Salad by Katrinitsa
Making large uncomfortable changes in your life is difficult. It’s awkward, it’s annoying, it’s frustrating.
I’ve been trying to do it for the last couple years with various things. I want to make my life better. I want it to be as good as I can get it. I want my health and fitness and nutrition and finances and relationships all to be amazing. I think it can be done. There’s so much information out there to help. But it doesn’t come easy.
In doing 30 Day Challenges to learn new things and adjust my expectations when I try new things, I’m always surprised at how much better it is to come at a new idea from the positive rather than the negative.
This leads to the idea that thinking with abundance is better than thinking with scarcity.
Huh? Let’s unpack that a bit.
Abundance is more of something.
Scarcity is less of something.
Thinking with abundance is thinking about getting more of something. Thinking with scarcity is thinking about getting less of something.Humans are great at thinking about getting more of something, not so good at getting less of something. But it’s all just in how you frame it.
All the productivity courses and habit courses out there touch on how to set goals and frame things so that it’s easier to think about them. When they’re easy to remember, you’ll be more likely to do them. Positive things are easier to think about.
Some examples.
If I want to eat less junk food, that means more real whole, nutritious food.
If I want to sit on the couch less, that means more movement and activities outside.If I want to spend less, that means more saving and actively doing beneficial things with my money.
In each of those examples there’s a negative part and a positive part. They’re 2 sides of the same coin. The difference comes in which part you think about. Always think about the positive part because it gives you something to do.If I think “eat less junk food” over and over and over, that still doesn’t give my brain something to do. It’s not doing something. It’s doing nothing. I can’t do nothing. I have to do something.
If I think “eat more whole food” over and over, that’s way better. It gives me something to do. I immediately have a plan for what to eat later. Whole food. Done.
Scarcity is great when you are trying to stop doing something but you have to focus on the positive part of it. Focus on what you are actually doing and getting more of.
Focus on getting more healthy food.
Focus on getting more quick exercise outside.
Focus on creating when you have spare time.
When you focus on abundance, the things you are trying to get rid of will get ignored and fall away by themselves.