Self-sabotage and buddy-sabotage are pernicious flaws of attitude, belief and habits that exist in all people to varying degrees. This baggage is likely the greatest source of failure when fundamentals aren't an issue. I can't prove it, but this is my belief based on qualitative experience.
This long rambling piece(I couldn’t finish it) reminds me of a documentary I saw a while ago about morbidly obese patients who went through bariatic surgery and ended up losing hundreds of lbs. but even when they lost their extra weight, they saw themselves as ‘fat’.