Sometimes, we’re our own worst enemy. There are plenty of seemingly harmless career moves we’re doing that are actually sabotaging our career growth.
What is self-sabotage? It refers to intentional (or unintentional) behavior that undermines people’s progress and prevents them from achieving their goals. Some causes of self-sabotage include low self-esteem, laziness, and fear of failure or change.
That said, how do you avoid these “harmless” moves in your career? The first step is understanding the actions hampering your growth and finding ways around them.
Here are some “harmless” career moves workers do and the alternatives you can do instead.
Constant Self-Doubt
One of the most common self-sabotaging career moves we do is constantly doubting our skills and ourselves.
This primarily stems from a lack of confidence, causing us to second-guess ourselves all the time. After all, if you lie to yourself constantly, you’ll eventually start to believe it.
Self-doubt causes us to stop trying to improve ourselves and second-guess everything we do. Mine made me miss an opportunity to apply for a job opening since I believed I wasn’t qualified for it.
What You Can Do Instead
The best alternatives for these “harmless” career moves is positive affirmations. Positive affirmations are phrases meant to boost your self-esteem.
Instead of saying: “I don’t have enough experience for this job,” you can say: “What I lack in experience, I’ll make up with my willingness to learn.”
Place these where you can easily see them. It could be via sticky notes in your office at home. Or it could be your phone or work laptop’s wallpaper.
Not Giving Yourself Enough Credit
It’s good to be humble about your achievements; but you shouldn’t deny them either.
Think imposter syndrome. This is a psychological experience where an individual feels like a fraud despite undeniable evidence of competence.
This mindset causes you to seriously underestimate yourself and avoid situations where you’ll receive praise for your work, making you miss out on promotions.
What You Can Do Instead
One way to help you overcome your imposter syndrome is by recording and celebrating your achievements, no matter how small they may be. This could be through a journal or simply putting them on a list in your phone or home office.
Not Taking Good Care of Yourself
I’m not one to talk, but achieving your career goals shouldn’t come at the expense of your personal health.
There are many workers today who believe that constantly working is the only way to ascend the career ladder, especially if they follow hustle culture.
When you do, you’re prioritizing short-term gains over your long-term career. Think about it; if you burn yourself out today, how will you remain productive tomorrow?
This is especially prevalent in remote work since you spend most of your time sitting in your home office – or worse – in your bed.
What You Can Do Instead
Obviously, the perfect alternative to these “harmless” career moves is to be mindful of your health.
This means taking breaks to stretch or do simple desk exercises. If you’re up for it, you can also try walking or jogging before or after work to help keep you in shape. You should also consider making meal plans and eating healthier meals.
Besides your body, you should also take care of your emotional and mental health. This means taking breaks whenever possible and striving for a healthier work-life balance.
Fearing Change
Another way we undermine our careers is by fearing and resisting change. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” right?
Look, I get it. I also fear veering from what’s familiar, safer, and comfortable.
However, this can make us complacent and cause our skills to stagnate. Not only that, but we could close the door to new opportunities that could help your career.
What You Can Do Instead
The best way to beat your fear is to face it head-on. Yes, it’s challenging to do this, but nothing worth doing is easy now, is it?
You don’t even have to do something drastic. You can start small with something like altering your sleep schedule so you can wake up earlier for work or attend online courses.
Too Much Perfectionism
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to excel at the things you do. In fact, it’s even admirable.
However, perfectionism in excess can also be detrimental to your career growth. This can cause increased stress and burnout, reduce your free time, and cause delays in accomplishing your tasks.
Additionally, being a perfectionist can cause friction between you and your co-workers, especially if you’re in a leadership position. Especially when you pressure them to meet unrealistic standards.
What You Can Do Instead
Let me make one thing clear: in itself, perfectionism isn’t a bad trait to have. It helps you exceed your limits and produce high-quality work. You just need to temper your standards with more realistic goals.
Mistakes are part of the creative process and offer opportunities for growth and further development.
Shooting Yourself in the Foot? Not Anymore!
We all want to get ahead in our careers. However, sometimes, our actions don’t measure up to our intended goal/s.
The actions mentioned above may seem harmless, but they can be detrimental to your career growth.
Fortunately, there are alternatives you can do instead of these “harmless” career moves.
If one of your current career goals is shifting to an online job, Remote Staff can help you achieve it. Our jobs list has plenty of openings for you to choose from.
The best part? We regularly update our list, so if you don’t see the job you like, you can try again tomorrow.
Good luck!
