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Episode #70
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As the famous quote from Buddha says “The mind is everything, what you think, you become.” So, taking on a more abundant mindset and releasing scarcity can absolutely improve how you approach your life and your potential business.
We’re going to dig deep into how you can move from a scarcity mindset to one of abundance which allows you to be grateful for the past, appreciate your present and be ready to embrace future opportunities. Discover and acknowledge what kind of things you tell yourself and adopt some strategies you can start right now to train your mind to become more abundant in its outlook.
I always say when making any change in your working life whether it be going for a new job at a high level, changing your career or going it alone in your own business, it’s 80% about mindset. Because it doesn’t matter how good you are, how much you deserve the job or want a business, if you don’t have the right mindset which then impacts your behaviour you are very unlikely to be as successful as you could be.
WHAT IS A SCARCITY MINDSET?
One of the biggest killers of dreams, whatever they are, is having a scarcity mindset. A scarcity mindset is a thought pattern that there is simply not enough to go around or that you are lacking something that will stop you from ever achieving what you want in life. Someone with a scarcity mindset believes that there are limited opportunities, options, and resources for them.
When you have a scarcity mindset it means you feel things are scarce when they genuinely are not. Like you think that you don’t have enough time when you do if you just organised yourself properly or delegated something to someone else, or just focussed on the time you have. Because you’re so focused on worrying about not having enough time, your brain's capacity to think about how you can make time work better for you is diminished.
SIGNS YOU HAVE A SCARCITY MINDSET
If you are not sure if you do have more of a scarcity mindset then here are some things you could be thinking or doing or ways that you have been behaving that are a dead giveaway.
- Do you constantly find yourself worrying about money, that you will never have enough of it, that you feel it slipping away like water through a sieve, even when actually you manage your money well?
- Or do you tell yourself that you will never be wealthy and that making good money is for other people who have more advantages?
- Have you ever felt like there’s no point in trying something as a business because there are already loads of people doing the same thing?
- Maybe you avoid telling people how you have been successful at something, in fear that they’ll copy or be better than you?
- Do you feel jealous or threatened by other people’s success, even though you want to be happy for them?
- Do you feel like you don’t know the right people or have the right tools to help to get where you want to go? You know there are things other people ‘must have’ that’s made it so much easier for them!
Is any of this ringing a bell? Are you only mildly affected or are you a full-on, card-carrying member of the scarcity mindset club?
IMPACT OF THINKING WITH SCARCITY
But why does it matter if you have a scarcity mindset or not? After all, some people are just more negative, right? It’s served you well in the past as you have protected yourself by being more cautious, and by always focussing on the worst-case scenario and what is scarce. But what have you missed out on? You may not even know the opportunities that have passed you by.
A scarcity mindset plants lots of false beliefs in your mind which leads to behaviours that hold you back. Things like you thinking that there is too much competition in the market so you don’t even try to compete with them.
Another result of having a scarcity mindset is that you end up hustling too much. What do I mean by that? Well, you may start your business with a clear plan on what hours you want to work, what products you want to have, how you want to work in terms of ethics and just how you want to work in general. Then the scarcity mindset kicks in. Which leads you to start trying lots of different sales methods, maybe reducing your prices, giving stuff away and practically begging for the business, when you don't need to. Which in turn lowers your brand value and creates a business model that you just do not want.
According to WebMD.com having a scarcity mindset lowers your intelligence quotient (IQ). It limits your brain function and affects your ability to solve problems, hold information, and reason logically. It also affects your brain’s decision-making process and your ability to plan, focus, and start a project or task. Your brain is too busy thinking about something you don’t have or will never have.
So in other words, when we spend our energy obsessing over one thing, other areas of the brain start to lapse. Scary right!
EMBRACING ABUNDANCE
But all is not lost! Welcome to the world of abundance and abundant thinking! An abundance mindset is a belief that there are enough resources and opportunities in life for everyone to share. We just need to open our eyes and minds to them and believe in the possibilities.
When you view the world and life with abundance you think big, you don’t hold yourself back from your ambitious, audacious plans. You are optimistic, focussing on what you already have rather than what you lack, and are positive in your thinking about the future. You know that there are enough pieces of the pie for everyone. You have a generous spirit, being happy for others success and even celebrating it with them if you know them personally.
The abundance mindset is also about embracing change positively and seeing the opportunities in it. You are an action taker, ready to seize opportunities as they appear and keep an open mind as to the direction you'll take. Abundant thinkers also plan ahead and make things happen, knowing your talents and mitigating your weaknesses. You also have a glass-half-full mentality and don’t immediately assume the worst when there is a change in your life or you are waiting on the answer to a situation you care about.
The good news is that although we are hardwired with a scarcity view of the world, we have the choice of what to focus on, you can choose to have a more abundant mindset. There are things you can do to train your brain away from scarcity and towards abundance.
Review Your Past
The first thing you can try is to find out where your belief that time, money, opportunity or something else is scarce specifically came from. In other words what happened in your life that you have developed your scarcity mindset? Although it is programmed in our brains, in some people the scarcity mindset is much stronger because of something that happened in their past. Have a think back through your life and what messages you got from friends, family or teachers. Did anyone have a big influence on you that your current beliefs could have come from? Or was there an experience that affected you deeply that you remember to this day?
By discovering where it came from you can reason with yourself why your belief in scarcity is not a valid belief now. This can be really effective when you think back on childhood experiences in particular. You can consider beliefs from then with an adult's rational brain and hopefully diffuse or lessen those scarcity beliefs lodged in your mind.
Live With Gratitude
Gratitude is a massive part of abundance - appreciate where you have come from and what you have in abundance already in your life. By being grateful for what you have and appreciative of your successes when they come, you will attract more to you. But if you mainly think about what you haven’t achieved and focus on all you haven’t done with your life it will feel like your life is not worth anything.
Inspirational speaker Tony Robbins says, “When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears.” Or in other words, focus on what you already have and make peace with the present moment. Because then you're not living in a state of fear and can experience the many benefits of gratitude including making better decisions for the future. So get into the habit of taking the time each day or each week or even just each month to think about how much you have. It could be you have time with your loved ones, or you have a great circle of family and friends, or that you're healthy and fit, or simply that you have a roof over your head and food on the table.
Self-belief
Another way to welcome a more abundant mindset is to work towards developing a strong belief in yourself. To believe that you have the skills and experience and confidence to make what you want to happen actually happen. That you are enough and you are worthy to receive what you want. It also means trusting that you can and will take the steps you’re supposed to take to make it happen. David Schwartz writer of The Magic of Thinking Big said “The size of your success is determined by the size of your belief.” So make your belief in yourself and in the possibility that what you want will happen as big as can be.
Abundance-Minded People
Power up your abundant mindset by hanging around with others who either are also trying to look at life through an abundant lens or that are naturally more abundant in their outlook. Hang around others with abundant attitudes to life. They will help you to keep a positive and optimistic frame of mind.
Thinking abundantly is not about thinking positively and believing magically that everything will turn out. Abundant thinking is about believing something is possible, which frees your mind up to get on with making it happen without being tangled up in a web of self-doubt and feelings of lacking something.
Check Yourself And Your Self-talk
So check in with yourself. Be aware of what you are thinking, saying and doing, are you acting from a place of abundance or scarcity? If you find yourself constantly using language that is defeatist and telling yourself that something is not possible, flip your mindset from negative to positive. For example,
If you see someone gain success in the same business you would love to start or have already started, then rather than see them as a threat or competition, celebrate that if they are successful then it means there is a need for your business idea, and there are lots of potential customers out there. One person or business will find it difficult to work with or provide something for all the people and maybe your unique take on the business idea will be more attractive anyway.
Taking some time to check in with your thoughts, and to be mindful—whether that is through meditation or just paying attention to the current moment can slow our brains down so we can think more clearly. Often in this way you realise your thoughts are irrational and you should not waste your time on them. Time which would be better spent getting into action to move forward.
Take Action
And that leads me to my last tip on this which is to take action towards whatever it is you want. It’s hard to maintain a scarcity mindset when you are getting things done. Take responsibility, feel in control and create magic by taking action. Don’t blame others, your circumstances, or your conditions for your outcomes. Keep focused and have tunnel vision of achieving what you want without worrying about what others are doing, or if there is enough time, energy or resources to get it done.
Believe me, when you start checking off all the things on your 9-5 exit checklist or your business start-up plan, you’ll stop thinking about what you don’t have and start believing that you really can smash your goals.
THE BOTTOM LINE IS…
Whether you are thinking about leaving the 9 to 5, changing careers or even staying in the same career, it's essential to develop an abundance mindset, or you will always be holding yourself back because of imagined barriers.
An abundant mindset is important for us all, particularly entrepreneurs and anyone who wants to be their own boss or make another big change in their lives. Remember there is a world of opportunity out there.
Gaining an abundant mindset will not happen overnight, and you do need to work at it. But by adding some of the methods I’ve given into your day you will start to see a shift.
Train your mind to recognise the possibilities that are all around you and remember to think big, because this life is not a rehearsal.
Links mentions in this episode
WebMD - Scarcity mentality: Cause, Symptoms and more
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success book by Carol Dweck
The Magic of Thinking Big book by David Joseph Schwartz
