YOU BELONG TO NOBODY: OVERCOMING THE ENTITLEMENT MENTALITY

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari, during his recent inauguration made a rather audacious statement in his now popular "I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody" speech. Many political and social analysts have interpreted this phrase in so many ways to suit whatever idea they were trying to communicate to their audience. But the truth remains, only President Buhari himself can categorically explain what he truly meant.

Many have concluded that he made the statement to allay the fears of many Nigerians who believe the President would be working to the benefit of the political gladiators who were partially responsible for his victory at the polls. This opinion was strengthened on the premise that these political leaders wielded enough clout to influence the President. Personally, I think Muhammadu Buhari will always have a mind of his own.
I however have a very different view of the President's statement. Buhari won the 2015 presidential election largely because majority of Nigerians believed he was a man of integrity that possessed enough quality to fight corruption which for a long time has become the bane of the Nigerian society. So in his "I belong to nobody" speech, I believe the President was trying to address another problem called the 'entitlement mentality'; where everybody believes the government owes them anything and everything.

We live in a society that is plagued with an incredible sense of entitlement. It is common place for us to assume that the government should somehow be responsible for our welfare. We gradually become too lazy and sometimes too proud to survive on our own. Because the President promised change doesn't mean you should sit and wait for change to come upon you. Nobody should solely depend on the government or other people, you are better off when you empower yourself in every way possible. 

I am not saying there is anything wrong with helping people, after all together everyone achieves more. The concern for me is a situation where people stay back and wait for the government to help them even when they can help themselves no matter how little. It easy to overcome the entitlement mentality when you focus more on giving than getting. When you have established yourself as someone who always takes and takes, it will be very difficult to survive on your own and that will ruin your reputation. 

The key to overcoming the entitlement mentality is first to have a mind of your own. Think for yourself and never assume that others will do that for you. When you have an independent mind, you can then take control of your life and dictate what direction and how far you will go. The entitlement mentality can limit your progress in life because you will automatically tie your progress to government policies or the people you continuously depend on for help. 

Another ‎factor in overcoming the entitlement mentality is programming your mindset to the realization that nobody owes you anything. It can be linked to the point I made earlier about being independent minded. This begets the self assurance that makes you believe you can achieve anything. Everything you want in life is on the other side of self doubt. Once you believe in yourself and depend less on the help of any man you will be amazed the heights that you would attain and surpass. 

Many of us have blamed others for not getting to where we wanted to be in life. It is not the card that you are dealt with in life that matters, it is how you play the cards. The truth is, we didn't get there because we weren't determined. This is where you can relate the popular saying "Heaven helps those who help themselves". If you ever need any kind of assistance from someone, you need to meet them halfway. You don't sit back in your comfort zone and expect people to reach out to you because you need help. Set the ball rolling and perhaps encounter some challenges with making further progress, then you will find people coming to your rescue. 

The entitlement mentality is a rather dangerous mindset to have is that it breeds wickedness. I know of some people who begin to talk ill of you the moment they stop getting what they want. Others go as far devising sinister plans if they feel they are not getting enough from you, while others resort to fetish means to the detriment of their benefactors.

Finally, it is far better when people demand to help you than when you demand for their help. The former comes with a lot more honour than the latter, where people will begin to avoid you because you have become a pest. ‎The objective of this post is not to discourage helping those in need but to change the mindset of many who believe it's their right to be helped by virtue of an existing relationship or otherwise. You belong to nobody. 

#HappiestManInTheWorld