Self-Herding: Why You Keep Repeating Yourself — Even When It’s Holding You Back
How your past decisions are shaping your present choices—and what to do about it

Have you ever seriously considered starting your own business, only to find yourself back in another job, again? Maybe you told yourself it wasn’t the right time. Maybe the salary was too good to pass up. Or maybe the idea of business ownership just felt too uncertain.
If so, you’re not alone—and you’re likely experiencing something called self-herding.
Self-herding is a behavioral phenomenon where we unconsciously repeat our past choices simply because we’ve made them before. It’s a psychological shortcut—our brain using prior actions as evidence that a similar decision is the right one now.
Unlike traditional herding, where we follow others, self-herding is internal. You become your own compass, retracing your previous footsteps without stopping to ask if they still lead somewhere you want to go.
And while that might sound harmless, self-herding can quietly but powerfully shape the trajectory of your life—especially when it comes to career decisions.
Let’s say you once considered owning a business. Maybe you even researched a few franchise opportunities. But then life got busy. A job offer came in. It felt safer, more familiar, so you took it.
That single choice—completely reasonable in context—can solidify into a pattern.
Next time you’re at a career crossroads, you might find yourself thinking, “Well, I’ve always worked for someone else. That’s just who I am.” But that’s not a truth—it’s a habit of thought reinforced by repetition. The result? You keep taking jobs, not because they’re your best or only option, but because they feel consistent with what you’ve done before.
What started as a short-term decision has quietly become part of your identity.
One of the most common self-herding statements is: “I’m just not the type to own a business.”
But if you dig deeper, that belief is often based on nothing more than a lack of prior action. You’ve worked for others before, so your brain creates a tidy narrative: “That must be who I am.”
This mindset can prevent you from seriously considering business ownership—even when it aligns with your goals for autonomy, financial growth, or flexibility. It’s not that you’re not capable. It’s that you’re stuck in a loop where your past decisions are writing your future story.
Self-herding doesn’t just influence whether you pursue ownership. It also affects what kind of business you consider.
For example, if you’ve spent your career in corporate environments, you may gravitate toward white-collar, office-based franchise models—because they feel familiar. But your current lifestyle goals might point toward something more community-based, service-oriented, or semi-absentee.
In other words, your comfort zone may be steering you toward businesses that look like your past—even if your future would be better served by something different.
Several psychological forces make self-herding easy to fall into:
- Cognitive Ease: Repeating a past decision is mentally easier than reevaluating everything from scratch.
- Consistency Bias: We like to see ourselves as consistent. Changing course forces us to confront the idea that a past decision may no longer serve us.
- Fear of Regret: New choices carry risk. If we try something new and fail, it may feel like we were wrong to change direction.
- Identity Feedback Loops: The more we repeat a behavior, the more it becomes part of our self-image. That self-image then influences future choices—locking in the cycle.
The good news? Self-herding isn’t a life sentence. It’s just a pattern—and patterns can be broken.
Start with awareness. Ask yourself:
- “Would I still choose this path if I had a clean slate?”
- “Am I avoiding ownership because it doesn’t fit—or because it’s unfamiliar?”
- “What decision would I make today if I wasn’t bound by my past?”
If you’ve never run a business before, that doesn’t mean you’re not meant to. It just means you haven’t yet—and that’s a very different thing.
It’s important to recognize that franchise ownership doesn’t mean jumping off a cliff without a parachute. Many modern franchise models are built specifically for first-time business owners. They offer:
- Proven systems
- Ongoing support and training
- Structured semi-absentee models
- Predictable startup costs and financial modeling
In fact, franchising is often described as “entrepreneurship with guardrails.” You get to own the business—but you don’t have to start from scratch. For people trapped in a self-herding job loop, it can be a powerful on-ramp to autonomy with lower risk.
If you’re not ready to commit to ownership tomorrow, that’s okay. You don’t have to change everything at once. But consider experimenting with one small step that breaks the pattern:
- Schedule a call with a franchise consultant
- Attend a franchise expo or webinar
- Speak with someone who left corporate life for business ownership
Each of these actions creates a new data point for your brain. And the more you deviate from the loop, the easier it becomes to make choices based on where you want to go, not just where you’ve already been.
Self-herding feels like certainty. It feels like safety. But it can quietly fence you into a version of your life that no longer fits.
If your goals have changed, your path can too.
You’re not obligated to keep making the same choices just because you’ve made them before. Whether you’re on your fifth job or your first serious look at franchise ownership, today is a chance to pause, reflect, and ask:
“Is this still what I want—or just what I’ve always done?”
You don’t have to keep following your own footsteps. You’re allowed to step off the well-worn trail and try something different—especially if what you want is waiting just outside those old prints.
About the Author
Mike Martuza is a serial entrepreneur, lecturer and author of the best selling book "The Franchise Rules." Mike has over 40 years of business ownership, business creation, franchising, consulting, coaching and management experience. He has been helping people find great "fitting" franchises for almost two decades. Contact Mike at mikemartuza@thefranchiseconsultingcompany.com.





