The Scarcity wealth wound is the belief that money and resources are always about to run out, no matter how much evidence says otherwise. It’s one of the 5 wealth wounds, and its antidote is Abundance: a felt sense, not just a thought, that there is enough and more is available.
Scarcity is the wound that makes “enough” a moving target. Do you resonate with any of the following statements?
Do you resonate with any of the following statements?
- There’s not enough
- I don’t have enough time
- I don’t have the resources
- I need to spend less to have more
- Money is hard to get
- Money doesn’t grow on trees
- If I have more someone else has less
These are all beliefs that stem from a wealth wound
Take the Wealth Wound quiz here to find out which of the five main beliefs are your current bottleneck.
What is Scarcity vs. Abundance?
When you believe that money and abundance in general are limited resources, it causes bottlenecks to believing you can have more. You can feel like you HAVE to have money to make money, or that you don’t have enough time to do what is required, or that because you have a busy job and a buncha kids, you’ll never be able to create overflow.
A scarcity vs. abundance mindset creates feelings of lack, insecurity and competition, regardless of how successful you are. People with this limiting belief view money and resources as finite. More for me creates less for you (and vice versa). This creates feelings of competition with others, which leads to feelings of stress, anxiety and even desperation when trying to manifest more.
The problem with feelings of scarcity are that it can cause us to become overly attached to the goal. Thinking that the success of someone else comes at the possible expense of your own means that you’re unable to celebrate someone else’s success, or use others for inspiration. It can also cause us to cling too tightly to the things you already DO have, which can prevent the flow of more coming in.
In worst case scenarios, scarcity can cause greed, envy, and fear, and ALL of these are bottlenecks to having MORE of what we want.
The Antidote: Abundance
The antidote for scarcity is cultivating abundance.
What would your life and business look like if you believed that money and resources were unlimited? Abundance mindset not only changes your view of the world, but the impact of shifting your beliefs to be abundant literally changes your life. This relates to the law of attraction, which has a surprising amount of science to back it up.
For example: the law of attraction states that we get what we focus on, and psychology says: that’s true!
Your brain has a mechanism that helps it focus, and this is called the Reticular Activating System (RAS). In short, your brain is presented with literally millions of data points every second, but it can ONLY process a few hundred of those.
So, in order to help filter out the information your brain needs to process to help you survive, it utilizes the RAS to save time and be efficient (…and help you stay sane!) In other words, the role of the RAS is to selectively focus on ONLY the inputs that are important and relevant. The way it knows what data is important is either:
- your survival depends on it or
- it is a match for what your unconscious mind both believes and expects.
So when you believe that everything is possible and that resources are unlimited, you directly impact your reality.
With abundant mindset, you get to…
- Celebrate others’ success, because its showing you what is possible
- Hang on loosely, knowing there is always more
- Experience neutrality and more peace
- Have gratitude for what you have, and gratitude for what you know is coming
What does the Scarcity wealth wound feel like in your body?
Scarcity feels like contraction. Your body grips, holds on and narrows its focus to getting through the next few weeks, so the bigger picture disappears. That narrowing isn’t a character flaw. Money worry measurably uses up mental bandwidth, and researchers from Princeton and Harvard found it lowers performance on reasoning tests (Mani, Mullainathan, Shafir & Zhao, Science, 2013).
Common signs:
- Your jaw, shoulders or hands clench when you spend, even on something you planned for.
- You can only think about this month’s money, never next year’s.
- You won’t invest in support, even when you can see it would help you grow.
- A win feels good for an hour, then “not enough” comes back.
You can’t think your way into abundance while your body is gripping. Next time you notice the clench, soften your hands and jaw. Then ask yourself, “What’s actually true about my money right now?”
How to Start Trusting Abundance
Developing an abundance mentality requires cultivating greater trust in the universe to provide opportunities to fulfill our needs and desires. There’s lots of small things you can do to start building your abundance muscle.
Gratitude lists
I know I know, yawn. But what I want you to do here is get REALLY intentional about your gratitude. It’s easy to forget to be grateful for what we have now, when we are aiming for so much more. But attracting what you want requires massive gratitude for where you are. Are you grateful for where you are now?
I also like to spice up my gratitude by including unconventional lists. What are the ways I feel supported today? Are there things that made me feel safe today? What are some things that happened today that made me feel seen, heard, or understood? Where did I get to experience small luxuries today?
Meditation for manifesting
Another thing that has helped me feel more abundant is meditating daily, specifically for the purpose of manifesting. This is because the process of manifesting requires that I lean into how it will FEEL when I have the things I’m trying to manifest. And the outcome of my goals all feel a little different in my body, so I get to practice and feel into many types of gratitude and satisfaction as I meditate fr manifesting.
I did an epic training on that process. Watch and/or read the manifesting training here.
FAQs
Q: What is the difference between scarcity and abundance mindset? A: A scarcity mindset assumes resources are limited and about to run out, so you grip, hoard and compare. An abundance mindset trusts there is enough and more is possible, so you can invest, receive and plan long term. In the 5 wealth wounds framework, Abundance is the antidote to Scarcity.
Q: What causes a scarcity mindset? A: Scarcity usually starts in times when there really wasn’t enough, like childhood financial stress, a layoff or a hard season in business. Your nervous system learns to brace for shortage. It keeps bracing long after the shortage is over, which is why scarcity can stick around even after your income grows.
Q: Can you have a scarcity mindset even if you have money? A: Yes, and it’s very common. Scarcity is a pattern in your nervous system, not your bank balance. Many six-figure business owners still feel one bad month away from losing everything. The tell is that no amount ever feels like enough.
Q: How do I shift from scarcity to abundance? A: Work with your body as well as your thoughts. Notice when you’re gripping and soften physically, then practice gratitude for what’s already here. Make one small investment that expresses trust. My [INTERNAL LINK: mindset-of-abundance — “holistic approach to an abundance mindset”] walks through the full process.
Next Steps: Healing Wealth Wounds
Not sure which wealth wound is yours? Take the free quiz in the Wealth Wound Antidote Kit. Six questions tell you your wound, your antidote, and what to do next. For the big picture, start with what a wealth wound is and where it comes from.
Read the other wealth wounds:
- Money Fears: when the other shoe always feels about to drop (antidote: Courage)
- Money Avoidance: when not looking feels safer (antidote: Receptiveness)
- Scarcity: when enough is never enough (antidote: Abundance)
- Unworthiness: when you don’t feel you deserve it (antidote: Worthiness)
- Martyr: when less money feels more noble (antidote: Empowerment)
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