I live in an area where people earn a living by fishing and crabbing. When co-workers try to change professions or improve themselves, they want to avoid the “crab in a bucket syndrome.”
When crabs are caught, they are usually placed in a container and piled on top of each other. If one crab tries to escape by climbing toward the top, the other crabs latch on with their claws and pull it down. People do the same thing, only their claws aren’t as noticeable.
If you’re trying to change, to break bad habits, to improve your job performance and your life, there will be those around you who try to pull you down. For whatever reason, they don’t want you to escape the confines of your current existence. They want to keep you on their level. Don’t let them. Even better: Avoid them.
To quote Mark Twain, “Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”
