Abundance vs. Scarcity Mindset

When we are born, we are lucky enough to start our time off in this world with an abundance mindset. We come into life with the mentality of feeling happy and believing in an abundant life with limitless possibilities.

Our mother will feed us when we are hungry, wrap us in blankets when we are cold, and send us outside to play when we get bored. We have a deep inner sense of the feeling whole and generally have a positive attitude.

It isn’t until we get a little older and start to realize all the things other people have that we may not, and that is what gives us that feeling of wanting more. We start to develop a scarcity mindset, the idea that there isn’t enough of something to go around.

These thought patterns can negatively impact the way you think, feel, and act throughout your life. It can destroy your own sense of personal worth, making you work harder, have a closed mindset, and encourage negative thought patterns.

Having a scarcity mindset is like walking around carrying an extremely heavy load on your shoulders that you can’t seem to unpack no matter how hard you try.

Once you switch the way you think and practice abundant thinking, the weight will be lifted, and you will start to feel so much more free, happy, and light.

Before you can choose between the two, it is first important to understand entirely what each mindset is and how it affects you each and every day.

Scarcity Mindset

A scarcity mindset is a gnawing voice in the back of your head telling you there isn’t enough to go around. This is the mindset that makes you angry and resentful of a co-worker who got a recent promotion or the friend who purchased a bigger home.

These feelings formulate because you are afraid those things being obtained by others are now off the table for you to take your shot.

That coworker got the promotion; now you are feeling low and angry. You may even consider quitting. But why? Where are those feelings coming from? Why are you so upset that your hard-working co-worker was able to better themselves?

Maybe it is because you are living with a scarcity mindset. In this frame of find, you could feel, deep-down, like your opportunity is gone. It may seem to you like the chance of promotion has been given to someone else, and there will never be another one for you to obtain.

To sum things up, having a scarcity mindset is you vs. them. Someone will always win, and someone will always lose; there will always be competition leaving nothing but chaos and destruction in its wake.

Abundance Mindset

Once you obtain an abundance mindset, your life is calmer and easier to manage. The feeling of having to push harder and accomplish more will begin to subside, and you will only do the things required of you to live successfully and happily and on your own terms.

When you have an abundance mindset, you will live a meaningful life with no limits, no mental boundaries, and limitless opportunities.

With an abundance mindset, you will be grateful for the things you have and look forward to the possibility of growing and bettering yourself in your own time. This will reduce your anxiety and stress and give you a more positive outlook on life.

How to Go From a Scarcity to Abundance Mindset

Now that you know the difference between the two, you are likely more interested in living with the latter. So, we created a list specifically designed to help you change your perspective, attitude, and thought process to help you move from a scarcity mindset to an abundant one.

1. Share Everything You Have

When you are trying to create an abundance mindset, sharing the things you have with others will help you recognize there is plenty to go around. Just because you shared something with someone else didn’t mean you lost out.

Sharing your items, time, thoughts, and opinions will erase the scarcity feeling of needing to hold on to it all. This will free you from hoarding objects, not spending time with those you love, and will allow you to clear some headspace and release some emotions, unbottling so much stuff you have built up in your head over time.

2. Be truly Happy For Others Success

When your co-worker gets that promotion or your sister buys that new house, be 100% happy for them. Even if that requires you to tell yourself over and over you ARE happy. Find a way for you to allow their happiness to penetrate you.

When you feel upset with others’ success, that is due to you not being happy with where you are in life. Remind yourself there are times when you have had things others did not. Think about how you felt when people were happy for you. How did you feel when someone made you feel bad about your success?

You will never be truly happy if you are thinking in such a mindset you can’t even be excited for the accomplishments of the ones you love.

3. Believe You Are Worthy of The Life You Want

Leave the negative thinking behind. Stop telling yourself you are not worthy or that you are not good enough. Everyone on this earth was put here to live their best life, to live a full and fulfilling life. We all have a purpose, and once you find that purpose, you will realize just how worthy you are.

Take some time to acknowledge your strengths, your quirks, your accomplishments thus far, and use that time to be proud of yourself. Every day you grow, you get better, you live another day, you are moving in the right direction in life.

4. Eliminate Jealousy

Stop feeling jealous or envious of what others have. With an abundance mindset, you will begin to realize that jealousy is nothing but a drive. It is mind, heart, and soul realizing there is something else out there that you now want to achieve for yourself.

Instead of wanting what others have, recognize their achievements, be happy for them, and be excited about your newest life goals.

If your family member recently bought a new car, an expensive car, maybe a car you have had your sight on for years, is it really worth it for YOU to be jealous?

How does jealousy make you feel? Sad, angry, like you aren’t doing enough in your life? Now, where is that scarcity mindset getting you? It’s making you feel terrible and probably making the people around you feel just as bad.

Now eliminate the jealousy; how do you feel? Happy for your family member who worked hard for years to get a nice new vehicle, excited to get a ride in your dream car, interested to hear how well it drives and if it was worth the money. Do you see where we are going here?

5. Be Ambitious

Being ambitious is a fantastic feeling. Always strive for the goals you set for yourself and give yourself the okay to fail, change paths, and even move on from specific desires. Being ambitious in life allows you to take time to recognize those things you want even if it isn’t the same as it was two years ago and gives you the drive to go after them.

Going for the goal, even if it is hard, is okay, as long as that difficult journey leads to happiness in the direction of fulfilling your desires.

When you eliminate the mindset of scarcity, you will realize there are goals worth achieving that have nothing to do with impressing others.

Don’t take on extra work for that boss who doesn’t acknowledge it; you will find yourself overworked and underappreciated for a long time, hating your job, and feeling sad and angry most of the time.

However, if there is a promotion worth going for, put in that hard work and effort to show your employer how much heart, pride, and talent you have to offer.

6. Take Time For You

Someone struggling with a scarcity mindset will pack their calendar full of appointments, meetings, kids’ events, family activities, etc. This is because people who think this way believe there isn’t enough time to do everything that needs to get done.

Taking time for yourself is a great way to start learning that success comes from being happy with who you are and not how hard you push yourself to accomplish more.

Taking a time out and going for a walk, meditating, or going for a run are all great ways for you to reflect on your life, acknowledge what you have, and practice gratitude, expanding your mindset even more.

7. Give to Your Community

Giving back to those less fortunate is a great way to help remind yourself that it could always be worse. Be grateful for the things you do have in your life and share the wealth with those who are struggling.

Once you give a little of yourself, whether it is your time, money, food, etc., you will start to feel that happiness build up inside you. This isn’t happiness from getting something, from expensive or materialistic prizes or achievements; this is pure happiness of the soul.

When you start to experience that type of true happiness, you will realize how fruitful living with an abundance mindset is.

8. Acknowledge the Power of Your Thoughts and Perception

In order to change your mindset, you must first acknowledge how you think, how you perceive things, how your mind depicts your every thought. When you begin to understand that the way you think can easily be changed by what you think, you are able to get on a better path much quicker.

9. Keep Learning Everyday

The world is an endless book; you will go through life chapter by chapter with different characters, settings, and situations; it is up to you to take it all in and let your mind go free. Use the world as a platform to learn new things every day and continue growing into the person you want to be, the person you were meant to be.

10. Understand What it Means to Have an Abundance Mindset

Simply put, you can only live with an abundance mindset if you understand what it means to have an abundance mindset. You can only change your scarcity mindset if you know what it means to have a scarcity mindset.

As an example, your name is Kaidance (k-dance), but your co-worker keeps calling you Candace (Can-dis). Your co-worker isn’t being mean or rude, and they simply believe they are calling you the correct name. It is a complicated one, right?

Well, you can ignore it and allow them to call you by the wrong name for the rest of the time you work together, or you can bring it up kindly. Once they realize how they are pronouncing it is incorrect, they will change it.

If you can’t see that your way of thinking is negative, how can you ever change your mindset to a positive one, an abundant one?