Does this scenario sound a little familiar? You’re not making enough money to cover your outgoings, and it’s stressing you out. You know that you need to be selling and converting, but you feel frozen and stuck. Instead of working your socks off and attracting money, you feel like you repel it! And if I asked you – ‘do you have a scarcity mindset?’ – could the answer be ‘yes…’?
What is a scarcity mindset?
A simple definition is that a scarcity mindset is when someone can’t believe or trust that they have (or can learn) the skills or resources needed to meet their goals. You might be interested to learn that a scarcity mindset isn’t always about money. If you’ve put yourself on a strict diet, then you might find yourself obsessing about food from the moment you wake up until your eyes close at night. Or if you’re worried you don’t have enough hours in the day, you’re suddenly watching the clock constantly and panicking every time there’s a delay in your day… In this blog I’m going to share tips for managing a scarcity mindset around lack of money. You’ll probably find the tips still help if you’re worrying about a lack of something else, but the examples will be around finances.
How does having a scarcity mindset prevent growth?
A scarcity mindset will gradually alter your thinking completely. I’ve written before that our brains don’t know what’s real and what isn’t when it comes to our thoughts – read that here. Over time, having a scarcity mindset limits your ability to plan, focus and even start a task. Your brain is too busy thinking about what you don’t have. or you don’t believe you can bring in the money you need. It makes impulse control harder, so instead of using the skills and resources at your disposal, you’re in panic-mode! This might sound dramatic, but if you’ve ever been so worried about money that you can’t get on with the work you have in front of you now (that you can and should be able to bill for…) you’ll know this is true. You’re literally focusing energy in all the wrong places!
What can you do if you do have a scarcity mindset?
I regularly help clients who are really suffering from a scarcity mindset. We work together to shift them away from a that sad, desperate mindset and towards an abundance mindset using four steps:
- Practice gratitude. A great starting point is to start including gratitude in your morning routine. Practising gratitude will remind you of what you have instead of fixating on what you don’t have. That’s important in breaking the cycle of panic and impulsive action.
- Developing self-awareness. I help people recognise when their thoughts and beliefs aren’t helpful and reframe them. For example: “I should have chased that lead up” can become “I could have chased that lead up… What can I do now to follow up?”.
- Visualise what you want to attract. Another element of your morning routine can be a vision board, where you (digitally or with old-school pictures, scissors and glue) set out what you want to manifest. From pictures of your dream home and amazing holidays to being able to pay bills and save, add them to a vision board and look at it every day.
- Be generous. Even if right now you can’t afford to be generous with money, be generous with your expertise and time. For example, can you help a charity or mentor someone in your sector? This action will help shift your focus away from not having enough to being a channel for positive energy. Plus, all those good turns will bring great vibes your way!
- Meditate to clear impulses. It may take a little time, but you need to rewire your brain so that you’re not at the mercy of destructive patterns of behaviour. If you feel familiar feelings of panic and scarcity setting in, meditate.
If you have a scarcity mindset right now, you’ll know how miserable it’s making you. You spend so much energy and it only drives you more deeply in the wrong direction. So, why not take action and start creating the financial future you desire and deserve? It’s totally possible. You don’t need to feel like this forever… Just click here to contact me and learn more.