Have you got crabs?


Have you got crabs?

Yes, you heard me correctly…

A few weeks ago, at our self-help book club, we were looking at some of the questions posed in the book. It was You are a Badass by Jen Sincero, in case you are wondering 😉


One of the questions we discussed talked about something called ‘The Crab Effect’, it goes like this…

If you place several crabs in a bowl and one tries to climb out, the other crabs will try and pull it back down into to the bowl or pot. In life we are the crab trying to climb out of the bowl and the people around us are potentially the ‘crabs’ trying to pull us back down. (It’s a very simple concept, but one most of us can relate to at some point).


The question we pondered was this… ‘Who in your life is holding you back from achieving your goals?’. So, I put it to you, who are the crabs in your life? Family, friends, colleagues?

Are there people who belittle your goals and dreams? Laugh when you tell them what you would like to do with your life? Tell you to ‘get real’ and life isn’t like that? Withdraw support when they see you succeeding?


Sometimes the crabs around us don’t even realise they are doing it. It’s a reflection of their own mindset. It can be hard to see past the confines of our environment.


Now I’m going to be a little bit daring here and ask are you a crab? Without realising we can hold ourselves back. We can be too scared to leave the comfort of our ‘pot’ and are afraid to climb.

It can be scary to be too brave, or too awesome. We worry that others will have something to say or judge what we do. It is difficult to get rid of that annoying little voice in the back of our minds telling us that we aren’t good enough, clever enough, skilled enough. Maybe we don’t look the part or have the right accent. If we were a little bit thinner, more educated or maybe even luckier, we could get out of the pot to freedom?


As you reflect over your life and the people around you, have you got crabs?

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