How To Develop An Abundance Mindset
This article is a follow up to a previous article I wrote, “Poverty: A State Of Mind Or An Economic Status?”
In the article, I indicated that there some major differences in how poor people and rich people think and live their lives. See “Poverty: A State Of Mind Or An Economic Status?” for more details on these differences.
You are probably asking, “How can I develop a mindset of abundance?”
I think the key can be found in looking again at some differences in how poor people and rich people think and live their lives.
Their view of life is different. Poor people live their lives in a “survival” mode; therefore; their decisions making is short-term in nature. In other words, they are consumed and pre-occupied with the basics of life (i.e. how to feed their families, how to pay their bills etc.). They do not or can not focus on their long-term future.
Also, since poor people have limited resources, when unexpected situations occur, they do not have any resources available to deal with these situations, adding more situations to their crisis management lifestyle.
Rich people live their lives in a “proactive or preventive” mode. They asset the various negative situations they face to see how to avoid, eliminate or mitigate these problems or risks in the future.
For example: Since rich people live a lifestyle below their means, they establish “emergency” funds and savings to “buffer” them from some of the unexpected problems that will occur in life. Therefore; their lives are not consumed with the “crisis management” of poor people.
Their preparation and planning for life is different. Poor people spend their lives thinking about how to get more money and what they will buy when they get some money. Therefore; when they get additional funds, they spend it unwisely, because they have not invested time and energy in gaining knowledge and understanding of financial matters.
Rich people spend their lives gaining knowledge and understanding of financial matters, so when the money comes, they will know how to handle it.
Let’s look at a familiar Biblical story to help make this point clearer. In Matthew 25:14-28, we find The Parable of the Talents.
In the story a rich man goes on a journey and he calls three of his servants to give them stewardship responsibility of his resources while he is away.
He entrusts to one servant five talents of money, another two talents, and the other one talent. He gave to each servant, talents according to their ability.
The servant with five talents went out immediately and put his five talents to work and gained five more. The servant with two talents gained two more talents. Since these servants were able to double their original resources, it would suggest that they had knowledge of financial matters and a plan.
But, the servant with one talent went out and dug a hole in the ground and put his master’s money in it. The actions of this servant would suggest that he did not have the proper knowledge and understanding of financial matters or a plan.
The rich man returns home and calls the servants to get a report of what they had done with his money. The servant with five talents gave him a report that he now had 10 talents. The servant with two talents gave a report that he now had four talents.
But, the servant with one talent reported that he had only the original one talent the rich man gave him.
The rich man commended the servant he gave five talents and the servant he gave two talents for their faithful stewardship. He gave them a portion of the gains they had received and additional stewardship responsibilities.
But, he reprimanded the servant with one talent, calling him lazy, because he knew what he expected of him, but he failed to carry it out, due to fear.
The point I am trying to make is rich people invest time and energy in gaining knowledge and a better understanding of financial matters, to develop a plan to invest their money wisely, gaining more money. Because of the lack of knowledge and planning, poor people fail to invest their money wisely due to fear; therefore; they seldom gain additional resources.
Where they seek advice is different. Poor people tend to seek advice from and listen to advice given by their “broke” friends and family members. Therefore, they are not able to gain the proper understanding of financial matters. The knowledge that poor people receives from these sources is seldom sound and accurate, that is the reason these “advisors” are broke themselves.
Rich people seek the advice of other successful people and hire experts in financial matters; therefore; the path to the financial success they desire becomes clearer.
Developing an abundance mindset starts with gaining knowledge. Decide today, to become a “lifelong student” of learning, read books and seek the knowledge and guidance of other successful people.
Knowledge “opens” your mind to new possibilities. Oftentimes, poor people do not see themselves being successful or do not feel they “deserve” to have success in their life.
This thought process MUST change if you want to have an abundance mindset!!
I would like to recommend a couple books to assist you in the development of an abundance mindset: “The Working Man & Woman’s Guide to Becoming a Millionaire” by Al Herron and “Think a Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill. (For your convenience I have provided links to purchase these books now in the Recommended Resources Section on this site).
If you desire to change your mindset and would like more specific assistance, personalize coaching is available. Please send me an email.
Please provide me your comments on this topic. If you have additional topics you would like to see us discuss, please send me an email or post a comment.
Also, refer this site to other men you know, so we all can journey together!!
For the woman in your life, my wife (Sylvia) has a personal development site focused specifically on the needs and concerns of women. The site is called, www.thedashlady.com.
Also, we have a joint site focused on the needs and concerns of couples (i.e. married, engaged, and seriously dating). This site is focused on helping couples to grow together through personal development. The site is called, www.marriagerhythm.com.
Please visit these sites and leave us a comment about the current posts.
Again, thanks for visiting this site.
Randy
The “DASH” Guy
We need more teaching regarding the stock market.more sermons on money and classes for our people.
Hi Russell,
Thanks for your feedback.
We need to use every means available to increase our knowledge on financial matters.
I spoke with a friend of mines, who is a financial advisor, to share some suggestions with our audience in the future. We will work to get that done soon.
Again, thanks for your input!!
Randy
The “DASH” Guy