About

Your mindset is the biggest tool that determines whether or not you’re successful or have fulfillment in your life? It’s how you think and the filters you perceive the world through.   There are some people who naturally take in what the world throws at them and see all the possibilities. There are other people who only see limitations.   Which one are you? Do you see unlimited possibilities or do you think about all the things that could stop you?   The space between your ears is the biggest determiner of whether or not you’re going to have what you want in life, and whether or not you’re going to achieve fulfillment and success.   Pie People and River People For Pie People, there is a finite amount of all the success, fulfillment and abundance in the world. To them, there is a limited amount, like pie. If one person is successful, it means there is a little bit less of the success pie for the next person. If you are a pie person, and you see other people doing well and having success, you percieve that as leaving less success available for you.   You know those people who never seem happy when someone else does well, or never share in someone else’s good fortune? Probably, that’s a pie person. It’s typically a subconscious thinking pattern and most people who are pie people don’t realize they are pie people: it’s just the way they live. It was probably the way they were brought up. They believe their ability to succeed is limited by other people’s ability to succeed.   Then, there are River People, who believe success, fulfillment, abundance and all the things life has to offer are a flowing river. They believe anybody can step up and dip their cup into that river and have as much of that success as they want because there is a never-ending supply of it. When you are a river person, you tend to share in other people’s excitement when they do well. You don’t think their success means you have less chance of doing well. You say, “they did well, that shows I can succeed too.”   If you pay attention, the pie people and river people become very easy to spot. You want to be a river person, not a pie person. You also want to hang out with river people and avoid hanging out with pie people.   The truth is there is not a set amount of success, wealth, prosperity or fulfillment in the world. There is a constantly growing and expanding amount, for you to grab hold of. People with an abundance mentality—river people—believe the world is open to them and because they walk through life with their eyes wide open, they see opportunities everywhere.   People with a scarcity mindset—pie people—tend to look at the world as if it’s against them. They have blinders on and look straight ahead. The opportunities that may be coming are flying by them unnoticed because they believe the world has a limited amount of success, and they have been locked out.   Gary Keller, the founder of Keller Williams Realty International, said, ‘There is not enough business for everyone but there is enough for anyone.’ Although he was talking about business and real estate, this statement really applies to any endeavor you choose to pursue. If everybody in the world was fully engaged at one time to achieve something, we probably would run out of resources and there wouldn’t be enough for everybody. But the truth is only a very, very small percentage of people actually pursue those things.   There will be more than enough for anybody who is willing to pay the price to achieve success and fulfillment, because most refuse to go after it. If you want to be a person who has a fulfilled life, choose to be someone who goes after it. Choose to be someone who has an abundance mentality versus the scarcity mentality.   Characteristics of Abundance and Scarcity Mindsets What are the characteristics of a person with an abundance mindset versus a scarcity mindset? It is really difficult to have an abundance mindset if you don’t believe there is a higher power helping to create big things for us. There probably are people who don’t believe in God who have an abundance mindset, but it is much more difficult if you think everything is on you.   Trust in God (or the higher power you believe in) to provide. When you see people who go through life with that attitude, that’s usually a sign they have an abundance mind set. Meanwhile, the people who believe everything is up to them; if they don’t do it, it's not going to happen, are typically the people with a scarcity mindset because they don’t trust the world and they don’t trust God. They don’t trust others are there to help them achieve and succeed.   Have faith in God and faith in the process. This goes right along with trust. Believe if you work hard, the abundance will come to you. Those who are scarcity thinkers only go by “what they see is what they believe” and think they are responsible for everything. Scarcity thinkers are trying to adjust the process, so they can make it more their own. They don't trust hard work will ultimately allow them to succeed and have their abundance.   Be hopeful and optimistic. That comes from the belief that you are moving forward and you are going to have all you need. That kind of belief—the river person thinking—naturally leads to hope and optimism. Scarcity thinkers are full of fear and doubt. They are afraid the world is really built against them, afraid someone else has succeeded before them and now that success is gone, not to be enjoyed by them.   Be generous, sharing and giving. The most generous people are those who think they are always going to be successful. Have you ever noticed people who may not have anything but are still very generous? They give their time and money because they believe in the abundance of the world. They believe it will come back to them. The scarcity thinkers hold onto what they have because they believe they will never get back what they let go of. They can’t give to other people because they might need it for themselves down the road.   Extremely generous people are river people. The people who are really stingy and have every nickel they ever earned inside their one-way pockets—where it goes in and never comes out!—are scarcity thinkers.   Have contentment and satisfaction. It’s the people who are stingy and afraid of losing what they have, who are pie people with a scarcity mindset. That kind of person is always discontented, feeling they never achieve, do or have enough. Being satisfied and content with where you’re at doesn’t mean you don’t want more, or you’re not striving for more. Being content is knowing you’ve given your best effort, and you are trusting God to deliver. You know you’ve done everything to a point of being content with where you’re at because you’ve done what you can and know that more is coming.   Have a steward mentality. Joe believes everything he owns was given to him by God, and it’s his job to manage what he’s been given to the best of his ability. That doesn’t just include money. It includes his intellect, education, knowledge, work and all resources. Managing and using those resources for the betterment of the world is part of being a river person. Meanwhile, somebody with a scarcity mindset will have an ownership mentality. They have the idea of limited resources so anything they have is theirs and they won’t share it. Instead, pie people tend to hoard their resources.   Work on helping and completing others. When you have the attitude of abundance, you look to help other people. It comes back to the generosity, and being willing to share what you have because you believe there is more than enough. River people believe in abundance and want other people to find abundance as well. Whereas, people with the scarcity mindset also tend to be hyper-competitive. They try to beat you to something instead of helping you get there. They’re afraid if you get there first there may be less for them.   Change your mindset It’s not that pie people are bad people. They have fear because of wrong thinking. They often believe they have a certain level they can get to it and that’s it. When you realize how the two minds work, you can have the compassion for people with the scarcity mindset instead of wondering why they are like that.   When you change your mindset, you change the outcome. When you have an abundance mentality, it’s amazing how the world seems to be a different place and you see opportunities that you never saw before.   If you have noticed some pie person tendencies in yourself, how do you go about changing them?   Watch who you hang out with. Firstly, look at the people surrounding you. We are the average of the 5 people we spend most of our time with. If you are hanging out with a bunch of people who always moan and groan about the world and their lives, you will probably become a pie person. But if you hang out with people who live in abundance, expect the world to work out well for them, and they step out of their comfort zone on a daily basis and work to grab the abundance they believe is out there, then you’re more likely to be a river person. Hang out with abundance people.   Let go of the outcome. Secondly, do everything in your power to achieve success and fulfillment and let go of the outcome. Trust that the work will deliver the reward, that God has your back. If you've done everything possible, you don't have any more control over the outcome anyway, so you might as well stop worrying about it.   Be content where you are, but always strive for more. Thirdly, learn to be content with where you are, but strive for more success, more fulfillment and to be a better person. If you've done all you can, good things are coming.   Never allow fear or other people to put caps on your dreams. Finally—and this is the most important one—if you want to be a river person, never allow fear or other people put caps on your dreams in life. If you have big dreams, go after them. Stay true with yourself, keep your dream alive, and surround yourself with people who encourage you instead of discourage you.   If you have a tendency to be a pie person, take a look at these four steps of becoming a river person. There is enough success, prosperity and fulfillment in the world. So if you are willing to change your mindset, and do the things that you need to take a leap of faith, you can have great abundance and great satisfaction in your life!   Go for the abundance!