How to Live with Abundance
Good morning!
I talk about growth mindset consistently. To me that means always learning, always helping, always looking for ways to grow and improve. It also means living in abundance.
To describe what it means to be living with an abundance mindset, you must first identify the opposite: a scarcity mindset.
Scarcity is something usually used in terms of economics. It means a shortage, lack or undersupply.
In regards to mindset, we must flip the switch and catch ourselves when we are practicing traits of a scarcity mindset.
Here are five signs you are living a scarcity mindset and tips to overcome it:
BELIEVING SITUATIONS ARE PERMANENT
Maybe it’s your current job, financial situation or health. A scarcity mindset is one that believes you are stuck in this situation and that’s just the way life is. In reality, you control your own destiny. You can get a new job, you can change your financial situation and you can become healthier. It involves risk, hard work and opening up your mind and way of thinking.
TIP: If you want to change your situation, you must have a plan of action. As Benjamin Franklin said, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” Want a new job? First, identify what you want to do. Next, what education and experience do you need? After that, search for jobs, see what is available and work on developing the necessary traits and experience they are looking for. Listen, this doesn’t all happen at once so the first step is setting aside time to identify what you want to do. Start with step one.
2. NOT BEING GENEROUS
Listen, we all like money. You need money to survive. However, there is a difference between being greedy and living a fulfilling, comfortable life. With a scarcity mindset, you never pay it forward and are not a generous person. The great thing is you don’t need any money to be a generous person. Sure, you can donate to a charity or organization, but being generous can be volunteering time, lending a helping hand to a neighbor or something as simple as donating your old clothes or bottles.
TIP: Don’t worry about monetary donations. If you have the means to do that, great. That doesn’t mean you’re any better than the person who doesn’t have that and can only donate their time and old clothes. As long as you are doing your best to be a better human, that is living in abundance.
3. YOU ARE JEALOUS
Social media has really reared this one and its ugly head. Everyone lives their “best life” on social media but in reality, everyone has struggles. If you are living in scarcity, you often are jealous of others' success from buying a new home, getting a job promotion or transforming their body.
TIP: Being jealous of others takes away the focus on your own life. If you spend time worrying about others and what they are doing and wasting energy on jealousy, you are not spending time being thankful for what you do have and how you can improve your own life. What is one thing you are thankful for today? By getting into this mindset, you now turn instead to gratitude instead of jealousy.
4. BEING REACTIVE AND PLAYING DEFENSE
In sports, you must have a good defense to be successful. Without an offense though, you can never win. Ties don’t win championships. I love sports metaphors and as a business owner, I know it’s probably important to know your competition. For me though, I spend almost zero time or energy worrying about competition. Instead, I spend time bettering my own business. I don’t want to be living a reactive life. If you are living a reactive life, you are always playing catch up. I want to be living a proactive life. I want to control my destiny, play offense and move things forward instead of constantly trying to stay afloat. In your own life, stop playing defense all of the time. Scarcity is worrying about what others are doing and what others think. Start playing offense.
TIP: Start being proactive today. Maybe you want to improve your health? Be proactive with your meal prep. Maybe you want to save money? Be proactive by setting a budget. You can do it.
5. USING THOUGHTS AND WORDS OF SCARCITY
“What you think, you become. Be careful of your thoughts, for your thoughts become your words. Be careful of your words, for your words become your actions. Be careful of your actions, for your actions become your habits.” Those are words from Gandhi. One who lives with a scarcity mindset often says, “I can’t” or “I don’t” or “I’m not.” If you say that, those become your actions and eventually become your habits, which means limiting yourself.
TIP: Start flipping those statements around to say “I will,” “I can,” “I do.” If you start saying it and believing it, those become your habits.
What is one area you can get better at and live a life with an abundance mindset?