The opposite of lack is abundance, more
than enough. Like poverty, abundance is a mindset. While the poverty
mindset leans towards taking, the abundance mindset leans towards
giving. The best way to receive on a sustainable basis is to keep
giving. Giving sets in motion the process of receiving which is
unstoppable. It may be delayed, but like a boomerang, it always finds
its way home.
We were brought up to believe that human
needs are insatiable and resources are limited. This mindset predisposes
us towards the tendency to want to grab our share of the cake. So we
become go-getters instead of go-givers. In order to have more, others
will have to settle for less, so we have to beat them to it. We look at
life as a zero sum game – winner takes it all, while the loser makes do
with the crumbs – if any.
This concept was very evident in the
industrial age, a hangover which is still with us today. Most
organisations are like a pyramid, with one ‘oga at the top’, the MD/CEO;
the higher you go, the fewer the available positions and the stiffer
the competition. Since there are not enough positions to go around, a
lot of factors outside the company’s manual come into play. Eye service,
butt licking, back stabbing etc sometimes come into play. Sometimes, a
spiritual and diabolical dimension is thrown into the fray. The battle
is hardly about service, innovation, company vision etc. It is a
survival of the fittest and the prize is money and power. People have
been assassinated because of a business deal, land tussle etc.
Friendships and partnerships have gone sour because of money, material
possessions or power.
We can all win
When a group of young men the same age
join a company, only one of them can become the CEO. However, with an
abundance mindset, all of them that desire to be CEO can achieve that
dream. They can move to other companies after gaining enough experience
or start their own companies. The economy is in dire need of startup
companies to absorb the growing army of unemployed. When Steve Jobs was
sacked in 1985 by the board of Apple, the company he formed, he did not
take the board to court or hire an assassin to takeout his opponents. He
started other companies – NeXT and Pixar, went on to do fantastic
things till Apple started to get into trouble and he returned on a
rescue mission as CEO in 1996.
Changing your mindset
If you have a poverty mindset, developing
an abundance mindset will not happen overnight. You have to come to the
realisation that there is more than enough. There is no need for
strife. No one can take what truly belongs to you. It will always come
back if you remain true to yourself.
The issue becomes; how do you get to this
place of awareness? Knowledge is key; though knowledge is not enough,
but it is a good place to start. In your journey of personal growth and
development, you get to that ‘aha’ moment when you finally get it. We
have different ways of getting there, the same way we have different
ways of learning. For most, it is to keep learning till you get to the
tipping point whereby you have learned enough. Also mentors can play a
key role. Anyhow you do it, you need to get to that place where you
experience a paradigm shift, and see the world through the eyes of
abundance rather than lack.
What we see is a choice
If you take your mind briefly off the rat
race and observe nature, you will observe that the universe is brimming
with abundance. Apart from areas devastated by the activity of humans,
there is no lack in nature. There is more than enough to go around.
There are more than enough fishes in the ocean and animals in the
forests and savannah. Of all of God’s creatures, it seems only humans
have the unique ability to create scarcity out of abundance.
Rather than nurture and produce more, we
try to exploit. You see it everywhere around you. I have often witnessed
a traffic jam created by two cars in an open road. Due to a
constriction in the road due to double parking, both drivers want to
pass at the same time and at the end, nobody moves. As they stand
arguing, more cars join the queue and a gridlock is created. Often it
takes uneducated bystanders to resolve a mess created by supposedly
educated folks dressed up in suits and tie.
An abundance mindset seeks to give,
yield, and do something to make things better, not worse. The focus is
on how to make things better. This is the driving force of new startups.
A need is identified and a system is put in place to meet the need. If
the need is identified correctly and met, then you have a win – win
situation.
One sign that that you are developing an
abundance mindset is when you start focussing on how to make things
better, innovate, give, grow capacity rather than focussing on how to
grab your share of the limited pie.
An abundance mindset will enable you to
see the seed in your income and propel you to seek to multiply it. It
helps you see opportunities and possibilities rather than limitations
and excuses. Abundance mentality makes you realise that there is enough
room for everyone under the sun. You do not need to pull someone down to
be able to shine. There is more than enough sky for every bird to fly.
It all comes back to our paradigm, the
lens through which we see things. We think we see things the way they
are, whereas in reality, our perception colours what we see. We look for
evidence to confirm what we already believe as true. It takes an open
mind to appreciate another point of view.
When you have an abundance mindset, you
can be, do or have whatever you strongly desire. You can dream big
dreams. You are free to be yourself and run your own race. You are not
envious of other’s success because there is enough to go round and your
time will come. You don’t have to trip up others in order to rise. Your
rising pulls up others. Your becoming yourself makes the world a better
place. As you think abundance, start giving your gifts and talents to
make things better, you start to experience abundance as you get better
and better. You finally get to understand that giving does not diminish
you, it makes you shine brighter, and that it is truly more blessed to
give than to receive.
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