Abundance Mentality

Abundance Mentality

by EESD Dorothy Boyd

Ever since Kimberly Roop became an NSD at age 27, after only 3 years as a director, she and Leah Nelson (who in her mid 20's built a $1 million unit in her first year), and current #1 Director Allison Lamar (another twentysomething, doing a million in her 1st 9 months as a director) have gotten everyone's attention! What are they doing?!?!!? Working hard? Yes, but that doesn't explain the critical difference, in my observation. They think differently. And they don't just think bigger, they think with unlimited abundance!

NSD Linda Toupin says, “The difference between a director making $4,000 a month and one earning $40,000 a month isn't so much in the way she works, but in the way she thinks!”

MK Corporate VP Rhonda Shasteen shared with the directors at Leadership Conference about the current diversity of Mary Kay consultants and their demographic trends: Most of our Sales Directors, NSDs, and our most productive and loyal consultants in sales are baby boomers. (currently ages 45 – 60)

Those in their 30s - early 40s (Generation X) are our best recruiters – primarily because they became disillusioned with corporate America and and came to MK looking for someone they could trust.

Today the fastest growing age groups in our company are those over 55 and the Velocity girls. Yes, one out of every four consultant agreements processed today is in the 18 - 24 age group! According to Rhonda, those in Generation Y ( currently ages 10 - 28) are looking for the valuable life: They want to be needed, define success in relationships, not material things – want a close relationship with family, a comfortable and inviting home, a healthy spiritual life, an enjoyable career – ABUNDANCE – they think and believe in ABUNDANCE.

And we Baby Boomers as a rule think with more of a scarcity mentality. Why? Here are my thoughts: Boomers were raised by parents who experienced the Great Depression during their formative years; therefore survival and security were HUGE motivators. Often they didn't have meat for dinner, and if there were 7 peas left, they saved them in the refrigerator!

While this “Greatest Generation” handed down many positive, strong values, one unfortunate legacy they gave us as a result of their hardship was a “SCARCITY Mentality”. Society, too, has reinforced this small thinking. We rarely heard a foreign language growing up, had only 3 TV channels and a couple of good radio stations. We didn't go beyond a 10 mile radius of home until adulthood. We were cautioned to play it safe and avoid risk. Dreaming was often discouraged as foolhardy.

The older boomers begat Generation X, the younger ones Gen Y, who cut their teeth in the opulent 80's and came of age with the vast resources of the world-wide web at their fingertips. Many have traveled abroad by adulthood, and they communicate daily with internet friends on the other side of the globe. How does their abundance mentality contrast with the lifestyle mindset of their parents and grandparents?

SCARCITY MENTALITY	ABUNDANCE MENTALITY
Focus is on LACK	The sky is the limit—focus is on possibilities
Thinks Small	Thinks Big
Argues for her limitations—owns them	Accepts no limitations—outgrows them
Holds onto things tightly—hoards	Holds all things loosely
Resists change	Embraces change
Ceiling on her thinking, therefore a ceiling on her income	Has removed the girdle from her brain, therefore no ceiling on her income
Is risk-averse	Takes calculated risks
Gives reluctantly	Gives generously
Status Quo is good enough	Excellence is her standard
“What does the Average Person Do?”	Doesn't do Mediocrity well—average is her enemy
Resources are limited—not enough time, not enough money, not enough customers to go around, not enough space, not enough help, not enough recruits!	Is resourceful. Finds what is needed. There is plenty to go around for all… and then some!
Orders small, so she sells small	Orders big, so she sells big. Under- stands you must spend $ to make $
Believes she could have been great if she had gotten in on the ground floor	Believes the best consultant has not been recruited and the greatest director has yet to debut
Fears over-committing her schedule, so only books what she wants to hold. Gets frustrated with postponements	Is relieved by postponements because she intentionally over-booked.

Many times when Mary Kay was alive, she would remind us of the Parable of the Talents from the Bible: A rich ruler gave one of his servants one talent, another servant five talents, and yet another ten talents, asking each to do business with the money while he was gone. When he returned, the one with ten had added ten more through investments, and the ruler was thrilled. “Well done, good and faithful servant, I could trust you with that, so here is more. You're promoted!” The one with 5 added five more as well, and he, too, was promoted. Then the ruler visited the man with one talent, to find that he had just buried his talent, because he was so scared of losing it. Instead of praise, the ruler took that man's one talent and gave it to the man who had invested ten and earned ten more. The moral: we are to take what God gives us, invest and multiply it in faith, so that we have more to give back to Him. There is a vast difference between “Playing to win”, and “Playing not to lose”. I do not want to pass along the habit of scarcity thinking and its consequences to my children, do you?

To break the cycle, we must learn to expand our vision – to see how things look from His perspective. The next time you fly, sit in the window seat. As the plane takes off, watch the world expand exponentially below. That never fails to amaze and remind me how Big the possibilities are, and how very short-sighted my thinking can get. How often do we go to the ocean with a teaspoon? Here's the long-range consequence of how we choose to discipline our thoughts:

We choose our thoughts.

Our thoughts determine our actions.

Our actions determine our habits.

Our habits form our character.

And our character determines our destiny.

Take a lesson from our successful younger sisters in the business. Expand your vision for yourself and others. Pray for resources, while you work as if you are the greatest MK beauty consultant who is yet to be noticed. Dream big, think big, and act big. From now on, RESOLVE that you are going to TAKE control of your thoughts and thus, chart your course for an abundant outcome! The choice is yours. Think BIG for an abundant change.