Dealing with your shadow

There is a self-destructive side to all of us. To each and every one of us. 

You can’t be here without a shadow. There is no light without shadow 

So what is the shadow self??

It’s the self-sabotage in you. 

It’s the procrastinator in you

The one who tells you to eat bad food. 

To stay up late and watch mindless television 

The one who convinces you to scroll endlessly on social media. 

The shadow is the one who tells you to hit the snooze button and stay in bed a little longer. 

The shadow takes the easy route and only cares about ease and comfort. 

$$$

know, you guys know exactly who and what we are talking about. And just know this: successful people have shadows too. 

 

But the shadow is just as important as your more disciplined self. The reason Is that without it, you would never know where to make improvements. 

 

While it is easy to get caught in a self-sabotaging loop, it is just as easy to get out of it once you become aware of it. Knowing where you are slacking provides the opportunity to make adjustments. 

Ways of dealing with self-sabotage Understand it & the way it sneaks up on you 

Behavior is said to be self-sabotaging when it creates problems in daily life and interferes with goals. The most common self-sabotaging behaviors are procrastination self-medication, use of drugs or alcohol comfort eating, and forms of Self-injury such as cutting.

It is very difficult to identify self sabotaging thoughts because

• They are automatic and arise without obvious conscious processing.
• They are habitual, taken for granted, and accepted as normal and  make no demands whatsoever on our attention.
• They are rapid and fleeting, popping up in an instant and disappearing as quickly as they showed up (but they can pop up again and again, and increasingly wreak havoc on your behavior).
• They are condensed, like a form of cognitive shorthand; they are usually not in complete sentences and sometimes show up as brief images or symbols

They are SNEAKY.

 

Recognize self-sabotaging Habits

 

• Procrastination. When it comes to self-sabotage, procrastination is king. Start setting deadlines and mini-deadlines to work toward your objective
• Negative self-talk/negative thinking. Your inner dialogue is constantly critical. Be patient with yourself; be kind to yourself. Work to build yourself up.
• Perfectionism