I recently listened to a podcast by the Wharton-based psychologist, Adam Grant where he interviewed Daniel Kahneman, Professor of Psychology at Princeton and author of Thinking fast and slow. Adam broached the subject of idea generation and Daniel Kahneman said something that marked me: “I do not worry about running out of ideas as I have an abundance mindset about ideas, you need to think that ideas are abundant, and you will always be generating new ideas”.
I am paraphrasing here based on my interpretation and my eureka moment when he said that. I remember being in the middle of a shopping spree and putting the shirt I had in my hand, back on the rack. In that moment, I was Archimedes who just had a light bulb moment, except it was a borrowed one. But that moment changed the course of my 2021. I realised that , in spite having embraced a positive mindset; a mindset of gratitude and growth, I was still operating under the belief of scarcity. That my ideas are lightbulb moments that can happen 2 or 3 times in my lifetime, golden opportunities that can break or make me. That is a limiting belief which I did not even know I had!
See, ideas are by nature, creation of the mind and your mind is always creating. But the abundance mindset applies to more than just ideas. It permeates the concept of finding love, finances and life in general. Believing that something is scarce leads to stunted growth or no growth at all. A failure to launch mechanism.
In his book Insane Success for lazy people, Andrii Sedniev hits the nail by saying “if you believe that you are limited in intelligence, creativity or talent you will act as if you are indeed limited in that particular area”. The abundance mindset is the key to success in any sphere of your life, whatever you are seeking new love or a new venture.
Think about it, 7 billion plus people and you are stuck on that one person that perhaps was not meant for you. Granted you do not have access to 7 billion people but is your scarcity mindset blocking you from meeting potential romantic interests? Thinking there is a lack of good women or men? Giving up before even putting yourself out there? Because according to your theory, there is no one else right? Change that today. Do 180 degrees flip on your mindset and think abundance. Easier said than done but I promise you, you will see the world differently.
Money is abundant. Love is abundant. Ideas are abundant. All abstractions but all positive and uplifting. Scarcity is also an abstraction. But an abundance mindset is empowering. It lets you take that first step in faith but above all it allows you to bounce back in the face of failure. You start seeing obstacles as setbacks rather than you giving up. The world flows through abundance but it has to go through your mind first.
