Self-sabotage, our worst enemy lives within

The ego-driven statements like, "He cheated, that is why he succeeded" sabotage our efforts to be successful.
Our brain listens to us, and it concludes based on that statement, if repeated enough times, that the only way to success is dishonesty.
This psychological mechanism quietly shapes our reality and our internal narrative.
Our mind is constantly listening to the information we tell ourselves and it uses it as a compass to guide us through life. When we repeatedly utter a statement, our brain doesn't verify its accuracy. It simply files it away as a truth about how the world works.
It's like programming a computer, it will follow the instructions in its code.
These ego-driven and superficial explanations, like the one in the above example, protect us from having to face uncomfortable truths about faith, skill and persistence.
When we repeatedly tell ourselves that success requires cheating, we are essentially programming our subconscious to believe that ethical success is not possible.
This creates an internal conflict because we want to succeed, while maintaning our integrity.
Self-sabotage is the direct result of that. Our mind concludes that since we won't cheat, we can't succeed, so it stops looking for legitimate opportunities.
This programming manifests itself in subtle ways. We might dismiss opportunities because honest success seems impossible, we might shirk networking or self-promotion because we associate it with manipulation.
We might also give up too easily when facing setbacks, believing that honest people are destined to struggle.
When we shift our internal narrative towards recognizing legitimate success, our perception changes.
We start asking the right question and this new programming tells our brain that ethical success is not only possible but accessible.
Our mind works just as hard to find evidence for positive beliefs as for negative ones.
What we focus on emerges in our life. People who believe that success requires dishonesty, notice example that reinforce that idea in their mind.
Our internal chatter is always programming our life. The question is whether we're programming ourselves for limitation or for success.