Fear of Social Disapproval Prevents Us from Growth Fear of society's disapproval prevents us from leaving the “rat race” and growing wealthy. Most of us know what the phrase rat race refers to, but if asked, how would we define it? One definition is “The endless routine of working for everyone but yourself.” This means you do all the work, while others – the government, bill collectors and your bosses – take the majority of the reward. We usually talk about the rat race as something we're all a part of. At the same time, we also talk about it as something we hate. So why do we keep racing? Because most people's lives are dominated by their fear of society's disapproval. For example, consider the mantra “Go to school, study hard, get a good job.” We still teach this mantra, even though it's outdated advice founded on the ideas of our parent's past. Back then, you were likely to land a job right out of college, work for the same company for decades, and retire with a cushy pension. Today, this is no longer a guaranteed recipe for a life free of financial struggles or poverty. The truth is that you can study hard, get into a good school and graduate into a high-paying job without ever seeing financial growth, because you're still stuck in the “rat race.” Your bosses – not you – are getting rich from all your hard work. Nevertheless, we still believe in and follow the above mantra out of fear of violating the expectations that have been drilled into us since birth. The result? We may be avoiding poverty, but we're certainly not growing any wealthier.