Abundance is a concept often debated in spiritual and entrepreneurial circles.
Entrepreneurs commonly use the catch-phrase “thinking BIG,” but they really mean the same thing. What I know most about the abundance mindset is that it is the polar opposite of the scarcity mindset.
The concept seems easier to define it by what it is not, rather than what it is.
I find it challenging to define abundance because it’s one of those unique words that must be experienced to really be understood, not just explained.
Self-esteem visionary Nathanial Branden once told me, “People want experiences, not explanations.” I believe that explanations are filtered through the mind whereas experiences are filtered and felt by the heart, which suggests that the abundance mindset is a process, even a daily practice and not just a moment in time.
The most encouraging part of adopting an abundance mindset is how it can connect you to people with totally different set of beliefs and values. It instantly sustains inclusivity even with people who are dramatically different.
POP QUIZ: What do Mother Teresa and Donald Trump have most in common? The answer is their abundance mindset.
Donald Trump says: “If you’re going to think anyway, you might as well think big.”
Mother Teresa said: “The more we discover the magnitude and abundance of God’s gifts, the more we will find ourselves.” Again, the abundance mindset creates connections.
Bucky Fuller had this to say about the abundance mindset:
“The condition of planet earth is abundance. Our belief in either scarcity or abundance determines how our financial, legal, political and military systems are set up or even exist at all.
Scarcity and abundance are foundational and contextual ideas. They each give rise to a distinct system of thought and a number of rules, characteristics and measures which only make sense within their own system.”
My sense of what Bucky meant is that the abundance mindset is a choice. In other words, you choose to look through the lens of scarcity, or through the lens of abundance. There is no in-between.
“Do … or do not. There is no try.” ~ Yoda
There are so many differing opinions about abundance, I decided to conduct a worldwide survey to get your opinion about this highly debated concept.
My strategic alliance partner, Scott Martineau and I are hosting the Virtual Abundance Expo next week, so I figured this a great opportunity to host a survey and attract the best single sentence that clearly defines abundance.
What to do now: Please use the comment box to write your definition of abundance. The survey ends at 5pm PDT on Monday, July 27th, right before Jack Canfield’s keynote speech for the Virtual Abundance Expo.
All the definitions will be gathered and tallied the next day and five finalists will be chosen for the final vote.
If you are one of the five finalists, your definition of abundance will be personally evaluated by our Virtual Abundance Expo faculty.
The top vote-getter with the clearest and most concise definition of abundance will be personally interviewed by Scott and me as a honorary faculty member for Virtual Abundance Expo.
So what do you say … are you game?
If you are game, then take a peek at 9 of my favorite abundance quotes to get your heart and mind moving…
Kevin Kelly: “The only factor becoming scarce in a world of abundance is human attention”
Jane Austen: “Nothing amuses me more than the easy manner with which everybody settles the abundance of those who have a great deal less than themselves”
Sue Patton Thoele: “Abundance is, in large part, an attitude”
Heraclitus: “Abundance of knowledge does not teach men to be wise”
Franklin D. Roosevelt : “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little”
Peter Ustinov: “Unfortunately, the balance of nature decrees that a super-abundance of dreams is paid for by a growing potential for nightmares”
Wayne Dyer : “Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into”
Eileen Caddy: “Expect your every need to be met. Expect the answer to every problem, expect abundance on every level”
Epicurus: “Not what we have, but what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance”
Now it’s your turn … type in what you feel abundance means to you. Go ahead – the simple act of thinking about it will instantly improve your day.
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About Alex Mandossian
[…] was just challenged by Alex Mandossian, an incredibly gifted mind and fellow marketing pro I met about 5 years ago, to define what “abundance” truly means to […]