An abundance mindset refers to an attitude of possibility where one believes there is more than enough of everything for everyone. In contrast, someone with a scarcity mentality believes that whatever they need is in limited supply.
Having a scarcity mentality limits a person’s success. So how can you develop an abundance mindset? Keep reading for actionable tips you can use to foster the growth of an abundance mindset, build the business of your dreams, and abundant life.
Why Is an Abundance Mindset Important?
A business owner with a scarcity mentality believes that if a competitor wins a big contract or customers, there won’t be any business left for them to do. On the other hand, an entrepreneur with an abundance mentality understands that there are limitless opportunities to make money, so it’s not the end of the world if they lose out on a big contract.
For business owners, having a positive mindset is a must to succeed. Running a business is a series of ups and downs as well as wins and losses. If you get discouraged by the downs, you may make bad decisions that put you out of business.
But having a positive, abundant mindset will give you a deep sense of courage to pursue your business goals even after disappointing blows. Read on for steps to help cultivate abundance.
1. Start a Gratitude Journal
Business owners are one of the busiest groups of people on the planet. So, taking the time to incorporate gratitude by adding a daily journaling practice to your schedule may seem like a waste of time. Gratitude journaling takes only a minute or two but can significantly positively affect your mental health, well-being and brain activity.
People who practice gratitude recognize that there are lots of good things happening in their lives. They appreciate the contribution that other people, as well as higher spiritual beings, make toward their well-being. This helps them get rid of toxic emotions like envy and anger and fear disappears.
Gratitude journaling also helps you see how much abundance you already have, so it drives out any scarcity thought patterns. If you wake up feeling sad because your business hasn’t made sales, thinking of things you feel grateful for could help change your mood.
Being grateful even for simple things like that you are healthy, you have a business, and that you can see can drive out depressing or scarcity thoughts and get you out of bed.
For this practice, all you need is a small notebook whereby you can write three things you are grateful for each morning. You can use your everyday business diary or notebook for this. If you want to go deeper into the practice, you can buy a small journal or notebook specifically for gratitude.
Every day fill a page with things that you are grateful for. You can also search online to take full advantage of more tips and suggestions for your journal.
When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears.
2. Get Organized
One of the root causes of a scarcity mindset is a cluttered mind and life. When your things are all over the place, and you can’t find things you need, your mind thinks you don’t have enough and need more. Also, holding on to items that no longer serve you keeps you stuck in the fear that there aren’t enough resources for you.
Declutter your home and office and find a space for everything you own. Whenever you use something, put it back in its home. This way, you will easily find everything you need without getting caught up in negative emotions. Get rid of old damaged items that no longer bring you happiness.
Blessing other people with your old clothes and household items prove to your mind that you have more than enough. Daily focus to make a conscious effort to surround yourself with things you love will also inspire an abundance mentality that you deserve and can have good things.
Organizing your systems and paperwork in your business will help your organization run smoothly. This organization will give you the self-confidence and peace of mind to go after and win clients. Having a disorganized business will drive away clients because they will see your lack of professionalism.
3. Give More
One of the best ways to develop an abundance mindset is to give others your time, money, and other resources. When you give, you train your mind to recognize that you have more than enough.
On average, wealthy households donate more than $40,000 annually. Their giving not only helps society but proves to them that their life is abundant.
As a business owner, you are already a giver as you can only succeed by providing excellent goods and services to your customers. The most successful business owners are natural givers, always looking for ways to add value to the world.
If you’re only focused on what you can get out of every situation, you will drive away people and end up stressed and unhappy. But if you focus on how you can give, you will draw more people to you, and your life will be one with greater happiness and more fulfillment.
4. Value Your Time
Time is the most available resource in the world. However, we have a finite amount of time in life. For this reason alone, we should value our time and spend it on our life goals and priorities.
One way to have an abundance mindset is to spend as little time as possible doing things we don’t want to do. Know what your priorities are. For a business owner, these may be your family and your business.
It would be best if you learned to say no to invitations to events, meetings, and activities that don’t help you advance the priorities in your life. Also, limit time-wasters like mindlessly switching channels on the TV or scrolling on social media. These things should be reduced in favor of more meaningful memorable experiences.
5. Don't Compare
Another way to foster true abundance is to stop comparing yourself with others. There will always be people greater or lesser than you, so the comparison will only promote self-pity make you bitter.
Instead, encourage a growth mindset by setting goals for yourself. The only comparison you should be doing is of where you are, with where you have come from, and where you want to be.
Many small business owners compare themselves with established companies that were created and grew under different circumstances. When you do so, you’ll blame yourself for not achieving the growth that others are achieving.
But you don’t know the details of other people’s life circumstances. For example, maybe they are running on debt and are in danger of being foreclosed. Meanwhile, you are beating yourself up over your business, which is turning a profit.
6. Check Your Network
We are the sum of the people closest to us. If the five people you interact with most have a scarcity mindset, you will likely become the sixth.
Go through a reflection process after every interaction with others to see how you feel. Did the interaction leave you feeling positive and did you feel abundant?
Audit your friends, family, and business partners and reduce your interactions with negative individuals who lack an abundance mentality. As you do that, seek out friendships and associations with positive people that will influence you to develop an abundance mindset.
7. Stop Complaining
One way to recognize someone with a scarcity mindset is to listen to their conversation and see how much of it is complaining. According to the dictionary, complaining is expressing dissatisfaction and annoyance about something. The thing with complainers is that they get satisfaction from complaining, so they don’t want a solution to their problems.
The validation you get from complaining to others can get addictive, so you constantly find things to be annoyed about. Unfortunately, this keeps you focused on negative thoughts. Instead of complaining, air valid concerns and find a way to fix a problem.
For example, have you ever been to a business whereby the owner or employees complain about certain clients? They may complain that clients come in just as they are about to close the shop or that clients are too picky. These clients are helping to keep the business afloat, and hearing your complaints will drive them and other potential clients away.
If your business attracts demanding clients you don’t want to deal with, change your model to attract the clients you want. Complaining about them without doing anything will only make you hate your business.
As a small business owner, your life is much better off than many people around the world. But you wouldn’t know this from how some of us carry ourselves. So be genuinely happy and grateful for your business.
Final Word on How to Build an Abundance Mindset
Business owners need an abundance mindset if they are to have professional success. A scarcity mindset can drive one to make bad business decisions and create stress and depression. Taking a pro active approach to focus on the endless possibilities, the abundance of resources, and clients gives us the strength to go after our goals.
All the above tips can help you develop a positive abundance mentality. A coach can help identify the specific blocks in your thought patterns and help you overcome them by reminding you to incorporate an abundant mentality in your business. Contact us for more information on how our MINDstretch methodology coaching can help you grow your business.
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We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
