4 Ways You Might Be Trapped In Scarcity

I’m afraid to be poor.

I’m afraid of losing control.

I’m afraid of not having enough.

And ironically, it’s those fears that’s making those things I fear, come true.

I didn’t realize it before, but I was trapped in a scarcity mentality – that there’s only so much goodness, opportunities, and wealth to go around.

That’s not how the world works.  There’s abundance all around us, if you know where to find it, and how to see it.

What are 4 ways that you, unknowingly, are trapped in scarcity?

 

Being led by fear.

If you let fear lead you, and dictate what actions you take, what you focus on, and what possibilities you consider, then you are trapped in scarcity.

Fear IS scarcity.  A lack of freedom, courage, and as a result, options, creativity, and action.  You’ve got to build freedom our of fear.

I used to be terrified at the thought of becoming poor, and losing all of my money.  I was so stingy with my money, and was so afraid to spend the money I had.

So afraid, in fact, that I also held of investing in myself, looking for opportunities to invest, and start businesses, and generally, felt inadequate to be of service to other people.

All the while, telling myself that I had no money to spend.

Until it became true.

Because I was so afraid, I kept on looking for the sure thing, and was so afraid of risk.  I hadn’t realized that you have to face risk, in order to grow what you have.

You have to get comfortable with the uncomfortable.

And so I didn’t put up any businesses, didn’t try anything new, and just misered my way to an empty bank account.

I was so afraid of working at a job, and being called a failure.

I was so afraid of having to face people after I failed 2 businesses.

Fear is counterproductive.  It pushes us to do things that would make what we feared come true.

I felt that there were no longer any opportunities for me out there, and I really believed, for a brief span of time, that ending my life was the way to go.

That, in essence, is true scarcity.  The belief that there are no more options for you.

When, in reality, there are a ton of options, opportunities, and there is more than enough for everyone.

As long as you are willing to change how you see things, get uncomfortable, and pay the price.

The fear will always be there.  It’s about breaking through, getting comfortable, and still finding and having abundance in the face of fear.

And when you believe abundance, you’re not as afraid anymore.

 

Focusing on what you don’t have.

If you focus on what you don’t have, rather than what you have, that’s scarcity working inside of you.

One action we do that tells us we’re focusing on what we don’t have, is complaining.

Complaining ruins your life, and attracts more of the crap towards you.  It attracts negativity and pushes away positivity.

Just focusing on what you don’t have doesn’t bring it any closer to you, if anything, it reinforces the belief that you don’t have it, and that it’s difficult four you to have it.

I used to believe that nobody would employ me.  That I wouldn’t be useful in a team setting, and that I would drag people down.  I kept complaining and fussing about how I didn’t have an opportunity, and that it was so hard to find a job for me, a company that would accept me.

And my repeating that belief over and over, only served to magnify its power in my head, and put that possibility farther and farther away from me.

That influenced my actions heavily.  I didn’t apply and seek out positions as aggressively.  I was passive, and made no effort to promote myself and make connections whenever I met somebody new.

I was so focused on my lack, that I didn’t realize what I had.

 

Not being grateful.

I realized, that I kept on complaining, and focusing on what I didn’t have, because I wasn’t grateful and accepting, for what I did have.

Being grateful is abundance.  Being negative, miserly, and entitled is scarcity.

When you’re grateful, when you’re thankful for what you have in life, who you are becoming, and what’s to come your way, your focus shifts to the positive things and effects.

You become attuned to positive energy.  When I’m feeling grateful, an completely grateful, I find it impossible to think and feel negatively.  The focus is on acceptance, and a small feeling of happiness, and warmth.

Not being grateful traps you in scarcity.

It breeds entitlement and laziness.

Focus on what you have, and be grateful.

More will come.  The more grateful you are, the more the universe rewards that positivity and openness.

Good energy attracts good energy.

 

Always believing you have to get ahead of other people.

Because life is a competition, and if you don’t get more money, relationships, opportunities, then there’s less for you.

I went through a time that this was the philosophy that informed my life, and I was either finding ways to get ahead of other people, or finding ways to avoid them, and try to play my own game, and one-up them in some other way.

And it annoyed me to find out that there were people out there with more money, respect, ability, and wealth.  I believed I had to work hard, not to be wealthy and successful, to beat them at their own game.

The more I tried to work hard and beat other people, the more that I felt people were pulling ahead of me.  Or I’d beat my intended target, and yet still find somebody else who was more successful, and the rat race continues.

Not a nice way to live life, being validated by comparisons, competition, and whether you’re better off than another person.

That’s scarcity, because the belief is that I’ll never be successful if I see there are other people successful in the same field.

There is more than enough for everyone.  All can be successful.

We just don’t know how.

All I know is, I’ll never be truly successful if all I’m doing is chasing other people’s accomplishments.

Chasing other people’s shadows.

Focus on me, what I have, what’s coming, and what I want.

 

Be Abundant instead.

Focus on abundance, instead of scarcity.

Your thoughts get translated into reality, and what you think about more often, comes true faster, and stronger.

What results are you getting now?  What are you doing?

The results speak for themselves.  Scarcity thinking will only get you so far, and has a higher price to pay.

Abundance thinking lends itself to more and more.  There are no limits.

Only you are the limiting factor.

 

In what ways were you trapped by scarcity thinking?  Please share in the comments below!