The psychology of scarcity is a theory that tries to explain how shortages or perceived shortages influences decision making.
REAL scarcity, is a powerful motivator of human behavior.
(The need to find food when you have none, for example).
The 'scarcity mindset' is a significant reason why many people can never lead fulfilled and happy, lives. And will never be able do so, unless addressed.
First off - It is not real.
It's a chosen (subjective) perception of reality that comes from the subconscious.
This mindset keeps people in extreme fear and a state of paranoia is common.
It allows people to view themselves as helpless victims, who've been wronged by the world in some way (the victim mentality).
And it’s very detrimental to psychological health.
'Scarcity mindset' is a mode of thought.
It's one that’s entirely based in, and fixated upon - the lack of.
...it becomes an 'ever decreasing circle'- perpetually closing in on itself, ...It's always 'not enough'....
The object of the the scarcity mindset is immaterial - it can be a lack of anything – money, time, connections, happiness, power, personal abilities, or a combination of several 'objects'.
The reason why it’s such a common pathology , is that it’s part of being human. ...We’re hardwired wired to defend ourselves from threats - ones that might potentially take away what we deem to be ours..
FACTOID
Property rights are not a human construct - they exist throughout nature. ...Ask a lion about it, after wandering mistakenly into another Pride's territory.
(just one more indicator to the idiocy of socialism / communism - it goes directly counter to ancient, hardwired, natural drives).
END OF FACTOID...
This mindset can stop any personal growth.
It cannot be fixed by chasing after the object that creates this feeling of 'the scarcity mindset'.
It deprives us of the very things that we want the most from our lives.
When we obsess - we are too focused.
Hyper focused.
We become too focused on never losing and never failing.
(the scarcity mindset is linked to collecting obsessively and hoarding, and perfectionism - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - OCD)
Because of that hyper focus on one small part of our lives, we become blinded to any opportunity that's all around us, all the time.
To see 'it' you first have to be able to look at it.
And the scarcity mindset prevents that from happening.
Embracing uncertainty is the opposite of the scarcity mindset, for it is rooted in the fear of loss. ('embracing uncertainty' is not the same as being 'forced into' a place of uncertainty).
You can change this mindset, with work...
You do not have to remain 'stuck' in this perpetual cycle of fear and self-loathing.
You do have to find some courage however.
You need to prove - to yourself - that you've been wrong!
If you keep blaming failures on any force that's outside of you, then you can never develop honest self-awareness.
You can never truly 'know thyself'.
And if you never know yourself, then you'll always be the pale anemic shadow of the potential that your uniqueness can offer to the world.
Don't be in the scared, grey, small collectivist mindset - be your uniqueness - and ditch the scared scarcity perspective.
Happy Sunday everyone!..