Scarcity Script: Why Focusing on Lack Blocks Creativity

Spam Filter For Your Brain - Episode 189

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https://youtu.be/p5nYRMysxOA

This week, I'm inviting you to think a little bit about your thoughts about money. Now, I think most of us when we talk about money, the first thing that comes to mind is lack. It's money that we owe, it's money that we wish that we had, it's money that we feel like we need in order to be able to survive.

What we don't often think about is having money that sustains us. We don't often think about what it might feel like to have money in the bank. We don't often think about how much money we would need to survive comfortably. So many of us are struggling so much that these things almost seem a bit like pipe dreams, and so there is the inclination to think, " Well, why would I even speculate about that when it's just very unlikely to happen?"

And I believe that unless we rehearse and we expand what it might feel like to have some of these things and these possibilities, it's a lot less likely that we're gonna work towards them, because we would just be working towards fantasy.

Whenever we're trying anything new or we're stretching ourselves outside of our comfort zone, there's always gonna be obstacles that come up along the way.

And if we haven't established what it might be like to win at that game, to be able to have the level of comfort or ease or ability to look after ourselves in a different way, if we haven't explored that stuff, it's gonna be a lot more tricky for us to navigate the things that come up that aren't so easy along the way.

One of the things that really came up for me while I was doing a lot of work on my money mindset was my underlying belief that I believed that if I had enough money, I could probably give enough of it away, and that could hide the fact that I secretly thought I was a terrible person; whilst also holding the view that people with money were terrible people, and that they had only gained that money by exploiting others.

Now, I know that that's not true, because I have friends around me who run incredible organisations that really support themselves and support others. They don't work towards the end of burnout. They don't stretch themselves so thin that there's nothing left to go around. They run amazing organisations that really support and help people in vulnerable circumstances.

For my work, I offer a full wage fee, I offer a concessions fee, and I offer scholarships and bursaries to folk who need that. The more money that I have, the more that I'm able to offer spaces to people who can't necessarily afford it. I know that more money in my bank supports more people.

It's the way that I choose to operate in the world. It's the way that I move things around. I try and make sure that when the pennies come flowing my way, that they expand out and they support community and they build.

Now, it's very hard for me to act from that place if I was thinking that as soon as I had money, I had to get rid of it, or I was one of the bad people, or if I was thinking that people like me have exploited someone to get here.

If I'm constantly undermining the position that I'm in, there's no way that I'm gonna strive to be one of the "bad people".

I believe that it is worth spending some time dabbling in the idea of what it could feel like to have some money in the bank. If you did have X amount of pounds, whether it's, you know, 100, 1,000, 10,000, a million, how would you spend it? What would you do? Play around with the idea of what could be possible rather than focusing all of our energy on the what isn't, because I believe that it is from identifying the feelings around the potential of something that we can get a lot more creative about ways to get there. 

It isn't about, like, magical thinking, manifestation stuff, although if you're into that, brilliant. Super happy for you. But I do think that we get more creative when we can think about the possibilities of what could be, rather than stifling ourselves with all of the places that bring up a lot of fear, because a lot of money worries do come with a lot of fear. And I find fear is like a fire blanket towards dreams and creativity and potential ways to solve problems.

I just think that the more we are worrying about the money that we don't have, the less creative ways we're gonna find to make more money to make our lives, and hopefully other people's lives, a lot easier as well.

So this is your invitation this week to just think about some things that could be possible for you.

I hope that is useful. Do drop me a line and let me know. There are resources in the show notes here, and I also have a free Money Mindset workbook, which you can investigate some of this stuff on a deeper level.

Do let me know how you get on with these things, and I will speak to you next week.

Free Money Mindset Workbook