Written by: Dr. Hanan El Basha, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Hi there, I am Dr. Hanan El Basha – The Business Doctor (also known as Dr. FeelGood :D), an Empowering Business Strategist.
Over the past few years, I went on a transformative journey that took me from an “unfulfilled, disempowered perceived success” to a woman who switched her own mindset around to take control of her life putting in daily efforts into becoming the best version of me that I can manifest.
So, I wanted to share one of my favorite Mindset Analogies with you today, and it’s all about Abundance vs. Scarcity.
What does it mean to approach life from a place of abundance versus one of scarcity?
The basic meaning of abundance is a lot of, or overflowing supply. Scarcity is attributed to shortage.
And by the way, in case you are still wondering, mindset simply means the way you think/look at matters; your perspective and consequent actions towards matters/situations.
Now, let’s look at abundance and scarcity from a life mindset. I first came to this illustration of the matter as I was coaching a dear friend of mine.
I am a puzzle lover. Since I was a child, I always put together puzzles – biggest one I did to date was 5,000 pieces. When I got married, I started framing and hanging them in my home.
Naturally, puzzle pieces are small, and could easily get lost/misplaced. So, there were times when after putting together a 1,000-piece puzzle, I would realize that a SINGLE piece is missing.
A very frustrating part in the life of a puzzle lover.
I can’t frame and hang a missing puzzle!
What happened next? I would still glue the puzzle to the cardboard but I’d just store it somewhere in the hopes of finding the missing piece... until it disintegrates, more pieces fall out, and it ends up in the trash. It had been deemed unworthy of display in my collection.
One day though, I had an idea. For the next “missing-piece puzzle”, how about I utilize that empty spot to sign my initials? A way of announcing that it was I who put together this puzzle.
I loved the idea; it personalized my achievement.
Now, I want you to incorporate the mindset framework in relation to my story.
Imagine your life like a 1,000-piece puzzle. You are working hard at putting it together in a way that you believe fulfils and satisfies you. Yet, you have a piece (or more) that are missing.
So, you carry on your life yearning for the missing pieces (be it wealth, love, kids, a job, “the perfect body,” etc.). What you are actually doing here is failing to recognize that you are in possession of 999 pieces of the puzzle! Yet, you are fixated on the SINGLE missing piece.
That’s what a SCARCITY mindset is all about. One that is only concerned with the shortcomings of your life without recognizing, appreciating, and celebrating all your other accomplishments, blessings, and resources that you have. A scarcity mindset is one that you are also most probably conditioned to believe in by the societal standards where you are judged for lacking: the wealth, the career, the education/professional certificates, the body, the husband/wife, the house, the kids, the car, the possessions, etc.
Coming from a place of ABUNDANCE would then mean that you not only see everything that you DO have in your life, everything that you have created for yourself, having sincere gratitude for all that you are, yet also believing that by sharing all that you have, the overflow will more than fill up & compensate for the perceived missing piece(s).
What you are made to believe (by society, culture, close ones, etc.) completes you might not actually fulfil you. Meaning: you don’t have to have the million-dollar business because you might already be immensely proud of yourself for simply starting your own venture. Having a so-called “perfect marriage” could indeed be the source of your dissatisfaction.
So, analyse your life. What you have. What you believe you need. And ultimately, what makes you happy and fulfilled.
You will most probably realize that you already have your own version of your completed puzzle. And now you can move on to building this 1,000-piece puzzle into 2,000 or even 10,000 pieces. As long as that is what YOU aspire for, rather than what you are made to believe you need to have a complete life.
I worked hard on shifting my mindset from scarcity to one of abundance!
And my hope is that you can actively work on:
Identifying yours, and,
Turning those fixed, negative and scarce beliefs into growing, positive, abundant beliefs.
I wish you love, abundance, and prosperity!
Dr. Hanan El Basha
Dr. Hanan El Basha, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Dr. Hanan El Basha, Founder of The Business Doctor, is an Empowering Business Strategist supporting high-achieving women reduce the overwhelm and explore their entrepreneurial spirit through practical actions and strategies to build a service-based business. She has 23+ years of professional experience, most of which spent within small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and approximately 10 co-founding and running startups herself. Over the past four years, she has integrated her startups’ advising and business strategy services, with mindset coaching primarily serving women to live their life to the fullest potential. Inspired from her own healing journey, she is also passionate and dedicated to the topic of health and wellness built on learnings from her certification as an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach and a Metabolic Balance Coach. She is also the founder and host of 'Empowered to Grow' podcast.
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