The Scarcity and Abundance Mindset

I have to admit that there was a time in my life when I had a full-on scarcity attitude. I was rotten with jealousies, seeing what others were getting, and felt things would run out before I could achieve too. Then I read Steven Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and learned about the abundance mentality. It is no overstatement to say this concept would change my life forever. In the book, Covey talks about the scarcity mindset as a win-lose paradigm, where if you get something, there is less for me. On the other hand, the abundance mindset is a win-win paradigm, where there is plenty to go around for everyone.

America is the land of plenty, and as an American, you see how plentiful life can be. The success and excess of others surround us. Showcasing this is an obsession for some, but for many, this does not serve to make you think you can have yours, too; it makes you focus on what you don’t have. This can create a struggle between an abundance mentality and a scarcity mentality.

Abundance is the state or feeling of having a relative degree of plentifulness. It is a state of being and a way of appreciating what you already have. An abundance mindset believes that you have all you need in life to feel fulfilled, happy, and empowered. Abundance means knowing that you are enough and that you will have enough. It is feeling excitement, positivity, and hopefulness in life. It creates light instead of dark and puts air beneath the wings of an idea or feeling.

Scarcity is the state of being or feeling without having enough of something. A scarcity mindset believes that you need something more to have a happy and fulfilled life. This mindset can be driven by fear and anxiety. It can block one’s ability to feel hopeful or envision a life full of possibilities. Scarcity makes you feel like you need something else in life to feel whole. Scarcity keeps you small and “safe.” It obscures positive thinking and personal expansion.

Humans are hard-wired to notice scarcity. For most of our time on earth, resources to survive have been in short supply, and for some people, this is unfortunately still true in some parts of the world today. Scarcity and danger were constant companions for much of our history. But, that is not the case for most of us living today.

SOME ATTRIBUTES OF THE SCARCITY AND ABUNDANCE MINDSET

I’ve observed many people in my work and my life consumed by a scarcity mindset, so much so that it holds them back from living to their full potential. In particular, I see many examples of people with incredible external abundance but who live in a state of fear.

They have a lose-win mindset, which says, ‘there is only so much pie to go around, and if you get some, there will be less for me.’ But unfortunately, adopting this mode of thinking only results in a life of fear, stress, and anxiety caused, in large part, by comparing oneself to others.

I am a firm believer that if you choose to adopt a character that is rich in abundance, you will become a master of your life. The beauty of life is that you have the power to change your life at any given moment. Therefore, if you choose to make the mental shift from a place of scarcity to one of abundance, you will transform your entire life.

WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH CX?

Business organizations can have a scarcity or abundance mindset. This is only natural since an organization is comprised of individuals, with some having a great deal of influence over the entire organization.

In his article Abundance vs. Scarcity: Which Mindset Do You Have?, Robert Kiyosaki, author of?Rich Dad Poor Dad, shared a terrific example of how two business titans revealed a bit about their mindset.

Walmart’s scarcity mindset: squeezing suppliers

In the face of Amazon’s mounting competition, Walmart made an exciting move at the time of the Whole Foods acquisition. They told partners and suppliers that they couldn’t do business if they ran the software on Amazon’s AWS cloud servers. So instead, partners and suppliers were told to move their software to Microsoft’s Azure cloud.

As Fortune reported, an Amazon spokesman said Walmart was bullying its suppliers. And it was and is.

As a result, many suppliers are standing up to Walmart. After all, it’s no small thing to move your technology onto a new cloud system, and it’s a disruption to business that could be very costly.

Amazon’s pick up of Whole Foods, on the other hand, will only enhance their business, according to one analyst, “Either Whole Foods will help Amazon learn about a kale-munching customer sector it doesn’t yet own, or Amazon’s AI will help it make each Whole Foods store irresistible to everyone in its neighborhood. Or both.”?

This is an abundance mindset. Amazon is looking forward and finding opportunities to get ahead of the competition. They are not on their heels but instead see what others don’t.

Since the acquisition, Amazon has done much innovation to integrate Whole Foods into their online shopping model, including allowing you to shop for Whole Foods groceries on the Amazon site and free, same-day delivery for its Prime members. However, in a new world where coronavirus has everyone staying home as much as possible, these will only serve to help Amazon continue to chip away at what once looked like an invincible market share that Walmart held.

In his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change, Stephen Covey explains that when you live in a world of scarcity, you compete for available resources, even when there is an abundance of them. As a result, one perspective will imprison you, while the other will set you free.?

So, what type of mindset do you ascribe to??