Is there a word or expression for someone who is often a cause of difficulties that he later has to overcome?
For example, a man who always has to work extra hours to finish his job at time just because when he has time he slacks instead working.
Or maybe a good chess player that makes silly mistakes because he always underestimates his opponent (and later has to try hard to compensate for these mistakes).
So basically I want a word or expression for someone who makes avoidable and totally unnecessary difficulties for himself.
Best Answer
This is a bit of a neologism, but I suppose "self-saboteur" captures the person you are describing adequately.
If you don't necessarily need a single word you could go with the more traditional: