Do you have a scarcity money mindset? Are you afraid to spend money? Or are you always behind financially? Perhaps you’re on the hamster wheel of life, never really ever having enough and constantly falling behind. Or worse still, you have heaps of debt and don’t see a way out of it?
A scarcity money mindset can manifest in many ways. But in general it means you are creating a source of fear around money, spending or living. To get out of a scarcity mindset, you need to change your relationship with how you see money and yourself. A poor self image can help create a poverty mindset around money. So thinking well of yourself is a good place to start.
Scarcity Money Mindset Vs. Abundance Mindset
If you’re in the habit of never having enough, this can perpetuate into your thinking and create more of never having enough. Thoughts are attracting things in your life perpetually. So if your thinking nature is towards lack, and limitation, this will manifest into your reality. Pessimistic thinking will bring about like results.
On the other hand, people who maintain thoughts of abundance have learned to think in certain ways. They focus on what’s good, rather than what’s missing! They have developed an abundance mindset and have a positive outlook regarding life and money.
Scarcity Money Mindset – Shifting Your Thinking & Gratitude
One of the best ways to change your reality is through shifting your negative thinking habits. Start by noticing whenever you have a strong negative emotion about money. When this happens, you’re reinforcing your reality that there is lack.
This may have been brought about through many years of struggle, and it can be difficult to turn it around. So simply start by noticing your thoughts, words and emotions regarding finances and money. Whenever you catch yourself thinking, speaking or feeling in a negative way towards money, stop and take note.
Start a gratitude diary and write down a daily log of everything you are grateful for. This will slowly shift your thinking away from negative aspects of life and towards a more positive one.
Using Positive Affirmations
If you’re stuck in a scarcity money mindset, you’ll likely have been programming your unconscious mind with negative thoughts about money. To help turn this habit around you can create some positive affirmations around money instead. Whenever you catch yourself thinking negatively about your lack, stop and replace your thinking with a positive affirmation instead.
Whatever your situation, try and focus on the small things you have to be grateful for. As you notice more and more of these, you’ll slowly be able to shift your attention away from the negative and towards more positive and life affirming thoughts. Here’s a few examples of positive affirmations around money:
- Money comes easily and frequently
- I get paid to be me
- The universe is providing
- I have plenty of money
- I love myself
- I’m enough
Typical negative thinking around money might give rise to some negative beliefs around money which will continue to bring about negative circumstances if repeated, even to yourself:
- There’s never enough
- I’m always broke
- I can’t afford it
- Why is life a struggle
- I’m never enough
Thoughts are powerful when continually repeated. Your unconscious mind is wise and is listening to everything you tell it. It will create circumstances in a way which agrees with your inner world.
Habits & Money
If you continually believe money is hard to attain, you’ll continue to create events and circumstances which create that reality. If you don’t believe you are worthy of being wealthy and relaxed about money, you’ll create suffering and hardship instead, if that’s what you believe.
Your habits around money are a major key in how you think about it. If you are frugal with money, you may also have a scarcity mindset, even if you have plenty of it. Perhaps you’re afraid to spend it because you’ve struggled in the past. Or maybe there’s just never enough money at the end of the month.
To shift any fear around money, spending or living the life you really want, start by noticing when it crops up in your consciousness. What do you tell yourself continually about money. What were your parent’s ideas around money which you were influenced by?
There’s also certain things you can do to change your money habits and create more income. See money habits of the wealthy.
The Luck Factor
In The Luck Factor, a book by Dr Richard Wiseman, Wiseman shows how the “lucky” often are much more outgoing and put themselves in situations where they can find opportunity.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, those with a less optimistic outlook will likely avoid such circumstances, believing themselves to be unlucky and therefore avoiding situations and events where they would otherwise find opportunities for success and growth.
People with a positive outlook expect the best from the world. Pessimists expect the worst and therefore create what they expect! To create more “luck” start changing your thinking. Notice any negative thinking and replace with more positive, life affirming thoughts.
Rich But Poor
Even with objectively a large amount of money, some people carry a scarcity mindset towards money. They fear spending money so they hoard it instead because inside they fear losing it all. Or they fear making more money because they know this will incur more taxes to pay! This is still a scarcity money mindset and stop you from living an abundant life.
Amassing money to fix something you feel broken about probably won’t actually “fix” you! Unless you tackle the problem at the source, no amount of money will be enough.
Scarcity money mindset can manifest in many ways:
- No money and debt
- Scared of spending money
- You’re scared of earning more money – because of the ramifications for taxes, responsibilities etc.
- Bad relationships
- Struggle and hardship
- Overworking
- Desperation and illness
Whatever your scarcity money mindset, get to know how it is being “fed” by your mind and your thinking. Notice your limiting thoughts around it and change them accordingly using mantras, affirmations and new habits.