Are you limiting yourself by holding on to a scarcity mindset? | #THINKINGHUES
Exploring the difference between nurturing scarcity versus an abundant mindset, in a world that tells you competition is the only means of survival.
I’ve found myself thinking about the difference between scarcity and abundance mindset a lot lately. First, let’s clarify something: there’s a difference between real-world scarcity— the survival kind where people are struggling to make ends meet and are starved of meeting basic needs, then there’s the psychological kind, where you’re in a daily battle with your mind.
It’s where though you may be materially affluent you struggle to feel like you have enough or are always feeling like you’re in a lack. You feel like you’re always in a state of competition with others, as you believe that if others win you’ll end up as the loser.
So, there’s an important distinction to stress here between resource scarcity versus mental scarcity. If you’re in a daily battle for survival where your basic needs aren’t being met, then a shift in mindset is definitely not what’s going to solve your problems. But, what I am fascinated by is how some of us can still fall into a pattern of feeling deficient even while objectively abundant.
Mental scarcity “is when you are so obsessed with a lack of something— usually time or money— that you can’t seem to focus on anything else, no matter how hard you try.” (WebMD) You live life in a state of worries and fears.
You are nervous about wasting your time or are apprehensive about not doing enough to make enough money. Though you have your basic needs covered or may in fact live well, by any objective standards, you still feel frantic— always feeling like you need to do more and have more to survive. It’s a state of perpetual unease. Ironically, even those who are materially rich aren’t immune to such feelings.
In contrast, someone with an abundant mindset views life as a vast landscape of opportunities. To them, another’s success isn’t a threat but a cause for collective celebration. Life is not a battle against peers, but an embrace of abundant potential. These are the types of people who are generous with their time and resources— focused on giving, sharing, and cheering everyone on. These individuals are grounded in the belief that their only real competition is themselves, while everyone else’s success is never a threat to their own— there is enough in the world for everyone to win.
Yet, let’s be honest, the world is never as black or white— no one is purely one or the other. Even the most optimistic of folks, like me, sometimes catch myself in the pitfalls of scarcity; my ongoing battle with hoarding is one example.
I’ve had to face the hard truth of confronting my own demons around hoarding. I remember, years ago, I lived in a room with limited access to natural light.
Despite ample storage space, I found it difficult to fit all of my belongings and proceeded to cover up the only window with natural light with additional storage. Absurd, I know!
I felt cluttered in my mind and in my physical space. I also felt helplessly crippled by my inability to let go of my possessions. I knew I had a strong and rather unreasonable attachment to my belongings, yet, I continued to rationalise the importance of each item. From old shorts dating back to my preteen years, to years of untouched gifts, I was falling into a continuous trap of thinking that “perhaps I’ll need this someday,” with almost everything I own.
Over time I started to realise my intense reluctance to part with my beloved items. It wasn’t about their intrinsic worth or usefulness that prevented me from letting them go. Rather, beneath my grip on my possessions, I was in a state of fear and worry of future deprivation. I felt I would never gain the same satisfaction from anything new or somehow would lose out on the joy a particular item gave me.
But, over time the truth started to sting. I started to see myself akin to a lonely hermit, living in a dark cave, clutching to my belongings as lifelines.
It was a stark confrontation to the irrational fears that plagued my mind. I started to see how disruptive my worries were and truthfully, a tad nonsensical. Rationally, I knew, that beyond the essentials— food, water, shelter, and meaningful relationships— everything else I owned was always icing on the cake and never a necessity to my survival, so why was it so difficult to let things go?
Once I opened myself up to owning these truths, I started to loosen my grip on material possessions. I slowly gave more and more things away. I felt lighter. I also succumbed to Marie Kondō’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and watched episodes of her Netflix series, Tidying Up with Marie Kondō.
I hesitantly, at first, started to apply her methods. It felt like dragging my feet through quicksand, but I persisted. I placed all the things I owned in front of me, was appalled by the amount, and started to work my way through, throwing away anything that didn’t spark joy. Again, I felt lighter.
A pattern started to emerge, I realised the less I owned, the lighter I felt. The more I gave away and donated, the less cluttered I felt in my mind too. I also started to see how underneath my behaviours were deeper attachments I had to work hard to work through— as hoarding is often an emotional and psychological coping mechanism. It’s a by-product of a scarcity mindset.
I don’t say this lightly, but the entire experience was transformational. I started to see a new reality and started to entertain new possibilities.
I know, this might feel like an exaggeration, especially if you’re either a fellow hoarder or a recovering one like myself. But, truly, it’s something I believe you need to experience firsthand to fully understand.
Contrary to popular belief, resources and opportunities in the world are abundant, if we’re willing to share and work together. There’s enough for everyone to win if our mindset is not of competition but cooperation. Although our current world is not structured this way, adopting an abundant mindset is possible. It allowed me to look beyond the generations of conditioning that forced us to believe that competition is the only way to exist— of a winner-takes-all mentality.
But, I want you to know, that it’s possible to train your mind to see the world through a different lens. The world doesn’t exist in binaries of winners and losers if you choose to free your mind from the fixation of scarcity. I realised that I can choose to reframe my thinking, I can instead embrace abundance.
What’s been interesting is how even as a self-proclaimed optimist and while I pride myself in generosity, I was surprised to see how even I am not immune to such limiting beliefs. The lesson to learn is that while you might feel abundant in some situations, there is always the danger of slipping into a scarcity mindset— whether you’re aware of it or not. When do you think you slip into a scarcity mindset? When do you see the world through an abundant mindset?
Here are some excellent resources to help you steer yourself in the right direction:
What is Scarcity Mentality? | WebMD
For an easy-to-read explanation of what a scarcity mindset is, this is an article that explains the basics but also goes in-depth about the dangers it can cause. It also includes practical steps you can take to manage your way out of a scarce mindset and into a more abundant mind.
5 Ways to Go From A Scarcity to Abundance Mindset. | Forbes
If you want a scientific perspective on how to position yourself at work and life better using an abundance mindset, this article is for you.
How to Release Scarcity & Adopt An Abundance Mindset, For Real.|MBGMindfulness
This article will help you to understand the difference between a scarce versus an abundant mindset by sharing practical habits to adopt.
How to Shift from a Scarcity Mindset to an Abundance Mindset. | Very Well Mind
For a more well-rounded understanding of what a scarcity mindset is and how to move beyond it, this article will help you grasp a better understanding of the concept from all sides. It also includes practical strategies on how to cultivate a mindset of abundance that’ll last you a lifetime.
Hoarding disorder | Mayo Clinic
For a more scientific explanation of hoarding this article breaks down all the various components well. Also, as an example of how holding onto a scarcity mindset can impact you.
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