I'd say it's precisely entitlement to expect that fulfilling criteria will lead to a goal. Entitlements like that come from pervasive societal messages, and getting over them is hard. You can't see it until it's pointed out, and that is always going to come as a blow.

It's even harder to fix the overall messaging than it is to realize it in yourself. But each person who realizes that they have been sold an entitlement, and gets past it, is one more person who can say, "No, all of the assumptions you've been sold are wrong."