The Meaning Of Entitlement 5 Signs That You May Suffer From It

To listen to the blog post “The Meaning Of Entitlement ~ 5 Ways To See If You Suffer From It” over reading it just click the play button below. 

In the world today there is a false sense of entitlement which is what I am going to talk about in this post, the meaning of entitlement. Having an entitlement mentality is not doing you any favors.  It will change the way you act, how hard you work, and it will make it so that other people don’t like you and do not want to be around you.

An entitlement mentality is people who walk around thinking that the world owes them something just for being born. As a result, they put in little to no effort to get what they feel they are owed. Also, be sure to check out my video for more ways to get rid of the entitlement mentality, and don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube Channel by clicking here. 

1. Meaning Of Entitlement ~ Symptoms of people With The Entitlement Mentality:

• The people who think that it is other people’s job to provide for them.
• Those who blame other people for their problems. 
• People who always complain and never want to be a part of the solution. 
• People who always want to play the victim.

And the key is that they do not want to work for it.  They just expect it and if they do not get what they feel other people owe them, then they blame the other people instead of putting the blame where it belongs and that is on themselves.

2. Meaning Of Entitlement & Where Does The Entitlement Mentality Come From?

The sense of entitlement can also be a part of the spirit of poverty (click here to read more on the spirit of poverty). Even a sense of entitlement can be a spirit of its own. Because the sad thing about it is that many people do not even know that they are entitled. Most people don’t understand the world owes you nothing and so when they get nothing from the world by doing nothing they want to get mad.  Because they are not getting what they feel they are owed.

The entitlement mentality could be the way they were raised, it could be the world in which we live where everything comes easy and no one has to work for anything,  or it could be because they are spoiled. It is our culture that is continuing to give messages that it’s all about you and you deserve the best. Which you do deserve the best as long as you realize that the world owes you nothing and it is up to you to go out and get what you deserve.

Because what the world likes to tell us is that you deserve instant gratification.   Because with recent technology and every app and piece of knowledge at our fingertips, this is what people are starting to believe (source). That they deserve it all and no real work is required. But gratification is never instant.  And anything worth having is worth working for.  Just like the Bible says: to whom much is given much is required (Luke 12:48).  I also have a blog post on that exact topic you can click here to read.  

3. The Meaning Of Entitlement ~ The Entitlement Mentality Vs What You’re Entitled To

To be fair there are some things that we are entitled to as human beings.  For example, the belief that we have the right to take care of ourselves and our family, the right to be respected by others, and the right not to be hurt by them is important to psychological well-being. But the feeling that we are entitled to go to the head of the line or to be given special treatment at all times is not only not healthy, but it is not a particularly productive way to be in the world (source).

The Meaning Of Entitlement ~ Case in point:

 I once worked with a lady who had several children.  She did not really want to spend time with her children or even provide for her children and would often leave it up to her friend that she dubbed her children’s godmother to take care of them. When I tried to talk to her about it in a counseling session, her response was.

“Well Christmas is coming up and my children’s godmother better do this, better give them gifts, better make their Christmas dinner, or better be with them during Christmas break. She is their godmother that is what she is supposed to do.”

Do you see what the issue is here? The mother was putting off her own parenting responsibilities to someone else.  She was not even thankful for everything that her children’s godmother was doing for her. Instead, she felt that it was her friend’s responsibility to take care of the children that she created.  And that is an example of having a false sense of entitlement.

4. The Meaning Of Entitlement ~ The World Owes You Nothing

If there is anything that I have learned, it is that the world owes you nothing. You and only you are responsible for the life that you have created.  If you have had a bunch of children that you do want or cannot take care of then YOU made that decision and no one owes you anything for that.

If you chose to spend all of your money going shopping, now you cannot pay your rent, and you are about to be evicted; do not blame the landlord for not giving you a chance. YOU spent all of your money and therefore the situation is your fault. What I am getting at, is that

“In order to address the false sense of entitlement, one needs to own up to the part that they have played in the downfall of their own life and not to blame other people. “

If you want to fix something in your life, you need to work hard because no one is going to give you anything nor should they be expected to give you anything. Understand that no one is just going to hand you your ideal life or fix all of your problems just because you’re you and you want it really really bad.  Understand that with every hardship it is up to you to navigate through life and to work your way out of it (see my blog here).

AND when you choose to work your OWN way out of something that is hard it actually makes YOU a better person.  Understand that you can’t complain about what people are not doing for you because it is not their job to do anything for you. And why should other people want to come in and do for you when you are not willing to even do for yourself.

In the counseling field, we have something called resilience.

• It is defined as an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.

To form resilience you must face some type of hardship.  But the true formation of resilience comes when you are able to bounce back from that hardship and learn from it.  You can never form resilience if you are always expecting other people to get you out of your hardship.

Your character will never be strengthened if you just walk around thinking that people owe you something and you are not willing to do or take personal responsibility for your own life. I know what you may be saying But Sophia, aren’t you a Christian? Is it not our duty to help those in need? To that question, Let’s take Ruth for example.

So Ruth worked alongside the women in Boaz’s fields and gathered grain with them until the end of the barley harvest. Then she continued working with them through the wheat harvest in early summer. And all the while she lived with her mother-in-law.  Ruth 2:23

The key lessons that we take from Ruth (also read my blog here for more lessons on Ruth), was that she went out in the field and work her butt off in order to get food. Boaz saw Ruth working hard and that is when he decided to help her.  She never expected anyone to do anything for her. Boaz made provisions for her in which she was thankful.

Ruth fell at his feet and thanked him warmly. ‘What have I done to deserve such kindness?’ she asked. ‘I am only a foreigner. Ruth 2:10

Never once did she tell Boaz that she was waiting for him to give her something because she was poor and did not have any food.  She did what she had to do and I am convinced that no matter if Boaz made provisions for her or not she would have kept handling her business.   That is a difference between a handout and a hand-up.  Which I also talk about in my video below about Ruth and Boaz.

• A hand-up is someone feeling compelled to help you because you are helping yourself. 
• A handout is when someone is giving you something for free because you expect it from them.

How you can apply this to your life is that even when people do help you, BE THANKFUL for their help. Never think that because they are family, your friends because they have money, or because they can that it is their obligation to do something for you.  Just because they manage their life successfully does not mean that you have a right to their success.  If they help you that is because they want to and not because they have to.

5. The Meaning Of Entitlement ~ How To Deal The Entitlement Mentality

Now some of you may be dealing with friends of people in your life who feel that it is your obligation to provide for them or to fix a life that they have otherwise jacked up themselves.  And to you, I tell you this,

• “Do not feel bad for cutting people out of your life who have a false sense of entitlement and want to be a drain on your life and your resources.”

You can also check out my video above to learn more about how to deal with friends that are toxic.  I have to cut off friends for thinking that it was my responsibility to give them money for their rent or their bills or I just simply tell them no. If you are in a situation where your friend just wants to take and take from you, then you need to draw some boundaries.

I highly recommend you read the best-selling book Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life (which you can click here to buy). There is nothing wrong with saying no to people who want to leach off you and there is nothing wrong with cutting them off if they are draining you with their false sense of entitlement.  I give you permission to do this and to NOT feel bad for it.

In the end, if you have a false sense of entitlement then you need to take control of your life and Get Out Get Up And Get Something (see my blog here).  Your life is yours and yours alone to do something with and highly suggest that you start doing something with your life. You only have one life to live and the more you sit around waiting, wishing, and hoping that the world owes you something the more you are going to be sitting around getting a whole bunch of nothing.

If you know someone that may suffer from a false sense of entitlement or is dealing with friends who have a false sense of entitlement then share this post with them.

Check out my products that will help you get out of the spirit of entitlement.
The Ultimate Law of Attraction and Christianity Manifestation Guide ~ Click here or the picture below.