Go From A Scarcity To Abundance With A Gratitude Mindset
Have you ever thought of how you can go from Scarcity to Abundance with a Gratitude Mindset?
Have you paid much attention to that track record that’s running at the back of your mind daily?
Are your thoughts focused on lack instead of offering Thanksgiving for what you already have?
Do you feel fearful and see everything in a negative light?
Maybe your focus is on what you don’t have instead of practicing an attitude of gratitude.
Being happy, hopeful, and positive affect us on a deep level.
We want to improve all aspects of our lives to realize our full potential – as women.
It may seem that everything goes well for someone positive and motivated – they receive all the blessings.
Whereas someone positive and motivated, whereas things seem to work against you for you.
Do you feel like the Universe is silent, and no one is here to help you?
Sometimes we feel like we don’t have the support of family and friends.
Or we lack the resources to fulfill our purpose.
In his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change, Stephen Covey explains that when we live in a world of scarcity, we need to compete for resources.
We lack a mindset of gratitude.
We have no awareness that there is an abundance of resources available in the world for everyone.
Does this sound familiar?
The Scarcity Principle
The Scarcity Principle works on Reactance – increases its perceived attractiveness and value.
- Rare only the first 3 people
- Unique – just for family and friends only
- Time-limited Black Friday sale
A Scarcity Mindset
A scarcity mindset believes that there is lacking, and nothing is ever enough.
When a mind thinks this way, we fill it with anxious thoughts.
Feelings of fear and stress will make us act selfishly.
Remember, people, rushing to buy masks and toilet paper at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic?
A grateful mindset flows out of a deep inner sense of security grounded in the belief there is more than enough for everyone.
How can we heal our Scarcity Mindset?
I first learned about the Scarcity Mindset from Stephen Covey’s book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” The book says explains the scarcity mindset:
“Most people are deeply scripted in what I call the Scarcity Mentality.
They see life as having only so much, as though there was only one pie out there.
And if someone were to get a sizeable piece of the apple pie, it would mean everybody else gets lesser.
The Scarcity Mentality is the zero-sum paradigm of life.
People with a Scarcity Mentality have a hard time sharing recognition and credit, power or profit–even with those who help in the production.
They have a hard time being happy when other people are successful.”
The Scarcity Mindset
A Scarcity Mindset revolves around that there will never be enough, resulting in feelings of fear, stress, and anxiety. It makes a person feel insecure, inadequate, and jealous of others.
It also makes you think if one person gets it, everyone else can’t have it.
The Scarcity Mindset focuses on the short term of every decision.
It’s like going to a restaurant without finding the food but deciding to order every item on the entire menu.
Sometimes you hear of women comparing each other’s bodies, outfits, sex lives, promotions, and successes.
You probably heard of people who remove the entire tray of oysters from the buffet line to their table for the same purpose I don’t want to be left out.
I must have it right now so they can’t be taken away later.
The Scarcity Mindset ignores the long term of every choice; everything is short term gain.
There is no progress where you grow from improving a little bit at a time on a regular basis.
What are the 3 types of Scarcity?
Scarcity falls into three distinctive categories :
- demand-induced
- supply induced
- structural
Demand-induced scarcity happens when the demand for the resource increases and the supply stays the same.
Fast-growing national populations put pressure on natural resources (water scarcity) in urban areas.
Rising prosperity (shown by higher per capita incomes) leads to increased ownership of properties and the use of resource-intensive consumer durables.
What are the three effects of Scarcity?
The Scarcity Effect is the cognitive bias that makes people place a higher value on a scarce object.
This lowers value on something that is abundantly available.
Scarce objects immediately become more desirable than a readily available product.
Scarcity increases negative emotions, which affect our decisions.
They link socioeconomic scarcity to negative emotions like anxiety and depression.
How does Scarcity affect my life?
The scarcity of resources can affect us just because we can’t always have what we want.
If you don’t have a job, lack of money and funds means you may not buy the dream car you want.
To adjust, we have to either earn more money or adjust our dream car to afford something more realistic.
These changes can affect thought processes and behaviors and affect families and communities.
To adjust, we have to either earn more money or adjust our dream car to afford something more realistic.
The effects of scarcity contribute to the cycle of poverty.
“What would men be without women? Scarce, sir…mighty scarce.” ― Mark Twain
The Abundance Mindset
Covey illustrates the Abundance Mindset flows out of a deep inner sense of personal worth and security – grounded in the belief there is more than enough for everyone.
It is the paradigm where there is plenty to spare out there for everyone.
The Abundance Mindset results in a sharing of profits recognition, prestige, and decision-making, which opens creativity, options, alternatives, and endless possibilities.
The focus is on the long-term stem from a deep understanding that even though you may not get something now, it doesn’t mean you can’t have it after that.
Someone else getting that promotion does not mean you will never be promoted or get a better job.
When we have positive feelings towards others, it is easier to feel happy for someone else.
There is no internal pain or jealousy of someone else’s success you too can be successful; it takes nothing away from you.
For personal finance, having an abundance mindset means you can invest confidently and become neutral about taxes.
The two sureties in life are death and taxes.
What does it mean to have an Abundance Mindset?
Someone with an abundant mentality is an optimist and is genuinely happy for others when they achieve success.
Conversely, those with a Scarcity Mindset are competitive and resent other’s success.
What does it mean to have Abundance?
The definition of abundance is to have a sizeable amount of something or have more than you need.
It’s often used to describe positive qualities, such as “an abundance of love.” Abundance is the opposite of scarcity.
An example of abundance would have a huge bumper crop of wheat for the year.
An abundance of wealth is having a ton of cash.
What God says about Abundance Is What We Say About Having a Gratitude Mindset?
The origin of the term “abundant life” comes from the Bible verse John 10:10b “I have come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.” “More abundantly” means to have a superabundance of a thing.
“Abundant life” refers to life in its abounding fullness of joy and strength for spirit, soul, and body.
What is the difference between Scarcity and Abundance?
Abundance means knowing that you are enough.
You know that you will have enough.
Instead of the darkness and hopelessness of a Scarcity Mindset, Abundance is a feeling of excitement, positivity, and hopefulness in life.
What is the difference between Scarcity and Abundance?
Abundance means knowing that you are enough.
You know that you will have enough.
Instead of the darkness and hopelessness of a Scarcity Mindset, Abundance is a feeling of excitement, positivity, and hopefulness in life.
How do you go from scarcity to an abundance mindset?
- Focus on what you have.
- Surround yourself with people that have an abundance mindset.
- Create win-win situations.
- Incorporate gratitude into your daily life.
- Train your mind to recognize the possibilities.
The Law of Balance
“Abundance means being generous with others and grateful when others give to you.”
According to this law, whatever you give to the world will give back to you.
How to Switch to an Abundance Mindset and Cultivate Growth
Naturally, it makes sense to cultivate and adopt an abundance mindset.
Frugal living makes little sense if there is no joy in life’s important aspects, such as friendships, romance, career success, and skill-building.
When you push the Scarcity Mentality out of your life, you can open up and start building an Abundance Mindset to cultivate growth.
Here are some ways you can start with.
Have Appreciative Conversations About Gratitude
When you engage in conversations with friends and family, ask about things that have gone well for them in the last week.
Please focus on the things they are working on or building.
If they need encouragement or help, make an offer, and share.
Talk about personal successes and celebrate your achievements.
Leave out the pains and failures—all the things that don’t augur well, you can edit and leave those bits out of the conversation.
Keep ideas in mind and look forward to spending positive and enriching conversations.
Declutter Your Home and Organize Your Life
Over the years, we accumulate a lot of clutter in our life.
Look at your closet; it may surprise you to see you no longer wear your old clothes but still keep them around.
The simple process of decluttering, taking charge of organizing your possessions, and your time will help with your workflow—and ultimately create an abundance mindset.
Organizing things exposes you directly to the riches you already have that you can grow more or repurpose.
“If you don’t need it – Junk it” – Doris Lim
Reduce Your Consumption of Advertising – Social Media Shows a Filtered View.
Most forms of media get their revenue from the sale of advertising space.
You will be constantly bombarded with advertisements taunting a desire for things you don’t have.
The best way is to read books or listen to music instead of watch television or go on YouTube.
You can make better use of your time, gardening, or making crafts.
Use that time out to do something meaningful, like exercising or learning to cook a new recipe.
Share What Your Gratitude Mindset With Others.
When you share, a few things happen.
First is the feel-good feeling that you can help improve another person’s life.
Second, the item that is sitting at home is being used by someone else.
Third, when you regularly share, you will find others willing to share with you, too it can be information and help.
Sharing is not always about sharing possessions or giving away money.
The best sharing is time and knowledge well spent to connect with the people in your circle or community.
You can spend an afternoon catching up or helping a neighbor.
Attempt to connect with people and also to introduce like-minded people to each other who share common goals.
When you have an abundant mindset, you have plenty more where that came from, so sharing isn’t a big deal at all.
Grateful people are always happy even when they have to face difficult circumstances.
Try to create “Win-Win” Situations.
A Positive Mindset creates “Win-Win” Situations as there is so much to go around.
A Scarcity Mindset believes that for every winner, there must be a loser.
The false belief that not everyone can win because there isn’t enough to go around.
When you create situations where everyone gets to shine and everyone gets to share, everyone wins.
There are no losers, only opportunities for growth.
Sharing A Gratitude Mindset – Look for Positives in Every Loss (The WIN comes after)
Sometimes life gives you a lemon.
Instead of having questions after questions about how unfair life is and bemoaning your fortunes look at the “luckier ones”; they are lucky because they have made sacrifices.
They might suffer some losses too, but they aren’t overwhelmed by the negatives but continue to strive to get better.
Reflect on those positives events.
You can read books on how people have overcome adversities in their lives.
It is good to keep in mind and have the awareness that at least something good came out of every challenging circumstance we encounter.
Stop Comparing Yourself to Others – You will attract a Scarcity Mindset.
For the Scarcity Mindset, everything hinges on how you compare to others.
It is as if only your wellbeing and suffering matters.
With a gratitude mindset, you count your blessings, how much personal growth you have made this matter most in living out your own ideas in your day-to-day life.
Social media, Instagram, and even Tweets often highlight a reel of someone’s life, showing off all the good things glossed over and shiny.
Do you ask questions about the bad, the failures, and the mundane that are hidden from the scrutiny of prying eyes?
You will naturally feel ingratitude if you compare your life with others.
If you’re struggling with comparing yourself to others, cut back on Facebook and other forms of social media.
The strategy on social media only serves to make you feel worst off.
Besides who can live their life on Instagram? It’s not real, even the traffic can be bought.
Instead, focus on thinking about what you can do right now to improve your life.
When you believe and are grateful everything will flow into place.
- Believe you are worthy of happiness.
- Focus on what you have right now.
- End the cycle of learned helplessness.
- Purge jealousies.
- Respect the power of money.
- Study of wealth.
- Give your money away.
Keep a Gratitude Journal
Spend a bit of time each day being grateful for the moments that fill us with joy and lift our spirits.
- Record all the things that go well in your life.
- Things you are grateful for.
- Even if you can’t think of anything be thankful for your strong heart beating to keep you alive.
That little constant reminder of the good things that happen, done at the end of each day teaches us humility and gratitude.
We grow from Scarcity To Abundance with a Gratitude Mindset this way because our life is already full of good things.
When we have an abundance mindset, investing seems like we are giving a gift to our future self – and that feels good.
Remember, ours is full of wonderful things, places, and experiences more than you can ever explore, and each moment is something worth celebrating.
I celebrate my moments with my Bae. We want to live a purpose-driven life with our goals in line with our core values and beliefs.
If you’ve never written out your goals in the past, now is the time to do so – it allows you to materialize your genuine desires in front of your mind’s eye.
Final Word on Living a Life of Growth with A Gratitude Mindset
- Smile.
- Be thankful for what you have.
- Start your days right.
- Prepare yourself for opportunities.
- Make the most out of every opportunity.
- Build friendships along the way.
- Build upon what you’ve established.
Ultimately, remember when you move from Scarcity To Abundance with a Gratitude Mindset – what you believe is what you receive, and this is a brilliant strategy for happiness.
Doris Lim Writes Gratitude – Little Inspiration Blog Writes Gratitude Story To Inspire Women Watch Incredible Things Happen To Change People One Experience At A Time.
