Have you ever done this? You knew you had an important day ahead – but you stayed up until all hours binging on your favorite shows. Why did you sabotage yourself?

Well, Indiana University psychology professor Dr. Edward Hirt says, when we sabotage ourselves, it’s our subconscious way of guarding ourselves against failure. Because, by being sleep deprived, we can blame the failure on a lack of sleep instead of not being good enough, smart enough, or prepared enough. Dr. Hirt says self-sabotage is incredibly common. His studies show the people who are most likely to do it are those who think trying and failing is the worst possible outcome. So they’d rather not try if they don’t think they can succeed. But in reality, people have more respect for those who do their best – no matter how things pan out in the end – than those who don’t give it their all.

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