The “I Deserve a Raise” Mentality

There are a lot of people out there that feel they deserve a raise but aren’t getting raises. They have the “I deserve a raise” mentality.

On the surface, their argument is about value creation, but deeper down it is actually about responsibility and resentment.

It is about choices they are making but trying to avoid responsibility for.

Every time you do something you don’t want to do (without accepting you are ultimately responsible for that decision) you are adding to a resentment savings account. When you don’t take responsibility for your work choices you are adding to that balance.

The healthy resolution to this feeling is to look at it and accept the decisions you are making. To accept reality. That everything you do, you want to do on some level, or else you wouldn’t do it.

But most people don’t take the healthy resolution. Most people don’t take personal responsibility. Instead, that balance of resentment is projected onto others. It is turned into the disempowered “they owe me” mentality.

People convince themselves they deserve a raise or a promotion because of sacrifices the are choosing but denying responsibility for.

If they get a raise they get a temporary reprieve but find out quickly that it doesn’t change anything about the dynamic. That they just find new reasons to project that resentment.

If they don’t get a raise they quit. They clear the board and go start somewhere new. But without any reflection or understanding the dynamic that got them there in the first place they will simply end up where they were before.