Do you ever feel that you’re running out of time to make your life’s dreams happen? Or do you feel like you started too late, that you’re getting older and should have started your business or your dream project when you were younger? Now it’s too late. Why bother at all? That’s a time-scarcity mentality.
The concept of a “scarcity mentality” and an “abundance mentality” were created by Steven R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
To explain the difference between these mindsets, let me tell you of an example from my acting school days. After graduation, one of my actor friends sent out 200 headshots and resumes to try to find a talent agent. He blanketed every agent he could find. And he got a call from someone who wanted to sign him. Some of our friends were upset by his success, exhibiting a scarcity mentality. Others were happy for him because it meant that blanket mailings can work and it could work for them too. This is an abundance mentality.
The scarcity group thought that he took the only slot available. The abundance group looked at it as proof that there is hope for all of us.
With time scarcity, you feel like you’ve run out of time, you screwed up your life choices and there is no time left. It’s too late, why start at all? With time abundance, you know you still have time, all the time you need.
As I get older, I feel time speeding up, as I’m sure many of you do, too. But don’t fall into the trap of thinking that all is lost, that you should have started years ago when you were younger. Sure it would have been great to be a 21-year-old successful entrepreneur. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t be successful in your 50s or 60s or beyond.
There is an old Chinese proverb that goes like this, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”
Age is in your favor. With age comes wisdom, experience, and the knowledge of what true beauty is all about. You’ve made mistakes. You’ve had successes. You know what you don’t like. You know what you’ve already tried. Now you’re in a place where you can bring all of your gifts, everything you’ve learned, and put them to use in your next phase of life.
The time is now.
Live each day full of life. Find something that you’re passionate about and go for it. Time is abundant.
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