Kick Starts

How to Overcome a Scarcity Mindset

• Sylvia Flanagan, LMFT, Motivational & Behavioral Coach • Episode 47

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In this episode of 'How to Overcome a Scarcity Mindset,' I dive into the concept of scarcity mindset and its profound impact on life. From the detrimental effects on decision-making to strained relationships, I explores how this mindset can hinder personal growth and success. I offer valuable insights on overcoming a scarcity mindset starting with awareness and challenging limiting beliefs. By shifting to an abundance mindset, you can embrace opportunities and view success as attainable. I emphasize the power of practicing gratitude to change perspective and foster positivity. Join the journey towards breaking free from scarcity and embracing abundance in all aspects of life.

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Speaker 1:

Hi and welcome to Kickstarts. I'm Sylvia Flanagan, your host. First off, if you like my podcast, I'd love it if you'd leave me a rating. If you haven't already, and if you're listening through Apple Podcasts, a review would be really, really appreciated. It helps me get picked up on searches so more people can listen and helps me know that the work I put into this is making a positive difference. Also, please pass this on to a friend if you think they'd like it.

Speaker 1:

Before I begin, I'm adding this in because when I finished editing, I realized that there was a chorus of frogs in the background, and I actually had my window open and so all the frogs in the pond were singing a nice chorus. So if you wonder what all that little chiming is, little singing is in the background, it's the frog. So I apologize about that, but I was not going to redo the whole episode. Consider it. One more thing I can be grateful for Today I'm going to be looking at a mindset that probably affects us all to some degree or at some point in life, and that's a scarcity mindset.

Speaker 1:

I'm going to talk about what it is, how it impacts us and, most importantly, how to shake it off and start going through life with a mindset that's more about seeing things through a lens of opportunity and abundance. So a scarcity mindset is basically thinking that you don't have enough of something and you're never going to have enough, and that what you have is probably going to go away and not last. It emphasizes limitation instead of possibility, and it leaves people fixated on what they don't have, what they don't think they can get or what they think they're going to lose. What they don't think they can get or what they think they're going to lose, whether that's money, time, good health, a relationship or opportunities. It's like a voice or a tape running in the background, always reminding you that good things don't last, that we don't have enough of something, and it focuses on what other people have and what we don't or what we don't think we're ever going to get. And let's face it, we've all been there at least once, right? But some people live there a lot, and maybe that's you. But whether you just think this way once in a while or a lot of the time, it's not something you want to trust or keep around.

Speaker 1:

It's a way of viewing situations or life that you want to be able to ditch as soon as you notice it, a scarcity mindset is a mental game changer, and not in a good way. It colors how we view our future and our abilities, so we end up worrying a lot. It's that nagging feeling that gets you thinking that you just can't trust where you are, or trust the future or yourself, even if you're pretty good at something, because you're just waiting for the bottom to fall out. Or maybe you think that you'll never get to a place that's good enough in the first place for a bottom to fall out. This type of mindset leaves us stressed. It leaves us wound up and anxious, not to mention tired and feeling defeated. It makes us a bit like an anxious pessimist rather than a resigned one. We stay engaged but we're thinking that if something good comes along, it just won't stick around. It's not being able to trust the process of time to do you right and for you to do the right thing in good time, and it messes with our ability to make smart decisions and it gets us all wound up and stressed and it rips us off. So we don't feel a lot of excitement, confidence or adventure when we're going after what we want in life and it keeps us so that we can't really celebrate our wins. It stamps out gratitude and it's like a domino effect of negativity, and none of us have time for that. It's just not necessary.

Speaker 1:

One of the biggest impacts of a scarcity mindset is how it limits our beliefs, because it changes how we look at ourself and how we look at success. When we're stuck in a mindset of scarcity, we start to believe that success is limited, that there's only so much of it to go around, so if somebody else does well, it means there's less for you or me. So it leads to feeling jealous, resentful, and we'll probably start doubting ourself and we'll end up comparing ourselves to others and feel like we've come up short. It's like wearing a pair of glasses that only lets you see the negatives, keeping you from seeing all the opportunity and abundance that's all around you, that's available to you and everyone else. It usually puts a strain in our relationships personally and definitely professionally, because when we're coming from a place of scarcity, we're probably going to be more guarded and defensive with what we have and what we're going after. We're probably going to be more guarded and defensive with what we have and what we're going after and we're not going to trust the process of working with others and we're not going to be able to be really happy for other people's wins and advances, and we're not going to feel good about sharing our insights or perspectives because we think that these things might get used to somebody else's advantage.

Speaker 1:

Someone who views life with a scarcity mindset isn't selfish. It's just that they think there's not enough in the success pot for everyone to share and have enough of. It leads people to be overly competitive and they grip too tightly, and other people are looked at as more of competitors instead of possible allies and collaborators. It leads people to be overly competitive and they grip too tightly, and other people are looked at more as competitors instead of possible allies and collaborators who could help them, and vice versa, so they can end up isolated and a bit resentful. It's like building walls around yourself to protect what little you think you have, but in the process you end up shutting out the very people who could support you. So you end up with less and, like I said earlier, this mindset of scarcity leads us to feel stressed and anxious, worrying about what we don't have or what might get taken from us, whether it's money, time or opportunities and it gets hard to focus on anything else. People living with this mindset are stressed, and it doesn't take much for them to feel overwhelmed, and it's just a bummer and a burnout.

Speaker 1:

It can lead to obsessive types of thinking, where the tape keeps going back to what you might lose or what you won't get or what might get in your way. Worry, worry, worry. It's like carrying around a backpack of rocks. Wherever you go, it weighs you down and makes life and challenges feel way harder than they are and way harder than they need to be. And when you go around anxious and worried, it affects how you think. So the decisions we make get impacted. When our brains are consumed with the idea of scarcity and not enough, our ability to make solid, rational decisions goes out the window. We get hyper focused on short-term solutions and don't see the bigger picture. This can lead to impulsive decision making, where we prioritize instant gratification over longer-term goals. It's like trying to navigate a maze with blinders on. You're only seeing one path, even though there's a bunch of different roads to success.

Speaker 1:

It leads to impulsive thinking, where we feel we have to act right away because if we don't, we won't get the chance again. We do in our own head what advertisers do to us Buy now or you'll lose this great deal. The scarcity principle in advertising manipulates people because advertisers know if they make a product look limited or scarce, that people will think if they don't act right away they're going to miss out and they're going to lose the deal. And they know that people are motivated by fear of missing out on something and that will act more impulsively if we think we only have one shot at the deal. Impulsively if we think we only have one shot at the deal, it creates a sense of urgency and rush. And when we live with a mindset of not enough, we do that to ourselves and that creates a pretty awful paradox Feeling that there's not enough and that things probably won't last, but feeling we have to jump at the next opportunity, we get impulsive. Like I said, it gets exhausting and we actually end up losing more because we feel a need to act quickly, because we lose faith, patience and hope that there's enough for everyone and that we're included in that.

Speaker 1:

It can also lead people to keep things that don't work for them Because they're afraid it's as good as it gets and they might not get anything better. So they stay in that bad relationship because they think they might otherwise be alone. Or they stay in a job that they don't like because they think that they might not get a better one, or they date too quickly Because if they don't jump at it they might not find somebody better. And the same thing can go for employment. And with the scarcity mindset what people do have and what success they do have and it might be a lot they think it won't last. They just live in a state of worry, to some degree or another, that it's going to end. So they end up ruminating about money. If they have a scarcity mindset about money, or they might be a jealous partner, thinking that their partner won't stay with them. If they're in a relationship if that's what they worry about or if they're single, they might compare themselves to others, feeling inferior, have a why me? Attitude and not really be happy about other people's relationships.

Speaker 1:

And, like I said earlier, this scarcity mindset prevents people from taking calculated risks. It keeps people from stepping into the unknown and into uncertainty and moving through life creatively, because they don't have the mindset that good things will come their way and that enough will eventually come their way. So they quickly settle and they can get stuck and they can become guarded and distrustful of themselves, others and their future. And of course it goes without saying that living with this type of worry and stress will definitely impact physical health if somebody goes through life with this mindset for long enough, because the stress and worry is going to take its toll From a brain perspective.

Speaker 1:

A scarcity mindset throws our amygdala, the fear and emotion center, into overdrive and gives our prefrontal cortex, the rational decision-making part of our brain, it gives it a nice pair of handcuffs. This ongoing stress response messes with our thinking and emotions and makes it even harder to break free from that scarcity trap, because we're caught in a web of worry and the limiting beliefs keep driving the worry. And from there we act competitively. We resist and don't trust change and get caught up and focused on the short term, which only gives us less in return of what we want, and that just fuels those limiting beliefs more and increases the negative emotions associated. So it becomes a big feedback loop of difficult emotions, stress and decisions that aren't thought out for our own best interests.

Speaker 1:

Put another way, the more you entertain those negative patterns of thinking, the more they get embedded in your brain as neural pathways, the more they get embedded in your brain as neural pathways. As the saying goes, what fires together wires together, because a thought is a chain reaction of neurons firing in a sequence or a specific order. So a particular thought will become stronger and stronger, or the neural pathway that's the thought, will start to dominate as you keep ruminating on fear-based beliefs around scarcity, which leads you to feel more anxious and doubtful, which then tricks you into thinking that those beliefs are true. It's an ugly trap and an ugly cycle. Studies have shown that chronic stress from a scarcity mindset can literally shrink our brain's gray matter and mess with its wiring. But luckily, science and other studies have shown us how to change our ways of thinking, which re-patterns neural pathways, and we can use techniques to get control back as it relates to influencing our thoughts and beliefs. Control back is it relates to influencing our thoughts and beliefs, which will then start to change how we feel.

Speaker 1:

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Speaker 1:

Okay, so how do we do this? First, we got to start with awareness, recognizing when a scarcity mindset is in the driver's seat, and we've got to be willing to contend with it. We can start to flip the script by challenging our limiting beliefs, and the best way to do this is by consciously rehearsing different ways of thinking that counter the negative beliefs we have around scarcity. Think of it as reality-based, positive thinking, because the reality is, whether you believe it or not, is that there's enough out there for you and everyone else. Don't confuse negative possibility with probability. Remember that only about eight or 9% of what we worry about actually happens, and the part that does happen is usually not nearly as bad as we were thinking it would be. So what if we started taking positive possibilities and put them into the category of probability? It's here we can start to rehearse a different pattern of thinking, and when you intentionally start rehearsing a positive thought, you start a new neural pathway in your brain. And when you keep repeating it over and over and when you replace the negative belief every time you have it with the positive one. Over and over, you manually build up a stronger neural pathway and it eventually gets stronger than the negative one. And then your feelings start to change. The anxiety and worry calm down and your actions get wiser and less impulsive. But it takes time and, just like going to the gym, requires you going over and over before you start to see results. Neuroplasticity, which is the brain's ability to form new connections, its ability to adapt and restructure itself. That also takes time, patience and practice.

Speaker 1:

Now, challenging limiting beliefs related to scarcity doesn't mean we get to have it all. It doesn't mean we'll get everything we want. It doesn't mean we get to just visualize good things coming our way and expect it to all get delivered to us. And it doesn't mean we won't have to sacrifice things. All of that's just entitlement. Sacrifice is part of any pursuit, but it's what makes it more purposeful and meaningful. It's what makes it matter so much more. In the end, a scarcity mindset is thinking there just won't be enough, no matter what you do. But an abundance mindset is the opposite. It says there's enough for you and everyone and that success, in whatever area of life you worry about, can manifest and continue. It doesn't mean you won't have to adapt, pivot, encounter problems or adjust as things change, but it means that there's enough and that you're capable, so you can stop putting the energy into fear and just focus on your next step, and focus on the faith that you'll get to where you need to be and that you are where you need to be right now, that it'll all work out, even if you don't know how yet.

Speaker 1:

Part of us challenging our mindset is practicing keeping a proper perspective. Instead of dwelling on what you don't have yet, shift your focus to all the good stuff in your life right now, whether it's your health, your relationships or the great cup of coffee in the morning. There's always something to be grateful for, and I do this regularly. Every day. I take time to point out everything that's going right and everything I have my dogs, my health, a good night's sleep, a car that runs, a warm house, running water, work, food in the fridge, good relationships, on and on. From the really small stuff I might start to take for granted if I didn't take notice to the really big stuff, by putting things in perspective, I move into an attitude of gratitude.

Speaker 1:

It's pretty powerful how something as simple as regular gratitude can shift our perspective. If you take time to regularly appreciate what you have, it'll start flipping a switch in your brain. You won't be so focused on what you don't have, what you think you won't get or don't think you'll get to keep whether that's time, money, romance or whatever. Instead, you'll start to foster an abundance mindset whatever. Instead, you'll start to foster an abundance mindset, a shift in perspective. Instead of feeling like there's never enough to go around, you'll start to see possibilities and realize that success isn't a zero-sum game. Somebody else's happiness or success doesn't diminish your own or decrease its odds. You'll start to feel there's enough for you that you can relax.

Speaker 1:

Take a day at a time, be grateful for today and be grateful you get to work towards what's meaningful and for what you want, that you can share and not guard what you have. It doesn't mean that things won't get hard sometimes or that you won't face hurdles, but you can approach them with a different attitude. You can start to look at problems not as if they're taking something from you, but that they're asking something of you and that you've got the ability to find the answers. You can start to view problems not as if they're going to take you down, but more that they just are, and that they're things you can work with.

Speaker 1:

An attitude of abundance and gratitude is both a philosophy and a strategy to get your brain in line with that philosophy. It's creating a powerful and positive feedback loop between the two where they eventually work as one. It's a game changer and it just needs time and practice. So if you struggle with the mindset of scarcity somewhere, or at least at times, I hope you can put what I've talked about in practice and start weeding it out. Be patient and be patient with yourself. You're enough and there's enough out there. You got this.

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Sylvia Flanagan

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