Make a move from scarcity to abundance
Do you ever catch yourself in a scarcity mindset?
When your thoughts wander throughout the day, do they go toward what’s missing or toward opportunity and potential?
In his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change, Stephen Covey explains when you live in a world of scarcity, you compete for available resources, even when there is an abundance of them.
You live with the persistent belief that you won’t have enough.
Scarcity mindset leads to stress and anxiety, which both just put us back into fear, which leads to more scarcity thinking. This endless cycle makes it difficult to think about or achieve long-term goals, because you’re always focused on keeping your head just above water.
The effects of scarcity thinking can be found anywhere, but I often see it in finances—even among high income, high-net worth individuals.
The majority of people who are wealthy today didn’t start that way. Whether in their childhood or in their early career, they had to be strategic about how they spent and saved to make sure they would have enough.
So sometimes, even when they do make more than they ever imagined, they can’t always just flip a switch. It takes time to rewire their brains to believe there will be enough and a safe place to go for dollars when they are needed.
Signs you may be stuck in a scarcity money mindset that doesn’t match your situation, and how to combat negative thinking:
The thought pattern: “I can’t trust my next paycheck will come through, so I need to get what I want now while I have the money.”
The effect: There is no money left over for long-term goals and priorities, and you feel out of control.
A potential solution: Set an amount of time you have to wait on a purchase based on its cost.
Not only does this give you the opportunity to test what you really want versus what you want right now, but you’ll find that money doesn’t just disappear in that time. It puts you in control of your cash flow.
The thought pattern: “I can’t afford a nice vacation; I need to save in case I won’t have enough later.”
The effect: The more energy you spend on small things, the less bandwidth you have to tackle bigger financial ideas such as retirement and legacy.
When you’re making what’s considered a high income, you may want to talk about elevating what counts as a “large purchase.”
The potential solution: Develop a budget that includes long-term goals and required “fun spending,” whether that’s vacations, eating out, or items for a hobby.
When you spend, remind yourself of the truth of your security and situation. You have planned for it, and it does not teeter on one purchase, but on the series of smart money choices and the behaviors you are making over time.
The thought pattern: “The markets aren’t safe, regardless of time horizon. If I experience a dip, there may never be an opportunity to recover.”
The effect: You miss out on opportunities in the market, stunting your ability to meet long-term goals.
A potential solution: Practice gratitude that you have income that can go toward investments rather than your immediate needs.
Trust your plan and that you have a safe place to go to for dollars when needed. The history of the markets have an overall upward trajectory over the long-term. Remember that even when you do have some downturns, your long-term future isn’t determined by them.
Shifting out of the scarcity mindset isn’t just about going through the motions.
It requires reforming some of your core thoughts about money, security, and value, and this can be a tricky path to navigate alone.
If you saw yourself in any of the thought processes above, I encourage you to reply to this email.
We’d be happy to set up a phone call to develop a strategy for aligning your mind and your finances for abundance! The change won’t happen overnight, but I will be your ally and advocate through the whole journey.
Author: James Jaderborg, CLU®, ChFC®
James Jaderborg specializes in working with business owners, physicians, and medical professionals to help them overcome financial challenges unique to their careers.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investments will fluctuate and when redeemed may be worth more or less than when originally invested.
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