Several years ago, a speaker shared something at a conference that really hit home with me, it was all about the abundant and the scarcity mindset. The abundant mindset is where we’re free and easy. We feel that we can take advantage of everything that God provides us. We’re in a creative state. We’re free with our knowledge, expertise, and skills. We want to share our accumulated wisdom with others to have and witness them to excel also. Usually, we always get what we want because we possess the right mindset.
The scarcity mindset is guarded. One feels there’s not enough to go around. They don’t want anyone else to have a piece of the pie. They want it all for themselves. Usually, they really struggle to accomplish their goals. Because they’re always chasing after something. Because they just don’t feel there’s enough.
These mindsets will either make or break you. If you’re in an abundant mindset, you will achieve more. If you’re in a scarcity mindset, you’ll consistently feel like you’re losing out.
I experienced an event that
took place 12 years ago that really hit home with this distinction. It was
October of 2008, a really rough time for everybody. The world markets were in a
complete meltdown. Commodity prices, real estate prices, and stock prices were
all under heavy pressure.
Fortunately, believe it or not, I was in an abundant mindset at the time. Hard
to believe. I at that time was a consultant to financial advisors. I felt that
I had to personally deliver value because they were really experiencing tough
times with what was going on. I was extremely fortunate to be traveling
with a gentleman named Steve who was a hedge fund manager who applied an
extremely flexible strategy when it came to investing. He was also brilliant.
He was sharing with me everything that was going on in the underpinnings of the
market, avoidance of all the noise. Every morning we’d have a cup of coffee,
and he’d share all of the charts and market indicators on his computer. He
would share the history of the market with what was really going on. I felt an
abundant mindset because I was absorbing all this education. I actually felt
like a kid in a candy store.
On one particular date, we visited a brokerage firm in Orlando to speak to a
group of advisors. Now, it just so happened this branch housed one of the top
advisors in the entire nation. This advisor of course was on my ideal prospect
list. Steve and I set up in the conference room of which behind us where we
spoke was the big screen TV, which of course at the time CNBC was playing. On
the big screen, it said, “World on the brink.” Not quite the
affirmation you want to read in the morning to get your mind in the right
place.
I spoke very briefly then introduced Steve. As I introduced him, he stood up,
shut his phone, shut his laptop, and he quoted, “I just covered all of my
shorts and went 100% long.” What this means, shorting is selling a stock
high and buying it low, the opposite of buying low and selling high. He at that
moment covered all his short positions, and went 100% long which means he went
all-in the market. Why is this significant? Because as Steve first spoke, the
TV behind me was showing the market down 500+ points. All of the advisors in
the room had that scarcity mindset in what they were experiencing.
However, as Steve stood up and spoke, the market took an about-face. He was
done in about a half-hour to 40 minutes, and what was most remembering was when
he finished speaking, the market took about a 900-point swing and was up 300+
points. In the time that Steve spoke, the market went from down 500+ to up
300+. Truly impressive.
What happened in that transition is the mindset of the advisors went from
somewhat of scarcity mindset towards abundance where they begin to see the
possibilities of what could happen in the future. Steve also shared in his
analysis and opinion that the market was going to exhibit a V bottom, and was
presenting a great buying opportunity moving forward.
At the end of that meeting, abundance presented itself once again, as I walked
out of the conference room, the women at the front desk said, “John would
like to see you in his office.” Whose John, you ask? John was that
advisor, that top advisor who was on my list. We created a great relationship,
and I ended up receiving a tremendous amount of business from him. A true
win-win. What happened? John was in a scarcity mindset when we walked in the
door that shifted to an abundant mindset when we walked out.
The reason I share this story is when you’re in a scarcity mindset, you’re only
going to see what you’re not getting, what you’re losing out on. When you’re in
the abundant mindset, you’re going to see all of the possibilities and opportunities,
of which will create more to come your way.
I’ll leave you with this. In Chinese, there are two meanings of the word
crisis. One is opportunity. One is danger. The choice is yours. Abundance or
scarcity.
COACH MICHAEL DILL is an Award-Winning, Certified, Business Coach, Speaker, and Trainer. He brings more than 40 years of business and entrepreneurial experience in his leadership, team training, and mentoring practice. Michael’s passion is to both encourage and challenge business owners and entrepreneurs to become their best selves both personally and professionally to obtain all they want in their business and life. Businesscoachmichaeldill.com