successful than him.”

Whether this is true or not makes no difference. It’s the perceived threat that drives the belief.

So how was this helping her?

“I don’t have to fear my husband’s being jealous of me if I’m not successful. If I don’t succeed, then what does he have to be jealous of? So I’ ll keep myself down,so that I protect myself and him.”

Am I trying to punish someone by holding myself back from success? Why? What is the payoff for me?

There are three little words that helped countless people to succeed:

“I’ll show you!”

If someone says you can’t do something then you may well be spurred on to show them that you can.

This is a positive outcome but there are just as many people who unfortunately punish themselves to try and ‘get back at’ someone else.

Ironically they use the same words to beat themselves up because they think they are punishing someone else when in fact they are only punishing themselves.

Who am I trying to please by succeeding or not succeeding? Why? What is the payoff for me

With the other two questions, you’re trying to protect or punish yourself for others by stopping yourself from success.

With this question however, you may be trying to please others by either succeeding, or not letting yourself succeed.

People often stop themselves from succeeding to please others. This is usually because they’re fearful of disapproval from others, or of not looking good to the outside world.

Network marketers for example often fear what others think about what they do so rather than dismiss the outside world’s disapproval they keep them happy by not succeeding.

“Stop trying to protect, punish, or please others with your success by realizing the payoff you’ve received from your behavior, and then give yourself permission to be as successful as you like.” Noah St John

Have you used any of these reasons to keep yourself back from success? If you have please share your own experiences to help others in the comments section.

Be Happy!

Post image: Sergio Roberto Bichara