How to Create an Abundance Mindset

Throughout your life, you have heard a lot of people saying things along the lines of:

“Be more mindful!”

“Practice mindfulness!”

And the like.

But you may not realize that your mentality not only affects your personal life; it affects your professional one, too.

This is why you need to practice building an abundance mindset.

Think about that word for a second: abundance. Now that is something you can get behind. You know that you want a fruitful, abundant, and successful business. You want that for yourself, your brand and your entire team.

As it turns out, an abundance mindset just takes a lot of practice and– indeed– that mindfulness you have heard so much about over the years.

Let’s dive deeper below.

What is an Abundance Mindset?

In 1989, Stephen Covey’s bestseller, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, was born. This is when he introduced the concept of the abundance mindset, which he also called abundance mentality.

In his words, it is the idea that someone “believes there are enough resources and successes to share with others.”

The direct opposite of the abundance mindset is that of the scarcity mindset, which you encourage when you want to destroy and put down the competition. (Here’s a secret: you do not need to approach the competition that way.)

A scarcity mindset happens when you think of someone else’s success as a personal loss.

Work on fostering an abundance mindset, though. If you do, it is much easier to realize that when one person wins, everyone else can benefit in some way or another.

How Will You Build an Abundance Mindset?

If you think that you will have a hard time switching to this way of abundance thinking, don’t worry just yet.

It is more common than you might think for business professionals to get stuck in a negative thinking loop. The fact that you already realize you could benefit from an abundance mindset is already a step in the right direction.

While you wonder if you are able to go through the necessary mental training (hint: you can!), let’s talk about some of the benefits of this mindset. As soon as you start developing it, you can improve your:

• Learning growth
• Stress and time management
• Success levels
• Resiliency in the face of hardship
• And even immune system function

And there is still more. You can also:

• Live a full life with gratitude
• Be happy in even the most difficult of situations
• Give and take equally
• Boost your creativity and inspiration
• Capitalize on new opportunities
• Level up your confidence

At the end of the day, there are endless possibilities for what anyone can achieve with an abundance mindset. But you might want to focus even more on it if this graph (according to leadership coach Katia Verresen) seems familiar to you:

	Scarcity	Abundance
Point of View	You are out of it, a victim or a bully.	You are in control.
Physical Energy	Shortness of breath and tenseness throughout your body.	You are relaxed but alert with a strong posture. You feel present and are in control of your breath.
Emotional Energy	You are anxious, overwhelmed, and drained of energy.	You employ positive thinking and inspire it in others. You feel like you are a part of something bigger.
Mental Energy	You lack organization and open-mindedness. You are confused and feel out of control of all decisions.	You feel sharp, open-minded, and are an active listener. You see all sides without judgment and adapt to them.

Ways to Develop an Abundance Mindset

As you can see, living in abundance will improve your life in countless ways.

While it does take hard work, it is achievable. And that is why we are here to help you. You need to build an abundance mindset in your life in order to succeed and grow. But if you own a business or are in leadership, then you want to cultivate a team of highly effective people.

Along the way, if you notice anyone on your team in particular who can benefit from a mindset shift, share these tips with them. You will be surprised at how quickly your organization starts to improve as a whole.

Now, let’s hop right into it. For each step to abundance, we give you a summary and then an action item (where applicable) to achieve the individual goal.

1. Practice Gratitude

Gratitude is key, and it is key in every aspect of your life. Once you begin to practice it, you will notice your communication style improve tenfold. And as soon as you start to give it, those around you will return it.

Every successful business person knows the power of practicing gratitude. It contributes directly to an abundance mindset and to happiness on a larger scale.

If you do not want to take our word on it, there are innumerable studies you can reference that show the link between gratitude and overall well-being.

University of California psychology professor Dr. Robert Emmons knows the impact of gratitude in the workplace, too.

Dr. Emmons describes gratitude as “the ultimate touchpoint of human existence” and “the ultimate performance-enhancing substance.”

Here is an action item you should put in place to practice gratitude:

Start a journal or document. Every day, write down at least 10 things that you are genuinely grateful for. When you struggle to think of them, find them in the little things. What about fresh sheets on your bed or running water? How about spending time outside or beautiful weather? Also, consider good health in yourself or your friends and family.

2. Focus on Your Strengths

You have to believe that you can achieve.

We know: that sounds far easier said than done. But remember that it is all about mindset and developing positive habits over time.

That is to say, to create an abundance mindset you have to make a literal shift in your brain patterns. Abundance will come naturally after that.

One of the best ways to do just that? With carefully crafting mastery experiences.

Where do you succeed? What are you strong in? What are your overall strengths?

To focus on your strengths, think of where you have experienced success in the past. It should be a particular area or specific areas.

Do not focus on your weaknesses. That is a symptom of a scarcity mindset, which is the opposite of what you want.

You are a capable person, or else you would not be where you are today. Expand on those capabilities. Here, you should take your unique strengths and work on improving those. Say that you want to improve one of your strengths by a mere 1 percent daily. By the end of the year, you will have improved in that area by 365 percent.

Your confidence will multiply in every sense possible.

Here is an action item you should put in place to focus on your strengths:

Brainstorm. Come up with big goals you want to achieve by a certain deadline. Now, narrow it down to just one.

After you have one large-scale goal you wish to reach, list out all the smaller goals it will take you to get there. Make sure these individual “mini” goals are measurable and within reason. Each time you complete one, check it off your list. You will reach your larger goal in far less time than you once believed. 

3. Watch Your Words

Think of a time when someone said words that meant one thing, but the way they said it meant something else entirely.

Therein lies the power of language. You say those words, but what do those words say to the person you are speaking to?

Keep an eye out for them. They are the key to a life of abundance, a wealth of growth and all the ways you get there.

Do the tales you tell reflect scarcity or abundance? Other people pick up on your language, regardless of whether you realize it or not.

Here is an action item you should put in place to watch your words and hone their power:

Be active in your next conversation. You can practice this with a friend, but also consider practicing this with a coworker. Tell them what you are doing so you can exemplify openness in the workplace and inspire honesty all around.

How are you communicating an experience or belief system? What are you really saying?

Avoid negatives, and take note of when you use them. Look out for words like “cannot” or “do not” or “impossible.”

Each time you say one of those words, do not push it away and ignore it. Be open. Acknowledge your mistake in doubting yourself or others. You can openly say something like:

“I appreciate your time. I want to go back and erase what I just said. Those words came from a place of scarcity. From here on out, I am focusing on coming from a place of abundance.”

Then, replace those scarce words with abundant ones. Rephrase to align with your mindset.

4. Learn to Appreciate the Small Things

We talked about the little things briefly above. But it warrants its own section.

It does feel impossible to shift your mindset if you only zero in on the big picture. But realize that there is such a thing as the small details that contribute to the big picture.

Sometimes, you get so caught up in the overall that you do not realize all that goes into it.

Think of this practice as a way to shake off the dust in your mind. Loosen up, let go and expand your mind to the small stuff. It turns out that it is not so small after all.

Here is an action item you should put in place to appreciate the small things:

Start to meditate. If you are not comfortable with this right off the bat, start at the beginning. Find a peaceful and quiet place to spend time every day. You can start out at only a few minutes daily and gradually work your way up as you can. Your overall goal should be to clear your mind and let new ideas arise.

5. Execute According to Your Plan

Carol Dweck, a respected psychologist, introduced the idea of a growth concept in her 2006 book about the subject.

The idea of a growth concept revolves around developing your strengths through dedication. This idea reflects the importance of an abundance mindset in executing all that you do according to plan.

Look at your brain as a starting point and all of the success that comes after as a result.

Here is an action item you should put in place to execute according to your plan:

Take the advice and input of others into consideration through active listening. Work to be genuinely interested in what they say. Ask about their goals and grand ideas. See the steps they plan to take to execute their plan. Compare these with your own, collaborate and come up with a solid action plan together.

6. Eliminate the Scarcity Mindset

You have to eliminate the scarcity mentality at the source.

What leads to abundance? Now, what leads to scarcity?

Pinpoint both of these and cut out any practices or habits that bring about scarcity. Remember: slow and steady wins the race.

7. Share Your Passion

Everything you do, you should do from a place of passion. But we will get into that more in the next section.

The first question you should ask yourself is: is what I am doing worth sharing with others? Do I care enough to introduce my ideas to others?

If not, cut those activities out.

Share either online or in-person, but a mixture of both would be best.

Here is an action item you should put in place to share your passion:

This one is simple. Create a checklist! Take note of people you want to collaborate with and what it is you want to share.

8. Do What You Love

Here is one of the most important ways to build an abundance mindset. If you are not doing what you love and are passionate about, why are you doing it?

Do not waste your time. Instead, figure out where you thrive and if you feel as though it is worthwhile.

You will find strength within yourself and begin to believe that you really can do it all.

9. Surround Yourself With Positive People

Though this does not warrant an action item because it is actionable in and of itself, do not overlook its importance.

You cannot continue to foster an abundance mindset if you surround yourself with people who do not feel the same way.

The people you spend the most time with should find the positive in everything.

Both them and you will encourage and uplift one another, leading to an abundance mindset everywhere you go.

10. Learn to Learn

If you look at learning and growing as a task or a burden, it will become one.

Learn for the sake of learning. Now, you already know what you are passionate about. The excitement that comes from learning about these things is organic after that.

Conclusion

An abundance mindset is a vital way to sustain the lifeblood of success, both personally and professionally.

Now you know that it is achievable and measurable, not just something you see on TV or read about in fairytales.

Happiness and success are out there when you live a life of abundance. Your mentality should reflect that.

Take it from us here at Selling Revolution: we practice an abundance mindset daily, and with our help, so do our clients.

Join the ranks of fellow successful industry leaders. Live well and spend time focusing on your successes.

Those successes are just a click away. Book a call with us today and we will share our custom-made formula for your long-term business growth.