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What is a scarcity mentality and how does it affect us? This line of questioning should help us understand why we do the things we do in times of need. As we have said many times in our podcast history, “understanding why we do the things we do will help us break out of our self-made patterns and grow.”

One example of a scarcity mentality is the person who just lost their job and is worried about having the “necessities” they have grown accustomed to having. This person focuses so much on not having (scarcity), that they are not able to spend the brain power necessary to completely plan for the future. All they are focused on is the lack of money for bills and food that they often miss other important details. Very quickly, a credit card gets maxed out buying the “necessities” so that they don’t run out while looking for a new job. At some point, the credit is gone, the last of the money is gone, and there is nothing left to pay bills, or even get a tank of gas. We call this tunnel vision.

Tunnel vision occurs when you focus too much on the one problem and not enough on your surroundings. You look at a problem like not having enough money and don’t spend enough time planning for future needs. When we fall into the pattern of tunnel vision due to a scarcity mentality, we make it more difficult four ourselves to get out of the pattern.

Rather than wait until times of scarcity, make plans to be prepared for the future if the worst should happen. One of the best decisions I ever made was to talk with a financial advisor. Financial advisors help us budget and plan for those times where we don’t have an income. They help you have a pre set plan that helps you during those bad times. That way, you don’t end up panicking about “not having enough.” Instead, your plan kicks in and you start making important decisions to get yourself out of the bad times.

I think the real important take away from this episode is that if you make simple good choices and plans for the future, you can be prepared for dealing with issues that come up in a growth-oriented manner. If not, you risk falling into that old path of tunnel vision and scarcity mentality.

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Have you ever been questioned about your level of ambition? It can cause a myriad of feelings to run through your mind. You might feel angry, defensive, devalued, disappointed, mistreated, and underestimated. It can be painful to hear someone in a place of leadership question your ambition and suggest that you might not be providing value at your place of work.

Recently I went through this situation at work. I was pulled into one of the many quiet offices we have, and the manager bluntly stated to me, “You’ve been in this position for 6 years and haven’t been advanced. You must be doing something wrong that management wouldn’t see fit to advance your career here.” My mind immediately jumped through all the hoops mentioned above. I even considered walking out and quitting right then and there.

Why do we feel this way though? If you really like the job you have, should you be trying to advance into other roles? There is a fine line between liking your job and settling for something safe. If you truly love your job and that is all you ever wanted to do in life, do it. Keep developing in that job though. Don’t get to the point where you are doing the bare minimum to get by. If you find yourself doing the bare minimum and it gets to be a tough internal argument to go into work, you are most likely just settling.

In most professional settings a business looks for ambitious people. Someone who exhibits the right amount of ambition is someone who isn’t complacent in their role. They have a plan for where they want to go from where they are now. They see that you have a goal, plan things out, and have trackable milestones to create some accountability. These are all good signs that a person has a healthy work ethic to a company. They call this ambition. If they don’t see that in their employees, they can’t count on the employee always performing their best.

I had to take a deeper look at my role at the company I work for and analyze whether I was giving my best. I know that I am, but I haven’t shown leadership through my communications. It has never been part of who I am to call attention to the things I am doing at work. I show pride in what I do when it succeeds and work hard to right any failures. The one thing I lacked was the desire to move out of the safety of where I was and branch out to get noticed. If you are noticed, your flaws can be seen by people who can decide if you keep your job or not. It is an uncertain way to live because you know what you can expect from the safety of your comfort zone. However, there is very little room for growth as a person in this way of thinking.

The point is that we don’t want to mistake comfort with satisfied. Just because you are comfortable with your job, doesn’t mean that is where you should want to stay. Look for opportunities to become more successful. If not in a new position, make sure you are always expanding your skills and knowledge for where you are. That will keep you fresh, and show your coworkers/managers that you are always giving your best.

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Bare Minimum Mode. What is it? How does it take hold? Understanding this will help us all recognize when we need to make changes in our lives.

Rohit says that we can very easily fall into a mindset that causes us to settle for the bare minimum to get by. In our careers we might recognize it in our appearances, or in the urgency we present in our tasks. Maybe you started at a new job wearing the best clothes you own. You come in dressed to the “nines” and put on the ultimate professional air. You show your dedication to your job on your sleeves and do everything with 100% of your abilities. Somewhere down the line though, you have those moments where you just don’t want to do as much work. Maybe you feel dejected because your team isn’t pulling their own weight. Maybe, you are just having an off day, but you decide to put in less effort. No one around you notices. This gives you the feeling that since no one noticed, no one cares.

The problem with this mindset is that your effort goes down, you do just enough to get by and not get noticed, and you settle into an auto pilot mode where you just go through the motions. If anything comes along and upsets your auto pilot mode, you get frustrated. Its hard to see things in a positive light and causes stress. Your mindset in Bare Minimum Mode is to get by without any disturbance to your standard routine. The slightest deviation can ruin your day.

How do you break this terrible habit? If leaders want to avoid their teams falling into this trap they should make sure their teams efforts are recognized. If you have a person going above and beyond, give them credit. Recognition gives a person a reason to improve. It can motivate others to do better in their jobs as well. If they are seeing their peers get recognized for good work, they know that they can earn that recognition as well. It is also important to encourage those who don’t get as much recognition. Let them know that they are not forgotten. A forgotten person feels like they are not valued, so they often resort to putting in less effort.

Outside of leadership, we can affect ourselves by setting challenges for ourselves. In my career, I think of new ways I can train and enable the people I work with and make the training a fun experience. I let my management team know what I am planning to do so that it gets on their radar. Once I complete my new project, I send out my results to everyone that I think might benefit from the project. This process helps me keep my job fresh, exciting, and challenging. In times when recognition is low, I can keep motivated and drive my own form of recognition.

Bare Minimum Mode is so hard to break up because it is human nature to take the path of least resistance. If we aren’t challenging ourselves regularly and if we aren’t looking to grow consistently it becomes all too easy to fall into the rut of doing just enough to get by.

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If you have never had a Beignet, you are in for a treat. However, this episode is not about pastries. It does help drive a point home though. Why not take the time to truly soak in the special experiences in life?

Kyle brings up a movie called “The Chef” starring John Favreau. In this movie a line really made an impact with Kyle. “Slow down. That is your first Beignet.” The character was telling his son to slow down and savor the experience of his first high end pastry. This one line can be applied to every part of our lives.

How many “first time” or “special experiences” do we rush through and miss the real impact of the event. Not to mention the in between moments that we disregard as “normal” or “mundane.” Kids getting a new candy to try are a perfect example. They wolf it down greedily trying to get as much sugar into their mouths as possible like there will never be another piece of candy given to them. It is gone so quickly that the memory of the taste isn’t as strong or doesn’t exist at all. If the child would slow down and take their time to enjoy every sensation of the treat, they would build a more intense emotion and feeling that the enjoyment is enhanced.

I can remember many of my “first” experiences, but others are more difficult. I didn’t get to spend a lot of time with my father growing up because he was always busy with church stuff. When we did things together it was always a special thing for me. He took me to my first MLB baseball game. It was 94 degrees out, the grass on the field was so green, the sky was so blue, and the players looked larger than life in their uniforms standing on the field. The smell of the food was strong, the crowd was loud, and it was exciting to step out of the shaded area into the open to see all of this before me. We went to our seats in the bleachers and my Dad put me up on his shoulders so I could see better. I never wanted that moment to end. We need to live each new good experience like that; like we don’t want it to end.

There are also those in between moments that we mis out on. Technology and social media has hurt how we experience things in life. We are all guilty of it. Going out to meet up with friends or family, we sit down to eat, and we pick up our smart phones to sift through notifications and social posts while we are sitting with people right in front of us. Its almost like we have forgotten how to have meaningful conversations and experience the amazingness of each other. Our moments on this earth are limited and our time with each other is fleeting. Make the most of each moment you have been given. Put the social media down and focus on living your life and stop living through other people’s posts. Savor every moment because your “firsts” never come again.

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Everyone feels helpless at some point in their life. Maybe you face a situation that you feel is beyond your control. Maybe you see a friend going through a tough time and you want to help them out. However, you may not know how to help, and you don’t want to make things worse. The feeling of helplessness can build and even end up affecting your health.

Communication is key to breaking the feeling of helplessness. My sister went through a tough medical time not long ago where her life would be impacted forever. I didn’t know how to help her and saw her suffering daily. She really didn’t know how to share what she was going through either. We never were good at communicating with each other growing up. Finally, I decided to start the conversation. I asked her about how she was holding up. The discussion led to how I wanted to help but felt helpless. Our discussion went for hours as we broke down walls that we had been building ourselves. The walls were there to shield us from our own insecurities and others from the pain we were carrying. In the end, we both felt better, grew closer as brother and sister, and our communication strengthened. We understand each other on a deeper level and know where to push, resist, and wait.

There are personal times when each of us feels helpless against the issues we face. Financial problems crop up and you don’t know where to go for help or how to fix the problem. Rather than seek that help, many of us bury our heads in the sand and wait for the problem to “fix itself.” The problem with that approach is that it doesn’t always fix itself. In many cases, it just gets worse. Communication could fix the problem, but we feel too embarrassed to reach out for the help we know, deep down, would be offered if we just asked. We feel ashamed of our problems in many cases because we know we made bad decisions. We can’t possibly let our closest relations see that we are human and make mistakes. The fear of being seen as a flawed person who can’t face his problems alone is sometimes a very real and strong fear that we carry. It is not healthy to carry that fear. Those who love us will accept us, flaws and all. They will be there to love and support us if they truly love us. Don’t let helplessness hold you back and drag you down. Reach out for support when you don’t know where to go. Let go of problems you can’t control. Understand the difference between the two and you will have an easier time growing through the problem every time.