Abundance vs. Scarcity Mindset - Video Transcript

Hey everyone, I'm Kristen the anxiety therapist, thanks for checking out my blog today. I'm going to be talking about the scarcity versus abundance mindset and this is a concept that was first coined by Stephen Covey who wrote the seven habits of highly effective people. I'm actually reading that now and it's pretty interesting, so I'd recommend checking it out if you haven't already.

Um but basically the idea behind this is if we have an abundance mindset, we see there being enough resources to go around. Um so this leads to more options, choices, more opportunities and there's a sense of trust in um kind of things that are outside of our immediate control. On the flip side, if we have a scarcity mindset, then we experience feelings of lack and competition.

So things feel a lot more high stakes, which ultimately contributes to feelings of anxiety. Um we tend to focus more on limitations and not opportunities and we see someone else's achievement as sort of meaning that we lost something in in some way. So if somebody else succeeds then it, it's sort of directly correlates with us not succeeding, which isn't always the case and it, it really keeps us from achieving our goals because we sort of place these um mental limitations on ourselves that keep us stuck as opposed to looking at other opportunities or expanding our awareness or seeing other options out there. So the corporate world has really sort of conditioned us to have a scarcity mindset, um you know, promotions and raises tend to be scarce and so we feel like there's a lot of competition behind receiving one of those. We see resources as being limited, managers can hoard information or really micromanage their employees and there's a lot of short term thinking as opposed to what would be best in the long term, which is more of that abundance mindset if we're thinking more long term and not just sort of instant gratification.

So what can we do in order to shift from a scarcity to abundance mindset? Well a lot of times if we have, if we're prone to anxiety, let's say we tend to have very negative fistic thinking and so this sort of predisposes us to just naturally have a scarcity mindset right? We sort of see the glass is being half empty as opposed and were more pessimistic, we're more cynical and whatnot.

So um one thing that you can do is focus on what you have, so it's important to recognize what we have because what we tend to focus on growth. So if we're focusing on what we already have then that will continue to grow versus this sense of lack and focusing on what we don't have, then that is what will continue to grow in our mindset and we'll sort of, it becomes sort of like the self fulfilling prophecy where um we subconsciously make that our reality, the second thing is to surround yourself with people who tend to have a more positive mindset or have an abundance mindset because really we tend to be the combination of the five people that we surround ourselves with the most so you want to make sure that the people you're hanging out with that that you respect them and you admire them and um that you know you kind of strive to be like them in some way in terms of being the best version of yourself, so you want to make sure that the people you're surrounding yourself with are building you up there, making you feel like you can accomplish your goals and be the best version of yourself.

Um third is to look for a win win situation. So a lot of times if we have a scarcity mindset um we see things as being a win lose, so if we win someone else loses and vice versa if someone else wins, we lose. But there's a lot of collaboration that can occur that actually allows people to have a win win situation and what you really need to do in order to achieve that is um to be open and understanding and nonjudgmental and just really listen to other's ideas and how um you might be able to benefit each other and sort of have this reciprocal working relationship and this isn't just in regard to work, this is also in terms of personal relationships as well. Um 4th thing is to practice gratitude daily. Um this is a concept that comes from positive psychology and it's really kind of widespread and believed that gratitude really makes a difference in terms of overall well being.

So um would I often recommend to my clients is to keep a gratitude journal where before you go to bed each night you just drop down. Five things that happened that day that you're grateful for and it doesn't have to be anything big or monumental, but you know, maybe you had an extra 10 minutes before you got to work and so you were able to get that stop and get that cup of coffee that you were craving or you know, something as minuscule as that.

But just when, when we're intentional about focusing our attention more on the positive, then again, that is what tends to grow and then finally we can train our mind to recognize possibilities. So a lot of times if we are prone to anxiety, we can get fixated on something in particular and get really fixated, especially if we feel like we don't have control over that.

And so then any other possibilities or thoughts that come into mind that doesn't fit with that or doesn't lead to that outcome. We will kind of dispel and discredit, but this, this occurs outside of our awareness, we don't necessarily recognize that our thoughts are um are responding that way, but we will only integrate information that kind of fits with whatever it is that whatever outcome we're looking for. So it's really important to um just be open and receptive to other ideas and expand your awareness in that way.

And so then you'll find that, you know, things that that you never even considered might actually be a better alternative to what you were so fixated on and that there are opportunities that you know, will will seem to come out of thin air, but it's it's actually that you've just sort of opened yourself up to, to be able to see those by, by expanding that awareness and having more of an abundant mindset.

So this is something that is really hard to do and um a lot of my clients struggle with this. So if this video resonates with you and you're finding yourself struggling with this definitely reach out. I do free consultations, you can ask a question or leave a comment on the video or subscribe to my youtube channel or facebook page to follow my vlog and get more weekly videos.

But anyway, I hope this was just a helpful little introduction to the concept and that you are able to kind of assess how it shows up in your own life. So have a nice weekend and I'll see you next Friday.