Kicking Scarcity’s A#$

I normally think about scarcity mindset as it relates to money. In my fundraising coaching work, the idea of scarcity – especially about money – is ubiquitous and insidious.

But today I am wondering: has Covid kicked me into scarcity mindset about life?

To refresh: scarcity mindset results from us believing that more is always better and there is never enough.

In March, I felt like I didn’t have enough dried beans in my pantry, and like there wasn’t enough toilet paper or hand sanitizer to go around. I worried that I couldn’t make enough money. Pretty soon, I started feeling I was (and am) very short on hugs: more would certainly be better. Ongoing, I have felt scarcity of information, of knowing what to expect and when. I don’t miss airports, but I miss the freedom to travel. I miss the organic flow of people around me; I don’t have enough contact.

I was put into mind of the concepts of scarcity and sufficiency while rereading Lynne Twist’s “The Soul of Money” to lead an upcoming conversation about it.

Sufficiency, as Twist reminds us, is an antidote to scarcity thinking.  Sufficiency, Twist writes, “Is an act of generating, distinguishing, making known to ourselves the power and presence of our existing resources, and our inner resources. Sufficiency is a context we bring forth from within that reminds us that if we look around us and within ourselves, we will find what we need.”

To be clear: I am not de-validating the implications of anyone’s account balances. Believing in sufficiency may not change the facts, but it can be an important shift in perspective.

How might my foreseeable future be different if I chose to look from a place of sufficiency? What if I believed that my own company was enough? That I won’t run out of toilet paper? That I could choose to feel more full instead of empty after a Zoom conversation? What if I felt gratitude for all the books and tv shows available? What if I notice that those same bags of dried beans still sit unused in my pantry? What if I believe that I have the inner resources I need to navigate all the not knowing?

What might a sufficiency mindset make possible for you?

 Reach out for a complimentary sample coaching session.

To join the conversation about sufficiency and scarcity, scheduled for Sept. 2, please register here.