Abundance vs. Scarcity Mentalities: How does your mind line up?

I recently led a group coaching session within a corporate environment of leaders and innovation specialists to discuss abundance and scarcity mindsets. Obviously this is not a typical point of conversation in a business setting, but this group is particularly open minded and willing to think outside the box, so we had some fun with it.

What do you think about when you think about abundance? Typically, we quickly go to nature and notice the abundance of stars in the sky, wildflowers in a field, water in the ocean, air that we breathe, etc. How about scarcity? The big ones tend to be money, time, resources and energy.

I did some research on the number of millionaires (those with at least $1 million in net worth) in the U.S. since 1940 and found the following:

1940 10,000

1980 50,000

1997 2 million

2007 9.2 million

Note that in the 40 years between 1940 and 1980, the population had doubled, yet the number of millionaires increased by 5X. This is hardly the data to support that money is scarce! Even with the recent downturn, 2008 still had almost 7 million in this category.

According to Mind Power by John Kehoe, there are five steps in developing a abundance or prosperity consciousness.

I.Develop prosperity beliefs:

1. It’s an abundant Universe.
2. Life is fun and rewarding.
3. There are staggering opportunities in every aspect of my life.
4. It is my responsibility to be successful.

II. Look for and recognize abundance in your life.

Whatever you are looking for, you’ll find it. There was a study done in 1968 (The Pygmalian Study) where researchers performed IQ tests on a classroom of students, identified those that were high achievers and gave the report to the teacher. Sure enough eight months later, those identified students had in fact been the high achievers in the class. However, it was uncovered that the children selected were not in fact those with the highest IQ’s, but were randomly selected from the overall class population. Because the teachers had the expectation that they would perform well, they did! For those that were not selected, the expectati

on was lower and they stepped up to the plate too, they performed lower! If we look for abundance, we’ll find it. If we look for scarcity, we’ll find that too.

III. Recognize and associate with success everywhere.

See success everywhere you look. Office buildings, city growth, neighborhoods, online networks, success of others, etc. There are endless examples of success. Never begrudge anyone else of their success. Celebrate it!

IV. Surround yourself with success messages, positive messages, books, tapes, etc.

You are what you eat and you are what you feed your mind. Surround yourself with positive messages and information. You may have to turn your television off and pray the newspaper in order to do this. (Seriously, this is the only way I can read the newspaper sometimes, by praying for those in the news). Don’t let yourself be

inundated with negative imagery and stories. This doesn’t mean that you can’t be informed about what is going on in the world, but don’t be overwhelmed with it. Make sure you get more ‘positive’ information and mental food than ‘negative’.

V. Associate with successful people.

In Jack Canfield’s book The Success Principles, he quotes Jim Rohn, a self-made millionaire and author as saying “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” So I would encourage you to upgrade! Get rid of people who suck the life and energy force from you and spend more time with those that uplift and support you. You need to increase your average!

The only person responsible for your success is you and you serve no one by being small. Your success helps others, while your failure helps no one.

So how does this align in a business? What does an abundance mentality look like in business you may be asking?

Here’s just ten thoughts that would be within an abundance mentality for business:

1. I see opportunities for my success everywhere in my workplace.
2. I openly celebrate and congratulate the success of others. Their success does not diminish anyone else’s success.
3. I openly share my ideas, information, and opportunities without expectation of reward or credit.
4. I treat all as equals, regardless of job level.
5. I focus on doing the right thing, because it is the right thing to do, not because I will get recognition.
6. I give credit to others appropriately, and I always thank those that contribute.
7. I connect people with others who might benefit them, and thus the results of their relationship benefit the company.
8. I find beauty and joy in the workplace.
9. I smile and speak to every person that I encounter.
10. I am grateful for the lifestyle that my job enables me to have, for the people that I encounter and work with each day, and the personal development that I achieve through my current position. There is always more to come.

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