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Today, I am going to discuss the two different mindsets you can adopt in relation to money and wealth.  Depending on which mindset you adopt, becoming wealthy can be a difficult task or an enjoyable adventure.

Scarcity Mentality vs. Abundance Mentality

The basis of the scarcity mentality is that there is only so much to go around.  Resources are limited or scarce.  So if there is only so much to go around, for one person to win, another person must lose.  I can get mine or you can get yours, not both.

The scarcity mindset is based in either/or thinking.  This type of thinking says you have to choose between two alternatives but you cannot have both.  You can have a great relationship but you can't be wealthy.  Or you can be rich but your health will be poor.

In terms of your finances, scarcity thinking can lead to a sense of indignation towards wealth.  By continually asserting that there is not enough to go around, the tendency is to move into judgment when you see someone who is living a wealthy lifestyle.  The moment you do that, you put up a barrier between yourself and your own wealth creation.  If you judge others for their wealth, your subconscious mind won't allow you to become wealthy because you will end up judging yourself for it.

In my own experience, I found this to be a difficult attitude to drop.  Especially being a simplicity oriented person myself, my opinion of extravagant purchases like expensive cars or designer clothes were that they were a waste of money. Anyone who bought them had more money than intelligence.  That money could be better spent on sending some underprivileged kids through college or providing health care for those who couldn't afford.

Now, I hold a different view. While I personally don't really care for a lot of material things, I now have an appreciation for those who do.  Instead of focusing on how I think money should be spent, I came to appreciate the social contribution required to make such "extravagant" purchases seem insignificant.  This shift happened from adopting an abundance mentality.

 The basic premise of the abundance mentality is that there is more than enough for everyone.  I can have what I want and you can have what you want.  It is a win-win mindset that is rooted in both/and thinking.  You can have what you want while allowing others to have what they want.

Adopting the abundance mentality, you no longer see things in terms of lack.  All the money who could ever want is out there.  Instead of thinking about how you don't have it, you think about how you could go about earning it.  If you want more money to purchase something, you go about creating more value for others and receive income in return.  I will discuss value creation later in the series.

The abundance mentality puts you into alignment with the beliefs and attitudes that support wealth creation.  Coming not from a place of lack but from a place of offering value makes it far easier to generate income and manage your money.

Make the Shift

The scarcity mentality is the default way of thinking for most people.  It is most likely the result of conditioning due to past experiences.  Hearing "we can't afford it" while you are a kid creates the view that there isn't enough, that there's lack.  As an adult, you make your decisions based on this belief and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.  Believing that there are things you want but can't afford pushes you get into credit card debt instead of creating more value to generate greater income.  This is the cycle through which the scarcity mentality perpetuates itself.  The scarcity mentality becomes a self-perpetuating mindset.

Making the shift to the abundance mentality when you have been stuck in scarcity thinking for a long time can prove to be quite challenging especially when the environment you live in is a product of scarcity thinking.  The environment will tend to support your old model of thinking. 

The first step to making the shift, as with any self-improvement endeavor, is awareness.  Simply becoming aware when you are coming from a scarcity mentality and deciding to drop it will help in leaps and bounds.  Over time, you will find yourself coming more and more into alignment with the abundance mindset. 

The most practical way I have found of adopting the abundance mentality is tithing.  The very act of giving reinforces the idea that you have more than enough.  By giving a percentage of your income, you not only get to help those in need, you receive some great benefits yourself. These include:

1. Becoming more grateful for what you have
2. Reinforcing that you have more than enough
3. Eliminating frivolous expenses

Start with whatever percentage you can manage at this time and, as your income increases, increase the amount you give to reflect that.  Remember, every time you give you are reinforcing to your unconscious mind that you have more than enough.  Coming from that place, you will continue to attract more than enough.

In the next post, we will continue the series by talking about cleaning up your relationship with money.

This post is part of a series on mastering money & wealth:

1. Intro
2. Raising Your Financial Awareness
3. Commitment and Focus
4. Wealth Mindsets
5. Clean Up Your Limiting Beliefs About Money
6. Generate a Higher Income By Creating More Value
7. 25 Ways to Create More Value
8. Create Multiple Streams of Income
9. The Key to Financial Freedom
10. Money Management