A psychological strategy in which a person consciously or subconsciously creates obstacles on the way to achieving a goal in order to protect self-esteem in case of possible failure. Such behavior can manifest itself, for example, in postponing actions, reducing effort, or choosing deliberately difficult conditions, which makes it possible to explain the failure by external circumstances, and not by internal abilities. This mechanism plays a protective role, but if regularly manifested, it can reduce personal effectiveness and interfere with the achievement of goals.