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How You Can Achieve More by Negotiating from an Abundance (versus Scarcity) Mindset

How You Can Achieve More by Negotiating from an Abundance (versus Scarcity) Mindset

We hear a lot these days about abundance versus scarcity mindsets. Many consider these concepts to be woo-woo and dismiss them. This is not surprising in a society where we’ve been conditioned to define success based on a competitive ‘winner take all’ approach. With the new year fast approaching, I invite you to embrace an abundance mindset in your negotiations and beyond. You may be surprised at the returns that abound from this outlook.

First let’s touch on what we mean by abundance versus scarcity mindsets. In short, scarcity mindsets assume limited resources are available and so, we fight over this perceived limited access, believing that’s the only way to secure a piece of the fixed pie available. By contrast, abundance mindsets assume limitless resources. Rather than fighting over a fixed pie, let’s create some more pie so everyone can share in it. Better yet, rather than only having pecan pie available, let’s create different kinds of pie so everyone can get what they want, how they want it.

Admitted, I’ve over-simplified the concept. Yet I challenge you to genuinely consider which approach would better serve … you individually and humanity generally. Imagine a world where we believed that unlimited love, happiness, and wealth was available for all. Scarcity mindsets are narrow and limiting, pitting us against each other, whereas abundance provides an ever-expanding expectation of more, inspiring creativity to find bigger, better options.

I certainly saw this divide in my law practice. In fact, I believe it’s one of the fatal flaws in our legal system. I even saw this approach in my coaching business. It’s ironic that in the personal development business we still see some approaching the business from a territorial, protective place – hardly a model for evolved personal development. By contrast, I always strove to be generous, sharing my resources and collaborating openly and extensively.

Those who encourage abundance mindsets are more magnetic and have a more profound positive impact. I invite you to give wide berth to those who operate on principles of scarcity, seeking to motivate through pain points and fear.

Which approach you adopt is a choice. You have 100% responsibility for your experience of life. Why not choose better? This fundamental choice between abundance versus scarcity affects your business opportunities, your relationships (personally and professionally) and the quality of the experiences in your life.

It stands to reason that if you withhold in your relationships, believing there are limited rations at your disposal to share, you will not love fully and deeply. If you impose limitations on your love, or conditions, or insist on expectations of equal reciprocity, you lose out on the joy of unqualified love and giving.

In business, if you think small, seeing restrictions rather than pursuing a big, bolder vision for yourself, you will limit your options, and with it your potential for maximum success. I was guilty of this for a time in my law practice. I under-charged what I was worth, and I stayed smaller than I needed.

Even in our personal experiences, we often limit our potential for living into the boldest version of our lives. I was guilty of this for a time. Growing up in a low rental apartment complex, where money was always a source of conflict with my parents, I carried a lot of money baggage. I wanted to live large, and I believed I was as I travelled extensively and embraced new experiences. But, if I’m ruthlessly honest with myself, I always sought out the budget version of my experiences.

Recently, on our trip to Antarctica, I decided to adopt an abundance mindset. I booked a Panoramic suite. The price point almost made me choke, but I chose to believe I was worth it. I chose to believe the enhanced experience would be worth it. I chose to believe the money would come. And guess what? I was, it was and it did. That trip was a once in a lifetime extraordinary experience.

Where are you holding back in your life? Where are you thinking small? Where are you living in a scarcity mindset when an abundance mindset would better serve you?

As you step into this new year, I invite you to think bigger, live larger, expand your boundaries, give more freely, and fully embrace this life you’ve been given, squeezing out the juice, confident that you can create more.

Cindy Watson
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