Scarcity Mindset
Have you ever wanted something so badly that you found it was hard to think about almost anything else? If you have, you might have been experiencing what’s called “scarcity mindset”. Scarcity mindset is a sort of tunnel vision that occurs when you want or need something so badly that all other things fade to the background (Vedantam, 2017).
Take hunger for example. If you aren’t getting enough food each day, then whether you want to or not, you’re going to be thinking about food until you get it. You might even make some decisions that you normally wouldn’t just to meet that need, like stealing money to be able to buy food or using a credit card with a really high interest rate (Vedantam, 2017). Even though those decisions will meet the immediate need, they always make things worse in the long run.
But what if you aren’t suffering from a lack of food or finances? Can you still have a scarcity mindset about other things? Absolutely. Here’s a few different ways that it might look compared against an abundance mindset (which is what we want to be training ourselves to have). An abundance mindset believes in your own value no matter what happens or what external circumstances you are dealing with (Dowches-Wheeler, 2020).
Scarcity: “I can’t believe he got the best grade again. I’ll never be able to top his GPA now..”
Abundance: “Wow, he’s so smart! I wonder if he’d give me study tips if I asked for them?”
Scarcity: “There’s no way I’m going to make the team. They only have ten spots after all.”
Abundance: “I’m going to do the best that I can, after that, it’s out of my hands.”
Scarcity: “Why does she always wear the nicest brands? I look like trash compared to her.”
Abundance: “Even if I can’t afford expensive clothes, I can still express myself through the stuff I get at thrift shops and second hand sales.”
Scarcity focuses solely on what we don’t have. Abundance focuses on what we do have (even if what we do have isn’t great).
Author Ann Voskamp wrote that, “Gratitude in the midst of death and divorce and debt - that’s the language I’ve got to learn to speak - because that’s the kind of life I’m living. I want… to learn how to be grateful and happy, whether hands full or hands empty.”
The best way to combat scarcity mindset is to train our brains not to focus as much on the things we perceive to be scarce and to instead practice thankfulness or gratitude. You can start to do this easily by writing down one thing you are grateful for each day (Dowches-Wheeler, 2020). If you really are dealing with the scarcity of something as important as food or safety, please speak to a neighbor, school counselor, coworker, friend, etc. you trust. There is no shame in needing help. We’re all just taking turns at it.
References:
Vedantam, S. (2017). How the ‘scarcity mindset’ can make problems worse. Hidden Brain by NPR. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2017/03/23/521195903/how-the-scarcity-mindset-can-make-problems-worse
Dowches-Wheeler, J. (2020). How to shift from a scarcity to an abundance mindset. Retrieved from https://jessicadw.com/blog/2020/3/31/how-to-shift-from-a-scarcity-to-an-abundance-mindset.
Challenges/Points:
Scarcity mindset is a pattern of thought that gets locked onto a specific need or want and blocks out most other thoughts.
It’s possible to have a scarcity mindset about many different things, for example, popularity, success, personality type, or possessions. Almost all of us will experience it in some way, shape, or form.
The solution to a scarcity mindset is an abundant mindset. You have to start training your brain to focus on what you do have instead of what you don’t.
Questions:
Do you think a scarcity mindset is something you see in yourself?
Where do you have a scarcity mindset in your life?
How can you practice gratitude and an abundance mindset this week?
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