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June 23, 2022

Are You Living With a Scarcity Mindset or Abundant Mindset?

Written by 

Josh Garland
Are You Living With a Scarcity Mindset or Abundant Mindset?

What kind of mindset do you have? Is it a scarcity mindset or an abundance mindset? Do you have limiting beliefs, or is your perspective open? Learn the difference between the two mindsets, the benefits of having an abundance mindset, and the practical steps you can take today to change your perspective!

In our previous blog, “Is a Formal College Education Necessary to Succeed?” I answered the question, “What is your view on formal college education today?” 


In that blog, one of my points was that our current educational system is behind the times. One of the reasons why I think that is because to be successful in life and business you need to be good at collaborating and sharing information with other people; but that is not how the school system works.


Years ago, my dad told me, “Good business is only good business if it’s good for all parties.” I think that’s so true. When thinking about personal, financial or professional relationships, we should be coming at it from the viewpoint that it should be good for all parties. If it’s only good for me, it’s not good business. If it’s only good for you, it’s not good business.

To me, it’s just as important to have a good deal as it is to create a good business relationship, a relationship that is valued by both parties. If I end up paying $500 more than I wanted for a boat or a car or something like that, I believe that I will end up getting better service and treated better along the way. To me, that’s just a way of being respectful. 


Now, I’m not talking about being stupid. We can still be prudent and negotiate well. I think that scripture and most wisdom backs up that we shouldn’t be careless and should instead be good stewards of what we have. But at the same time, it’s alright for there to be a little bit of meat left on the bone, so to speak, when we’re doing business with someone. 


You can get rich by being cheap. But at the end of the day, you’re still cheap. I don’t want to live my life being cheap. I don’t want to beat the guy down to the last dollar. I want to live my life with an abundant mindset, not a scarcity mindset. 


A scarcity mindset says there’s a finite amount of resources in the world today and you need to protect all that you can because there’s a limited amount. If someone else gets something, that means there’s less for you. This is destructive and creates unnecessary competition, founded on the idea that, if someone else wins or is successful in a situation, that means you lose.


In contrast, an abundant mindset leads to a much happier and more fulfilling life! With this point of view, you’re in the driver’s seat. It is believed that creating an abundant mindset is beneficial for many reasons. It allows you to:


  • Feel secure and confident in your life endeavors and create successful outcomes
  • Create memorable and meaningful life experiences
  • Take full advantage of and enjoy new opportunities that arise 
  • Exude happiness despite circumstances


In the book, “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” Stephen Covey defined the term abundance mindset as “a concept in which a person believes there are enough resources and successes to share with others.” How do you gain an abundant mindset today? There are a few things you can do to create this mindset.


You can recognize the power of your thoughts, take time to notice your thoughts and begin to make a conscious effort to shift your thoughts towards abundance. You can also practice gratitude, as it is one of the most widely recognized tools for creating abundance, with numerous studies on the power of gratitude on well-being. Carol Dweck, author of the book, “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success” offers another step towards developing an abundance mindset. When talking about building beyond a growth mindset, Dweck said, “In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.” 



If you want to move out of a scarcity mindset, then start taking action today with one of the steps listed above to develop an abundance mindset! 

The Global Economic Shift

By Jeff Huston • July 25, 2023
The Global Economic Shift

Will There Be A Banking Crisis?

By Jeff Huston • June 12, 2023
Fall of 2020, the Covid Pandemic was raging, the economy was shut down, inflation was 2%, interest rates were near zero, and the Federal Reserve was printing massive amounts of money. While the Central Bank printing presses were running full steam, I heard two economists make statements that seemed impossible to believe at the time, because the world was at a standstill. Chetan Ahya, Managing Director and Chief Asia Economist at Morgan Stanley said: “The driving forces of inflation are already aligned, and a regime shift is underway.” Paul Tutor Jones, Hedge Fund Manager said: “We are witnessing the great monetary inflation…an unprecedented expansion of every form of money unlike anything the developed world has ever seen.” As we now know, our current economic reality is quite different from what it was just 2 ½ years ago. Interest rates have risen significantly, inflation remains stubbornly high, and banks are tightening credit and hording deposits because they have massive unrealized losses in their bond portfolios. There are now legitimate concerns about the stability of the banking system. About the only thing that remains constant is the ridiculous childish gridlock that continues in Washington. I wish they would stop playing politics and start doing their job of governing. But I digress… I was recently piloting my plane from Dallas back to Minnesota. As I began my decent, I flew into the smoke that had migrated down from the Canadian wildfires. My visibility went to near zero. It reminded me of today’s investment environment and outlook. Visibility is currently quite low. Therefore, it is more important than ever before to have a sound, long-term strategy with a clear focus. Risk management needs to be a key priority. This is a good time for investors to do a fundamental review of how they are positioned, and determine what needs to change now to optimize investment results in coming years. Making sound investments has always been based on anticipating how the world might evolve. While no one has a crystal ball on making bullet proof long-term predictions, I believe many of today’s key trends and themes can be utilized to make smart investment decisions. So, while there are a lot of uncertainties in the short-term, I believe investors should remain almost fully invested with high allocations in real assets. This is your downside protection against inflation, a falling dollar, and an unstable financial system. The most important advice we can give you at this point is to set your priorities right. That means, first and foremost, having a very safe and secure place to store your wealth. This is relevant because we have been receiving increased questions concerning our current 6% rate. I recently had an investor ask me if I thought our rate should be higher since there are short term CD’s floating around offering rates that seem too good to be true. My response was that you must ask the question, “Why would a bank be willing to pay…say…5% for deposits whe n they are making loans at 7%?” That spread is not enough for their business model to work. So, why would they do that? The only answer I can think of is that they need more deposits to shore up their depleted capital. All this reminds me of Mark Twain’s quote when he said, “The return of my money is more important than the return on my money.” What to own, has really become one of the most critical questions in wealth and risk management. The recent banking crisis shows that investors simply can’t assume banks are safe anymore. There are great benefits and opportunities to be found when investing in cash flowing real assets. This doesn’t just offer more diversification, but it greatly enhances wealth protection as well. Additionally, we find that our clients use the monthly cash flow for all kinds of wonderful things, enhancing their lives and the lives of those they care about. If you’d like to speak with someone about securing your investments, we would love to connect with you! Gratefully, Jeff Huston and the 3D Money Team invest@3dmoney.com 320-905-3306

Chasing The Wind

By Jeff Huston • May 25, 2023
I’m mad at myself! I let myself get sucked into the endless news cycle again. I’ve never considered myself a news junky, but there have been times when I’ve been more “connected” than others. A few years ago, I made the decision to cancel all my news subscriptions except one. Since then, I have only been reading the Wall Street Journal. No nightly news, no magazines or other newspapers, no talk shows, no social media. I did that, because all the other news sources caused me to do what King Solomon referred to as “chasing of the wind” in the book of Ecclesiastes. It consumed my thinking and wasted way too much of my time. “Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes. The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again. The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles. Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea. Everything is w earisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.” Ecclesiastes 1:4-8 NLT Reread that last verse, the one in bold print. Isn’t that an amazing summary of the 24-hour news cycle? No matter how much we hear, we are not content! For the past several years, I’ve been true to my self-imposed limits and guardrails in this area. However, a couple months ago, I cracked the door open. I’d go on YouTube periodically to catch up on the latest happenings in the news cycle. As I did that, I got caught in their spiderweb. They kept me clicking for more and more content…wasting more and more of my time. Thankfully, I recognized the error of my ways and quickly put a hard stop to it. It can be such a trap for me! Maybe it is for you too? In the book titled “Your Attention Your Property,” the author addresses “thinking about your thinking.” He says that we can step back and not only see what our attention is focused on, but we can experience how we are fully conscious and present with the particular experience we are having. We can do this at any given time , we just need to make a habit of actually doing it. We must learn to focus our attention, so that we can gain the ability to think about things. For me, the endless news cycle causes an emotional reaction to physical things, to other people, and to other people’s thoughts. When I’m in “the cycle,” I’m not thinking clearly about my own thoughts. I’m 100% focused on someone else’s thinking. When that happens, I end up thinking negatively. However, when I take back control of my thinking, I’m able to align my ways with God’s ways. My thoughts become aligned with God’s thoughts. It’s a beautiful thing. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart because it determines the direction of your life.” So, how do we guard our hearts? There are multiple ways I guard my heart, but one of them comes down to always making my contribution bigger than my reward. I want to spend my life being a value creator, not a value extractor. It’s why I love capitalism. The way I see it, there are two kinds of people in the world. Those that embrace, promote, and believe in Capitalism and those that hate it! For me, Capitalism has been the growth process that has multiplied my uniqueness as a businessperson and as a God follower. The people that want to lead us toward socialism don’t know what they are talking about! Capitalism is about Value Creation. Socialism is about Value Extraction. In 1800, the French economist Jean-Baptiste Say coined the word “entrepreneur.” He said, “The entrepreneur shifts economic resources out of an area of lower and into an area of higher productivity and greater yield.” I love that. It perfectly summarizes our value proposition at 3D Money. Since 2010, we have been doing jus t that. Looking for opportunities to shift resources (people and assets) from a lower level of productivity to a higher and greater yield. Our investment focus on opportunities creating housing, jobs, and food, positions us for an ever-expanding future of value creation for our investors, our team members, and our customers. Once again, we want to thank you for your continued trust and confidence. Sincerely, Jeff Huston and the 3D Mo  ney Team invest@3dmoney.com 320-905-3306 P.S. About a year ago, we offered you a PDF copy of the book “Your Attention Your Property.” If you didn’t get one but would like a copy, please send a request to info@3dmoney.com We are happy to email you one (as a thank you gift from us).
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