It’s not always our choice as children to be emotionally deprived from what we deserve. The feeling we’re not loved enough or are important enough, which can persist and translate into our adult lives. All we can do is attempt to cope with it.
This results in having a scarcity mindset. This is the feeling we never have enough of the things we want or need more of. That there’s something always missing.
What this sense of insecurity does, is it harms our closest relationships, as what we’re expecting is they’ll eventually let us down somehow someway.
We fail to express our needs directly to them, while avoiding intimacy in case we’re disappointed.
We then feel deprived of our immediate emotions such as love, time, or money.
What we feel as if we’re constantly in panic mode, as anxiety overwhelms. We penny pinch and become thrifty even if we don’t need to. We’ll precisely schedule every moment of our day.
These are the actions of someone living with a scarcity mindset. That things will get worse, rather than get better.
Erroneous Lack Of Time Management
You wake up, get of out bed and instantly feel you are short on time, as you go in anxiety mode.
You wake up feeling you didn’t get enough sleep, and then deprive yourself of all the things you need to do that day.
You’re bad at time management. You have no idea how the days, weeks, and years of your life have slipped away so quickly.
You constantly over schedule appointments, while spending too much time changing them with no need.
You’re always late for appointments or paying your bills.
You think you’re losing it, but you’re just incompetent at managing time. These actions fall under the laws of scarcity.
It’s found those living with limited resources, those who are poor, are more likely to make these types of bad decisions.
This occurs especially when it comes to money and relationship issues.
This is found to be instinctive and it’s not always their fault, as that’s how the brain responds to scarcity.
Our Brain On Scarcity
Once we live a mindset of scarcity, doing so narrows down our time frame on what needs to be done.
This causes us to make short term erratic decisions, which are usually impulsive.
Doing so throws our long-term goals in disarray, such as we delay paying our credit card bill, hoping it’ll disappear somehow, or not answer the phone thinking it’s bad news.
Farmers for instance who may have a scarcity mindset, will become stressed when planting their seeds, but will relax once they’ve had a successful harvest.
Once they become short on money during harvest, they worry about the weather, and the market conditions going potentially bad.
Once someone is forced to deal with extremely limited resources, it increases their problems and expands the barriers they need to deal with, which results in mental fatigue.
Those who are constantly deprived of what they want, develops an unhealthy obsession of overvaluing the things they don’t have.
What the nature of scarcity does, is impedes our efforts of coping.
Motivation And Scarcity
The stress and the aftermath of experiencing anxiety that’s associated with scarcity, interferes with our motivation, which causes us to become more vulnerable towards temptation.
This is why some will constantly purchase items on sale, even if they don’t need it.
This can occur right after an emotional period such as the holidays, and when they can’t afford it.
They think they can’t afford to resist the limited time of the sale, which the marketers prey on.
Those who are alone, will often see themselves and others in a negative pessimistic light.
They may avoid joining social gatherings and activities, based on the fear of rejection.
5 Ways To Avoid The Scarcity Mindset
How can we correct scarcity mindset, while not becoming complacent. To feel more comfortable at the various levels of scarcity, and not feel deprived.
1.) – Practice Gratitude
Always focus on what’s currently good about your life, which includes all those who support you, the community you live in, and your healthy active lifestyle.
What doing so does, is it takes the focus off scarcity, such as time and money.
2.) – Never Compare Yourself To Others
You’ll always know someone who’s better than you. They will have more money, time, or be better looking. You may then feel a tinge of envy.
But in reality, you have no idea what it’s like to be them. Never compare how you’re feeling about them, to how someone appears to look physically.
What your struggles have created, are internal strengths that you don’t completely appreciate.
3.) – Stop Obsessing Over Things
It becomes extremely easy, to get caught up in all the mental scripts regarding the wrong decisions you’ve made in your life, or worrying about the “what ifs.”
Breaking away from this cycle, requires plenty of preparation and effort. Create a plan so you won’t catch yourself ruminating.
What getting active does, is it activates the left hemisphere of the brain, which avoids moodiness and depression.
Decide to go for a walk or a run. Call someone you love. Tidy up your closet or garage, wash your car or read a good book. Just keep yourself busy.
4.) – Take Precautionary Measures
Always make a grocery list for instance, whenever you go to the supermarket and stick to it, so you won’t impulse buy.
Set up prepayment withdrawals for all your bills to be automatically withdrawn from your bank account. Leave your credit card at home.
Remove all the sweets and refined sugar products from your kitchen.
5.) – Never Become Greedy
Whenever there’s a feeling resources are becoming scarce, what most will do is get competitive with one other. This since they believe if someone else gets or has more, they’ll get less.
Once you decide to help someone grow their business for instance, they may in return be more than willing to refer new business to you.
Being helpful towards others, leads to gaining greater respect and reputation, which develops deeper relationships, while creating exchange and making new allies.