How to Sabotage your Career Growth

The most common self-sabotage of high performers at work isn’t doing nothing. It's being busy, looking productive, but not moving the needle.

I have seen so many people with full calendars, back-to-back calls, and long hours. But they look busy. No results, no impact. They were trapped.

Common traps are:

• Overanalyzing.
• Overplanning.
• Spinning in feedback.

The bigger the company, the higher the probability that you sabotage yourself.

Why? Because such things are part of the company culture: One more meeting, one more person to ask, one more slide to explain.

It's all work, but do we move the needle with this? No.

I recently saw this working with an aspiring person. Let's call him Sascha. He was recommended to me to work on my project. He was living this culture without realising it.

He was talking to plenty of people, doing meetings to gather information, busy busyness. But the needle wasn't moving - no results, no impact.

He e.g., was seeking perfection over progress. This is a sign of overanalysis or analysis paralysis. He didn't realise this.

I will show you three common patterns how people sabotage their work.

1. The Overanalysis Loop (a.k.a. “Paralysis by Perfection”)

I like the overanalysis loop a lot because this often happens because people mimic managers. Managers tend to ask plenty of smart questions. The reason is that they need information for a decision.

The blunder is: You copy the behaviour of people with risk aversion.

The definition of a management decision is deciding based on existing information. When you need more and more and more information before you decide, then it is not a management decision. It is a logical consequence of the collected data. A kid could decide.

It's always the same:

• You need more data.
• You want to be sure.
• You wait until it's clear — and miss the moment.

The problem is that such an approach slows things down. It is the underlying wish for perfection. You lose speed, and you look hesitant.

The solution is to be wired to take action. Limit your time for decisions. Say, for example, "By Thursday, I will decide and move on."

Any action will provide new information because it changes the situation. You will get a feeling for the perfection needed. In my experience 80% is enough.

This is one thing I learned working on the SVP level and preparing data and decisions for CxO levels. You don't have the time to overanalyse.

As the time is limited, you have to decide on the existing information. You have to deliver. It's a twisted world. What counts is speed of execution, risk-taking, and courage. This is what top managers are looking for in aspiring people.

2. The Do-Reflect-Do-Reflect Loop (But No Real Learning)

This loop is characteristic of the lone wolves. People who work on their own.

You act.
You reflect.
Then act again.

But it’s always solo. No feedback. No friction. No upgrade. How do you improve?

The cure: share your results as fast as possible and ask for feedback. Get to know what your stakeholders actually care about.

Seek speed and fast feedback. Refine and then move on.

How to share incomplete ideas? Tell your manager, e.g., "Look, I would like to show you my view to get your feedback." Trust me, they love this!

It is not a big discussion. Make it nice and neat in max 15 minutes. This proves your speed of execution and focus. You are for sure promotable material.

3. The “Activity ≠ Progress” Trap

You work a lot: You answer emails, polish slides, think about strategy...
But what did you move today?

A top manager with whom I work was disappointed at the end of the day. I asked him what was wrong. He replied: "I didn't move anything today. It's a lost day." This level of dedication is incredible.

When you don't move the needle, then you are working in your career, not on it. Your visibility suffers from these mental efforts, like emails or polishing slides.

Tackle this issue by starting every week with defining a goal for the week and then define a goal for every day.

On a daily basis, start the day with: What outcome matters today?
End the day with: What changed because of me?

🔚 Summary:

The goal of a career is not to be busy. The common traps for this disease are overanalysis and overthinking. People who move the needle and create impact will have visibility. Define daily results and seek impact:

Less perfection.
More feedback.
Small action.
Clear wins.

That’s how you move from spinning to standing out.