Crabs In A Barrel: If I Can’t Have It, Neither Can You

A man’s mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild. — James Allen

There is one similarity that many people have in common with crabs in a barrel: they seek to pull down others who have achieved a success greater than theirs. The motto for such people is: “If I can’t have it, you can’t have it either.” Such people are burning with envy and jealousy upon seeing another’s success and are experts in sabotaging it. We will call such people Crabs. Giving into the persuasions of these Crabs can work to keep a person stuck in a particular station of life for the remainder of their natural lives, especially as it pertains to attaining one’s financial goals.

Doing a very simple number-crunching exercise, it should be mathematically possible for most of us to attain a reasonable level of financial independence in our lives. Taking the average household income in the United States in 2017 of $60,336¹, over a 40-year work lifetime, we end up with a total lifetime income of approximately $2.5 million ($2,413,440). If we were to simply save even a fraction of this amount, we would end up with a substantial sum. So, if, from a theoretical standpoint, it is possible for most people to attain a reasonable level of wealth over their lifetimes, why have 64% of Americans saved less than $50,000 for their retirement?²

One of the essential tenets of The ConCap Way, is that poverty along with wealth, is principally a mindset at heart, the exceptions to this rule being circumstantial in nature. As the self-help luminary, Napoleon Hill, once said, “What the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” A person’s perception, which is shaped by their thoughts, literally shapes their reality. Therefore, the ConCapper must be on their guard towards influences that can sow seeds of doubt and negativity in their mind’s eye.

These seeds of disbelief and even sometimes outright ridicule come from the Crabs around us, and oftentimes from those who deceptively portray themselves as well-meaning and good-intentioned well-wishers closer to home, like family and friends, but are merely Crabs in disguise. If, as an adult, you are uncomfortable with the concept of financial well-being, then it is possible a Crab in your past has inculcated this belief in your youth. So if you feel that you are unworthy of success and riches, it is imperative for you to recognize the influence of the Crabs around you and begin to remove them from your life. This is when it is helpful to have the coaching and advice of your financial advisor because the depth of the problem oftentimes requires help from the outside.

If, for example, you have a subconscious belief that you will never get ahead in life and that it is impossible for you to attain an adequate degree of wealth, then it is likely you have a Crab, or several Crabs, somewhere in your circle convincing you of this belief. If, as an adult, you are uncomfortable with the concept of financial well-being, then it is possible a Crab in your past has inculcated this belief in your youth. So if you feel that you are unworthy of success and riches, it is imperative for you to recognize the influence of the Crabs around you and begin to remove them from your life. This is when it is helpful to have the coaching and advice of your financial advisor because the depth of the problem oftentimes requires help from the outside.

The good news is that the practice of building wealth over time is a simple repetition of habits; if we can cultivate the correct habits, then we can increase the likelihood of attaining financial well-being over our lifetime. The aim, then, we have for our clients is to coach them on cultivating the right financial habits. Let’s start, first, by getting rid of the Crabs in your life.

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Sources:

¹Employee Benefit Research Institute. (2016). 2016 RCS Fact Sheet #1 Retirement Confidence Survey. Retrieved from https://www.ebri.org/docs/default-source/rcs/1_rcs_16-fs-1_conf.pdf?sfvrsn=4ae8302f_2.

²Guzman, G. G. (september 2018). Household Income: 2017. US Census Bureau. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2018/acs/acsbr17-01.pdf.