How your brain might be sabotaging your financial or career success

Think, for a second, about what you’ll realistically be able to achieve for the rest of your career. What type of job could you one day have? How much money might you make?

Odds are, your answer is pretty close to the level of success your parents or guardians enjoyed when you were a child. “Psychologically … you have to overcome [that] to see that you can make a difference,” Coambs tells CNBC Make It.

The phenomenon has some fascinating implications. If your parents held standard day jobs when you were a kid, for example, you might find it harder to take the leap into launching a side hustle or growing it into a full-time gig. Or, if you grew up in a lower- or middle-class household, you might have a tough time envisioning a direct path toward greater wealth as an adult.

If you grew up in a wealthy household, you might be just as self-constrained by the social expectations of your family and peers, says Preston Cherry, an assistant professor of personal financial planning at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. For instance, you might feel drawn to a small school or community college that particularly excels in a field that you want to study — but your social upbringing might dissuade you from it.

“Community college is frowned upon in certain social circles, but that’s what your environment told you,” Cherry says, adding that making choices based on how they’ll be perceived socially can lead you to start “overlooking your own wellbeing, your own goals and your own practicality.”

Ultimately, Coambs says, a deeply held belief that you’re capable of a limited amount can lead to plenty of self-sabotage.

“People will raise their level of success, financially or social status-wise, but it will feel unfamiliar to them to such a great extent that they will unconsciously start to bring themselves back down to a level that feels more psychologically familiar,” he says.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/14/experts-your-brain-may-be-sabotaging-your-financial-or-career-success.html

Your Brain May Be Sabotage Your Financial Or Career Success

If you find yourself constantly procrastinating, forgetting deadlines, or being late for work, you might be suffering from self-sabotage. You may even be putting off exciting opportunities because you’re afraid you won’t be successful. Whatever the reason, you may be sabotaging your own financial and career success. Luckily, there are ways to combat self-sabotage and move ahead with your life and career goals.

Self-sabotage is a result of feelings of anger, frustration, and worthlessness. When these feelings take over, they can lead you to behave in ways that hurt your efforts and ultimately undermine your financial and career success. To identify self-sabotage and overcome it, first identify the areas of your life where you sabotage your efforts. If you find yourself procrastinating on a regular basis, think about the things you do and say that frustrate others and nag you.

If you’ve ever failed at something, you’ve likely had a negative experience that reinforced the behavior and made you feel worse. Moreover, failures can also damage your reputation by making others perceive you as lazy or unreliable. It can even damage your relationships. Moreover, when you’re not able to reach your goals, you may have a hard time addressing anger issues, which can negatively impact your relationships. In the long run, failures and disappointments erode your self-esteem and confidence. This can also sabotage your relationship with your partner.