Maintain an Abundance Mindset Amid the Scarcity

An abundance mindset creates more abundance. So why do so many people only see scarcity?

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We discussed abundance and scarcity on The BIGG Success Show today. Here’s a summary of that discussion.

This show was inspired by an article on Forbes by Ginger Dean, founder of Girls Just Wanna Have Funds. We talked about how your mindset affects your money, your career, and your life.

We write this as a reminder to ourselves. We hope it helps you as well.

The scarcity mindset

We define scarcity as a “lack-seeking attitude”.

It goes deeper than the half-empty or half-full glass. That’s what you see, your perception.

A scarcity mindset is what you feel, a belief.

A person with a scarcity mindset looks for a half-empty glass until he or she finds one. Or better yet, an empty glass. And then another. And another.

They spiral downward. Scarcity leads to despair. Before you know it, they kick the cat. Then they’re happy, because they’re miserable.

The scarcity mindset vs reality

But let’s push back against our first point. What if someone is stuck financially? What if they live paycheck to paycheck? What if they never seem to have enough?

While money is important, it’s not the sum of our existence. It’s one area of our lives. We should resist the urge to let a deficiency in one area extend to all areas.

The con (and pro) of comparing yourself to others

Money woes often create woes in other areas of our lives. For example, how can you hold an abundance mentality when you see your friends on Facebook posting stuff you can’t afford, like vacations or a new home?

You know what you see, but what about what you don’t see.

They may not be able to afford the item they’re displaying so proudly on Facebook. Or maybe they can.

They may be deep in debt. Or not.

The point is – you don’t know. You’re only seeing a small snippet of their financial life. And if you’re seeing it on social media, it’s as close to perfect as one can get.

So, you don’t have enough information to make an accurate comparison. That’s the con – comparing yourself to others can drag you down.

But there is a pro – comparing yourself to others can lift you up…

…IF you have the facts,

…IF you can get a full snapshot of your friends’ and neighbors’ finances.

Then, you can know how to improve your own financial situation. You can easily do this with our Financial Freedom Tool.

The abundance mindset

Let’s start with a question: What difference does mindset make? Quite simply, you get what you think!

A scarcity mindset breeds more scarcity while an abundance mindset begets abundance.

It’s easy to see scarcity. That’s why it’s the path most people follow. But the abundance mindset is the narrow path.

How can you be one of the few?

In the post we mentioned earlier, Ginger makes a great point: Money needs direction. You need a budget or a financial plan.

In addition, you can create a fortune by feeling fortunate. It’s the reverse of the downward spiral we mentioned earlier. You can spiral upward by seeing the abundance of opportunities available to you now. It leads to BIGG success!