The Emmet Fox’s Seven Day Mental Diet I referred you to on Sunday is a challenge that seems well worth the effort. As part of my effort to explore life I have decided that this diet would be an excellent experiment. When I am ready in the next few days I will not dwell on the negative and instead have all my thoughts positive, constructive, optimistic and kind. Read the article as an antidote for self-imposed suffering and see if you are up to the challenge.

In my therapy work the theme of self-sabotage keeps raising its ugly and powerful head. How come people let the conditioning and experiences of the past beat them up in the now? Yes I know it can be very hard to release the past and not let it dominate your experience of self.

Here are 10 possible reasons you might be engaged in self-sabotage:

You are angry and disappointed with yourself so you unconsciously limit things working out well in your life

You deny you emotions until you self-destruct

You judge yourself harshly and beat yourself up with your inner dialogue

You fell more comfortable disliking yourself because it is familiar

You are stuck in a pattern of depression and self-doubt

You are getting back at a parent (others) for something that hurt you in the past

You were raised in an unhealthy home and you think feeling bad is how it is suppose to be

You are out of touch with yourself so you mess up because you are not paying attention to what you need

You have past trauma that keeps you numb and distant from self and the world

You don't believe in yourself and expect life to be a struggle

Do any of these explanations sound familiar to you? You are encouraged to step back and become aware of the inner limitations you have place on yourself. These inner limitations are self-imposed because in the now you are allowing them to dominate your life. Why not become aware and make other choices?