Self-Handicapping
When it comes to being successful in life, are we our own worst enemies? For most of us, the answer’s “Yes.” It’s caused by something called self-handicapping. Here’s how it works:
When we’re faced with a difficult task, our brain instantly comes up with an external reason why we might fail. So, if your boss asks you to assemble a presentation, you immediately come up with excuses like, “I have to make 20 sales calls and my laptop’s acting up.” Indiana University psychologist Dr. Edward Hirt says the excuses are literally a safety net for your ego. And if you do a bad job, or miss your deadline, you can blame it on your schedule or your computer, instead of your skills.
Having a ready-made excuse pushes us to put in less effort, but weirdly enough, since self-handicapping shifts the blame to the outside world, it actually raises our confidence, even as we’re failing to get the job done! In one study, people who habitually skipped classes ranked their intelligence among the top 10% at their school, even though they were D students.
The bad news is: No matter how good we are at fooling themselves, we don’t fool other people. Researchers found that people who make a lot of excuses are usually branded as “whiners” by their colleagues.
So, what’s the best way to fight our self-handicapping tendencies? Clinical psychologist Dr. Steven Berglas suggests creating a plan of action that’ll ensure our success. So, if you’re overloaded with sales calls, and stuck with a glitchy computer, tell yourself, “I have 7 days to finish the presentation, so I’ll need to set aside 30 minutes every day to work on it.”
When we’re faced with a difficult task, our brain instantly comes up with an external reason why we might fail. So, if your boss asks you to assemble a presentation, you immediately come up with excuses like, “I have to make 20 sales calls and my laptop’s acting up.” Indiana University psychologist Dr. Edward Hirt says the excuses are literally a safety net for your ego. And if you do a bad job, or miss your deadline, you can blame it on your schedule or your computer, instead of your skills.
Having a ready-made excuse pushes us to put in less effort, but weirdly enough, since self-handicapping shifts the blame to the outside world, it actually raises our confidence, even as we’re failing to get the job done! In one study, people who habitually skipped classes ranked their intelligence among the top 10% at their school, even though they were D students.
The bad news is: No matter how good we are at fooling themselves, we don’t fool other people. Researchers found that people who make a lot of excuses are usually branded as “whiners” by their colleagues.
So, what’s the best way to fight our self-handicapping tendencies? Clinical psychologist Dr. Steven Berglas suggests creating a plan of action that’ll ensure our success. So, if you’re overloaded with sales calls, and stuck with a glitchy computer, tell yourself, “I have 7 days to finish the presentation, so I’ll need to set aside 30 minutes every day to work on it.”
