The Entitlement Trap

One of the barriers to motivation is the entitlement trap. It doesn't matter if it's someone on welfare, an executive in a corner office, or Daddy's little princess, if a person thinks they deserve a better life, but aren't responsible for creating it, motivation flies out the window.

In recent years, I've worked with welfare workers who interview people for welfare payments. One of the most common themes that I've heard over and over again was the need to deal with the interviewee's feeling that they deserved money. "But why do I have to come in here and fill out these papers to make it happen?" I deserve, but I'm not responsible. In other words: I'm entitled to the money.

We've all worked with people who felt they were entitled to a paycheck whether they earned it or not. If you look at many of the recent corporate scandals, too many executives felt they were "entitled" to rewards that they hadn't earned.

When I was single, I occasionally met women who felt they were entitled to a certain kind of lifestyle. We parted quickly.

Although I get a lot done in my life, I occasionally fall into a funk. I think: I'm working my buns off, but am I closing the gap between where I am and where I want to be? I wondered: What's causing me to fall into these funks? Why can't I get motivated to do anything when I'm in one?

I have an admission to make: in answer to these questions I caught myself saying "I deserve a better life." This belief, if you look closely enough, doesn't have anything in it about my own responsibility to create it.

I realized that I was caught in the Entitlement Trap.

So I changed the belief to "I earn the right to a better life." And guess what? My mood lifted and I got started on some projects that should expand my business.

Who do you know who's stuck in the entitlement trap? Ask them: "Haven't you waited long enough to start EARNING the right to a better life?"

When you change your mind, you change your life.

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