On the outside, self-sabotage doesn’t make sense. It’s the manifestation of that common phrase “you’re your own worst enemy”: whether we have a tendency to procrastinate, become extremely self-critical or turn to destructive coping mechanisms such as drugs and alcohol, acts of self-sabotage can stand in the way of success.

Often the result of imposter syndrome – an inaccurate feeling of inadequacy or fraudulence experienced disproportionately by women – people who self-sabotage often hold dysfunctional or distorted beliefs about their own abilities, leading them to undermine their own skills and work.

Just recently, singer Ellie Goulding opened up about how imposter syndrome and self-sabotage has impacted her career.

“I know I chose this job but nothing could have prepared me for the ups and downs that come with it,” she wrote in an Instagram post for World Mental Health Day. “I know for sure that a lot of my anxiety has come from what they call ‘imposter syndrome’ not believing in myself enough and thinking that I don’t deserve happiness, which results in wanting to sabotage my own success.”

Self-sabotage: there’s a psychological reason why we get in the way of our own success