I’d go even further than this statement. Get past any feelings of jealousy or any psychological baggage and approach that person for advice. You will increase substantially your chances of achieving similar success.

Dan
Casual Kitchen

When I put a little extra effort into making something instead of buying it, or re-use something I already have, or not buy the latest version of something because I already have a gadget that meets my needs, I am celebrating the abundance in my life.

Although change starts with you it is hard to become one when the environment around you encourages the opposite.

I bought the Cuisinart ice cream maker this summer and had terrible luck with it (ice cream wouldn’t thicken). Now it’s jut sitting in my basement hidden on a shelf so I won’t feel annoyed about the money I spent on it.

Scarcity is the cause of most wars. Aggressive actions may be cloaked in pretense of ideology, but if you examine them dispassionately, they are usually fought over resources, with ideology used to manufacture consent. No one wants to think they are killing people to sustain a standard of living.

Abundance and scarcity are standard historical terms for centuries now, Anything that is finite can lead to actual scarcity if not used sustainably. Money, however, since no longer on the gold standard, can be seen as abundant, as it can be printed at will. Consequences are another matter.

*from a former book hoarder*

In fact, many people we’ve known with scarcity issues are among the most generous and giving people. They would do without for themselves, for example, to be able to give gifts or do stuff for others. They are generous with others, but not themselves.

They don’t envy others, they give both praise and recognition to others. In business, they are often the champions who fight to ensure that people are treated fairly and paid fairly. They are not the ones with entitlement issues. What they don’t value is themselves. THey don’t see themselves as deserving and as a result often find themselves in situations where their own insecurities affect their ability to get what they rightfully deserve in relationships, income, etc.

If anything, they see themselves as “less than.” It’s not about other people.

They don’t see themselves as either worthy or deserving, whether it’s of love or material things, including money. They devalue themselves on many levels. In many ways, obvious and not. (Some very successful–external–people often have scarcity mentality.)

folks with a scarcity mentality often come from very tough backgrounds, where money, love, affection were either absent/withheld or non-existent.

Resources (whether housing, food, clothing, etc.) were limited and individuals were made to feel that they did not deserve things, even the basics of life. They see how difficult if not impossible it was to get what they needed and that repeats in their later experiences.

The “scarcity mentality” is a much more complicated scenario than depicted here. Sorry, Trent, but you’ve taken a complex issue and over-simplified it, and not all that accurately IMHO.

And FYI: There’s a downside to the abundance mentality. In some people it is often translated into entitlement. Very fine line sometimes.

I’m not sure which is worse: People who think so little of themselves or people who think they deserve everything.

The main idea behind abundance is that the world has what you need and you can access it.

Scarcity on the other hand, is where you believe that the world can never provide you with what you need, whether love or money or stuff.

As you think, so it influences your behavior and choices and thus influences outcome, one way or the other.

It reminds me of people who came from very well off families with a secure financial history. These folks tended to believe things would work out, and regardless of their behavior, it usually did.

On the other hand, folks who came from backgrounds with emotional abuse, limited resources, while some overcame them, most succumbed to the negativism and lack of support around them.

So, part of the way that I converted my scarcity mentality to abundance mentality is borrowing. A friend of mine who is a bachelor but has an amazingly well-outfitted kitchen for his mom’s use when she visits from out of state, lends me small appliances when she’s not here such as an electric mini-chopper and a Cuisinart ice cream and sorbet maker. He wouldn’t be using them anyway, and I have them in my kitchen for months at a time, sometimes 6 or longer, and he gets some kudos at the table when I use his appliances to make something good.

Other friends bring martini glasses over, or other items if I need them for a dinner I’m preparing. They’re enjoying the dinner and are only too happy to contribute by lending something that I don’t have.

Well, that’s just one area in life that I’ve made this shift, but it has worked really well for me.