11 Phrases That Instantly Make A Hardworking Person Lose Respect
Hardworking people don't tolerate laziness or entitlement.
Andrii Nekrasov | Shutterstock Many people with a strong work ethic or a tendency toward heightened productivity in their personal and professional lives also have a better sense of self-esteem, according to a study from Frontiers in Psychology. They're less tolerant of things like laziness and entitlement in their peers because their personal work ethic is a means of empowerment — they want to craft an environment and atmosphere filled with like-minded productive people who take initiative and action.
Many of the phrases that instantly make a hardworking person lose respect serve as evidence for the opposite — people who would prefer to blame others and take little accountability for their own lives. A strong work ethic may be praised and celebrated, but at the end of the day, it's a practice that people have to continuously feed into to gain and protect respect from peers.
Here are 11 phrases that instantly make a hardworking person lose respect
1. 'That's not fair'
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Just because they're hard workers doesn't mean life will always "reward" them with the best experiences and easiest tasks. Like psychologist Jennifer Kunst argues, life isn't fair — the most successful people are the ones that deal with life as it faces them, rather than trying to control everything and argue for "fairness" in an unjust world.
That's why this is one of the phrases that instantly make a hardworking person lose respect. They see people with this entitled mindset as carefully arrogant to the ways of the world, just enough that they don't have to be uncomfortable with their own autonomous accountability.
2. 'I don't know'
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According to psychologist Nick Wignall, many emotionally immature people, who both lack the tangible skills to be hardworking and the mentality to take accountability for their shortcomings, tend to be "all talk with no action." They prefer to use a phrase like "I don't know" to avoid having to work hard, seek out an answer, or get out of their comfort zone.
While hardworking people would find the answer, learn something new, and make an effort, their lazy counterparts are quick to do the opposite, retreating back into their comfort zone without discomfort or growth.
3. 'That's not my job'
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"That's not my job" is one of the phrases that instantly makes a hardworking person lose respect, because it's a sign of a person's lack of initiative, support, or work ethic. They're willing to recruit other people to help them, but hardly ever demonstrate the same mentality for others, instead retreating to their comfort zone and assigned responsibilities.
Of course, setting work-life boundaries is a necessary skill to ensure you're not overworking yourself in the name of supporting others or taking on extra work, but phrases like this one are hardly vehicles for self-advocacy.
4. 'I'll figure it out later'
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When a person has an innate sense of independence, task management or work ethic, procrastination tendencies aren't always bad; in fact, according to a study from Heliyon, many leaders tend to view these individuals more favorably when they occasionally procrastinate their tasks without concern or issue.
However, when someone consistently uses a phrase like "I'll figure it out later" or "I work better under pressure" to avoid complicated tasks and push off harder work for the future — when they likely won't have the time or energy to complete it to the best of their ability — it's not surprising that it's a behavior that causes hardworking counterparts to lose respect.
Truly hardworking people don't want to feel motivated or energized before they complete a task or start a project, they rely on their self-discipline and independence to guide their work.
5. 'Things never work out for me'
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Many people who'd prefer to avoid the hard work of taking accountability and crafting genuine apologies also adopt a victim mentality. Rather than take responsibility for their actions and shortcomings, they blame others and rely on their chronic victimhood to get away with things that hardworking people simply address and overcome.
That's why things like "things never work out for me" or "I'm always the bad guy" are phrases that instantly make a hardworking person lose respect.
6. 'I deserve it because I've been here forever'
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Whether it's a professional job or a personal relationship, quality isn't simply determined by longevity. If someone's been in a relationship forever, that doesn't necessarily mean it's a healthy one, and the same goes for work ethic in a person's career.
That's part of the reason why phrases like this one cause genuinely hardworking people to lose respect — they put in a constant stream of time, energy, and effort into being productive, while others expect to win things, get raises, and be praised for the bare minimum.
7. 'Anyone could do that'
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Rather than take accountability, put in the work, or acknowledge their own shortcomings, lazy and entitled people prefer to simply cope with their own discomfort by staying in their comfort zone. Of course, like psychotherapist William Berry suggests, that doesn't keep them from constantly complaining about their life, even if it sabotages their relationships and isolates them from peers.
They say things like "anyone could do that" as a means to cope with their own lack of hard work or initiative, but it only isolates them from people actually putting the work in and doing the things that are supposedly "so easy."
8. 'You got lucky'
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While there are certainly some things in life — like unexpected change, location, and privilege — that are entirely luck, most successful people have put in some level of effort and hard work to achieve the things they have. "You just got lucky" is a means for lazy people to cope with not being successful, even if it continues to sabotage them from ever taking initiative.
They'd prefer to cope with the discomfort of their stagnancy by suggesting other people's success is a side effect of luck, rather than a privilege of the habits and behaviors — hard work, initiative, confidence, or competency — that they lack.
9. 'I've always done it this way'
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Communication and other healthy intentional habits tend to provoke a greater openness to change in people who are innately hard workers, according to a study from Management of Change. However, for lazy and entitled people who use phrases like "it's always been this way" to grasp onto the habits and behaviors they've grown comfortable with and accustomed to, it's a means to fend off and fight change.
Hardworking people are confident in their skills. They know that regardless of the circumstances or any unexpected change that may come their way, they can handle it. However, their lazier counterparts find solace in circumstances, manipulating and controlling their environment to reduce uncertainty and insecurity.
10. 'It's not a big deal'
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According to psychiatrist Neel Burton, many lazy and entitled people that lose respect in their hardworking counterparts' eyes lack ambition and urgency. They'd prefer to use a phrase like "it's not a big deal" to justify their procrastination, rather than overcome the discomfort of relying on self-discipline to get things done.
Whether it's in their personal relationships or their professional career, hardworking people know that everything is important — from the little habits they make the choice to prioritize to the microbehaviors that keep them feeling energized at work.
11. 'You try too hard'
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According to a study from Personality and Individual Differences, people who regularly pick apart other people, weaponize their insecurities, and bring them down are generally coping with their own misguided self-esteem and internal insecurities.
Rather than do the work to grow more comfortable with themselves, put in the work to succeed, and take control of their own life, they try to tear other people down in a misguided attempt to level the playing field.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in social relations & policy and gender studies who focuses on psychology, relationships, self-help, and human interest stories.
