Scarcity vs. Abundance: One Way to See

Last week, I shared the parable about the four blind men and the elephant. The idea behind the parable was that we should take a step back and look at the bigger picture whenever possible, for ourselves, and for other people. Over the next few articles, I'm going to talk about what influences our ability to see the bigger picture. Today, I'm going to discuss a scarcity mindset versus an abundance mindset, and how that affects your vision.

Do you remember when I said where focus goes, energy flows? Well, your focus is influenced by your mindset, which is basically the things you think about most often. So if you have a scarcity mindset, you tend to focus on what you might lose in your life, while an abundance mindset tends to see more opportunities. It’s a simplified explanation, but it’ll work for today’s conversation.

As mentioned above, a scarcity mindset focuses on what’s missing or what you can lose. Let’s say you want to buy a laptop; the scarcity mindset focuses on how much it costs and if it’s worth the hours of work you put in to afford it. If you’re considering going to an event, you think about whether it would be a waste of time and/or money.

Compare that to an abundance mindset, which looks at opportunity and gain. That laptop is now about how much more productive you become. Going to an event becomes a great networking opportunity that brings in money and opportunities for the future. 

I recently attended a business training where I learned about a sales strategy from a highly successful businessperson. He invites 12 people to lunch at a nice restaurant and pays for the meal. At the end of the meal, he gives a sales pitch about a program that he is selling. The meal cost about $800 while the program he was selling was $5,000. In a group of 12, he knew he could get four sales. So, if you do the math, he spends $800 to make $20,000. How many of you would make that investment? How many times would you make that investment? 

Those with a scarcity mindset focus on spending $800. I shared this story with a friend and her first question was, “well, how much money did you have to spend to get to that point?” Compare that with a mentor of mine who has an abundance mindset and focuses on how much money there is to be made instead. He has said multiple times, “anything that makes you money does not cost you anything.”

Now, I do want to emphasize, that this isn’t (necessarily) an article about making more money. Money is easy to calculate, therefore easier to conceptualize. This can be true in different areas of your life (think about the Wheel of Life). Thinking about buying something that will make your life easier, but not sure it’s worth it? That's a scarcity mindset. Looking at a health program but not sure you’ll get results?  Also a scarcity mindset. 

What I like about this idea of scarcity and abundance mindset is that it shows up in different ways for different people. You can have someone who is abundant in money, but scarce in relationships or someone else who is abundant physically, but scarce spiritually. The thing to realize is if there’s an area of your life that isn’t working how you want it to, you are likely to have some form of scarcity mindset around that domain. 

Here’s my challenge to you: take at least 30 minutes of quiet time where you can really focus, and think about where things aren’t going great for you. Focus on the thoughts you have around that area of life. What are you thinking? In what ways are you focusing on lack? What would you do differently if you focused on what could be gained? Once you’ve done that, please share it with me.

Kevin Koo coaches people in personal, business, and leadership development while building abundance in all areas of life. Contact him at kevinkoocoaching@gmail.com