How To Change Your Budget Mindset From Scarcity Mode to Abundance Mode

 

I have realized that for an analytical thinker, I have been writing a lot about conceptual topics. Very interesting. And here comes another blog where I talk about more conceptual ideas; but hang with me, because if you get this right and adopt an abundant mindset and purge a scarce mindset, your probability of never having to worry about your finances will increase exponentially.

In this industry and all other industries, I cannot tell you how important it is to think with abundance versus scarcity. I have no tolerance for “can’t”, especially when I ask collaborators, financial firms, or vendors how to solve a problem and they tell me it’s impossible. Odds are it isn’t impossible, they just think it is because they are perceiving the problem through a scarcity mindset. When you approach problems with abundance, solutions will follow.

And Now, A Word From Disney

A few nights ago I watched the Disney animated movie, “Meet the Robinsons” with my kids. If you haven’t seen it, please watch it — it’s fun. And I don’t think this is a spoiler, but there are some scenes and a theme to the movie that emphasizes an abundant mindset. One of Walt Disney’s famous quotes was, “Keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” Look at the empire Walt Disney created with this type of mindset. He didn’t have a scarce mindset of how it could not be done as the banks kept informing him. Working with his brother and others on his team he found a way to keep moving forward and to get it done.

Quick tangent, he got the funding for Disneyland from his Bankosaurus® because the banks would not give him the money. I mention it all the time on my podcasts and I’m sure in these blogs: banking is necessary, banks are not.

Thank you, Walt Disney! I cannot tell you how many great memories I have going to Disney World and Disneyland with my friends and family.

Stop talking about why you can’t, Start exploring how you can.

Always remember, your number one investment is you and your earned income. Typically, your residual and passive income streams are secondary for quite some time. So always focus on abundance. Don’t think about how you can’t get something done, think about how you can. Who can help you? Who do you need on your team? What can you do to become the best employee or entrepreneur possible? What are all the different ways you can solve this problem?

Look at the abundance of information on Google. Amazing! There is so much around us with all the information out there, with all the specialists in each industry, that can help you create and do amazing things.

 

Contribute to the Growth of Others

Focus on how you can help and educate your employees, peers, and your boss. When I was an engineering intern I was so grateful for the managers and engineers that would share their knowledge and educate me on management and design. I didn’t understand why some in the telecommunications and civil engineering industry would keep it to themselves. Now I understand, they had a scarce mindset — they were afraid the new employees and interns would replace them or outperform them in time.

Once I was able to transition from less of a trainee to more of a trainer, I was eager to help new interns. I wanted to pass that knowledge on that I learned. And as I stepped into the role of mentor, we both improved at our craft. It became abundantly clear to me that as everyone gets better and better, I was pushed to keep improving and imagined what we could accomplish as a top team.

Scarcity breeds complacency, and there’s no room for complacency in finance or anywhere really. Kill the scarce mindset if it ever creeps in and focus on abundance.

 

Ready For A Jedi Mind Trick?

Budget sounds like scarcity. Investments sounds like abundant mindset. The truth is, budgets create abundance.

When I talk about investments with people who are eager to grow their wealth the right way, the immediate response is excitement. They want to learn more about how they can make more money with their money so they can do more things, have more time, and as a result, more choices. The abundance mindset immediately kicks in with most people.

When I bring up budget, I typically don’t get the same response. A couple years ago I was buying a new cell phone and the young salesman noticed I was a financial advisor and started asking me a lot of questions about money and investments. He wanted a sports car. He wanted more toys. And some of his friends made a killing (at that time) in cryptocurrency and directional trades in the stock market. He asked me what’s the number one thing he should focus on to become rich. I told him it all starts with savings and a budget. I went from a hero to zero in his eyes within a second. Needless to say, he did not become a client. Which is okay, I was just there to buy a smartphone.

Consistently when I first meet prospective clients and I bring up the evil word “budget”, I can see the scarcity mindset kick in. So I created a new term: Cash Flow Optimizer (CFO). Full disclosure, I realize it’s corny. But the point isn’t to win the award for most creative new financial term, the point is to find a new way to think about growing your wealth through savings. (Also, it’s infinitely better than budget).  

The word budget has baggage. When I ask prospective clients who are sick of living paycheck to paycheck what they think of a budget, I hear this:

 

• I don’t want to be told what I can’t do

• that means I can’t spend as much

• I don’t get to do everything I want to do

• that sounds like a lot of work to track

• I know I should save money, but I struggle with it

• what if I want to remodel my home and it’s not in the budget?

 

 

When I ask the same question to prospective clients who already have a budget and strong savings plan ahd who want to maximize their economic potential (my forte) below are their answers:

• Profit
• Find lost money and put it to good use
• Find errors from the banks (I’ve yet to see one that is not in the banks favor)
• More opportunities: the ability to invest and make more money on their money, which becomes this perpetual “money making machine.” I stole this name from a new client. She’s a very sharp and motivated registered nurse and loving mom. I was showing her how to create a savings/checking account that is specifically allocated for savings and investments. She nicknamed it the “money making machine” account. Awesome! That’s an abundant mindset.

 

This is my last blog (for a while) where I try to cleverly tackle the word: budget. I want to emphasize to those reading this blog that are struggling with this word, embrace the word: CFO. Switch the thought process from scarcity to abundance. If you’d like a nudge or a little help, don’t hesitate to talk with me. I will make it easy and — gasp — fun! Games are fun when you’re winning. I am sure I will have plenty of future blogs talking about abundance. We all deserve a life filled with abundance, start with rewiring how you think, feel and talk about saving.