The universe is a storehouse of abundant opportunities and challenges. In the milieu of contemporary life where positives and negatives co-exist to compete and shape our thoughts and actions, it is hard to cultivate an appropriate mind-set which is both comfortable and ideal.
Stephen Covey, the personal development author, first coined the term abundance mentality or abundance mindset in his bestselling The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, five decades back. He defined the term as “a concept in which a person believes there are enough resources and successes to share with others,” contrasting with our popular mind-set of scarcity which is destructive and unnecessary competition.
While scarcity mind-set is predominantly characterised by fear and doubt, the abundance mind-set displays trust, self-confidence, optimism and belief in the existence of plentiful possibilities. The former prompts you to hold on to what you have, and leads you to a narrow view of things. The latter encourages you to think big, look at opportunities, expand and use your potential and take calculated risks. An example is our normal tendency to save money wherever possible, but what matters is the courage to earning enough, without worrying about petty expenses.
The root cause for a constricted mind is the belief that the available resources are limited and not enough to share. In fact, the opposite is true: resources are abundant and enough for everyone in this world.
Cultivating and living in an abundance mindset ensures an unlimited, a full and satisfying life alongside our personal and spiritual development. Some of the methods of creating such a mind-set are to observe and regulate our thoughts, live in gratitude, pursue right passions, practice positive affirmations and work towards a noble purpose in life.
Bhagavad Gita says, the main obstacle is the mind itself. It is restless, turbulent with thoughts of hatred, anger, lust, greed, envy, anxiety, fear, attachment and violence, seeking vengeance when desires are not fulfilled. However, when properly controlled and regulated, mind regains its inherent strength of discrimination and determination towards the path of righteousness and success.