1. Be Grateful—we all have so much to be grateful for. I believe entitlement comes from a lack of
seeing all that we have been blessed with and all we should be thankful
for. Focusing on what we have rather
than on what we don’t have will help us avoid the entitlement trap.
2. Help Others—when we reach out and are willing to give of ourselves to
help others, I believe we help fight the feelings of entitlement. Too many of us are self-absorbed, do not spend
enough time focusing on others, and/or do not respond to the needs of others. Helping others helps us realize we may not be
as bad off as we think we are. It helps
us remember that everyone faces challenges and struggles in life.
3. Expect Nothing—often we become entitled when our expectations are
off. Too often we assume and expect
things for what we do when really, there is no rule or reasons that justify our
expectations. We need to learn to do the
right thing regardless of the reward and trust that good things will
follow. We should expect or assume
nothing from others that is not mutually agreed upon prior to our efforts.
4. Reality Checks—when we are feeling privileged or owed something
special, we need to check ourselves. We
can’t get caught up in the entitlement mindset!
When we believe we have the right to something we need to step back and
determine if the belief is really based on any sort of logic or reality. To
help us in this effort we may even ask others we trust and who will be honest
with us about their opinions and what they think about the situation. If we can practice “reality checks” whenever
we are feeling entitled it will help us stay grounded.
5. Delay Gratification—when we delay gratification, we become better
masters of our feelings and emotions.
When we are able to control our emotions, we can control our sense of
entitlement. Part of the reason for this
plague is that instant gratification surrounds us. In our world today, when we want something,
we can usually have it without much delay or even effort on our part. Putting off what we want right now will help
us avoid stay grounded in reality.
6. Stay Humble—I guess this one
is really a combination of all of the above.
When we do these suggestions, it will help us have the humility we need
to be happy and successful in life.
A sense of entitlement is a major drag on all of us. I’m going to fight this plague of entitlement within myself and I invite you to join me. If we can avoid this rampant trap in our society we will be much happier and successful in life without a doubt. At the end of the day, we must work to earn our rewards in life and only by doing so will the rewards be sweet. No one owes us anything really, so it is incumbent upon us to create our own success and achieve what we want out of life.
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