They are parts of you, developed at an early age to help you get over some situations that were not in your control to change or manage. These times are long gone, but your saboteurs that initially had the helper role become what they are now: SABOTEURS.
They are now inner obstacles that hinder you in many ways. They are the voices in your head that tell you:
I am not enough.
I don’t deserve this.
I don’t have enough experience, time, or energy.
Others are better than me.
This will never work. It is so difficult.
I am not loved and appreciated. Nobody loves me.
To feel good, I need to have everything under control.
Without this thing, situation or person, I will never be happy.
I will be happy only when …
What will the others say or think about me if I do this?
And so one.
These kinds of voices and thoughts are inexhaustible.
Because these voices are in your head too.
Sometimes it is pretty difficult to distinguish these voices from your own thinking and what comes from your heart, your sage. And whenever you listen to these voices, you give away your power, empowering your saboteurs instead.
They can become so powerful that they will rule your entire life, making it almost always miserable.
But you know, if you want, you can reclaim your power from all these unhelpful voices and saboteurs.
There are three methods you can use and exercise regularly to disempower and deactivate your saboteur.
Weaken the saboteur,
Strengthen the sage in you, and
Strengthen your brain muscles.
In this post, I will share how you can weaken the saboteurs.
I will detail the second and the third methods for disempowering your saboteurs in a forthcoming one.
First, you need to become aware of when they appear in your head. For example, you have a great idea about something. But if you miss the first euphoric minutes to practice your idea, you will see the saboteurs appearing. They are thoughts, voices in your head that keep telling you; “This will never work”, “Now, if I am thinking more, it seems to not be such a great idea anymore, it seems quite stupid”, or “What will think X, Y, Z if I do this?”.
When you detect these thoughts appearing in your mind, stop and observe them. Say to you something like this: “My saboteur is speaking again, trying to stop my ideas and actions.”
Take a few deep breaths.
And then challenge the thoughts, asking,
Is this thought helpful?
From where does it come into your mind?
What makes the thought emerge?
Why?
Who is saying this?
How it will help me?
Who is speaking to me?
And so on.
By doing this, you weaken the saboteur/s. And each time you practice this technique, it will undermine it further. Do it constantly, and you will see you can detach yourself from those voices in your head. You will be able to separate them from what is pristine and emerges from your heart and consciously decide whom to follow.