The first reason is conditioning. We are all affected in one way or another by what we see, hear, and the people that we are surrounded by as we grow up. Many many people grow up hearing the mantra of "get good grades, get a good education, get a SAFE and SECURE JOB, save your money, try and buy a reasonable house, invest through your 401k or similar retirement plan, and hope to be able to have enough money to retire after 30, 40 or even 50 years of working. If that is the blueprint we are given for how we should live our life, it will most likely stick with us unless we make a conscious decision to change it, and live our lives differently. It can be very easy to get stuck in the "rat race trap," and settle for what an employer decides to pay us, how many vacation and personal days they decide to let us have, the amount of holiday/christmas bonus we get, and what kind of retirement plan we get.
We are also influenced by the people you hang around and surround yourself with. There are individuals who grow up in a household where there parents or caregivers work during the day, come home, eat and watch TV for the rest of the evening, while repeating that process over and over for years on ond. It can be very easy to be majorly influenced by that type of lifestyle and begin to life it yourself. Whereas, If you surround yourself with winners, and people who are doing things with there lives, it will begin to rub off on you, and you will want to do the same as they are.
Secondly, I believe that our self esteem and self worth can have a large impact on whether we choose to settle for security. If we have a low self esteem and view on our capabilities we will be much less likely to believe we have the ability to create the life of our dreams. Unfortunately people grow up believing that if they don't get good grades in school, they are destined for a life of mediocrity. While grades are very important in many areas, it is not a true determining factor for how you are destined to live your life and how much money you will make. Some people believe that you need some sort of super power to live a life of abundance, or that massive success is only for a few select few. But in reality, we all have special talents that we were given as a gift from above, and we should use them to the best of our ability to create the life that WE WANT FOR OURSELVES, NOT THE LIFE OTHER PEOPLE WANT FOR US
Awesome post Chris! It's time we take charge of our lives. Especially now that the economy has dropped and jobs are not longer "Secure". The old things have been done away with and all things have become new. If you don't run with the times, the time will run over you and you will be left wondering what happened.
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