8th PLACE TROPHIES

Jake Luehrs
June 07, 2025

ONE QUESTION

Are your aspirations more important than your cravings?

ONE THING TO PONDER

Contemplate the price of inaction - Your Health, Wealth, Relationships, Career.

ONE PERSPECTIVE

What if I suggested that getting everything handed to you actually creates a form of suffering?

And that the struggle you're trying to avoid is where all the fulfillment lives?

Our individual freedom comes from taking 100% responsibility for where we are, what we do, and how we think.

Full admission, I have a visceral reaction to entitlement.

This isn't about being harsh—it's about seeing something beautiful that entitlement robs from us.

What if the thing that triggers us most in others is actually showing us something profound about what we care about?

Here is what I’ve learned about my reaction to entitlement. I hate to see people suffer unnecessarily.

Entitlement creates more pain than it prevents.

One thing that seems to continue to build on itself….

- Holding an attitude of entitlement perpetuates unhappiness in people, even when they get what they ‘want.’

- I struggle seeing talented people suffer by holding on to what they believe they ‘deserve’ rather than experiencing the true joy of earning.

What actually gives us joy and fulfillment isn’t actually getting what we want, it’s becoming the version of a person that has earned what has come to us.

“Success” holds little value without effort or struggle.

We don’t deserve 8th place trophies….It actually hurts our younger generation because as they grow up and go out into the world and realize the market doesn’t care about their feelings.

I believe exposing them to failure early creates a great relationship with themselves and builds self-love, self-confidence, and resilience.

When something is given to us, it’s nice but it hits a different cord of satisfaction.

Why Hard Isn't the Enemy

Hard isn't wrong. In fact, I'll make the argument that hard is the path forward:

- It's the path to everything meaningful

- It's the path of being a great role model

- It's the path of bringing value to others

It’s very difficult to leave a meaningful legacy with an entitled attitude. The ripple effect of entitlement is real and compound.

Remember, a legacy isn’t what you leave FOR people, it’s what you leave IN them.

- When a family creates an environment of entitlement, it can create a generational curse that only gets louder over time.

- When an organization operates with a team that feels they deserve things they haven’t earned, it will fail to exist.

- When a nation starts to operate from a place of entitlement, there will be other countries that are willing to take on responsibility to become great.

The Path Forward

When we stop waiting for the world to give us what we think we deserve and start earning what we actually want, something magical happens. We find that we’re capable of far more than we imagined.

The path to great things isn’t found in ‘easy.’

The path to greatness is found within, it’s found in taking 100% ownership of ourselves, our actions and our choices.

If my reaction to entitlement comes from hating to see people suffer, then my encouragement toward responsibility comes from wanting to see people thrive.

You have everything you need to start building the life you actually want. The question is: are you willing to earn it?

I’ll see you along the way!

Onward and Upward.

PODCAST

The Hidden Danger of Being Too Attached to OutcomesModern Wisdom

THE ED MYLETT SHOW

Commitment to the process is far more important than attachment to the outcome. If obtaining what we wanted really just came down to being hyper attached to having it, we’d already have it. The truth is that commitment to the process, to the actions, to the person you need to become is far more important than ‘wanting’ something with a deep attachment. This is a great perspective to consider!

BOOK RECOMMENDATION

The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth
by John Maxwell

I read this book very early in my leadership journey 20 years ago. It was pivot in reading and

seeing that where I am/was is just fine. It’s about identifying the meaningful places I can grow myself to bring value to both myself and others. Life is nothing more than school when you look for opportunities to grow…this book gave me areas to focus, and I believe it would be valuable for you to be exposed to as well!