I have never seen a monument erected to a pessimist.

- Paul Harvey

How you choose to spend your “mental energy” is the single-biggest determinant of your career. The power of mental focus separates those who are good from those who are great.

How do you “spend” your unconscious and conscious thoughts? Do you ever think about that? Try the test below to see if you are an abundance thinker, or if you are focused on scarcity. The following test and solutions are adapted from a newsletter article by Tim Sanders, former Chief Solutions Officer at Yahoo! and author of the books How to Save the World at Work and Love is the Killer App. From Tim:

Scarcity is the greatest crisis today in our society. There is no greater evil than the belief that there is not enough to go around. There is no greater threat to your organization or company’s future than the Scarcity mindset. Sounds scary? There are two pieces of good news: there are solutions and when they are implemented, you will experience profound happiness and peace.

- Tim Sanders

Scarcity Test – 4 Questions to Better Understand Your Thinking

1. Do you believe that there is “not enough to go around”?
2. Do you ever define yourself based on what you lack, not what you have?
3. Are you motivated by fear, do you talk about fear (i.e. “my fear is…”), and/or do you motivate others by fear?
4. Do you find yourself thinking that when others gain, you lose; or, when you give, you have less?

If you answer yes to any of these questions, you focus on scarcity in your thinking. The more questions you answered yes to, the more scarcity has taken over your thinking. Yes, it really is that simple.

Impact of Scarcity Thinking

Focusing on scarcity hurts you and the people around you. Why?

1. You create a personal “doomloop” (a phrase coined by Jim Collins in “Good to Great“). A doomloop is a situation where you are constantly looking for the single defining action, the grand program, the one killer innovation, the miracle moment that will allow you to skip the tough “buildup stage” of any idea, career, etc. and jump right to realizing the benefits of your work.
2. You can no longer share in the success of others. Ideas create new ideas. Friendships and communities create new friendships and new communities. If you are inwardly focused (“what about me?”), you create a fundamental, internal, “mental disagreement” with those around you.
3. You limit your potential to be a leader. Leadership is about giving to and serving the people you lead. If you focus on scarcity, you stop seeking opinions and stop trying to bring out the best in others.

Solution: Return to Your Abundance Mentality

Here are 3 solutions to eliminate your scarcity mentaility, from Tim Sanders:

Step 1: Change your thinking. Define yourself by what you have, not what you lack.
As Dr. Wayne Dyer says, “find the Abundance in the little things in your daily life”. This morning I found Abundance in my breakfast and the endless cup of coffee given to me. In 2000, during the crash, I found abundance in the smiles of others. At Yahoo, I led the ‘refresh’ campaign and encouraged people to find abundance in what they had, especially compared to all of the others that had so much less and so little to look forward to.

Step 2: Stay on the lookout for Fear. Replace it with Faith and Endurance.
This is one of the few places where it is OK to label people. Call a spade a spade. That’s what I do at Yahoo as the Leadership Coach. When I catch someone acting like Chicken Little, I stamp them. When I observe someone acting out their personal story of Abundance, I name them DaVinci (Don, Doris, etc.). My mom gave me advice for this talk; I need only two things to lead and thrive-faith and endurance. One will help me when the other is in short supply.

Step 3: Practice Abundance daily.
Practicing Abundance requires letting go of stuff – and believing that there is more. Every day, give something, share something or be a bigger person because you know there is enough to go around. Each act of generosity on your part sends a signal to the world that you are in touch with your Abundance.

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