Live In Abundance!

As we navigate life, we have essentially two very different mindsets that we can operate under. One of them offers a more solitary life filled with stress, burden, and competition, while the other offers a life full of fulfillment, friendship, and success. How you choose to live is up to you, but I promise that your choice will have major impacts on you and those around you, so choose wisely.

The two mindsets I'm talking about are the scarcity mindset and the abundance mindset. You've probably heard these two words at some point, but let's define what we mean here.

The scarcity mindset views aspects of life as though they were a big pie. And we all know that if I my piece of a pie gets bigger, because there is only a finite amount of pie, your piece, by necessity, must get smaller. Unfortunately, this is probably the more common mindset. This is the reason that so many people struggle to be really, truly happy when someone else succeeds. This is why we are society driven by competition and we hear people say, "I'm going to get mine." Often we step on others or put them down in order to make ourselves look better because we think that's the only way that our piece will get bigger, or at least, it won't get smaller. The problem is that mindset is a lie and as you operate in this way, your life and your piece of pie will inevitably shrink.

But what if told you that there was another pie? Or what if I told you that there were an unlimited number of pies. Not only that, but how much pie you get is directly connected to how much pie you help other people get. The good news is that this is exactly how life actually works! It has been shown, time after time, that the more you give, serve, and love others, the more you get in return. This is why it is so crucially important to be aware of how you view the world and your relationships. Zig Ziglar said, "You can have everything in life that you want, if you will just help enough other people, get what they want." The abundance mindset tells us that there is more than enough to go around and that others' successes and accomplishments do not diminish ours or lessen our chances of success in any way.

So here are a few tips to help you adjust to or live in an abundance mindset.

1. Purposefully and publicly celebrate others' successes. This may be hard at first, but you will find that over time, celebration will eradicate jealousy and unhealthy competition.

2. Treat others BETTER than they treat you. If you consistently do this, your character and relationships will blossom and become more fruitful than you ever imagined.

3. Stop thinking that tangible (monetary) returns are the only kind that matter. In fact, external rewards have very little to do with our happiness and fulfillment in life, and this has been scientifically proven many times.

4. Spend time learning and developing and you will quickly realize that nothing of value in life can happen or be accomplished alone. In his book, "Winning with People," John Maxwell says it this way; "When I reflect on the value of community, many thoughts come to mind:

   1. My success can be achieved only with others.

   2. My lessons can be learned only from others.

   3. My weaknesses can be strengthened only by others.

   4. My servanthood can be tested only under others' leadership.

   5. My influence can be compounded only through others.

   6. My leadership can be focused only on others.

   7. My best can be given only to others.

   8. My legacy can be left only for others.

   9. So I should commit myself to and celebrate with others!"