Breaking Free from Self-Sabotage: Overcoming Negative Thinking

In this pilot episode of Career Compass, host Tamara Loring and guest Dr. Mike Smith talk about self-sabotage and negative thinking.

From jaw-dropping stats about the American workforce and the psychological reasons behind imposter’s syndrome to the difference between self-sabotage and battered work syndrome, and four strategies for overcoming negative thinking… no stone is left unturned!

Tune in to learn about an important question you should ask yourself and key steps you should take to get unstuck and don’t let self-sabotage stop you whenever you have to deal with it.

• Host Tamara Loring kicks the episode off mentioning a 2023 Gallup poll that reported that only a third of Americans feel engaged at work.
• A Zippia survey of a thousand people revealed that at least half of the workforce don’t like their job at all.
• The cause of this? The disengagement is caused by the lack of the freedom for people to be themselves.
• Tamara cites the late Brian Klemmer who claimed that if how-tos were enough, we’d all be skinny, rich, and happy…
• Tamara asks Dr. Mike Smith about self-sabotage – and why people expect different results even though they take the same action over, and over, again.
• Dr. Smith touches upon the relationship between self-sabotage and negative thinking.
• Dr. Smith shares a story of experiencing the so-called imposter’s syndrome and self-doubting himself – including the key questions his wife asked him and that enabled him to step away from self-doubt. 
• Feeling like an imposter? Tamara suggests sitting back and saying “I’m here for a reason. I was given this position/responsibility for a reason!”.
• Fundamentally, we form self-doubting thoughts because of our need for societal acceptance.
• We crave being part of something bigger than ourselves to the point that we question whether we would fit in and would be able to contribute in a meaningful way.
• Dr. Smith explains the psychology behind imposter syndrome and how it can be stopped.
• There are a couple of things that can be your north star and help you get rid of self-doubt – Dr. Smith goes over what you should focus on to accomplish that.
• Tamara and Dr. Smith discuss the concept of battered career syndrome.
• Self-sabotage is something that is internally initiated and carried out by you as a person, while the battered work syndrome is driven by external circumstances.
• Dr. Smith lists four different strategies that you can use to overcome negative thinking.
• Remember: never be afraid to step into and share your expertise, your wisdom, your passion, and the school of hard knocks that you’ve gone through in life.
• According to Tony Robbins everyone periodically goes into a period of feeling sad, depressed and/or emotionally beat up – the difference is between how quickly you pull yourself up versus how long you stay in that negative phase.

Mentioned in This Episode:

YourCareerRevolution.com

CareerCompassShow.com/1

Tamara Loring

Dr. Mike Smith

Do More More Naturally: Empowering Effortless Success and the Freedom to Be Yourself by David Kolbe and Amy Bruske

Brian Klemmer

Carl Rogers

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

McClelland’s Human Motivation Theory

Henry Ford

Tony Robbins