It sounds like you won’t accept the “you deserve it” argument
Good for him then. That's an argument I hear far too often that, in my opinion, appeals purely to greed and fosters self-entitlement as if it was a good thing.
A counterpoint opinion: although "I deserve it" may be a rationale to which many greedy or self-entitled people cling, there does exist a point where a well-balanced person can make a reasonable value judgment about the worth of their efforts. If you deny that it's possible to make this judgment fairly, your perspective implies that there is no meaningful correlation between effort and positive outcomes -- it's a mentality of "nothing is good enough", which can work as a long-term view (perhaps better said as "there is always room to improve") but in the short- to mid-term is a destructive mindset which can lead to burnout.
My two cents, as a guy who struggled with depression for several years due in large part to having held such a negative opinion of myself that I couldn't celebrate any intermediate successes.
In my mind, you're talking about deserving vs. earning. To me, deserve is intrinsic (e.g. You deserve the right to a speedy trial) while earn is value-based (e.g. You've worked hard, you earned it)
The two words are close to eachother, but I am wary of 'deserve' because it seems to be abused.
My two cents, as a guy who struggled with depression for several years due in large part to having held such a negative opinion of myself that I couldn't celebrate any intermediate successes.