Paying a heavy price?

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My dad said in regards to my attitude towards work

"you will pay a heavy price for your attitude"

what heavy price could that be then?

Loss of employment.
Loss of opportunity.
Gaining a reputation that makes you unemployable.

It annoys me that the philosophy is "fake it until you make it," but that's how the work world often works. Be what they want you to be until you genuinely feel it or are comfortable being a phony all the time.

"Be yourself" is the worst advice ever given...unless "yourself" is exactly the kind of person everyone wants to be around.

Getting fired.

Getting stuck in a lousy job with poor pay instead of advancing to something interesting with better pay.

People judge your meta-self, your social self. So if your manager gives you a task and you make a face or immediately point out a problem with it, even innocently (maybe your tooth hurts or maybe the problem is a minor one and you just want to clear it up before starting the task), you will be judged. Depending on your manager, that judgment could be harsh and could prejudice him/her against you. Over time, those kinds of responses could get you in trouble, even fired.

I know, it happened to me. I had to call HR for help in mediating the situation. It was a tough thing to go through, and I became suicidal. And all it was was not cultivating a social self that smiled at the right times, used the right voice tone, and phrased problems as questions or in some other nonthreatening way.

It's a whole other skill set.

Then there is a real attitude problem. When you actually seriously disagree with the assignment and the direction your boss is taking. When you think it will cause problems, problems you might get blamed for or even problems you morally cannot accept.

Maybe your dad was talking about those, I don't know your situation. My guess is it's more the first case, just managing your social persona at work.

Do you have more context you could share?

Meh. My Mom always tried that **** armchair psychoanalysis on me.

I still don't fit her ideal of how I should behave... but, guess what? I found my niche and I pay more in taxes than she and my dads earn in a year. ~ppphhhhhhhbbbbllllttt~

Find where YOU fit, not where your parents or anyone else wants you to. Not to say it's all easy, but, it's much more worth it.
"Attitude" as an adult, I see in retrospect my attitude was just inability to play games and insistence on honesty and clarity and accuracy. More a problem with everyone else than with me.