Living Life in Scarcity

Life in Scarcity – is it all in your head 

“I didn’t get enough sleep.”

“I wish I had enough money.”

“I’ll never find enough time to finish everything.”

“I can’t seem to get ahead.”

“I am just not enough.”

Do any of these sound familiar to you? These are the words so many people use day in and day out as they live a life in scarcity. Before most people have even stepped out of bed to start a new day with new chances to make a difference, they have a scarcity mindset. A scarcity mindset is when you have a belief that there will never be enough. It could never be enough time, money, food, emotions or freedom which causes fear that drives all decisions made.

We live in a never enough culture. Not perfect enough!! Not extraordinary enough!! Not relevant enough!! It’s no longer OK to voice the words “I’m enough just living an ordinary life.”

In other posts I have written about the thought cycle:

  • Your thoughts cause your feelings.
  • Your feelings cause your actions (or lack of actions)
  • Your actions produce an outcome – which is your life.

Living in scarcity is like living in fear. The fear of not having enough or not being enough causes anxiety. Anxiety levels in Australia alone have risen to over 2 million every year according to Beyond Blue. The emotion of anxiety often results in poor choices and these choices may result in negative outcomes.

Scarcity causes many people to have tunnel vision so the mind starts to focus heavily on what’s deemed as scarce. If you are dieting and feel that there is not enough food, all the mind focuses on is food. When food is the focus while in scarcity, we tend to over eat to avoid the feeling of fear of missing out.

If your scarcity is lack of time, the mind focuses on everything that needs to be done in the day with the idea there is not enough time to do it. When the mind believes there is not enough time, it often moves into procrastination mode and begins avoiding the actual tasks required to be done. By the end of the day, little was achieved which only proves to the mind that there wasn’t enough time. However, if you were being honest and assessed the day accurately, you might be surprised at how much time was wasted.

If your scarcity is not enough money, the mind starts to have a false notion that there isn’t any more money coming in and you cannot earn enough. If you think this you start to feel negative about money and hold the belief you will never get ahead.

If your scarcity is that you are not enough, your mind tries to find as much evidence as possible to prove the thought that you are not enough. You might falsely believe that other people believe you are not enough as you compare yourself to the world, however it has been proven that the worst critic in most people lives are themselves. When you think you are not enough, you may feel worthless & lack enthusiasm. If you feel worthless, the actions you take in life may be to never put yourself out there to achieve much and the outcome will be just that – limited.

Living a life in scarcity has such a negative effect on the mind. The mind is so powerful, you want to feed it with thoughts that benefit your life, not take away from it. Don’t compare your life to other people. Work on your own mind and what you want to achieve and especially how you want to feel.

I’ll leave you with this quote from Theodore Roosevelt – The man in the arena.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

Until next time

Linking up with Kylie for #IBOT

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