Not Just Crabs in a Bucket

 

What’s the deal with holding each other back? Why are we so unable to celebrate and recognize that a success for one of us ultimately equals more opportunity and success for the rest? The crab in a bucket mentality is not one that is unique to any one generation, race or nationality. By my own admittedly unscientific observations, worldwide, I have found this attitude most prevalent amongst those on the lowest economic rungs.

For those of us whose birth certificates weren’t accompanied by seven figure trust funds, our early memories are full of not having enough- whether it be freedom, education, money, power, respect- and watching those who came before us struggle to make ends meet. We seemed to grow up to believe that any scrap that can be found should be horded away. Instead of realizing that shared said scrap will feed many, we allow our familiarity with scarcity rule our behavior. When we are awarded career success and positions of power, too often, our old fears and feelings of inadequacy continue to rule us, and we hold back our peers out of fear that their success will eclipse our own, thus thrusting us back down to the meagerness of never having enough that seems but a breath behind us. So we walk alone, in fear of losing, and by living on that fear, we never fully allow ourselves to win.

On my own journey, it has taken a long to come to the realization that ultimately, a success for someone I work with, whether professionally or personally, was also a positive reflection of me. That surrounding myself with people who had both the ability and desire to grow and succeed and finding collaborative ways to reach those goals together was a wise move.

Think about- the rich stay rich by working together to grow their respective wealth. If our goals include wealth, we need to study their playbook and flip it in our favor. I overstand that it is easier said than done, we need to figure out a way to overcome our own fears of inadequacy and fight together. Fullness, power…it’s ours for the taking if we do it right.