The Scarcity Mindset

I’ve been thinking about something that shapes the way we approach almost every aspect of our lives, whether we realize it or not. It’s not something we talk about every day—but it influences the choices we make, how we treat others, and what we believe is possible. I know that I've personally suffered from it for many years, and moving away from it can be incredibly challenging. It’s called the scarcity mindset.

What Is a Scarcity Mindset?

The scarcity mindset is simple, but powerful: it's the belief that there is never enough. Whether it’s money, time, opportunities, or even love, a scarcity mindset tells you that resources are limited, and if someone else has more, it means you have less. This belief leads to a sense of fear, competition, and anxiety, and it can be hard to escape because it often starts early in life. We see it in our families, our communities, or even in the workplace—and it can create a sticky lens through which you see the world.

Imagine you’re at a dinner table with a group of people, and there’s only one pie. If everyone else takes a slice, there’s less left for you, right? That’s how the scarcity mindset works. It makes us think that life is like that pie, with limited slices to go around. But the truth is, not everything in life is like a pie. In fact, there are many areas where we can create more for ourselves and others without taking anything away from anyone else. So, to keep on with the food analogy, the opposite of a scarcity mindset is a never-ending buffet, with multiple international cuisines to satisfy all tastes and cravings.

It’s Not Just About Money

Let’s talk about how this mindset could impact you on a personal level. The most obvious area where scarcity shows up is with money. When you’re stuck in a scarcity mindset, you believe that there’s never enough money, no matter how much you earn. You’re always worried about what’s coming next, constantly saving for a rainy day without ever feeling like you’ve “made it.” Even when you have some financial success, you might feel like it could all disappear at any moment, so you hold onto every dollar for dear life.

But this mindset doesn’t stop with money. It can also creep into how you manage your time. You start feeling like there’s never enough time to get everything done, so you constantly rush through life, always trying to catch up but never feeling like you’re ahead. This can lead to burnout, stress, and feeling like you're always behind, even when you’re doing fine.

And there's how it impacts your relationships. With a scarcity mindset, you might start thinking that affection, attention, or even love is in short supply. You may worry that someone else’s success or happiness somehow diminishes your own. This mindset can make you act defensively, putting up walls or holding back from giving fully to the people in your life. You might feel jealous when others get ahead or be overly competitive, thinking there’s only so much success to go around.

So while it starts with money, scarcity can take root in many areas of your life—and if you don’t recognize it, it can be a roadblock to real happiness and fulfillment.

Scarcity at Work

Let’s now talk about how this plays out in the workplace, because the corporate world is full of people operating under a scarcity mindset. When you carry this mentality into your job, it can manifest in some harmful ways, not just for yourself but also for the people around you.

A scarcity mindset can lead to fear-based decision-making. If you’re constantly worried that there aren’t enough opportunities for advancement, you might start playing it safe. Instead of taking risks or being innovative, you focus on protecting what you already have. You may avoid stepping outside your comfort zone, worried that failure will cost you too much. This fear of loss can prevent you from taking the very risks that lead to real growth and success.

It can also create poisonous competition instead of wholesome collaboration. A scarcity mindset tells you that success is a zero-sum game. If your colleague does well, it means less recognition, fewer opportunities, or even less security for you. So, instead of working together and sharing ideas, you might start withholding information or trying to outshine others at every opportunity. This creates a toxic work environment where people are more focused on protecting their turf than on building something bigger together.

A scarcity mindset also makes it hard to celebrate others’ successes—someone else’s promotion or achievement might feel like a personal loss. You might find it hard to be genuinely happy for them because it feels like they’ve taken something that could have been yours. This can lead to resentment and even damaged relationships with your peers or team members, making the workplace a much more stressful and lonely environment.

When you’re operating from a place of scarcity, you’re always on the defensive. You’re reacting to what you fear losing rather than focusing on what you could gain or create—and that’s no way to thrive in a career, let alone in life.

What’s the Alternative?

If you want to break free from the scarcity mindset, start seeing the world through the lens of abundance. Believe that there’s enough success, opportunity, and happiness to go around—and that someone else’s gain doesn’t have to be your loss. It’s about realizing that, in many areas of life, you can create more instead of just protecting what you have.

When you approach your career from a mindset of abundance, you’re more likely to take risks, share ideas, and build relationships that are based on mutual growth. You become a collaborator rather than a competitor, and you open yourself up to new possibilities, because you’re not afraid that success is a limited resource. It’s a mindset that encourages innovation, connection, and long-term success.

So as you go through life and grow your career, remember that how you view the world will shape your path in ways you may not even realize. The scarcity mindset is a trap that many of us fall into, especially in the corporate world, but it’s a trap you can escape by shifting your focus to abundance.

The world is full of opportunities, relationships, and achievements just waiting to be discovered—not just for others, but for you as well. Success doesn’t have to be a competition. When you approach life with the belief that there’s plenty to go around, you’ll find that you have more to give, and more to gain, than you ever thought possible.

Here's to adopting an abundance mindset—starting right now.

You got this.

Rabih El Khodr is an internationally renowned keynote speaker, organizational learning expert and leadership retreats facilitator. Having spoken to audiences in multiple countries, trained thousands of corporate professionals and made them laugh in several languages, Rabih helps leaders navigate workplace dynamics, build resilient teams and drive cultural transformation through psychological insights into organizational behavior. He is the author of the weekly newsletter "The Corporate Psyche" where he explores the mental and emotional forces shaping workplace decision-making and behavior.