Scarcity vs. abundance
Hello, farm family!
Are you farming out of scarcity or abundance? I’m not talking about the balance in your bank account, the number of people on your payroll or even the pounds of product you sold this week.
I’m talking about your mindset.
The Scarcity Mindset
A scarcity mindset starts from the premise that there are nite resources available and that giving resources to someone (or something) equals taking resources away from someone (or something) else.
The scarcity mindset is represented by the old word problems we used to solve in math class: Tom has ve bales of hay and 11 cows. Each cow eats half a bale of hay a day. How many cows can Tom feed?
The “correct” answer is 10 … leaving one of Tom’s cows to go hungry. Some creative students may suggest distributing the hay equally among all cows, but that’s still unpleasant because all can eat something, but none are satised.
Poor cows. Poor Tom, who can’t provide for all his cows.
The Abundance Mindset An abundance mindset, on the other hand, believes that there are endless opportunities to create and produce resources and that those resources can be freely given to one without depriving someone else.
Let’s apply the abundance mindset to Tom’s situation. To amply feed all his cows, Tom could buy more hay, supplement with alternate forage, lease a cow to a neighbor for weed control or numerous other options.
Happy cows! Happy Tom, who creatively provided for all his cows!
The Benets of an Abundance Mindset
Obviously, farming is much more complex and challenging than solving an elementary-level word problem. There are many factors beyond our control, and sometimes we feel as if we are just plain out of options.
This is where our mindset can make the difference between despair and determination, defeat and distinction. I can look back over my life and identify key moments where I was faced with the choice to give up or give it all I had. I suspect you can identify a couple from your life as well.
The times I gave up still bring a sense of regret, like an opportunity abandoned. Giving it all I had – even if it didn’t turn out the way I’d hoped – brings a sense of pride because I tried … and I learned something valuable in the process.
As I have started actively cultivating an abundance mindset, I notice positive benets in every as pect of my life. I see opportunities where I once saw obstacles. I see potential where I once saw failure.
This mindset improves my relationships because I am more likely to notice others’ strengths rather than their shortcomings. It even improves my relationship with myself because I focus on taking steps I can take instead of nding reasons why I can’t do anything.
A scarcity mindset disempowers. An abundance mindset empowers.
Cultivating an Abundance Mindset
I said I was “actively cultivating an abundance mindset.” The truth is that my default mindset was programmed for scarcity for far too long. Fortunately, we can reprogram our mindset with a few simple steps.
1. Recognize a scarcity mindset. You can recognize when you’re programmed to a scarcity mindset
