The reasons people self sabotage on any level, are always related to their “deserve” factor, which is a set expectation level programmed into them by their parents, their childhood experiences, religion, media, government etc. The psychological research is firm in this regard, that most people actively sabotage their own health and fitness success simply because they believe subconsciously that they don’t deserve that sort of empowered lifestyle or hyper successful living scenario.

So although the conscious mind (the part of the mind that runs only 1-5% of our behavior) may desire improved health or fitness…..the subconscious mind (the part of our mind that runs 95-99% of our behavior) is often pre-programmed to destroy any sort of positive change, if it happens to drift above their pre-set “deserve” level.  Basically self sabotage is the process where we continually arrange our physical reality, to match the mental chaos level that lives inside our mind. We literally seek and manifest what we we think we deserve. Our social engineers are very clever at tricking the population into believing they deserve very little, which of course establishes the power deferential that keeps the ruling 1% in power over the dysfunctional masses………….but that’s another post altogether.

As an experienced health coach, I’m well aware (within seconds) if I’m interacting with someone who’s  actively trying to pretend they’re wanting to get healthier, while doing everything they can to sabotage that attempt……..and all at the same time of course. Saying one thing and doing another. That’s why police hook up a lie detector to the body and not the mouth. The mouth is the chronic bullshit artist. The proof of true intent is in the actions. Below is the top 6 things people do to actively sabotage their own health and fitness success.

1.  They ask complex health questions to trained health professionals (like myself) as we’re walking down the street, as we’re working out ourselves or when we’re not even working at our place of business. I often get asked, “what do I need to do to get rid of my gut?” and this maybe is asked when I’m using the urinal at a local restaurant. That’s like asking  Tony Robbins, “How do I get rich?” but you give Tony Robbins 60 seconds to answer. It’s impossible to answer the question and that’s exactly what the self saboteur is looking for. A pretend attempt and then a snuggle right back into the old habits.

2. They make the fitness journey about price and not about their particular goals or restrictions. Do you know what you get for the lowest price? That’s right, nothing! And again that’s exactly what the self saboteur is looking for. The pretend attempt, the guaranteed failure, the self loathing and self pity plus a big cozy snuggle back into what they believe they deserve. So you joined the lowest price fitness club in the area, that offers no help on any level, and you failed AGAIN? Wow, that’s a shocker. Didn’t see that coming. It’s time to understand that the subconscious part of the mind programmed to believe, “I don’t deserve any better” planned that entire journey, front to back.

3. They team up with a friend, regarding their health journey, who has NEVER been successful with their health. So instead of going alone or picking a friend who has successful habits, the saboteur goes down the line and a couples up with…….you guessed it, the person who’s guaranteed to help them stay stuck in their stuckness. That’s the inner saboteur again working hard to make sure things stay the same and that the pre-established low level of “deserve” isn’t tampered with. I like my misery and I ain’t moving.

4. They use the phone and phone book to try and assess local fitness and health options, which again is another perfect way the saboteur guarantees effort was put fourth but failure is maintained. It’s all about the battle cry of the self saboteur….”See, I tried…..and I failed again. I just can’t get a break. I’m special, but in a negative way. I try everything and still fail. You don’t know what it’s like to be cursed like this.” Shopping by phone is a great way to make sure the consumer stays confused and uninformed about what health or fitness service is best for them. You can’t see anything about a health club or fitness operation over the phone, so again we’re programming ourselves to judge our options mostly on price and not on what would work for us. The subconscious mind knows this is a great way to maintain the cycle of “try and fail”……”try and fail”.

5. They refuse to change their diet and believe they can out exercise an unhealthy lifestyle, which again is impossible………..which is again why they do it. It’s all about demanding change but never changing, so the result stays the same. This makes sure the saboteur can find their way back home, to the house of emotional turmoil their accustomed to……their home base of  what they believe they deserve. They’re always drinking the wine, eating the junk, cracking jokes about their unhealthy habits, using negative word magic to describe themselves and their habits……anything to stay stuck. It’s all a fear of change and the fear of moving the “deserve level” up to a higher expectation level.

6. They switch from abusing themselves with food to abusing themselves with exercise…..and they don’t connect the dots regarding their chronic need to self abuse. Self abusing with exercise means you stay unhealthy, but just in another way, but you look a little better on the outside. Self abusive exercise options are becoming all the rage……….because of the internal chaotic fire that rages within the population. No one can just love themselves into health anymore, many people need to give themselves a savage and physical beating of the highest order. Due to the low base line deserve levels in our society, people just can’t walk the middle ground anymore in many cases. The steroids, the CrossFit, the marathons, the triathlons, the Spartan races, the Tough Mudders, the power lifting until the body breaks etc etc…….are all extremely super intense, cataboliic and extremely destructive ways of trying to move the body. Saying that, they can be beneficial and fun in some situations but we must ask, “why is kicking the living shit out of ourselves the fastest growing sub section in the fitness industry?”  The answer again is intertwined with our pre-programmed deserve level. This sort of “push, push, push until you break” style of exercise will quickly put you back on the coach in many cases and again that’s exactly where the saboteur feels most comfortable.

All this is related to low level expectations set into us by our parents, our childhood experiences, religion, government, science, medicine and media influences. Solving this issue is all about becoming aware of the your current “deserve” expectations in life and then raising them up a couple of notches and getting comfortable with CHANGE!