What is Lack Mindset and How to Avoid It

I write a lot here on the blog about the millionaire mindset and how to cultivate more of it in your life. But why do most of us need to learn this skill in the first place?

Good question.

For most of us, our default is lack mindset (also called scarcity mindset). And it’s a real issue when it comes to leveling up our finances.

If you look at the human race throughout time, what you’ll notice is that most people lived with extreme poverty, some people did just okay, and a handful at the top got to live a privileged life of luxury. The narrative has long been that it’s hard to obtain wealth, it’s hard to rise above your circumstances, there’s not enough to go around, and so on. You get a multi-generational lack mindset going on, which you may have inherited from your family of origin (often no matter how well or poorly-off your parents actually were). You know, all the usual sayings that reflect a lack mentality like “Money doesn’t grow on trees,” “Make hay while the sun shines,” “A penny saved is a penny earned,” and so on.

This was all before the internet. I’m totally serious: we’ve never had this many opportunities to learn new marketable skills (often completely for free or at a low cost), tap into global client markets (thank you, Amazon), and have a massive reach via social media platforms. If you need to find something out, you check Google or YouTube and quickly have the answers at your fingertips. If you want to level up your professional network, you polish your LinkedIn profile and start following and connecting with interesting people in your industry. If you want to get a certificate that will help you get a higher-paying job, you check out EdX where you can even audit most of the classes completely free first, before enrolling to get your certificate! It’s never been easier to rise above your current circumstances, no matter where you’re starting from.

This doesn’t mean grinding poverty doesn’t exist, or that we should try to pretend that many people aren’t existing without access to the basics such as food, shelter, and medical care, let alone internet access and computers. I was running errands today through a part of town where many homeless people camp along the roadways, and it’s always a stark reminder that even in my town, where there are a huge amount of resources and care available for the homeless, many people still end up sleeping on benches out in the elements, shopping cart by their side filled with their belongings. And it doesn’t mean that every person living in poverty should be somehow judged for having a “lack mindset,” as most of these people have fallen through the cracks of society due to a myriad of issues that are often out of their control entirely.

Could it be that at the root of lack mindset lies a very real fear that we’ll one day end up out on the streets? And so we spend our lives doing everything in our power to avoid that possibility, instead of focusing on the abundant life we want to create for ourselves? Often our fears are trying to protect us from a real threat, but can unfortunately end up paralyzing us from taking positive action towards our goals.

By choosing to cultivate a millionaire mindset, we are able to finally reject the fear and paralysis that a lack mentality brings. We can start moving forward towards the life we want to create for ourselves through consistent, thoughtful, strategic action. How great is that?