Scarcity Mindset: Causes and How To Overcome It

Last Update on January 10, 2023 : Published on January 10, 2023
Scarcity-Mindset-Causes-and-How-To-Overcome-It

The scarcity mindset is where you are always restricting or limiting yourself. Have you heard of the glass half-full or half-empty phrase? It talks about one’s perception and the mindset of an individual often forms perceptions.

It is said that those who perceive the glass to be half empty have a scarcity mindset. What is a mindset? In my understanding, mindset is a lens through which we see the world and make judgments about our life and experiences.

Now that lens can make a dark world beautiful and a beautiful world dark. Therefore, your life depends a lot on your mindset. Experts claim that a scarcity mindset can have a negative impact on your perception and decision-making skills.

Let’s learn more about the scarcity mindset and how you can overcome it…

What Is A Scarcity Mindset?

Scarcity-Mindset

A scarcity mindset is a belief one holds regarding his/her abilities. It can also be understood as a mindset that focuses on what they lack more than what they have. It’s a perception that you don’t have enough, enough of anything.

A scarcity mindset is a type of mindset that makes you believe that you do not have enough of anything to achieve your goals. You also think that you lack things in life or that all your resources are limited. Since they are limited you don’t use them because you fear you’ll run out of them one day.

Having a scarcity mindset can be very dangerous for people because it makes you develop self-doubt and limit you from achieving almost anything in life. Most people claim that a scarcity mindset should be transformed into an abundance mindset so that you can lead a better life.

An abundance mindset is the complete opposite of a scarcity mindset. When you have an abundance mindset you believe that you have enough of everything to succeed in life emotionally, mentally, and physically.

Scarcity Psychology: What Makes You Develop A Scarcity Mindset?

Scarcity-Psychology

A scarcity mindset, just like any other mindset, can be developed as a result of several things. A large portion of it lies in the kind of experiences you’ve had and the kind of life you’ve led. Scarcity psychology is that you lack resources and you need to save them to use them wisely.

This psychology is then applied to every aspect of your life. With a scarcity mindset, you consider all your emotional, mental, spiritual, physical, etc. resources limited. As a result of which you always take a step back in anything you do.

This is because you strongly believe that even if you give your best, you won’t be able to reach the finish line. Now, this is a perfect example of scarcity psychology. You are the one who is restricting yourself from burning the midnight oil because you fear that you don’t have it in you to be able to make that effort.

Negative Effects Of Having A Scarcity Mindset

  • You constantly think about the things you lack rather than focusing on what you have
  • A scarcity mindset prevents you from being a problem-solver
  • It stops you from living in the present, makes you worry about the future all the time
  • A scarcity mindset often leads to overindulgence in overthinking and self-fulfilling prophecy
  • Your negative beliefs make you a toxic person and suck the joy out of your life.

How To Overcome The Scarcity Mentality?

The-Scarcity-Mentality

Living with a scarcity mindset can only pull you down and never let you improve the quality of your life. The constant focus on what you don’t have makes you take the things you have for granted. Let’s see how you can overcome this negative mindset and focus on self-growth…

1. Try to develop acceptance. You need to accept yourself the way you are with all your shortcomings and weaknesses. Once you have accepted all your flaws it’ll be easy for you to work around your strengths.

2. Learn to be grateful for the things you have. It’s important to value what you have rather than cribbing about what you don’t have. Be thankful for all the things you have and make the most of them.

3. Make sure you surround yourself with positive people who encourage and support you. It’s the energy around you that makes you feel better about yourself. Make sure you choose the right kind of people to be around.

4. Focus on developing new skills. It’s okay if you don’t have a perfect skill set, you can always improve yourself and learn new skills.

5. Allow yourself to fail sometimes but never be judgmental about yourself. Failure is a stepping stone to success, try to be gentle towards yourself and accept your pace of growth.

That’s All Folks!

I hope you found this blog about the scarcity mindset helpful, interesting, and thought-provoking. Are you stuck with a scarcity mindset too? Try to break out of it and allow yourself to grow.

Do share this blog with your friends and family so that we can all identify the scarcity mentality and learn to overcome it.

Thanks for reading.

Take care and stay safe.

About The Author

Kirti Bhati
Kirti Bhati

I am an English literature (major) and psychology (minor) graduate from St. Bede’s College, Shimla. Postgraduate in Clinical psychology from IIS University, Jaipur. She has published a Research paper on Music therapy in the military population and Workplace stress in a national seminar conducted by Fortis hospital (gurugram) and international seminar conducted by St. Bede’s College, Shimla, Respectively. Authored a dissertation work on ‘effect of social media addiction on the mental and physical well-being in adolescents’ Currently working at calm sage as a writer.

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