It was a warm few days here, unusual for August when the fog usually keeps us in the mid 70’s. I found myself wanting a nap mid-afternoon, after a little mental argument with myself…not enough time, too much to do, it’s lazy …. blah , blah, blah… I took the nap. I recognize that the trash talk in my head does not have my best interest at heart, despite how loud it is sometimes. It’s a wild conglomeration of subconscious beliefs, social conditioning (if I lived in Spain that nap would have been acceptable :-)), energetic patterns and behaviors. One of the patterns that jumped out at me was the scarcity mindset, not enough.
A scarcity mindset has you looking at life through the lens of limits. Time is limited. Money is limited. opportunities are limited. Even you are limited at what you can accomplish. It’s like pressing your foot on the brakes at the same time you’re giving the engine gas. You generally don’t get very far. If you’ve never been conditioned to think any other way coupled with the subtle and very accepted view of limits, it can be tricky to shift out of a scarcity mindset. Most of us have an area or two that we are more prone to slip into a scarcity mindset around.
When you’re stuck in scarcity mindset a lot of time is spent spinning your wheels. It’s hard to see your mindset contributing to the problem and the tendency is to blame circumstance or other people. Depending on your chakra archetype this will look different. The Hero archetype will frame scarcity around security and safety. The Goddess around creativity and flow. The Altruist around trust and available resources. The Mystic around connection and freedom. Check and see if your chakra archetype is helping you release or hold on to scarcity.
Here are 5 main areas where a scarcity mindset could be holding you back.
Confidence – A scarcity mindset will have you believing that you’re never enough. You’re not thin enough to wear a bikini (which is bull shit- Every body is beautiful!). You’re not smart enough to go for that new job. You avoid putting yourself out there or taking risks because you’re too scared of what people will say. What if you look stupid? What if you fail? Growth and change are impossible with this mentality because you won’t allow yourself to move past your fears in order to realize your full potential. And the world really needs you to step into your full potential.
Career/Money – The scarcity lens has you seeing obstacles, not opportunities when it comes to career and money. You believe you have to conform and hustle your way to the top just so you can “be successful.”(a quick fact – only you get to define success for yourself) You place a ceiling on how much money can come into your life because you think there’s only so much to go around. You think making any decent amount of money will be difficult. This mindset will have you believe that everyone else is smarter or better or luckier or more qualified than you (it’s not true, just so you know!). For many of us, we have shades of scarcity that tint our view. It’s hard for anyone living in scarcity to embrace change, take risks or step very far outside their comfort zone to experience anything new. and that where growth happens so it’s important to venture out there sometimes.
Relationships – When scarcity weaves its way into the relationship arena, you are rooted in the fear that your choices are limited and there is not enough love to go around. You settle. You obsess. You stay stuck in unhealthy, toxic relationships for way too long or have an obsessively tight hold on someone which, in turn, causes them to leave. You tend to place blame on others and find it hard to compromise, an important component of a successful relationship. Professional relationships can also be strained because of your overly competitive nature and inability to share credit or recognition because there is a sense of not enough to go around. For many scarcity, mindsets will show up more when they’re stressed.
Health/Wellness- When a scarcity mindset is in control, it has a big impact on your physical and emotional well-being. You are more prone to having stress and anxiety a part of your daily life. Worry about having enough…money, time, love, can create a cycle of stress that is hard to break. When you try to create healthy habits you remind yourself of everything you will have to give up, rather than what you will be gaining. There’s a tendency to focus on the short term payoff rather than the long term benefits.
Productivity- Research shows that goal-setting plays a big part in how productive you are, simply because you know what you are working towards. The problem is, when you look at goals through the lens of scarcity, it’s more difficult to set clear goals. Your focus is on what is missing or could go wrong. Excuses are used to support your perspective. If you just had more time, more energy, more money THEN you could finally accomplish something. Rather than seeing it as something you can change, you blame others and your circumstances for your inability to get things done. For most of us when we feel frustrated or overwhelmed the scarcity lens will slide in to distort our view.
We all look at life through the scarcity lens at times, it’s part of being human. When it becomes your dominant point of view it can wreak havoc on your life without you even realizing what the true problem is. If you have an area that you feel stuck in try asking your self if you could look at it differently and use an affirmation. One of my favorites is Everything is working out for me it reminds me that the universe is a friendly place that has my back….if I let it. Oh and that nap…I was very productive afterwards 🙂
Namaste’,
Be Well,
Cathy
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