It must be Alwyn Cosgrove day because I noticed Bec: A Fresh Start has posted from his blog today too! I just had to share this with everyone as soon as I read it. This one really hit home for me because it’s a philosophy that I try to live by.
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Abundance vs Scarcity
Remember that money is social debt. The size of your bank account is a measure of how much society owes you for the value you’ve already contributed. If you think $10K is a large sum, it means you probably aren’t in a position to generate $10K of value for others very easily. – Steve Pavlina
There exists really two primary mindsets – abundance – and scarcity. The abundance mentality, or abundance mindset, is a frame of mind in which a person believes there is “enough for everyone”.
The opposite is the scarcity mindset, which is founded on the idea that, given a finite amount of resources, a person must hoard their belongings and protect them from others.The abundance mindset is that there is an infinite supply of everything – the scarcity mindset is really that there is a very limited supply — and if you “get” something – I can’t get it and vice versa.
I’ve always had an abundance mindset – I’ve never hesitated to help anyone in this field to grow. But it recently came to my attention that one of my colleagues has a scarcity mindset.
This person actually approached one of the companies I am involved with and suggested that they would be a better fit than I would. Not knowing the relationship I have with that company, means this is a dumb move as they called me immediately to tell me.
The sad thing is – this person made themselves look petty because of their scarcity mentality. There was no need to put me down in order to pick themselves up — there is room for several people in this company. They could have been involved too – but instead they made themselves look bad — and turned the company’s interest level down.
In other words – they felt that in order to succeed themselves – I had to fail.
I call it going “Deep Sea Fishing for Water”. This can be a little deep (no pun intended) so bear with me….
It’s as if we chartered a boat and went out to sea, with the goal of collecting as much water as we could. When we get there – I start using a bucket to collect my water. You start using a tea cup.
Now ask yourself this — are you angry that I used a bucket? Do you feel as if I’m taking more than my “fair share”?
If you are – that’s the scarcity mindset at work. Because the reality is — you can get a bucket too. It makes no difference how many buckets of water I take – you can take as many buckets for yourself as you want to – we’re not competing — and I’m not ‘robbing’ you of water.
Ask yourself if you have an abundance or scarcity mentality…
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So the moral of the story – there is plenty for everyone! In my opinion the abundance theory applies to non-tangibles like support, love and good will. The more we give, the more it multiplies until we are enveloped in it. And together we can create greater abundance, than we can working alone. Group energy is powerful! This even relates to our Nike+ challenge. You can look at as:
“There are only three top spots. I want one – hope no one else joins.”
OR
“There are 21+ like-minded participants creating an infectious energy and supporting one another. There are infinite spots – hope more join in!”
Wow – what a difference in mindset. Which one makes you genuinely more happy and peaceful?
You can see the theory in action in Aussie Bodybuilder Mike post yesterday:
“I’ve added another item to check each day for my accountability log. Part of the “LOG” score will now include 1 point out of 10 for being up to date with everyone’s blogs. This means that I pledge to at least read everyone’s blog and have a clean slate (ie no unread entries) when I submit my own blog entry. I’m holding myself accountable for holding you guys accountable (does that make sense?)”
And you know what? As a result, Mike’s blog gets plentiful and thoughtful comments because everyone wants to give back to him as much as he gives out. Check it out!
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