How to Shift from a Scarcity to an Abundance Mindset
Have you ever paid attention to your thoughts for a day?
Are your thoughts generally fearful, negative, focused on what you don’t have? Or are they generally hopeful, positive, focused on the things you do have?
Do you feel like everything is working against you? Or, do you feel like the Universe is there to help you?
Do you feel like you’ll never be able to fulfill your purpose because you don’t have the resources? Or, do you focus on living your purpose no matter what resources you currently have?
In his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change, Stephen Covey explains that when you live in a world of scarcity, you compete for available resources, even when there is an abundance of them.
Does this sound familiar?
We see this a lot in corporate environments. Promotions and raises are few and far between. There are not enough women on our leadership team or board. We’re constantly in competition with similar businesses, vying for a bigger share of the market.
And in recent events like the Coronavirus pandemic, we’re scrambling for the last roll of toilet paper, the last bottle of hand sanitizer, the last box of pasta or can of beans. When just days before, the shelves in stores across the country were stocked full of them.
Fear of the unknown can cause us to think with a scarcity mindset. A scarcity mindset is the belief that there will never be enough, resulting in feelings of fear, stress, and anxiety.
On the other hand, an abundance mindset flows out of a deep inner sense of personal worth and security. It’s grounded in the belief that there is more than enough for everyone.
An abundance mindset can help us relieve our fears and anxieties in these uncertain times. When we feel secure and confident about what we already have (whether that’s enough food, or enough knowledge), we’re channeling an abundance mindset.
Here’s how you can shift from a Scarcity to an Abundance Mindset:
While abundance is often associated with money, it’s not limited to financial thoughts. It shows up in every thought you think. Thoughts you have like, “things aren’t going my way,” “why is this happening to me?” Which can lead to even more fearful, scarcity thoughts.
Here are a few examples of a scarcity vs. abundance mindset:
When someone gives you a gift that you don’t particularly like, scarcity says, “They know I don’t like this, I don’t know why they got this for me!” Abundance says, “Wow, that was so nice! I can’t believe they remembered my birthday.”
When you get the email from the recruiter letting you know they’re moving on to other candidates, scarcity says, “I didn’t get this job, I’m not good enough, I will never get a job!” While abundance says, “That wasn’t the right fit for me. My dream job is still out there waiting for me. I’ll keep looking.”
Thinking about the gender pay gap, scarcity says, “Why does this guy get to sit around and do nothing and earn more than I do, when I need to work twice as hard to earn less?” Abundance says, “I don’t have to work twice as hard to prove my worth. I bring so much value to this team. My gifts will make room for me.”
Scarcity says why is this happening to me. Abundance says what is here for me.
Related: How a Scarcity Mindset Prevents You from Living Your Purpose
Focus on what you have
If you haven’t noticed by now, an abundance mindset is simply always looking for gratitude. It’s about choosing to see the positive and focus on what you already have.
When you focus on the things you’re grateful for, you naturally pull yourself out of the scarcity mindset. Gratitude is all about having appreciation for the good things in your life, or the lessons you learned along the way, which helps you cultivate an abundance mindset.
The word appreciation means to increase in value. So, when you concentrate on the good feelings you get from practicing gratitude, those positive feelings will increase. And so will the good things in your life, because you’ll start to notice them more often.
And when you notice the good things in your life, you can’t help but feel more abundant.
You can start by writing down five things you’re grateful for each night before going to sleep, or as soon as you wake up in the morning. Or, go on a gratitude rampage and start listing (or taking mental note) of everything you can see, hear, or think of.
Look for the lesson
When we feel like things aren’t going our way, it’s easy to get caught up in a scarcity mindset. “I can’t believe this is happening to me,” “I’ll never get ahead,” “I’ll probably lose my job over this.”
When you catch yourself in this scarcity spiral, think about a lesson you could learn from the situation. Is there another perspective you can take?
Did a mistake at work lead to a negative performance review? Did your best friend finally get her dream job, and you feel a little jealous? Did you choose to stay in your comfort zone instead of asking for the salary you deserve?
What lesson is here for you? How can you use this situation to grow and develop? Finding the lesson in these situations helps you shift to an abundance mindset and see more possibilities available to you.
Believe you are enough
I know this is easier said than done. Many of us struggle with a lack of self-worth. Stories from our past lead us to believe that we’re not good enough or smart enough or pretty enough to get what we want. Or, that what we want is stupid, ridiculous, or never going to happen.
Do you believe that you deserve the good things in your life? Do you feel guilty for what you have? Start by exploring these feelings.
When you have thoughts of scarcity, it’s easy to see everything from this place. It’s easy to believe that you don’t have enough education, or you need one more certification before you can apply for the job or get the promotion or find your purpose. It’s easy to believe that you won’t get the salary you deserve or that you don’t deserve to pursue your life purpose.
Shifting your thoughts to believe that you are inherently worthy will help you develop an abundance mindset. Know that you are worthy by virtue of being here, being human. You deserve to have anything you want in the world.
Believing that you deserve more doesn’t mean someone else gets less. Sometimes, we think, “why do I deserve this when there are so many people suffering in the world?”
This belief implies that some people are worth more than others. That some people are more deserving of things than other people. And if that were true, then it means that some people are better than other people. Which is simply not true.
Instead, shift your thoughts to believe that everyone is worthy. Everyone is deserving of everything in the world simply because they exist. There is more than enough to go around.
And yes, there will always be people suffering around the world. But you get to choose what part of that suffering you want to change. You can choose guilt and comparison because you don’t believe you’re worthy of what you have, or you could choose to use your resources to make an impact in the world.
It feels better to believe you are worthy, and it feels good to help other people. Those good feelings keep you in an abundant mindset.
The Takeaway
When you can see your life and career from a more abundant place, you’ll create more abundance. It starts with a deep and profound sense of our own inherent worth.
When we believe that we deserve to have enough, and that there is more than enough to go around, this abundance mindset creates more opportunities, more creativity, and more possibilities for us to make an impact and do good in the world.
Take action now: To strengthen your abundance mindset, grab your journal and consider the following questions: Where in my life do I allow scarcity-minded thoughts? How can I shift those thoughts to an abundance mindset? Where in my life am I already abundant? How can I bring more abundance into my life?
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