This post is coming from a place of vulnerability. I’m going to explain what type of THINKING a successful business owner needs and then openly admit that sometimes, I don’t think that way. There are ways to approach business and finances. You can either view your business through the lens of ABUNDANCE or SCARCITY. There are many different ways to discover which camp you fall into. These two ways of thinking have a dramatic effect on your level of SUCCESS, your level of FEAR, the amount that you WORRY and the amount of HOPE that you have in your life!
This post was inspired by the awesome Michael Hyatt. I just love his approach to life and business. Instead of sharing his whole post in my post, I want you to take a minute to read HIS post! You can read it HERE! You’ll quickly be able to realize what kind of THINKER you are after reading through his thoughts. Sadly, I read this post months ago and realized that I sometimes have a SCARCITY mentality. I want so badly to believe that I see my business through the lens of abundance, but sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I don’t believe that there are enough brides to go around at our price point…. sometimes I worry that because we aren’t doing workshops this year, they won’t happen in the future…. sometimes I think “Why do we educate when so many others do? Surely my education isn’t needed when there is already so much out there.” Do you see what is happening? This is a thought pattern that I sometimes get stuck in and it is SO DANGEROUS!
Business owners who constantly live in a “scarcity” mentality also live in a continual state of WORRY. Instead of seeing the glass half full, they see the glass half empty. Instead of seeing new opportunities, they focus on what everyone else has already done and how behind they are. Instead of being optimistic and dreaming big, they are squashed by the thought of “well, my success won’t last forever” or “well, they already did it so why should I even try?”. I am VERY thankful that I don’t CONSTANTLY live in the SCARCITY mentality. Only sometimes do I catch myself thinking that way. However, the more I learn to recognize when I’m in that mindset, the more I’m aware of others who are in that mindset in their business.
I’m going to be bold and say that you CANNOT run a SUCCESSFUL business and constantly live in the SCARCITY mentality. Why? Because a “successful business” isn’t just a business with great profit margins, it’s a business that brings hope, joy and excitement to the business owner’s life. If you just run a business that makes a ton of money but you worry about it constantly, I don’t think I would call that “successful”, would you? That takes a toll on your family, your well being and eventually your ability to DREAM and move your business forward.
The eye opening discovery that I have made in my business is that the occurrence of my “scarcity mentality” is directly linked to my trust in God. When I’m trying to run my business on my own and just be a BOSS LADY…. I’m miserable. (Ps. Nothing wrong with being a Boss Lady… That term works great for some people! It’s just not the best mindset for me.) It’s during those seasons when I start to doubt the longevity of my success and I start to strive to make success happen on my own and by my own strength. When I focus on the fact that God has a plan for my life and it has always proven to be better than mine, I start to see the ABUNDANCE mentality enter my life again. I’ve discovered that GROWTH happens through the ABUNDANCE mentality, and I can only live in that mindset when I’m not trying to run my own life and control everything! I’ll be honest…. I would LOVE to see our W2’s for 2017 just to make sure we’re doing ok a year from now… I would love to know if we’re going to meet our booking quota and our educational goals this fall…. I would love to know RIGHT NOW what our 5 year plan is and whether or not we’ll continue to be successful… but knowing those things wouldn’t make me feel any better… I would just want to know MORE.
In my opinion, the only way that I can CONSTANTLY live in the mindset of ABUNDANCE is to put my trust in something other than myself. My hope, purpose and trust are in God’s promise that he has a plan for me. I don’t know what needs to happen in your life to allow you to live with a mindset of ABUNDANCE. I hope that between this post and Michael Hyatt’s post, you have started to get curious about where you are and what mindset you live in the most!!
My Thought Process Blog Series:
Changing The Timeline Due to Weather,
Photographers: The Resources In The KJ Collection Are Just What You Need!
Thanks for reading!
— Katelyn
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