---
title: "Eight Self-Sabotaging Behaviors"
description: "Putting this thread in one place. --- 🧵 @fortelabs recently finished the opening keynote on the Second Brain summit, which incidentally has a great lineup including a panel dis..."
pubDate: "2022-03-15"
authorName: "Neeldhara"
sourceCategories: ["funda", "twitterthread"]
sourcePath: "eight-self-sabotaging-behaviors/index.qmd"
---

Putting [this thread](https://twitter.com/neeldhara/status/1503551801378881541) in one place.

---

🧵 @fortelabs recently finished the opening keynote on [the Second Brain summit](https://twitter.com/fortelabs/status/1498668781585014785?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw), which incidentally has a great lineup including a panel discussion on PKM through the lens of ADHD. Ironically, I didn’t quite take notes but I think the themes also feature in this short video:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lKM2jE2PygY" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The live session was fun because of a super engaged chat — everyone had great suggestions for managing some of these (surprisingly common?) behaviors.

I’ll not share the premise (it’s self-explanatory + there’s the video), but the discussion involved three parts:

1. why it’s an issue;

2. why-do-we-do-this-to-ourselves;

3. how do we not keep doing it 😀

I’ll share a tweet-length summary of my takeaways.

>Caveat I: 280 chars! Twitter isn’t the platform for nuance. 😅
>
>Caveat II. Should go without saying, but all of this gyaan needs to be tempered with context, which was a frequently used word throughout the session!

---

> **Caution**
> 
> ## Starting over (again and again)
> 
> ⚠️  Not learning from previous mistakes.
> 
> 🤔  False sense of accomplishment, dopamine hit from a clean slate, FOMO (new tools).
> 
> 💡 Start simple, iterate slowly, resist looking at shiny new objects.
> 


> **Caution**
> 
> ## Feeling guilty
> 
> ⚠️  Can’t win when you are at war with yourself.
> 
> 🤔  Probably comes from knowing you’ll trip again.
> 
> 💡 Extend to yourself the same courtesy and patience you’d show to a friend, consider replacing guilt with curiosity.
> 


> **Caution**
> 
> ## Perfectionism
> 
> ⚠️  Not making mistakes is a risky way to live.
> 
> 🤔  Feeds ego, sense of control and safety, and you think you push yourself harder with lofty standards.
> 
> 💡 Aim for B+, fail in public and value it — can be a relief to not have to keep up with the perfect image.
> 


> **Caution**
> 
> ## Do *all* the research first
> 
> ⚠️  When overdone, really procrastination in disguise.
> 
> 🤔  Creates an illusion of getting work done. Paranoia associate with diving in without preparation.
> 
> 💡 Second brains are not for archival, but production. Iterate often. Timebox research.
> 


> **Caution**
> 
> ## Going big
> 
> ⚠️  Ambition dominates the public discourse around goal-setting. Big goals are not problematic until they get in the way.
> 
> 🤔  Ego boosted, creates a potentially misguided sense of being inspired.
> 
> 💡 Break things down, take incremental (read: realistic!) steps.
> 


> **Caution**
> 
> ## Doing it all yourself
> 
> ⚠️  Potentially limiting.
> 
> 🤔  A desire for respect or credit, and the sense that nobody can do this as well as me.
> 
> 💡 Delegate when appropriate, especially when looking to scale and/or diversify.
> 


> **Caution**
> 
> ## Comparing yourself to others
> 
> ⚠️  Potentially depressing.
> 
> 🤔  Self-pity, and an excuse to not even try.
> 
> 💡 Compare to past you. Read your old journal entries. (Also, journal.)
> 


> **Caution**
> 
> ## Postpone gratification
> 
> ⚠️  For something to be sustainable, it needs to be fun!
> 
> 🤔  Traditional positive quality.
> 
> 💡 Enjoy the journey because nobody knows the destination. Live in the moment, find joy in the small things, be present. Also, music for instant gratification!


Do check out the [Second Brain Summit](https://www.secondbrainsummit.com/) for the remaining sessions.

I think you get a link to a recording if you’re registered for a session, at least this was the case for me with the opening session.

The community attending this is also [on a slack](https://basb.io/slack).
