Abundance vs Scarcity

It’s very tempting to keep what you know to yourself so others can’t “steal” it or copy it. I’m even seeing some advisers running ads claiming others are stealing their ideas—only to realise it’s something I first saw and used twenty years ago. Good marketing, but not exactly groundbreaking.

Photo credit Rob Commodari--Seeing the world from a place of abundance

I can tell some potential coaching clients get a bit nervous about working with an existing adviser (a competitor) because coaching means the coach has to know their business inside out. They worry I might take their ideas and use them in my own business. And honestly? They’re right—I do get inspired by my clients and I do apply what I learn to my own stuff.

But here’s the flip side: I’m also giving away a lot of my own ideas in the process.

With an abundance mentality, my theory is simple—we both walk away better off. We’ll each do things slightly differently, so there’s no real competition anyway.

With a scarcity mentality, you keep everything close to your chest so no one knows your ideas. The problem? You don’t grow unless you figure it all out on your own.

This mindset shows up everywhere in business. Do you spend a bit of money and accept you might not get every dollar back, or do you penny-pinch every little thing, save a few bucks, but waste hours (or weeks) of your time?

I’ve seen good advisers doing their own accounting coding and monthly wash-ups just to save on the accountant’s fee—only to spend hours they could have used seeing clients.

I’ve seen advisers spend a whole year’s worth of effort trying to cut a $100-a-month bill.

It’s not that efficiencies are bad or that you should never look for savings. But when you come at everything purely to spend less, your focus stays tiny.

Scarcity mentality wants a detailed contract covering every possible facet. Abundance works on trust and clarity. Sure, you can get burned more often with abundance, but if you’re focused on building everyone up instead of covering every conceivable risk, you end up way better off.

I see both types in the adviser world all the time. The abundance people get let down and disappointed more often, no question. But they also end up multiples better off than the ones who never took a chance because they were too busy focusing on the “what ifs” and purely the costs.

With an abundance mentality you’ll give away free advice that may never get reciprocated. But you’ll also pick up clients you never expected—because they heard from a guy who heard from a girl who loved one of your giveaways.

If you want to build a long-term, deeper, more fulfilling business, focus on abundance and growth—not just reducing costs and risks. Long term, I reckon you’ll be happier and do better.