The Entitlement Mentality

What is entitlement mentality? Thinking that you are entitled, that you are supposed to receive something because you deserve it. Because you worked hard. Because it's your right. Because this is how things are supposed to be.

From where this perspective came from? It came from the norm, from the common and from the normal (what people think is normal!). Watching majority of people complain or blame a system or a structure believing that they are not getting what they deserve.

Sometimes when you watch everyone doing something, you believe that is true, that is normal and that is the right thing to do.

However, if we look at the entitlement mentality from a distance, we can see it has side effects. While this mindest makes you think you got it and you are right, it keeps you going in cycles from having a problem to blaming and complaining. And the cycle never stops unless you realize the pattern you are in.

This type of mindset affects certain areas of our lives like our financial potential, our mental and emotional well-being and our lifestyle in general. It restricts your talents and puts golden chains around your hands and feet. It keeps you stuck in one place.

The following are some statements we witness in majority of people who use this mentality unknowingly:

1- I worked so hard in school and college. I deserve better than this.

2- I helped this person a lot and this is how he pays me back my good deeds?

3- My boss never appreciates me or says thank you.

4- I deserve promotion. I worked so hard and they don't recognize me.

5- I'm the manager. I'm the decision maker. They should listen to me.

6- We are citizens of this country and we deserve better.

7- I am the parent. I'm the one to be respected. They should visit me and respect me.

Coming out of this perspective is not an easy thing. It takes continuous process and effort. We are talking about a mindset of generation to generation. It's not just a week or a month a person can be free of it.

Talking about it, having a conversation around it is the beginning. Using empathy as a guiding factor when we process this mindset to ease the hard feelings that naturally rise during this process.

My prayers to those who are in this personal healing journey to be protected and to be blessed and surrounded with love and warmth.