An Abundance Mindset: 4 Ways to Shift Out of Scarcity Thinking
When I was a little girl, I spent most summers with my grandmother. During those warm and lingering days, I was usually left to my own devices to figure out a way to spend my time. Sometimes I wandered aimlessly barefoot in the grass, or picked oranges from her tree to squeeze for fresh juice, or read under the giant magnolia tree in her backyard. Other times, I would go “marketing” with her, which generally entailed going to at least four different stores in search of the best deals.
First, she would enlist me in the coupon ceremony, in which we would organize (by store, product type and expiration date) all the coupons she had accrued throughout the week. Inevitably, the shopping list would include some type of canned goods—corn, peaches, pears, baked beans, olives, etc. Never mind, she already had a huge cabinet stacked with canned food. If it was on sale, and there was a smidgen of room, it was time to stock up!
Born in 1911, my grandma was a product of the Great Depression. An era marked by food shortage due to drought, national unemployment rates of nearly 25%, and a 40% dip in the average household income. It’s hard to imagine that degree of scarcity (no matter how bad it seems now). We may have experienced glimpses of this during the great toilet paper shortage of 2020, but in general, the way we manifest scarcity in modern Western society is less tangible.
Scarcity is synonymous with inadequacy, deficiency, lack or dearth.
Many of us experience scarcity when we operate from a place of not-enoughness. Not accomplished enough. Not creative enough. Not funny enough. Not disciplined enough. Not skinny enough. Not strong enough. Not confident enough. Not wealthy enough. Not worthy enough. (The list goes on…)
Concepts that characterize this not-enoughness (e.g. scarcity mindset, inferiority complex, imposter syndrome, etc.) have become common vernacular. We say things like, “I’ll be happy when…,” “If I only had…,” or “If they only knew…” to justify, excuse or explain what we believe to be the source of our discontent.
1) Quality vs. Quantity—
Value what you have
Those who remember the fuel crisis of the 1970s can attest, sometimes there is true scarcity in life. The reality is, some things are finite—natural resources, navigable space, chronological time. For example, there are limited hours in a day, limited days in a year, and limited years in a lifetime. We likely will not live forever.
Though rooted in our survival instincts, focusing on what we don’t have enough of can impact our lives in detrimental ways we may not realize. When we approach the world from a mindset of scarcity, we risk feeling that no matter how much we have or do, it will never be enough. No matter how much we exercise, how many academic degrees we have, how much money we make, how much our partner loves us, how cool our car is, how many cans of olives we have in the pantry— it’s not enough!
One way to shift away from the scarcity mindset is to focus on quality over quantity. What is the quality of your achievements, your daily practices, your lifestyle choices, your relationships? As they say, “In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.”
2) Trust vs. Threat—
Cultivate safety
Scarcity mindset implies a tightening, shutting down, grasping, fearful and defensive stance. My grandma’s coupon clipping and canned food obsession was part of a trauma response from something she had experienced—a real and legitimate fear. Despite the fact that more than six decades had passed since my grandma experienced the Depression, she still made sure every day for the rest of her life that she would be prepared for any potential economic threat or scarcity.
To override fear and recover from traumatic experiences or thoughts, we must find ways to make ourselves feel safe in our body, mind, and spirit. We tend to feel most safe when we are not forced, stifled, or suppressed. Our sense of security increases when we feel mobilized and free, and we believe we have options and the power to make decisions for ourselves.
Just as we can get caught in a cycle of threat, shutting down, immobilization and fear, we can also embark on a self-perpetuating journey of choice, openness, flow and enoughness. Approaching our circumstances, decisions, and relationships from a mindset of abundance rather than scarcity, allows us to relax, open-up, and trust that whatever is, is enough.
3) Process vs. Outcome—
Think outside the box
At times we may feel like our sense of agency and power to make choices is limited, which of course is a valid concern. However, when we feel out of control, we tend to grasp on more tightly, which only results in frustration and rope burn (figuratively speaking).
Rather than clinging to our expectations for a specific outcome, might we let go and allow space for greater, yet unrealized possibilities?
How can we move from a mindset of deficiency to one of sufficiency? When our perception is that there isn’t enough (e.g. freedom, resources, time, etc), can we shift toward the process and power of identifying where we do have choice, influence and impact?
I think about how my aunt described being raised by a product of the Great Depression, a woman working three jobs to support her two daughters as a single mother during the the 1950s. “We never had much, but we didn’t know it.”
As frugal as she was in some ways, my grandma had a spirit of generosity… growing her own produce and sharing it with neighbors, sewing new clothes for her daughters, finding ways to be a savvy spender when it came time for toys and treats, and using her limited finances as a motivation for infinite creative alternatives. From this abundance mindset, she demonstrated that a little was more than enough.
4) Perspective vs. Provincial—
Take an extraterrestrial view
An abundance mindset allows us to zoom out and recognize what is limitless, endless, infinite. A popular mantra in the recovery community is, “More will be revealed.” What if we are not seeing the full picture, but only a myopic slice, a fraction of a moment in time?
Imagine an astronaut’s view of Earth from outer space. Suddenly Mount Everest becomes a microscopic speck, Cuba appears to be a small spill of green ink, and a foreboding tropical storm resembles the foam on your morning macchiato.
Scarcity from this view seems far less likely than the abundant expanse of the planet and the space that surrounds it. Our not-enoughness fades in the light of what is truly significant. Our longings, expectations and fears diminish in the shadow of all we don’t know or understand. Our fear is replaced by awe, wonder and trust in the wild, vast, abundant uncertainty of it all.
Abundance Mindset Prompts:
Think about aspects of life that are, or seem, infinite. How many qualities can you list from an abundance mindset (e.g. imagination, gratitude, etc)? What will you never run out of?
What allows you to feel the most safe and secure? Include sensory experiences, bodily movement, supportive relationships, positive memories, real or imagined places, etc.
In what aspects of your life do you have choices, options, and/or alternatives?
Conjure a different perspective. Imagine yourself as an astronaut looking at the world from space or being 90 years old looking back at your life. What matters most to you? What did you always have enough of?
We may have elements of both scarcity and abundance. In what ways do you have a scarcity mindset? In what ways do you have an abundance mindset?
How can you channel the spirit of summer to experience more freedom and abundance?