eBusiness Weekly
Arthur Marara
Old Testament King Solomon once remarked; “Be careful how you think, your life is shaped by your thoughts.”(Proverbs 4:23 GNT). The thought is both deep and apposite. This means the direction of your life is shaped by the direction of thoughts. It is also the same King who bequeathed to us an immortal piece of advice, “As he thinks in his heart so is he”.
This inspired James Allen’s book, “As a Man thinks”.
William James the great American Psychologist once remarked; “The greatest discovery of our generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind. As you think, so shall you be.” (William James).
By changing your attitude, and your belief system, you will change your positioning in life.
Your mind-set is everything. How you think is everything. This has even proven by various researches.
Stanford psychologist, Carol Dweck, examined mindsets among young students.
She found that children who have a growth mindset that intelligence can be developed are better able to overcome academic challenges than those who have a fixed mindset that intelligence is predetermined.
Another study on middle-aged adults, completed by researchers at Yale and Miami, revealed that those with more positive beliefs around aging lived 7.5 years longer than those with less positive self-perceptions of aging. So basically, your mindset can prolong your life!
There is need to develop an abundance mind-set if you want you and your business to grow.
Many people are trapped in the scarcity mindset, and consequently, they are not able to experience any meaningful result. In this week’s article, I want to deal with a fundamental question which is how do you make the shift from a scarcity to an abundance mindset.
- Focus on what you have
Malcom B Forbes once remarked, a lot of people overestimate what the value of what they have, and undervalue the value of what they have.
There are so many things that God has endowed you with. You are alive, you are healthy. You have a supportive family, you have a great climate around, you have family.
We are all endowed with gifts somehow. A number of us we are not able to see all those blessings because, we are focusing on what we do not have. Count your blessings name them one by one.
- Surround yourself with like-minded people
You need people that have an abundance mindset. Who you surround yourself with is important. They determine how you think, eventually, and gradually how your life will turn out is dependent on the people that you surround yourself with.
There are people who are always positive, find them and start spending time with them. Mind-sets are contagious. If you surround yourself with scarcity-minded individuals you will end up experiencing scarcity. The opposite is also true. Surround yourself with people who challenge and stretch you.
3.) Create win-win situations
No one has to fail in order for you to succeed. If you think that someone’s success will cause your failure, you are living with a scarcity mindset believes that if one person wins, another loses. There are so many opportunities out there. In fact, there are enough opportunities for all of us to thrive. Once you understand this you do not get offended when someone succeeds.
Learn to create opportunities for others to win. Nature has a way of returning the goodness in us. It will always come back. The seeds that we sow. Try to look for ways in which you can create win-win situations for everyone.
4.) Practice gratitude
“If you look at what you have in life, you’ll always have more. If you look at what you don’t have in life, you’ll never have enough.” (Oprah Winfrey). Being grateful also impacts the overall experience of happiness, and the effects tend to be long-lasting.
This will help you in personal life and even in your business. Gratitude enables you to see what you have from a totally different perspective.
I want to challenge you to a gratitude challenge. Write down five things you are grateful for each day. You can incorporate this practice into your life, by creating a gratitude journal. Remember to include even the simplest things that you might take for granted, like the comfortable mattress you sleep on or breathing clean air.
5.) Learn to recognise possibilities
This starts with training your mind to recognise opportunities. Expose your mind to abundance, have conversations around abundance.
Condition your mind to recognise abundance and possibility. The human mind can only absorb so much. If the dominant belief is “I can’t do it” or “it’s impossible” then any other thoughts contradicting that will get thrown out. Condition your mind for an expanded awareness. You are what you think.
Arthur Marara is a corporate law attorney, keynote speaker, corporate and personal branding speaker commanding the stage with his delightful humour, raw energy, and wealth of life experiences. He is a financial wellness expert and is passionate about addressing the issues of wellness, strategy and personal and professional development. Arthur is the author of “Toys for Adults” a thought provoking book on entrepreneurship, and “No one is Coming” a book that seeks to equip leaders to take charge. Send your feedback to [email protected] or Visit his website www.arthurmarara.com or contact him on WhatsApp: +263780055152 or call +263772467255.
