In March this year, during the beginning of COVID-19 impact, people around the world were panic buying. There was no toilet paper, flour, salt, pasta and rice amongst many other items at the supermarket.
Scarcity mindset is a real human experience. The belief that you won’t have enough and if you don’t grab it now, it will run out is very true. We live in an abundant world and have technologies and methods to rapidly replenish what is needed. It was evident from how quickly supply was restocked – from toilet paper to hand sanitisers. Yet, we feel the lack.
No matter who we are or what our circumstances, our everyday conversation is dominated by what we don’t have and what we want to get. Scarcity is not a new concept; it has been around for many years. It didn’t need a pandemic to trigger this scarcity mindset. When you woke up today, probably your first thoughts were I didn’t have enough sleep or I don’t have enough time to get ready or I don’t have time for breakfast.
Whether true or not, that thought automatically fills our mind, even before we can question it’s validity. This mantra of ‘not enough’ then fills our day and sets the pace for life to unfold. What starts as a simple expression of a hurried life, then becomes a way of life!
“There is a natural law of abundance which pervades the entire Universe, but it will not flow through a doorway of belief in lack and limitation.”
– Paul Zaiter
But Obu, if I’m out of job and can’t pay my mortgage, isn’t that the truth? I’m glad you asked.
Mindset is all about how we view any situation and the story (stories) we create around it, resulting in a limiting belief and ultimately, the feeling of lack. With scarcity, you believe that there is not enough of something and someone will have less and that it will be you. We then take on the belief that more is better and keep striving for more and more.
In any given situation, we each have a choice to step back and let go of the mindset of scarcity. Once we do this, we discover the truth of self-sufficiency. Sufficiency is not about particular dollar value. It is an experience, a context that we generate, a feeling of knowing that there is enough and that we are enough.
If you want to make this your new mindset, follow this practice. Every day, when you wake up, stand in front of the mirror, look at yourself – into your eyes and say “I am enough”. Say this with enough conviction and feeling.
This is a mantra I live by now – “I am enough” and so are you!
