Scarcity Mindset is Blocking Abundance in your Business

What is a Scarcity Mindset?

A scarcity mindset is a belief that there will never be enough for everyone in the world. A scarcity mindset is a poisonous approach to life which can be harmful to ourselves and others if we don’t deal with it early in our lives.

People that carry a scarcity mindset are always thinking about which parts of their lives are missing something or are unfulfilled. They compare their achievements to others, thinking of themselves as lesser and being unable to achieve greater. It’s far easier for a person with a scarcity mindset to believe that there are not enough opportunities for everyone. To believe that the more people around them succeed the more their chances of succeeding continue to decrease.

As an example, you might hear someone with a scarcity mindset saying things like,

“There’s no point in trying to reach new customers. There are too many businesses that are better than mine” 

Or 

“There’s no new market because all of the good ideas have been taken”

This obviously isn’t true. New opportunities pop up every day, it just takes a lot of effort and research to find a new market that hasn’t been explored. 

To believe opportunities are everywhere is the opposite of the scarcity mindset. People often call it having an abundance mindset.

Dangers that come from having a scarcity mindset with your business:

A scarcity mindset stops you from growing

When you always believe that all opportunities have been taken you’re more likely to believe that taking risks is too dangerous. For growth to happen, we sometimes have to take chances; if we don’t take chances we’ll be stuck in the same place. We should be careful when we make new ventures, but we shouldn’t be afraid. Believe in yourself.

A scarcity mindset makes us believe we’re competing with others

In business, we are often trying to get the most customers and to make the most of our capital. This is fair.

It becomes a problem when we replace healthy competition with the unhealthy kind. Wishing ill on others and using underhanded tactics to do better than our rivals. 

I think this approach is dangerous for everyone involved. We should encourage each other, and we shouldn’t feel threatened by other people succeeding; we should be happy for them. Who knows, by paying attention to others we might actually learn how to handle our businesses better.

Leaders with a scarcity mindset are often overbearing

Leaders with a scarcity mindset usually have a low level of professional trust in others. This can show itself in how they micro-manage and are hands-on with everything. 

This is particularly damaging in a team-based environment. If you can’t delegate or give people room to do what you hired them to do you might risk harming your professional relationships. 

Consider how negative this approach is to networking. No one wants to work with someone who constantly believes the worst could happen, right?

*****

It’s easy to carry a scarcity mindset, particularly when your business is starting out. However, I think we should pay attention to our mental health and consider how we carry ourselves and our brand.

It’s in our best interest to instead carry an abundance mindset. To believe in ourselves and our chances at achieving success. It’s just the right energy to have for ourselves and for those around us.

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