Stop Self-Sabotage – I Was an Expert!

I could give you a million-trillion-and-one different examples of how I self-sabotaged myself, from childhood until sixty. I am not being dramatic or exaggerating, I assure you!

As one who was always waiting for the other shoe to drop, I sometimes threw the shoe in the ring before it had the chance to drop.

Yep, I was a master at believing the worst was yet to come and then forcing it into fruition.

I was a self-saboteur. <<< Sounds exotic, doesn’t it?

Stop Self-Sabotage by Dr. Judy Ho, PhD… wait a sec… I must stop here. My grandfather, “Doc” to the neighborhood, “Bappa” to me, told me something that has stuck with me since… oh… 1970-something… and in fact, stops me in my tracks at this moment.

He said: When giving a title to someone (or addressing an envelope, which is what I was doing at the time) you either use the Dr. preceding the name or PhD (or MD, CD, or other doctorate) following it. NOT BOTH.

I mention this because it would seem to me that if it is common knowledge, one would avoid it. I rarely see it, as I can say with (at least some) certainty as evidenced by the many books by doctors I have reviewed. So why would Dr. Ho purposely use both? And does it hint at a credibility issue?

However, with a bio that reads, in part: Dr. Judy received her bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and Business Administration from UC Berkeley, and her masters and doctorate from SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology. She completed a National Institute of Mental Health sponsored fellowship at UCLA’s Semel Institute…

AND…

Dr. Ho appears on various TV programs and does the additional good work of encouraging those who need mental-health help to seek it, finding quality mental health care and eliminating stigma toward mentally ill individuals.

SO…

It would seem that credibility is not an issue.

But seriously, these are the kinds of things that keep me up at night. And yes, you have encountered yet another foray into the mind of a person with ADHD. And also yes, I digress. Kind of.

Annnnyway…

This is a relatively new book, having been published in 2019. Don’t tell the author but I got mine in a bargain bin for $3. And often, I find EXCELLENT books in bargain bins … but sometimes the books in the bin are just… uh… bad… which makes me wonder again…

Add in the whole “name thing”. Sheesh, now I need to go look…

From Google (emphasis mine): When you are addressing a person with a doctoral degree, it is considered more polite to use the title Dr. OR the academic abbreviation PhD with the person’s name, instead of the simple courtesy titles Mr. or Ms. … If the degree is listed after the name, the title is not used before the name. Chris Cameron, PhD.
PhD, Ph.D., Dr. – Search for entries starting with P – Writing …https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca › wrtps › index-fra

So, Bappa was right. He almost-always was. I miss him. I’ve written about him and my grandmother a few times but here’s one just about him, with a photo: HERE.

I share all that to say that… uh… I had a bias going into the book. I know, I should be an editor, which I am – kinda – here. And yep, digressed. Again.

Being recent and new, the book looked good from the outside. A quick perusal of the Contents page also looked fine:

1. Identify Self-Sabotage Triggers
2. Deactivate Your Triggers and Reset the Thermostat
3. Release the Rut! Rinse and Repeat: The Basic ABCs
4. Replacement, Not Repetition
5. A Value a Day Keeps Self-Sabotage Away
6. Create a Blueprint for Change

Also, there’s a nice complimentary online quiz: Take Dr. Ho’s online Self-Sabotage Quiz Here and Appendixes (Like how to create that Blueprint for Change, mentioned above).

There is nothing at all wrong with this book. In fact, it’s very good!

BUT.

I just couldn’t help noticing that name thing. It bothered me.

I know. I know. Get over myself.

The book is good. Let’s just leave it at that.