Do you worry about money a lot? Maybe it is ingrained in you from your parents. Growing up, they may have saved every penny and dime and avoided unnecessary spending.
Yet, you are finding this mindset is beginning to hold you back—not only from enjoying life but from making strides in any goals you set for yourself. You want to let the scarcity mindset go and develop an abundance mentality.
In this article, you will learn:
- What a scarcity mindset is
- How a scarcity mindset affects your life
- What are the signs you have a poverty mindset
- How to break the scarcity mindset
How can you start viewing the world from a more abundant perspective? Let’s find out.
What Is a Scarcity Mindset?
In order to move past your current mindset, you need to understand it.
The scarcity or poverty mindset is the belief that there are not enough resources in the world for everyone. This can be money, food, jobs, love, or sunny weather—both material and non-material things.
When you are operating from scarcity, your actions show that you are constantly stuck in the thought process that you have a lack of something.
You might hoard money or cling to it for fear that you may run out. On the other hand, you might be spending everything you earn (or even more) to enjoy life “while you can” and “invest” in things that “you might not have money for in the future.”
How does a scarcity mindset affect your life?
Positive effects of a scarcity mindset
Interestingly, there are certain habits you might have developed by having a scarcity mindset which you might want to keep.
Firstly, this mindset may help you develop excellent prioritizing skills. You might have learned the value of channeling your energy and resources into the most important projects and relationships. This skill can make you more effective through life as every moment is that much more vital.
Secondly, many people who have a scarcity mindset also develop a trade-off mentality. This means you are more likely to recognize that having one thing in your life, such as a $100 meal, may mean you will not get to buy that $100 shirt you have been eyeing. This is a necessary concept to understand when it comes to financial planning and budgeting.
However, there are major downsides to operating from a scarcity mindset.
Negative effects of a scarcity mindset
First of all, you somewhat teach yourself and your mind how to be poor. You are too focused on keeping and maintaining what you have, rather than looking forward and going after what you want. The fear that you might run out of money keeps you where you are.
When your energy is contracted to maintain the status-quo vs. expending to get more, you are surviving as opposed to thriving. If you think about this in terms of the law of attraction, money is energy. When you are trying to keep it, you and your money become stagnant. Energy, including money, needs to flow, which means you must be both spending and earning.
Secondly, money may take up most of your brainpower as you try to keep it. You may experience decreased enjoyment in life or constantly feel as though you are missing out on parts of your life. You might also make poor decisions as a result.
For instance, you may buy that same cheap rain jacket every year to avoid spending five times that on a durable and long-lasting jacket. Buying the more expensive jacket means it may last longer than five years, but because you are stuck in this mindset, you do not think of the situation from this perspective. It is constantly about saving and keeping money here and now.
Finally, there is a link between poverty and ill-health. If you are continually stressed about money, this can result in poor physical health, including heart disease, weight gain, depression, and more. Being worried about money may begin to impact your health as time goes on.
Understandably, when having a scarcity mindset you may experience anxiety revolving around spending money. The thought of spending more on that expensive jacket may make you freeze. You automatically think you cannot afford it or that you will not have enough money left for later on. It can be scary. However, it is possible to break free of this mindset (more on this below).
What are the signs you have a poverty mindset
So, how do you know if you are stuck in a scarcity mindset? Review the poverty mindset signs below and determine if developing a more abundance mindset could truly benefit you and your life.
1. You believe everything is permanent
A poverty mindset relates very closely to the fixed mindset. These two mentalities go hand-in-hand. When you have a fixed mindset, you are not open to change. Things are the way they are, and that is it. You do not look to change this way of thinking and keep coming back to it when things do not go your way.
The truth is… nothing is permanent. Everything is temporary. Bad feelings and bad situations pass. They do not last forever—contrary to what you may feel in the moment.
2. You frequently use phrases like “I don’t have enough money,” “I will go without,” or “I cannot do this”
Your words become your thoughts. When your words are negative, you also create negative thought patterns. You begin believing what you are saying. This means you want to be careful with the words you choose.
Try to catch yourself saying these negative phrases out loud, and make them more positive, such as telling yourself you can do this and that you have everything you need.
3. You are jealous of others and what they have
Jealousy is one of the worst emotions we can display. No one wins—not even you. Jealousy tends to extinguish appreciation in most forms that leads to focusing even more on what you lack. This is why many psychologists and therapists talk about the importance of gratitude.
Practicing gratitude every day can help you begin to see the world in a new light. It can further contribute to better health and overall happiness.
4. You rarely show generosity
We may assume generous people have a lot to give, but it is not true in every circumstance. Further, when you are in a poverty mindset, you tend to be frugal and avoid paying any extra, even if it is maybe only $2.
Ideally, you want to be generous to yourself and others. This involves putting yourself in a state of mind as if you already have more than enough. In turn, this allows you to offer generosity to others and move away from the mindset that is holding you back.
5. You overspend
Most assume that a scarcity mindset means that a person does not spend. However, it may also mean someone is overspending. You may seek instant gratification in your unfulfilled life, so you spend. At the same time, you try not to spend in other areas.
The key to balancing these habits is budgeting. You may choose to seek out a financial advisor to help you plan out your budgets and finances accordingly.
How Can We Break the Scarcity Mindset?
Now it is time to pull yourself out of the poverty mindset and move into a full and abundant life. It is entirely possible. So, how can you increase your money mindset? How can you change your way of thinking when it comes to money?
According to Marisa Peer, a best-selling author, motivational speaker, leading celebrity therapist, and the creator of Rapid Transformational Therapy® (RTT®), “You make your beliefs, and your beliefs make you.” Ultimately, your beliefs influence your thoughts, your thoughts influence your actions, and you this is how you get your outcomes.
When you understand how the mind works, you will be able to let go of the scarcity mindset and develop an abundance mindset where the world is your oyster. Here is how.
Step 1: Start with positive words and phrases
Do you know what you want? Great, write it down. Create a list of positive phrases based on your wants and goals. For example, these could be “I have more than enough money” or “I recognize and see abundance and opportunities throughout my day.” Replace “I cannot” with “I can” when you speak out loud and when you say your mantras or affirmations each day.
Become the creator of your own life story and not the victim. There is no pity party in a wealth mindset. Remind yourself of this and check yourself accordingly. You can even leave small note reminders around your office or home, as well as read your list of phrases or affirmations each day.
Step 2: Use visualization exercises
It is time to flip your view of wealth upside down and break through that poverty way of thinking. This is where visualization practices come in. Similar to self-hypnosis, visualization will help you experience your desired outcome and fully emotionally immerse in it.
Close your eyes and imagine yourself manifesting money and living in a world of abundance. What would that look like? What would it feel like? Try to engage as many senses as possible to really make it stick, and bring as much positivity as you can into it. Think of growth, happiness, and fulfillment over loss, pain, and anxiety.
Step 3: Practice gratitude
Jealousy does not look good on anybody. To help reduce jealous feelings, practice gratitude each day or periodically throughout each day. Take five to 15 minutes to write down everything in the world you are grateful for—even the small stuff.
Practicing appreciation not only brings you closer to wealth but also improves every other aspect of your life. It makes you happier about what you have.
Step 4: Try relaxing
This does not mean simply booking a day at the spa. You need relaxation methods to include in your life on a daily basis to help calm the fight-or-flight system.
When you are in a stressed-out state, the sympathetic nervous system hits the gas. While this used to be essential for survival, the need to run from any immediate threat is very rare today.
By activating the parasympathetic nervous system through deep breathing or progressive relaxation techniques, you can calm your body and your mind, as well as move away from surviving and toward a state of thriving.
In progressive relaxation, you tense up a muscle group, then let it go fully relaxing it. You go through your entire body in this way. Afterward, you should feel at more ease than you were when you started.
Step 5: Plan it out
The only real way toward achieving your goals is by making a solid plan. What do you want to achieve? Write it down, and map out how you will get there. Include small goals under bigger goals. Make action steps, then take action by putting these items in your calendar. You make things happen in your life. Life does not just happen to you.
Lastly, let go of ‘things’ in your life. Clear out house and home, and only keep the items you truly need. This can be very therapeutic and teach you that you do not need to hold onto money or stuff to be happy.
Reprogram Your Mind and Say Goodbye to Scarcity Through Rapid Transformational Therapy
Created by Marisa Peer, RTT® combines hypnotherapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, psychotherapy, and Neuro-Linguistic Programming. With over 30 years of experience, Marisa Peer created RTT to help treat her clientele better. It is one of the most effective forms of therapy in the world, and it can help you transform your life.
Rapid Transformational Therapy® (RTT ®), can install a success and abundance mindset within you. It can help reset your mind and refocus your thoughts toward what you want, rather than what you do not have. It can also help rewire your brain and take action on all of the above.
You will learn to resolve deeply rooted scarcity beliefs that are within your subconscious and untangle them. From there, you can step forward into a new mindset and discover how you can heal your mind and lean into more positive and abundant ways of thinking.
Discover the power of RTT. Dive into pre-recorded Wealth Wiring hypnosis audio or an Abundance audio bundle to reprogram your mind or book a session with an RTT therapist today.
The 21-Day Abundance Challenge by Marisa Peer
Overcoming a scarcity mindset, particularly of money was a source of problematic experiences at a young age, can be difficult when faced alone. It takes dedication and perserverance to change a mindset, and not everybody will thrive without a community of people to support them, and who understand what they are going through.
Marisa Peer created her 21-Day Abundance Challenge to specifically help those who have mental blocks around money and wealth. Over a period of 21-days, she has developed tasks, trainings, and meditations specifically designed to allow you to understand your behaviour and thoughts, in order to over come them. On top of that, with the group of people you will meet in the challenge, you will also have the accountability you need to make meaningful change.
So if you would like to overcome your blockers and welcome in wealth and abundance, then click the banner below to learn more about the challenge, and sign-up today!