The Entitlement Cure: Finding Success at Work and in Relationships in a Shortcut World

This is a very timely resource for today’s culture. I certainly found others in these pages, but I also found myself! Very practical and wise advice for living a great life. Definitely a must read!

Helps me recognize it in my self, and helping me deal with it in others!

A Review of Dr. John Townsend’s new book:The Entitlement Cure: Finding Success in Doing Hard Things the Right WayBy Dave Walker - Cincinnati, OhioThe issue of Entitlement has been cited by many as one of THE major problems in America. This book is not just a wake-up call, motivational read, an insightful tome defining the issues involved or merely a call to action. Thankfully, this is a book in whose chapters lie a tool chest from which the reader can discover “the what, and how to” of building the skills necessary to restore people from the entitlement mentality. First, it helps the reader explore the possibility of what the author refers to as the “pocket entitlement”. That is, what you might be carrying around in your own life. Once the log removal is underway, the reader is asked to do the next hard thing; helping those in his reach and influence who are stuck in the grip of entitlement.The author, Dr. Townsend, does not hide the fact that combating entitlement is hard. In fact, he drives this fact home over and over throughout the book. Though there is no easy solution, there is an effective one. In each chapter he takes a realistic look under the surface of the various issues and nuances involved in Entitlement. One skill this book will help you develop is how to initiate a consequence-based conversation to provide the entitled person with a needed dose of reality. One of the conundrums one faces is how to make it clear to a person the ways others experience the entitled behavior of that individual. The seven elements the author provides outline a caring way to approach the person with an entitlement complex.Each chapter is solutions-oriented and ends with three practical skills to develop in counteracting the grip of entitlement in that area. Yes, it is hard work and takes a number of specific skills. The process this book teaches develops a critical character ability that psychologists call internal structure. This process also involves learning how to apply what the author calls the calendarized process, external structuring, relational support, revamping a self-image that helps, what obstacles to expect, and how to face the pain that gets you past those obstacles to combat this condition and be healed.I have read through the entire book and now I am stuck with a dilemma. I cannot call myself a responsible person and hold The Entitlement Cure in my hands without doing the next hard thing: to go back through the book and start developing the skills taught within its pages. I now understand this condition more thoroughly and know the answer for combatting this pervasive, devastating problem in me and our culture. I now have had some of the blindness lifted in areas of my own life. I have no excuse. I now possess the means to the solution. It is not easy, but I too believe the hard way is the right way.I must accept the authors charge to become a change agent in my own life. Then I may be genuine in my offer to help others overcome their aversion to dealing with this reality in their own lives as well. Join me. Get this book. Read it, learn from it, and stop playing the blame game. Learn to take meaningful risks. Accept personal responsibility by taking the risk of confronting entitlement wherever you observe it with the skills available in this culture changing book.This book is not the solution. You are! That is, if you read it. Ask God for the grace to build the skills it teaches into your life, and to loving use you to deliver others from the entitlement trap, from “I Deserve” to “I am Responsible” living.

I’m not sure an author can address a more relevant and prevalent topic in today’s culture than entitlement. I see it in the lives of my children, in the lives of young adults in our church, and most often in my own life. While I easily spot entitlement in the lives of others, I often miss it in my own life. Townsend helps the reader understand the significance and universality of the entitlement problem.He defines entitlement as the belief that I am exempt from responsibility and am owed special treatment. It’s an attitude that says “I’m special and exceptional,” that believes the individual is owed something, that denies responsibility, and that refuses to accept responsibility.The “cure” Townsend prescribes is the Hard Way, that says, “The habit of doing what is best, rather than what is comfortable, to achieve a worthwhile outcome.” The Entitlement Cure would be a great read for teachers, pastors, employers, coaches, and more.

God is using The Entitlement Cure by John Townsend to change my life. I wouldn’t have thought of myself as “entitled”—a bit self-centered from being introverted, yes, but not “entitled.” According to the author, “Entitlement is the belief that I am exempt from responsibility and I am owed special treatment.”As I read the first few chapters, I was uncomfortable with the content. I kept thinking about setting it aside to read later, but I also knew my discomfort was a sign I needed to press in to find the source of my uneasiness.As John Townsend began to explain the path of least resistance followed by people with entitlement issues versus the “Hard Way” followed by people who overcome obstacles in life and find success, I knew I was onto something that would help me. According to the author, the Hard Way is “The habit of doing what is best, rather than what is comfortable, to achieve a worthwhile outcome.”One thing that struck me early on was that my generation was taught to reframe negatives as positives because it’s better for your mental health. But Townsend suggests that if we don’t allow ourselves to identify negative things in our lives then we don’t have anything to change. You have to identify a problem before you can fix it so calling it something else prevents you from making changes.He offers a number of mantras throughout the book—first person declarations of principles to live by and the reasons the Hard Way is better.Townsend’s explanation for getting unstuck (which is how I’ve felt for years) set me into immediate action: “Your Next Hard Thing (NHT) is the choice you need to make that will get you past the difficulty.” Instead of the overwhelm of too many things that seem too big or out of control, he suggests taking one small step each day. As you chip away at that big problem, it won’t be so big and eventually, you’ll overcome your obstacles.He also explained that “Doing stuff that doesn’t seem productive is an improvement over not doing anything except the same thing you’ve always done.” *Headslap* Well, of course! I feel stuck because I’m approaching things the same way I always have (which includes a lot of avoidance) so doing something different is an improvement, even if it seems unproductive at the moment. That is helpful to me in changing my habits and how I look at them.I hate to be dramatic, but this is potentially a life-changing book for me. If you or anyone you know seems stuck in life, The Entitlement Cure would be a worthwhile read. Townsend also spends a lot of time addressing loved ones in how they can help others who are living with “the entitlement disease.” (BTW, that’s the one thing I took exception to. I didn’t like him referring to it as a disease because I felt that belittles people with actual diseases or mental illness.)Go. Buy. Read. Overcome.This review first appeared on my blog. You can find the link in my profile.

This is by a Christian for Christians. The pages are full of Bible citations, making it a very difficult read when you don't share the faith. The concept of entitlement is universal and many cultures around the world have been able to tackle it and produce some wisdom - there's no need to pretend, as the author seems to, that Jesus is the only way.

It has a lot of key messages and useful tactics. However, it frequently refers to religion, which didn't speak to me.

Must-read

Insightful and encouraging. John explanation shows he know the subject which helps when you come to putting the cure in place. The best thing that the book gives is hope and than you with confidants start the cure. The information has restored me - were I had become frustrated. Everyone around wins when you read this book.

This is one of those books you think you're reading to help someone else in your life, and you are, but hits you with a few home truths which triggers an introspection like no other. Very grateful to have picked up this book.