 Hey, Psych2Goers, welcome back to another video. Thank you all so much for your love and support, enabling us to make yet another exploration into everyday psychology. So, let's begin. Self-sabotage, the most elusive of your foes. It's tough to nab because it creeps up on you silently and you're doing it before you even know it started. This behavior happens where you might want to protect yourself, but the difficult thing is that it's not always clear what you're protecting yourself from. It's almost an instinct, somewhere where you sense a threat and you respond to it by doing or not doing certain things. It often stems from insecurities, not just physical, but also emotional. Self-sabotaging can take place in any relationship that includes romantic relationships, friendships, and work relationships. But in this video, we'll be focusing on the romantic and work aspect. The first step to overcoming self-sabotaging going forward again is figuring out why you're doing it. So with that said, here are eight reasons why you might be self-sabotaging your relationships. You might find one that matches your situation. Let's start off with why you might be sabotaging romantic relationships. One, low self-worth. Do you often feel that you're not worthy of a relationship or you aren't lovable? It could even be that you've convinced yourself that people just don't see you in that way. A common cause of self-sabotaging relationships is a very low sense of self-worth. Two, fear of losing friends. Do you feel obliged to your friends? Does it feel like you need to repay them for being your friend? Through all the support you've given and received to and from each other, you might subconsciously feel like you owe it to your friends or family to be available when they need you. You might avoid relationships because you're afraid of abandoning your friends or not being a good enough friend to them. Three, fear of being unable to balance. Think about work, study, friends, family, and your own hobbies. Are there a lot of things in your life fighting for your time? Self-sabotaging might also stem from your fear of being unable to be a good significant other to your partner because you can't divide your time properly. This happens because you might not have been in many relationships and you're used to fending for yourself in a certain way. You're afraid that a relationship might cause you to lack the time you put into other things. It could also be connected to losing freedom or a piece of yourself. Number four, afraid to disappoint them. This is connected to the low self-worth. You're afraid you don't have the skills required to be a good partner. You're afraid of making mistakes or saying or doing the wrong thing. And as a result, you avoid relationships altogether. And number five, fear of abandonment. Nothing in life is completely without risk. Opening yourself up and having a romantic relationship opens up a variety of different risks you run, emotionally speaking. These risks or fears can range from fear of abandonment to your partner not liking the way you look or anything in between. Whatever it is, it's quite scary and might result in you consciously or subconsciously avoiding having a romantic relationship. Now let's talk about why you might self-sabotage at work. Six, loss of freedom. Do you adjust to change easily? Are you excited for that promotion or worried about the increased responsibilities? Assuming that self-sabotaging happens in cases where you're about to gain a higher position, that position might come with more complex tasks. Familiarity at work gives you a certain freedom. You know what to expect and once you're familiar, you have more freedom to plan and do it in a way that makes it more comfortable for you. Having more complexity might subconsciously frighten you because you would lose a bit of that freedom because you're not as familiar with the tasks. Number seven, you're afraid they've overestimated you. I can definitely relate to this one. Are you doubting your own capability? Do you think you're not up for it? If you don't believe in your own abilities, the offer of a higher position would trigger a number of anxieties. These ultimately translate into self-sabotage. You might not believe you're ready for such a position and as a result, you might think, I'm not made for this. But the truth is it was you who they chose after all. So that counts for something, right? Number eight, fear of rejection by your new peers. It's always a bit scary to be the new person in a group, right? Especially if those people were first to step above you and are now supposed to be on your own level. You have to learn the ropes and you're afraid of feeling like an outsider if you don't immediately pick up the new skills. This fear of not being as good as the others might draw you to do subtle things that result in self-sabotage. We hope we were able to give you insight into some of the reasons you might be unknowingly practicing self-sabotage. Can you think of any others? How many do you recognize in your own behavior? Would you like us to publish a video with more advice on how to overcome self-sabotaging? Leave a comment down below about your reason for engaging in this behavior and please feel free to share any experiences and thoughts you've had as well. If you found this video helpful, be sure to hit the like button and share it with those out there waiting in the shady waters of self-sabotage. Don't forget to subscribe to Psych2Go and hit the notification bell icon for more new videos. And as always, thanks for watching. See you soon.