Wednesday, June 27, 2018
Abundance versus Scarcity Mentalities
The mind is a funny thing. I won’t speak for anyone else, but I know I have completely imagined fictitious scenarios in my mind to justify a decision. Kind of scary isn’t it? How something completely within your own head can stop you from doing something that may be better for your life. This is why your mindset is so very important. 2 distinctly different views are abundance and scarcity. I believe we all have a bit of both kicking around in our heads. However, it is important to develop and maintain an abundance mentality. The reason is simple, more is always better than less when speaking of wealth. It has become apparent in these turbulent times that many have a scarcity mentality. Today I will show you the differences between both mentalities to help you on a path to a wealthy mindset. This style of thinking may dictate how you go about your life and it will often determine your success.
Winning
While many things in life are a direct competition with your peers, overall life is not a competition with others. Life is a competition with yourself, in an attempt to get the most out of life. People with an abundance mentality believe everyone can win. They focus on building a winning mentality and try not to rely on luck. They know luck is fleeting and unpredictable.
The scarcity mentality thinks luck dictates success. While you work hard to get what you want in life, they think you are very lucky. In my mind, the only luck that exists in terms of success is the fact that we were born into a land of great opportunity, hopefully with our health intact. Those of us who have that, are indeed lucky. Beyond that, our success has very little to do with luck and more to do with determination and hard work. The scarcity mentality does not look at it this way. Being born with a chance is a birthright, any success after that is luck. This is, in fact, the opposite of what is true.
More
If you have an abundance mentality, you believe that there is enough out there for everyone. There is enough love, success, wealth, resources, sunshine, and opportunities to get what you want in life. Making your mark will determine your success in life, not the availability of opportunity.
Those with the scarcity mentality always believe that in order to get what they want, someone else must give it up. There is limited wealth, so I must take some of yours. These are the workplace backstabbers, the teacher’s pets, the group-thinkers, the lazy procrastinators. By the way, they are also the racists, homophobes, Islamophobes, xenophobes, and anti-feminists. Someone is always trying to take what’s mine, and I must stop them. All the while, trying to take what is someone else’s. Just a heads up, if you earn something, it can never be taken from you. There is enough juice out there for everyone, and if your cup is empty, you only have yourself to blame.
The Frugal Mindset Will Make Your Life Better – Budget Boss
The success of others
Those with an abundance mentality see others with success and are encouraged. They will try to emulate that success, and often will look for mentorship for someone from that person. They applaud the success of others, all the while looking to make themselves even more successful.
Those with the scarcity mentality do not wish success for others. If you have success and I don’t, something is wrong with you, not me. Every plan is doomed to fail, and every win was just a lucky fluke. Abundance believes in being like successful people. Scarcity believes in taking success from successful people. If they cannot take it, they will try to diminish it.
Change
How we react to change will often determine our success in life. Think about the last 10 years. I had a Motorola Razor flip phone 10 years ago and was blown away with my “In Tha Club” ringtone. Now we are doing our banking on our watches. Abundance mentality embraces change. They know it is necessary for growth. They see within themselves what needs to change in order to become who they want to become.
Scarcity mentality fears change. They are settlers. What they have is good enough, because losing it would be devastating. Because of this they never venture outside their realm and often never realize their true potential. Not only is change scary to them, it is foolish to them. “What could be better than this?”
10 Steps to Develop an Abundance Mindset – The Chopra Centre
Problems
An abundance mentality seeks to be proactive with their problems. They attempt to anticipate them, reduce their effect, and solve them with speed. They know there will always be issues that need to be dealt with in life and that how they solve them will determine their success.
A scarcity mentality will shy from problems and act like they don’t exist. If a problem is not addressed, then there is no problem. These are the people with unpaid bills, leaky roofs, empty retirement accounts, and dead-end jobs. While it may be necessary at times to live through a problem, you should always be on the road to eliminating it. Be proactive with issues, not reactive.
Humility
This is one most of us have an issue with, including myself. On the road of life, you are always learning and growing. If you are not, then you are not reaching your potential. The abundant mentality understands that they need to learn more and tries to do so. They realize their flaws in terms of knowledge but don’t get down on themselves for it. They strive to learn more and get better often by surrounding themselves with those who are knowledgeable.
The scarcity mentality thinks they know enough and that their work is done. Knowledge growth ended with organized education and now they are set. There is a sense of accomplishment for just being that exists and no need for growth. Anything that is achieved is once again birthright, anything that isn’t is once again luck.
Victimhood
When it comes to being a victim, it gets a little blurry. No one wants to be thought of as a victim, yet many of us enjoy being felt sorry for. For those with an abundance mentality, nothing could be more devastating than being thought of as a victim. Problems that arise are part of the journey to success, not an opportunity for pity.
The scarcity mentality is, in fact, the opposite. When you believe there is little to be had, you put yourself in the position of being a victim. You often will embrace it, knowing it will allow you to not have to accept blame for failure. The admittance of blame is key to growth. Take your lumps and learn from it. Doing so will improve your life more than you can imagine.
Life is Too Expensive: What Can I Do? – Budget Boss
Gratitude
Gratitude is a funny thing. I often look around and see what it is I do not have yet. The things I think I should be doing or the place I imagine I should already be. Having those thoughts themselves is somewhat of a blessing. To be capable of understanding where you are in life and to be able to think of where you want to be is extremely humbling. The abundance mentality is always thankful for what they have as they strive for more. A sound mind, healthy body, food in your belly and a roof over your head is more than most people have in this world.
When you have a scarcity mentality you will always think of what you don’t have, neglecting the things you do have. Thinking you deserve better is of no use if you are unwilling to take the steps to do so. We all need to be thankful for what we have as it will allow us to strive to grow even more. When you don’t appreciate what you have, there is no foundation to grow wealth, it’s just that simple.
While it may be hard to conceive at times, I do believe in abundance. I believe wealth is achievable by all through wise decisions and hard work. Having the right mentality is the first step. After that, the following steps will seem easy.
“The key to abundance is meeting limited circumstances with unlimited thoughts.” – Marianne Williamson
Email – joe@budgetboss.ca
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