Do You Have a Poverty Mentality?

Are you suffering from a poverty mentality?

If so, it’s holding you back from living a whole and happy life. A poor mindset will stop you from reaching your full potential in your job and career.

When you’ve got a poverty mentality, your mindset is fixed on a solid belief that everything is hard to get, i.e., it’s challenging to make money, get ahead in a career, make friends, and so on. Everything in life is a struggle or an uphill battle.

But guess what? You can change your mindset. You are in control, and with know-how and practice, you can re-engineer your thinking.

With a mindset driven by fear, there can be no comfort or contentment in life, which is a bad way to live.

Life is not a rehearsal, so there isn’t a second to lose. It’s hard to be happy with a positive mindset when there is a lot of negative news and headlines about global events like wars, shootings and a pessimistic economic outlook. However, you can choose to switch off from news sites.

You want to reframe your poverty mindset, so you have thoughts of abundance and hope. Let’s look at the traits of a poverty mindset and how to get out of it. You will need to train yourself to think differently about life and what you really want from it.

Poverty Traits

Do you have some of these common characteristics of a poverty mentality?

• Feeling guilty as soon as you buy something
• Being constantly worried about money or thinking about it often
• Having a strong dislike of ‘rich’ people, yet wanting to be just like them
• Making decisions based on fear
• Thinking small rather than thinking big

With a poverty mentality, you set yourself up to fail. Your decision-making is poor, so the outcomes are limiting. For example, fear will instill a lack of confidence, and your goals will be inadequate if you even set them. We are all conditioned and learn our behavior from people close to us. We are very impressionable when we are young and believe what we know from our family, educators, and friends.

Over time, we form our opinions and seek input from more comprehensive sources, including the workplace, social and sporting activities, and other cultures when traveling abroad.

A poverty mentality is also commonly found in people who have experienced poverty in childhood. We know it is a barrier to enjoying happiness and financial security, but fear stops us from reaching out to learn new behavior.

Abundance Mindset

Being consciously aware that you must change your thoughts is the starting point, so well done! Now, you can take steps to turn your negative thoughts around so you can set far-reaching yet achievable goals, have confidence in your decision-making, and enjoy life.

You must give yourself time to form a new habit, which can take anywhere from 18 days to a few months. On average, you’ll need a couple of months of daily practice to make your new habit second nature to you.

When you start out, you’ll be consciously aware you’re thinking differently about money and success, and then, in time, the habit will be formed insofar as you’ll be unconsciously aware you’re feeling and acting in a new way.

An abundance mindset believes there’s plenty of everything for everyone and lots of time to get it. We are what we believe. Therefore, no one can say otherwise when we know we are full of energy, love, inspiration, and desire. Self-belief in our abilities to make money, invest wisely, and empower and support others overrides everything. This is where you need to get in your mindset to have an abundance mentality.

Learn from people who have the mindset you want. Mix in social circles with like-minded people. Read books and quotes, watch videos, and seek reaffirming input that keeps you on the right path. Remember, we don’t plan to fail; we fail to plan.

Avoid lapses

Once you have gotten your abundance mindset, ongoing challenges in life will pull you back to your old way of thinking.

Acknowledge yourself every time fear creeps in and attempts to sway your positive attitude. Stop negative thoughts immediately and reframe them with your abundance mindset.

Poverty Mindset At Work

Let’s examine how you can quash your poor mentality in your job, business, and career.

Many people believe that they have to work hard to achieve success. But there are other ways to succeed without working too hard.

The idea that we need to work hard for our success is deeply ingrained in many cultures. The media also reinforces this idea, often portraying successful people as having worked long hours and sacrificed much of their free time.

Overcome The Poverty Mindset At Work

To overcome your poor mindset, start believing that not everyone has to work hard to succeed. Second, apply this to yourself—think about your achievements despite facing challenges. Third, consider what you might do differently next time. Finally, make sure you’re doing something positive every day.

Be willing to take risks.

You don’t have to work hard to succeed; sometimes, you just have to take risks. In fact, taking risks is one of the keys to achieving success.

Learn from mistakes

It’s easy to think that mistakes are bad things, but they are opportunities to learn. If you make a mistake, ask yourself the following questions:

• What did you learn from it?
• Did you find out something new?
• Was it an opportunity to try something new?
• Or was it simply a reminder that you need to do better next time?

Don’t compare yourself to others.

There are so many different paths to success. While some people will tell you to strive to be like them, others will say that you shouldn’t compare yourself to anyone else. Instead, focus on what you can control.

Focus on the future

If you’re focused on the past, you’ll never move forward. You need to think about the future. What do you want to accomplish? How can you improve things?

Final Thoughts

In today’s world, poverty is not only an economic issue but also a psychological one. It affects people’s mindset and behavior. To overcome your poverty mentality, take every opportunity to learn new skills and develop new habits.

Set yourself up to succeed by taking risks, learning from mistakes, and thinking positively. There is a saying you get what you ask for—ask for what you want all the time.

Spend a few minutes daily asking yourself what you want in your life and career. Plus, focus on the future – what is to come, not what has happened – leave that behind you.