Job entitlement: a never-ending cycle of frustration

Entitlement is probably the single biggest factor that holds us all back as human beings, not just in the job market. Entitlement is a complete lack of gratitude and responsibility. It gives us delusions of grandeur. It makes us pass up opportunities and pass over people because we think we "deserve" something "better."

We all think we understand that life isn't fair and that nothing is guaranteed, but few of us have truly internalized the idea. Usually, at best, it's a polite way to tell someone you don't care about their problems. Then, when it's your turn for "undeserved" unpleasantry, just observe how much it stings when someone employs the same technique on you.

It's time to let go of entitlement. You are not not and never will be entitled to ANYTHING, not clean air, not clean water, not food, not shelter, not friends, not family, not love, not sex, not companionship, not medical care, not land, not education, not health, and certainly not a decent career. If you are lucky enough to have any or all of these things, at any point in life, any or all of them can disappear. When you cling to entitlement, you suffer even more.

When it comes to finding work, many of us have completely self-fabricated ideas about what we "deserve."

"I went to college, I shouldn't have to work for THIS wage."
"I've been in this industry for 20 years, I shouldn't have to do THAT."
"My friend owns the company, why should I do THIS?"
"THAT is a job for losers."
"I used to THIS for $70k, I'm not doing THAT for $30k."

We've all thought and said these things, but have never stopped to put entitlement into the equation. Why shouldn't you have to do this or that? What makes you so special? Other people are just not as awesome as you, so they should have to do it?
If you want to keep all those other things you're lucky to have but are not entitled to, doing a job that is "below" you might be necessary. Once you let go of entitlement, your constant misery of not getting the job you "deserve" will evaporate with it.

Of course, this isn't to steer people to the opposite. No one is asking you to do anything against your base morals. No one is asking you to prostitute yourself out to the point where you'll do anything for money. You're only being asked to change your perspective. You may have to temporarily take something "below you" to help pay your bills, you can still enjoy it in some way.

If you spend the whole time pissing and moaning about how it's beneath you, how much money you used to make, how you never used to have to do stuff like this, first of all, you're just angering yourself. Second, people notice that attitude in your words, your body language and your quality of work. It makes you look bad.

Your superiors will notice and you won't ever get ahead. Plus, you don't know who they know. Sure, it might be a manager at McDonald's, but she might know someone who is a manager at IBM. Do you think YOUR name is the one she'll pass along when her friend tells her, "We really need to hire some people, but we don't want to put out job ads?"

Worse than that, your co-workers will notice. Why is it worse? There are a lot more of them then there are superiors, you don't know who they know, and your very presence will insult them. A job that you think is below you is something that someone else worked very hard to obtain and is proud of, so who are you to spit on their achievement? Don't forget, people who work that hard and maintain a good attitude are likely to succeed. Once again, when they do, do you think your name will be the one that they recommend to anyone?

It's so hard to remember these things when you're suffering, when you've gone through so much loss, and so many of us have. It's reasonable to mope and cry and resent your situation, but that can't go on forever. So many people spend decades stuck in this rut of entitlement-created misery. Some NEVER recover. It's natural to want the best for yourself, but it's foolish to expect it.

If you're stuck in one of these ruts, there is one simple way out: gratitude.

Stuff=slavery

So often I hear people talking about how much they hate their job situations, but how much the "can't" do anything about it, "because of the money." Aren't you tired of worrying about the money? Aren't you sick of being a slave to low pay, long hours, poor treatment, and this idea that some asshole came up with about what you are supposed to be doing with your life? Then, stop.

You CAN stop. You can do whatever it is you want to do with your life. You just have to figure out how to change your life to suit what you really want. It probably will not be easy, but is working at a job that constantly makes you envision setting the building on fire so you can be free from cruel and unusual cubicles?

You don't like being a lawyer anymore? Quit. Sell or rent your house, move to a cheap apartment, get rid of all your junk, find a different job. Oh, but I don't want to do that, my house that's chock full of all my stuff is important to me! George Carlin has best explained the human pathological problem with stuff, but in short, your house is nothing but a big pile of shit with a cover on it.

Do me a favor. Right now, look around your room. Look at everything you have in your room. Look at all the stupid shit you've got. Think of how much you spent on everything you can see. Do you need that shit? Can you even find 20 things within your area of vision that you actually need?

I bet you've got plenty of pretty little decorative candles that cost $10 each, that you'd never dream of lighting because they're just so pretty. I bet you've got clothes you haven't worn in at least a year. I bet you've got all kinds of dumb little nicknacks that don't serve a purpose. I bet, if you're a lady, you have fifty different purses, three of which you actually use. I bet you have thousands of free pens, hundreds of which have no ink, but as soon as you pick one up, try to write with it, and discover it has no ink, you stick it right back in the cup you grabbed it from because you can't waste a free pen!

Just stop! Stuff is slavery. You know why you can't leave that job that you hate, that's raising your blood pressure, that's aggravating your ulcer, that's giving you headaches, that keeps you up at night, that's making you wish every second for the sweet release of death so that you wouldn't have to do that god awful job you hate for one single second longer? You can't part with your stuff.

Sure, claim all you want about paying bills and keeping food in your belly, but let's be honest here. Have you never been late on money you knew you owed but didn't pay because you spent that money on some piece of material crap you just had to have when you saw but then you didn't even like it when you got it home anyway? Also, with 70% of Americans being obese, I'd say a few hungry nights might help us all out a bit. Yet, every last one of us has a big pile of shit with a cover on it that we call a home and a horrible job we can't stand to support it.

What a waste of life....

When you're dead, do you think it will really matter how much crap you acquired over your lifetime? Do you think your loved ones are really going to be proud of you for that? If anything, they're going to be pissed at you because as soon as you die, they're going to have to take time off of their meaningless, crappy jobs they hate so they can sort through and take care of all your stuff!

Or worse, do you want your loved ones to remember you as someone who worked so hard that you were never around to give them the love, affection, and attention they desperately needed? All so you could kill yourself in order to provide them this huge pile of shit with a cover on it that they have to sift through after you croak?

When you're lying on your deathbed, looking back at your life, is your bank account and all the stuff you bought with it really going to be on your mind? No. The only thing that will be on your mind is regret for how you wasted the perfectly beautiful privilege of life on stuff, the pursuit of which killed you.

Get rid of what you don't need, acquire only what you do need. Reward yourself only now and then with useless crap. It's fun, but don't let it take over your life.