Do you react with a scarcity or an abundance mindset?

I want to ask you something…

When life throws something at you that you aren’t expecting.. How do you react? Do you feel stressed? Anxious? Overwhelm? Jealous? Or even Resentment? Or do you feel gratitude, appreciation, look for the lesson or what good can come from it?

This my friends is the difference in a scarcity mindset and abundance.

Just in case you want a little more clarification, I looked up the definitions for you.

Scarcity is the state of being or feeling without or not having enough of something. 

Abundance means knowing that you are enough and that you will have enough.

There are a few different ways you can look at this… The first way is a pretty plain and simple example. If I was to have a pie in the kitchen and cut a slice and bring it to my youngest in the living room. My oldest may say something like.. “That’s not fair. Why does she get to have pie?” This is a scarcity mentality.

However, a few things she doesn’t know or can’t understand because she is still living in the scarcity mentality.. Is for one.. There is more pie! In fact there is plenty for everyone in our family. She also can’t be happy for her sister because she is so consumed and worried about herself and lack of pie.

Now… take this same situation and let’s pretend my daughter has an abundance mindset.

I bring the piece of pie to my youngest and she smiles and says something like.. “Oh, wow! Look what mommy brought you. Doesn’t that look yummy.” She isn’t worried about what she is missing out on or doesn’t get or even if there is any in the kitchen for her!  She is happy and chooses to celebrate with her sister that something good happened to her.

That may seem like a silly illustration, but hopefully it helps you clearly see the difference in the reaction of someone with abundance vs someone with a scarcity mindset.

So, I want to ask you again…

How do you react?

When your best friend gets a promotion… are you excited? Celebrating with them? Or complaining, jealous and can’t seem to be around them because of their excitement.. I really hope you are happy for them and excited and cheering them on! I know it’s not always that easy to do.

I want to share with you 5 things you can do to create a life of abundance instead of scarcity.

What does it mean to have a life of abundance anyway?

Well, the Greek term for abundant means exceedingly, very highly, beyond measure, more .. you get the idea! When I think of a life of abundance.. I think of a passage in the bible from 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 9. It says, “ No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.” Meaning.. When you are living an abundant life… your mentality is that you can truly have, be and do things far beyond what you even comprehend and yet you are ok with it. In fact- you’re excited about it. Not scared or anxious, but eager to see what unknown opportunities could come your way.

I truly believe what we focus on is our reality.

So, if you are more worried about the success of someone else or what is missing from your life that someone else has… you will continue to have exactly what you’ve always had. That doesn’t make it wrong or bad, but instead of becoming consumed with the success and what’s going right for others.. Maybe now is the time to start focusing on what is going right for you! When you focus on the good = the good gets better!

Let’s dive in… Here are the 5 ways to create a life of abundance.

#1 A Gratitude Journal.

One thing everyone is VERY quick to do is give a bad review right! But very rarely does anyone take the time to review a business when they do something good or right. It’s the same thing with our brains. We have anywhere from 12,000 to 50,000 thoughts daily and approximately 80% of them are negative. That’s a lot of negativity throughout your day. So, one thing that has consistently helped me is to write down or say to a loved one things I am grateful for every day.  My husband Chris and I sometimes do this on our walks when we are going through something hard and need to be reminded of all the good we have in our lives.

It can be something as simple as.. I’m grateful the baby took a nap so I had time to shower. Or.. I’m so thankful we can afford a house cleaner so I can use my energy for other things. Or.. I’m so thankful for the weather so I could go on a run.

The key is not to necessarily focus on really big things.. But finding the good and gratitude in your everyday life.

I think very often we forget how blessed we are. I know not everyone is blessed and I am not here to tell you to get over your trauma or whatever hardship you’re facing. I’m simply suggesting that even during hard seasons.. You can still find joy if you’re looking.

#2 Evaluate your circle.

I’m sure you’ve heard this before.. But you are the sum of the 5 people surrounding you. So, look around! Are you the people you connect with (whether intentionally or unintentionally) positive? Encouraging? Up-lifting? Trying to better themselves? If so, you hit the jackpot! You are surrounded by people who are living an abundant life and this is a direct reflection on your success!

However, if they are Negative? Complaining? DO they gossip? Thrive on drama and put others down? If so, I hate to break it to ya… but it might be time to very kindly find a new circle. I know this can be especially hard when it’s a family member, employer, or very close friend. If those people have some scarcity tendencies it might be time to set some boundaries on how often you see them or what information you share with them. And if you have been surrounded by negative people or struggling with negative thoughts yourself.. It might time to re-train your brain!

#3 Positive Affirmations

As I mentioned, earlier. We have so many negative thoughts every single day and it can be especially hard to focus on the positive and abundance when we hear so much negativity around us. One thing I learned very early in my career was to create positive affirmations. In case you aren’t quite sure what that means…  It’s a positive statement or phrase worded as if you have already achieved the goal, dream or experience you want out of life. Many people use these to manifest their reality.

When I was working to hit a really big goal with my direct sales company.. I would write out my goal as if it already happened every single day for months! 

And do you know what happened….

There came a day when I was able to pick something else to write down because I had in fact accomplished what I wrote down for months.

It’s not some magic voodoo that allowed me to accomplish this goal. Yes= of course I did the work. But here’s why I was able to accomplish it. I kept the goal in front of me every single day. So, instead of asking myself why I can't have something. I focused on how I can have it or how can I achieve it. Because I was reminding myself of it every single day with a positive affirmation.

Remember.. What you focus on is your reality!

So, if you are feeding your brain thoughts everyday of success, abundance and whatever you want out of life.. Chances are you’re going to achieve some (if not all) of these things. If you aren’t exactly sure how to write them or what to say.. Focus on different areas of your life.. Like your career, family life, health, relationships and really any area of your life you’d like to improve or work on. Create statements that start with I am… 

Some examples for relationships might be… I am more present with my kids when they come home from school. I am a supportive friend. I am a compassionate friend.

Some career or work related examples might be… I am a successful health coach. I attract hundreds of leads every month. I earned the top level incentive trip.

You get the idea!!

#4 Donate and Volunteer

I know what you're thinking.. What on earth does that have to do with abundance and scarcity. Well friend.. If you are helping others who have significantly less than you.. Chances are you won’t be so focused on what you are missing out on and instead focused on how blessed and abundant your life truly is!

So, what is something you are passionate about? Maybe it’s helping at a women’s shelter? Or volunteering at a boys and girls club? Helping out at a soup kitchen? Donating products, commission or your time to help an organization raise money. Whatever it is.. You have soooo much more to gain by spending a little of your time and money (if you’re able that is) to help others.

#5 Stop the comparison game! 

I know in today’s world it can be incredibly difficult not to do this. So many times all we ever see are carefully curated instagram feeds with beautiful pictures of children sitting white dresses while smiling and cuddling together and all I think of is how my girls are constantly pestering each other and who would put their kid in white anyway.. Because the truth is… that same mom who posted those perfect pictures was probably bribing them with candy and staring them down with the mom look that says.. Don’t make me come over there when the photographer is quickly capturing as many pictures as possible. And I can imagine if we asked the photographer for the other pictures that she didn’t bother to edit.. We would see some real life that went on behind the lens.

So… instead of focusing on the success of others or the picture perfect life someone else is leading… focus on how you can be a better version of yourself. That is the only comparison you should be doing. And I don’t mean what you weighed in high school because let’s be realistic.. If you’ve had babies that is not going to happen!

I want to challenge you to pick one of these things to start with. 

Will you start a gratitude journal or practice?

Cultivate a network of people who are like-minded and living an abundant life?

Re-train your brain with positive affirmations?

Donate your time or money?

Or stop the comparison game and maybe even un-follow some people who tend to bring out your jealousy?

Whatever it might be.. Comment below and share what you’re doing to create a life of abundance.