In the previous blog, Maryanne talked about how creating a vision in our personal and professional lives involves thinking about where we currently are, where we would like to be, adjusting to circumstances and using our experience and wisdom to envision where we can go from there.
I find that creating a vision can be a difficult process if we have a “scarcity mindset.” Scarcity mindset sabotages vision-making, because it focuses on the resources that we don’t have and concludes that without these resources, we are stuck and helpless. It is basically the mindset of focusing on the negative: I/we don’t have enough money, I am not educated enough, I/we don’t have enough time, others have it easier, life is conspiring against us, etc.
Scarcity mindset becomes scarcity behavior when our thoughts convince us to protect our resources. This means we may not share our knowledge with others, we may not want to invest in new opportunities for education and training, we may feel that others are out to get us, and we may react with fear and negativity when change is coming. Scarcity keeps us stuck.
How do we get out of this negative mindset? The answer is GRATITUDE, also known as asset mapping in the business world. How does this work?
When we are grateful for what we have, we notice just how much we do have, and our thoughts change from negativity (We will never have enough!) to positivity (Look how much we have, to work with!) This simple change in thinking opens our imagination to the possibility of “what if?” What if you are enough? What if you have enough? What if you can make something new out of what you already have? By taking a good look at all your assets, finding that you have more than you thought and imagining what you can do with what you have, you can handle what is coming without needing more. Suddenly, the world is full of possibilities and you can move forward with creativity and confidence!
This is called abundance thinking. Imagine how different it feels from the feelings of lack and scarcity?
Here is a familiar situation which illustrates how you can use what you have and imagine new possibilities. We have all been there—it is evening, you need to make dinner, but you ran out of time to get groceries and you or your family are hungry now! So, what do you do? You take stock of what you do have, you dig deep into your fridge and your pantry and pull out what you can work with—and out of that, you create a meal that you would have never made had you gone shopping for new supplies. This has happened to me recently and really enjoyed the challenge of making dinner out what we had left in the house. Another good thing that came as a result of having an empty refrigerator is that I got to clean it, which is something I avoid doing when it is full to the brim. A win-win for me!
REFLECTIONS:
Where do you find yourself having a scarcity mindset?
How do you practice gratitude in your own life?
How does gratitude change your outlook on what is possible for you?
Have you used asset mapping in your visioning process before? What did you learn?