CULTIVATING AN ABUNDANCE MINDSET
I recently read "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey,” which defined an abundance mindset as “a concept in which a person believes there are enough resources and successes to share with others.” The opposite is a scarcity mindset – a destructive thought pattern that creates unnecessary competition and often paints you as the victim. We’ve all been there; the sneaky thought that if someone else wins or is successful in a situation, that means you lose. (Spoiler: there’s always the possibility of everyone winning – in some way or another – in a given situation.)
When life gets tumultuous, it’s easy to get stuck in a scarcity mindset where you feel like there’s not enough time, money, jobs, resources or energy to go around. How we perceive things directly affects how we experience life (or more so, how we choose to experience life), so this way of thinking can be problematic for obvious reasons. With a scarcity mindset, you believe that life is drawn from a finite pool of resources, meaning if someone else has more blessings and opportunities, there’s automatically less for you.
In the times that I have adopted a scarcity mindset, I really used to believe that I had to hold on to everything I had because it wouldn’t come around later; that another person’s win meant that I was a failure. This constantly triggered feelings of fear, anxiety, hopelessness and jealousy. I felt like I had no control of my life course and there was no way to change my experience. I was living in this fear-induced state of anxiety and stress almost 24/7. This made me think about “The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom” by Don Miguel Ruiz, especially the second and third agreements (don’t take anything personally and don’t make assumptions). Walking the walk is always easier than talking the talk, but if you allow your thoughts and habits to be guided by the first agreement (be impeccable with your word) and the fourth agreement (always do your best), you’ll start to notice a shift in how you talk to yourself, how you think of yourself and your overall mood and mindset.
Mindset is everything. It affects the way you learn, how you handle stress, how you create success, your resiliency and even how your immune system functions. When you embody an abundance mindset, you truly believe and trust that there are endless opportunities, time, resources and love that are possible to have; others’ gains do not equate to your losses. When you start to believe there’s an unlimited amount of everything available to you, your mind and body feel safe, even if something is taken away or not received. (And how great is it to not live in constant fear and anxiety?) I feel like I’ve become more resilient. My body has learned that anxiety and stress aren’t needed because there’s no threat of losing anything – there are always more ways to gain what I want or need.
This is cliche, but true: the only thing that’s certain in life is uncertainty, so it’s all about trusting the process and believing you’ll be safe in the uncertainty. I like to think this is the secret sauce to living a life of gratitude, ease and satisfaction.
Featured Image: @brittneyfhughes
