Summary: Which Neighborhood Do You Live In? Ever heard the childhood phrase "monkey see, monkey do"? It speaks to a common trait of human nature known as reflexivity. It means that we tend to adopt the behaviors, attitudes, and choices, of the people we surround ourselves with. It also applies to the books we read and the media we consume. This is why parents start to worry when their children start hanging out with a less than savory crowd. They know that the chances are that their children will start to mirror the actions of their friends. Fortunately, the converse of this rule is also true. The better the company we keep, the greater the words that we absorb, the better we tend to become. As each of us looks toward our individual future, chances are that we would like to move toward a life of abundance. This is why it's so important that we carefully assess the people and the ideas that we are bringing into our lives. 10, 20, or 30 years from now, these choices will have a definite impact on who we are. In the world, there are givers and there are takers. We also describe them as the haves and the have nots; the thrivers and the strivers. At it's most basic, there are those who contribute to society and those who take from society. Success coach Dan Sullivan describes the difference between these two groups as one that lives in an abundance neighborhood while the other lives in a scarcity spiral. He says that the scarcity spiral begins with envy. When we focus on the achievements or wealth of others and we get jealous or upset because someone else seems more successful, we get into a destructive mindset. We may feel that they took more than their fair share of happiness and that leaves less for us. That envy can lead to guilt and a sense of shame that haven't achieved the same level of success. These feelings can lead to anger and resentment. We may be tempted to believe that this perceived unfairness should be resolved through the redistribution of the other person's wealth. This is a good example of a zero-sum mentality in which one person's gain can only come at the expense of another. The scarcity mindset makes us miserable. Abundance Breeds More Abundance Now, take a deep breath and think about why no one would be angry about the air you just consumed. It's simple, there is still plenty of air for others to breathe and the breath itself will be recycled naturally. We don't stress about someone breathing too much air because there is abundance. This is something that a lot of people don't understand when it comes to other areas of life. They feel that if someone else is happy, that their own happiness has been diminished. This is why it's so important that when we catch ourselves drifting into the scarcity mindset, that we pull ourselves out of it and move toward the abundance neighborhood. The journey to this part of the map begins with gratitude. As we increasingly appreciate the value of everything and everyone that we already have in our lives, we naturally progress to the next stages of creativity and cooperation. This is where we feel freer to add to the world rather than take away. We feel free to invent, to collaborate, and to produce. Cooperation is what they should have named Capitalism. Karl Marx coined the name capitalism because he believed that producers were capitalizing on other people's needs and wants. In reality, they were simply cooperating with one another. When we cooperate and exchange, that creates an abundance that would be difficult to achieve all by ourselves. We learn that by doing what we do best and encouraging others to do what they do best, we all benefit. One of the single greatest decisions we can make is to choose to avoid scarcity and to embrace abundance in life. Learn more by visiting with a wealth architect today.
