Your Mental Paradigm: How To Shift From A Scarcity Mindset To An Abundance Mindset with 8 Exercises
Entrepreneurship
“The difference
between a successful person
and others is not a lack of strength,
not a lack of knowledge,
but rather a lack of will.”
Let’s talk about Scarcity.
What words come to your mind?
For me, the words that resonate with a scarcity mindset include fear, limitation, lack, inflexibility, disempowerment, insecurity, condescension and jealousy.
What about abundance?
The words that resonate with an abundance mindset include expansion, empowerment, agility, adaption, prosperity, happiness, inner peace, love, light and flow.
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Now do you wonder what mindset and mental paradigms are you holding onto right now?
What beliefs are you framing in your mind? Are you in the scarcity or are you in the abundance mindset?
A mental paradigm is defined as a multitude of habits within your subconscious mind. It is also known as a specific set of limiting beliefs that have evolved from your life experiences and past events. They are a collection of opinions/habits that we latch onto because of what had happened to us or the people close to us. These self-limiting beliefs are untrue and unfactual but we have seeded them in our mind, convincing ourselves they are true. Consider the following example below and ask yourself if it resonates with you:
Since you were young, were you expected to finish college, get to University, get a good enough job and work for a good-enough company, pay of your loan, get insurance, find a husband/wife, get a mortgage, have a family, plan for retirement? This way of hard-work is the way to go for success in life?
Who said that to you? Whoever said that there was only one absolute paved path in life that entails success?
As you probably are aware by now, these limiting beliefs come from our society and mostly from the people closest to us. And they probably had the same said to them when they were your age. Or their circumstances then really limited their choices and the lack chose them- they do not want you to go through their struggles too. Sometimes we hold the best intentions for the ones we love but we unconsciously also share our limiting beliefs to them.
In 1989 bestseller of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, author Stephen Covey conceived the famous phrases of “Abundance Mentality” and “Scarcity Mentality.” In simplistic terms, he defined the “abundance mindset” as a concept in which a person believes there are enough resources and successes to share with others. He contrasted it with the “scarcity mindset”, which is founded on the idea that, when you have a scarcity mentality, you have a hard time being genuinely happy for the success of other people. A scarcity mindset is having a belief that you need more to live a happy and fulfilled life. It is living for the future and not the present moment. This mindset can be driven by fear and anxiety. It impedes one to feel hopeful or to envision a life full of possibilities. In relationships, a scarcity mindset may make you feel like you need someone else to complete you.
In short, the scarcity mindset equates to lack. But more often this lack is not in the lack of knowledge, strengths but the lack of will, the lack of openness towards change. An abundance mindset nurtures growth, will and presence and still welcome change. It is taking the driver’s seat of our car instead of taking the back seat and letting someone else drives it.
Have you got the answer if your mind frames a scarcity or an abundance mindset?
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My Story
I was not always self-aware and mindful; to my thoughts, emotions, others, my actions and my environment- like I am now.
I always felt I had a pretty good middle-class family upbringing in Singapore. Recently it occurred to me that perhaps my family upbringing has influenced a lot of the lack of mental paradigms that were deep-seated within us that it felt indifferent and almost identifying. A few days ago, my brother made a joke about the takeout he bought and exclaimed that “Beggars cannot choose- so eat.” I told him afterward that he needed to reframe and shift that mental paradigm and sent him some podcast tracks about this topic (knowing that he is not a visual learner and will not enjoy reading his wordsmith sister’s article).
One of the most prominent statements I remember from childhood- from my dad was, “Do not compare with others.” I knew he meant well and wanted us to remain grateful. But many times, even at present, he would share about achievements about other people whom we know and I wonder if he was being paradoxical and subtly doing that and comparing their achievements with ours.
When I decided to pursue the whimsical path of a scuba diving instructor in 2015, I knew I was defying most expectations and was considered to be an inspiration to many others. I knew I did not want a career that was expectant of me, but rather a career I felt called out and guided to. Being a diving instructor was amazing during my past 4-5 years. However, I always felt I had to choose either between a simple, emotionally fulfilling, laborious yet financially limited life or the corporate, emotionally unfulfilling, financially-stable life that was plentiful back home. Being a dive instructor usually meant I was living in most remote and inaccessible locations that were not convenient at all. I used to hold a mental paradigm where, if I wanted to dive at an exotic destination, I would rather get a job and work there. But in 2019, I was becoming more aware of my narrative that I vowed then to shift my narrative to an abundance mindset. That let to the birth of Arawme and now, if I wanted to dive somewhere exotic and stunning, I’d be- “I’m going to pay and dive there!”
Scarcity mindset ruled my mental paradigm for a long time and it requires presence, patience and self-awareness to recognize them and make a commitment to shift.
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Below are some questions to ask yourself if scarcity frames your mind:
Do I feel bad for asking more in life (career, relationships, money)?
Do I feel bad about my current situation/circumstances?
Do I get anxious/depressed/insecure when I see other people’s lives on social media?
Do I complain a lot?
What do I complain about most in life?
Do I use a lot of never/always/should in my conversations with others and myself?
Do I overindulge in any aspects of my life? (Ps: Indulgence is associated with short term gratification. They only reveal the scarcity mindset in those areas.)
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everything is energy
It is paramount to remind you that our Universe’s only desires to bestow your greatest and deepest desires for you. Everything is happening for us, not to us.
Quantum Physics has profoundly revolutionized the way we view things and how some things are just incapable to be seen, measured, only felt. Everything is energy and we are all made of vibrations- and every vibration has its own frequency. It is your responsibility to nurture the highest frequencies of your being to attract this abundance into your life. It is also human nature to fall in the scarcity mindset, but it is our human will to shift from it that sets us apart as individuals. As co-creators of our reality, being in an abundance mindset allows us to magnetize the reality we wish to truly receive.
The Universe does not work with giving us what we want, it gives us where we are.
“You have to fix the mind
before you can bestow the blessing.
Because until they get their mind right,
everything you invest in them
is going to leak out
Of the crevices of a mind
that refuses to change.”
I completely ADORE the song by Steve Angello’s Rejoice. It gave me chills each time. Right at the beginning of the track, it began with the speech about our mind. It explained thoroughly about the mental paradigm and the shift to the abundance mindset. So right at the end of this article, give it a listen and it will empower you further.
Below are 8 exercises/tips on how we can shift from the scarcity mind to the abundance mind:
Cultivate Awareness With Limiting Beliefs
Begin by taking an aspect of your life that you view a scarcity mindset in. It could be in self-worth, relationship, love, money, career, etc. I personally hold a lot of limiting beliefs in money. Some questions to ask include, what has been your relationship with money? What was your first experience with money? Allow yourself to write all of them down in paper. Delve into what past programmings, past experiences, or traumas led to the formation of these narratives. Be gentle with yourself. Ask yourself which are true, what are not not true. Were you holding these beliefs because it was past over to you consciously or unconsciously? Ask yourself how these limiting beliefs have held you back before or presently. By cultivating mindfulness on aspects of life we ignore, we strengthen our awareness muscle. Use this exercise later in other aspects too.
Rephrase Your Narrative
This is an important practice as it involves shifting your narrative to an abundance mindset. Our thoughts are powerful and they manifest into reality when we allow them to. In the law of Perpetual Transmutation of Energy – the law states that every person has the power within them to change the conditions of their lives by using our power of choice. Our free will is pivotal in how we want to live our lives, and it is an inherent choice if you want to live it with limitations or abundance. After identifying your limiting beliefs, shift them to positive-affirming ones. Again, write them down as they allow you to witness the power of shifts instantly. Remember, we always have a choice to leverage in any situation by reframing our narrative. Stick them on your wall, make them your daily affirmations. Catch yourself each time you speak with a gap mentality and rephrase it into a more affirming one! Below are 3 examples:
My income is the same every month. >>> I love taking bold actions to increase my income.
I do not like to look at my bank account at the end of the month. >>> I am a money magnet. Money is all around me.
Earning money is difficult for me. >>> Money is easy for me. I am tuned to the frequency of wealth.
Gratitude Journaling + Beginner’s Mindset
In my article on gratitude journaling, I explained about its importance in honing this habit to flourish in a gain instead of gap mentality, an abundance instead of a scarcity mindset no matter how beautiful, horrible or mediocre your day has been. When we allow ourselves to find gratitude, we allow the expanse of more to come and acknowledge the beauty of what we presently have. It is about pausing the busyness and the stagnancy of our life in noticing yourself, others with greater mindful awareness. It is about shifting your perspective, to heighten your vibrations and finding inner peace. It is about conquering that circumstance and unleashing the capacity within you for manifestations. By adopting a beginner mindset is to allow ourselves to nourish a growth approach. We allow ourselves to be open to continuous learning, self-discovery and limitless opportunities.
4.Pursue Your Passions
What are your passions or hobbies that you are/have been overlooking and are not focusing on? Did you always want to create a specific art? Did you always want to learn another language? Did you always want to learn to scuba dive or kickbox? When we are passionate and excited, we immediately increase our frequencies and our alignment with manifestation. Perhaps take money out of the equation for now and why not nourish yourself by following what resonates in your heart? That state of being immediately transforms you into a gain mentality; an abundance mindset.
5.Visualize It Happening
A powerful manifestation exercise is visualization. If you have set an intention with a specific aspect of your life, it is important to prepare ourselves for manifestations by visualizing it as if it has already happened. Use your senses, be creative, explorative and playful. If it is about money and starting a new career, imagine the lifestyle that you are living WHEN you achieve that. What would you be doing? What will you be wearing? How are you spending the money? This obviously comes after you have taken actions with pursuing your passion and what resonates with your heart.
6. Draw Boundaries
An important exercise here is to master drawing boundaries with other people. It is very helpful when you surround yourself who are in the abundance and growth mindset instead of the gap mentalities. We are the sum of the 5 people we surround ourselves with after all. As you cultivate more awareness towards your personal narrative, you will also notice that external factors also affect you- sometimes subtly and sometimes heavily.
In my past professions, I became very aware of the mindsets of the people around me. It became obvious there were a lot of scarcity mindsets surrounding the job scope and daily conversations about money. I knew I did not want to be surrounded by it anymore and hence I drew my boundaries at making work, work and nothing more. I eventually left the company. Presently, I find a lot of inspiration and have supportive people in similar journeys on my social platform who are embracing and living the abundance mindset. We do not do so overnight and we do have setbacks. It is a skill we are honing every single day. But what differentiated us was we cultivated mindfulness and nurture and support each other with it.
7. Take Charge Of Your Health
I heavily believe that to shift to the abundance mindset we need to work on believing we are WORTHY in the first place. A large component of strengthening your self-worth is through your physical health. The food we nourish our physical body also nourishes our mental body. Our physical bodies always hold the first clue when something is not right within our emotional mind. Our physical bodies respond to our emotional health in many ways that usually manifest itself into an ailment, illness and more. When we honor our physical bodies by treating it right, we reframed our mental paradigm and planted within our subconscious that abundance is already on its way. Being healthy also keeps you in a positive spirit and a heightened, more curious and energetic state of being.
8.Bhava- Your Mindfulness Self- Love Toolkit
Bhava is a journey-inwards toolkit that I have created. In this toolkit, we discuss on how fear holds us back, its limiting beliefs and contains practices to move through them. We also discuss aspects of boundaries, compassion and inner child work. Bhava basically outlines the steps you need to get through prioritizing your self- worth to welcome the abundance mindset you deserve. Self-love is the building block to attract the highest frequency we deserve. You can read more about this free resource here.
I hope this article offered you an important perspective on both the scarcity and abundance mindset as well as what limiting beliefs and mental paradigms are. It is okay to operate from a gap mentality but what matters is our human will to shift from it that sets us apart as individuals. As co-creators of our reality, being in an abundance mindset allows us to magnetize the reality we wish to truly receive. Our mind can be a tool for distractions and limitations but it can also be harnessed for inner peace, abundance and limitless opportunities. Click on this link for Steve Angello’s Rejoice. It is a perfect morning affirmation too! I hope after it all, you too, will choose to rejoice.
That is all from me! Sat Nam. Sending you a huge hug.
Love and light,
Sylvia
New here?
I am Sylvia— the founder, writer, intuitive healer, and human design reader of Arawme. “Arawme” is basically, a raw me put together.
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