She's On The Money - Scarcity Mindset & Investing

Episode Date: January 31, 2023

Have you ever found yourself worried that if someone gets pay rise, a promotion, or even some happiness in life it means you'll miss out? If so, you may have a scarcity mindset. Join Victoria and Bec as they look at the difference between scarcity and abundance mindsets, what you can do to shift from a negative to a positive outlook, how this effects your attitude towards investing and so much more! Acknowledgement of Country By Natarsha Bamblett aka Queen Acknowledgements. The advice shared on She's On The Money is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's On The Money exists purely for educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. If you do choose to buy a financial product, read the PDS, TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards your needs.  Victoria Devine and She's On The Money are authorised representatives of Money Sherpa PTY LTD ABN - 321649 27708,  AFSL - 451289.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hello, my name is Natasha Nabanunga-Bamblett. I'm a proud Yorta Yorta, Kernai, Wolperi and Awadjeri woman. And before we get started on She's on the Money podcast, I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land of which this podcast is recorded on Awadjeri country, acknowledging the elders, the ancestors and the next generation coming through. As this podcast is about connecting, empowering, knowledge sharing and the storytelling of you to make a difference for today and lasting impact for tomorrow. Let's get into it. She's on the money.

She's on the money. Hello, and welcome to She's on the Money, the podcast for millennials who want financial freedom. My name is Bec Syed, and with me is Victoria Devine. Hello. V, we have a very interesting one today, scarcity mindset and investing. Oh, it's a spicy topic. Pray tell. Pray tell.

Oh, that sentence gives me the itch. Does it give you the heebs? It gives me the heebie-jeebies. I'll take it out of rotation. Pray tell. Well, scarcity mindset is a spicy one today. And it's funny because I asked our producer, Annalisa, I was like, hey, can you just get some, you know, more fun stats and facts and stuff about this before we record? And she's like, Victoria, I've Googled this. Like, there's not a link here.

And I was like, babe, there's a massive link here. Scarcity mindset is often the reason people don't invest and we need to talk about it. So hopefully this is maybe a good introduction to why scarcity mindset might be holding you back a little bit. But Bec, have you ever found yourself in a position where you're like worried that if someone gets something you want, then you might not have it too? Yeah. Like a pay rise or like a promotion or like maybe even just like something random? It is hard to admit, but I feel like if someone in my circle or someone around me has the opportunity to get something or just get something that I kind of want, I feel like what are the chances of us both receiving that? Do you know what I mean? Yeah. And I'm not surprised to hear that

because I know a little bit about your money story and I feel like you lean a little bit more towards scarcity rather than abundance. Whereas abundance might be like, oh my God, if my friend can achieve that and smash that out of the park, there's absolutely, I can do that. She's paved the way. What a great time. Like their candle can light mine and we can both shine brighter is more abundance mindset. Whereas scarcity is kind of like, oh, if they're doing it, maybe I can't do it. And I think that that can actually get in the way. And I think a lot of people in our community have this mindset. And a couple of weeks ago, we actually talked about what a lot of money looked like. And I remember how you said, I think it was like 30 bucks. Whereas I said, if you have like

$5 or even one cent, let's be honest nowadays, but if you have $5, that's actually enough to get started investing these days. And today we are going to be diving more into that and really focusing on scarcity and abundance mindset and how that impacts your investment journey. And I think it's really, really important. And I promise like we'll get to the point, but we're going to be looking at the differences between scarcity and abundance mindsets. And then after the break, I'm going to teach you how to shift from the negative to the positive, and then how this actually affects your attitude towards investing, because I promise it does. Often with scarcity mindset, you just, you don't want to put your money out there. Like we've got, it might run

out. Like what if I need that money later? Whereas a more abundant mindset, just TLD, or if you don't want to listen to the whole, this is basically a summary, but abundance mindset's more about like, oh, if I put my money out there, more will come and I can create more. And I think there's definitely negative connotations to scarcity mindset that mean that we actually limit ourselves and we really shouldn't be doing that. Right. Okay.

It's actually very comforting to know that it is something that can be changed. 100% it can be changed, but to change something, you have to be able to identify it and come to terms with what the reality of the circumstances are to then move forward. But if we can't do that, often we just stay stagnant and we don't change at all. Yep. So I guess we'll start with going into the nitty gritty details. What is scarcity mindset? So scarcity mindset is basically the belief that life is like a limited pie. So there's like only so much of it to go around and with only so much money and so much success and good fortunes that if you perceive somebody has a big piece of the pie, you might think that it actually leaves less for you. And this is what really

limits what you think is possible in your life. Okay. Okay. I think I'm getting a picture now and absolutely could not relate anymore. You know, like Banjo's, the bakery and how they do that little like blueberry tart pie thing. That's what I thought of. Okay. I thought they're unlimited. They make new ones every single day. Oh, they're unlimited. They're not going to run out. You're going to get a blueberry pie tomorrow. Can you break this down a little bit more into specifics for us. So basically from my perspective, it is really important to understand that scarcity mindset is basically pessimistic or negative thinking. I've written a list back and basically a person with a scarcity mindset frames things in, you know, the following types of ways. So the first

thing I've written down is they consider the limitations of a situation by focusing on the negatives. Second, we've got they lead with more of a victim mentality and blame things that are outside their control, which adds to stress, worry, and inaction. They spend their mental energy on what's lacking in life or not working instead of the positive. They might refuse to collaborate or share with other people. They often, and this is a more negative list, but I think it's important to read it out. And I know I said before, Bec, I think you lean more towards this. I don't think that you're super negative, but I do see aspects of scarcity mindset in the way that you approach money. And that's why I've pointed it out because I don't want people to

think, oh, this big negative list is all me. That's awful. I'm the worst. It's not. You could have a lot of scarcity mindset, or you could have like a little teeny tiny bit of it that might be that one thing that's holding you back. So it's not a good or a bad thing. It's just something that we can identify about ourselves to put ourselves in a better position. 10 out of 10, can recommend. The next one is they think small and they often avoid risk. They often find it hard to trust others and they default straight to suspicion. They act as a taker and always expect more from others and they establish their sense of self-worth by comparing themselves to others which we don't like doing in the she's on the money community we're all on different journeys

and we don't compare our circumstances to that of others do we bet no that's exactly right there's always someone out there richer and poorer yeah but like also that dada von t's quote i don't know if you know where i'm going with this but like you could be the ripest juiciest peach in the entire world but there are going to be people that just don't like eating peaches and i think That's very powerful. It's a good quote, right? It's a very good quote. It's like, rap is the juiciest.

I'm like, yeah, that quote is good. But it's true. Like, you could be the best of the best of everything. And people are like, yeah, I just don't like peaches, so thanks, though. And you're like, but it's the best peach. Yeah. Like, have you seen this? It is literally perfect.

And they go, yeah, still don't like peaches. Thanks, though, babe. Yeah. Can't relate. Can't relate. There is literally nothing better than a good peach in summer. But moving on. I can relate to being the ripest and juiciest and most perfect.

Oh, good. But I can't relate to not liking peaches. No, neither. Now, V, why do people develop this mindset? And how can it control us and impact us long term? That's a very good question. One I asked you to ask me. So that makes sense that it's come up at about now.

But scarcity mindset or scarcity mentality isn't actually a personality trait. It's a learned behavior. it's a learned outcome from the way that you grew up. Scarcity mindset isn't something that you do on purpose. Like people just don't do it on purpose. And I've spoken about this before on the podcast, and it's often around identifying it in other people and maybe not actually viewing it with the kindness that you need to. So when it comes to people's money stories, and the example that I'll go back to is brunch, right? So Beck, let's say you go out for brunch with a girlfriend and you just go, oh my God, I'm going out for brunch with this friend. I love it. But far out,

she's a bit of a sting. Whenever we go to brunch, she literally eats before we go. And she's a doctor now. She can afford it. Like that pisses me off because she's a doctor. She can afford brunch. And every time we go, I eat in front of her. She just orders a coffee. Sometimes she gets a croissant, but like she never gets the full, you know, big Sunday breakfast. And you're looking at that from your perspective and maybe not considering her money story. Yeah, she might be a doctor that has a really good income now and you're right. She absolutely could probably afford brunch if it was in line with her values. But what you're not considering is maybe she grew up and money was super, super scarce. Like talking about grocery items gave her anxiety as a kid

because she always wanted the roll-ups, but mom and dad always said, no, can't afford it. We are absolutely not getting those. It's not an option. So money has always been something that makes her really anxious. So going out to brunch, she can only justify getting a coffee because it's actually part of her money story that she's always been told, no, we don't do that. No, we don't eat out. No, we don't do this. And your friend loves you so much that she wants to go out for coffee with you. She really wants to go out for brunch. She accepted your invitation with her whole heart because she was so excited to see you. But then on the flip side, you're judging the way she spends her money because you have no idea about her money story because it's none of your flipping

business. But that scarcity mindset in that circumstance is absolutely fine because, you know, she's living within her values. And to be honest, kudos to her for being able to say no in that circumstance, because I know when I was at uni and didn't have heaps of cash and someone invited me out for brunch, I'd be like, oh yeah, I'll get something too, even if I didn't want to spend the money. So like that is quite a strong willed thing to do, mad respect. But that scarcity mindset might limit her in a number of other areas of her life. So for example, we just, you know, this is very stereotypical, but I think it drives home the point. She's a doctor now. We're assuming she's making good money, but she might save every single dollar that she has. She might not have

bought a home yet, even if it's something that she's been really working towards and really wants to do. And that's her dream because parting with that money gives her mad anxiety. She just can't do it. Maybe she really wants to invest for her future because she wants to be a single lady for life, got no interest in a partner, but her income isn't enough to create the life she wants. So she needs to invest, but she just can't because she doesn't want to put her money into an investment account because for her, that means that she feels like she loses a bit of sense of control. Compare that to somebody who grew up in a situation where money wasn't scarce. It wasn't something that, you know, triggered anxiety. It was kind of flippant, right? Like mom and dad gave

you some money or your guardians made sure that you always cared for money wasn't ever an issue. And you're both at school, you're both learning the same stuff. You're both, you know, out for brunch and you might both be talking about she's on the money and you might both say, yeah, I really want to invest. But if you never grew up with a scarcity mindset, you are far more likely to be like, yeah, fire out. Why haven't I done that? I might just chuck 50 bucks in shares and actually just start my journey today. What am I waiting for? This is so good. Whereas the person who has the scarcity mindset is more likely to um and ah about that. They might get a bit of what you've been calling it analysis paralysis, looking at every single platform to make sure that they're

in a thousand percent control because they're just not sure what step to take next. And then they just don't want to do it yet because 50 bucks is actually a lot of money. And what if I need that soon? And what if I actually invest that and it doesn't go so well? And I'm really anxious because scarcity mindset is ruling my life and that negative money story growing up is now impacting the way that I'm interacting with money today and it's actually going to limit the outcomes we can create. And that's often why we talk about cycles of debt and cycles of poverty continuing and replicating themselves because even if we give people education, sometimes they don't want to take that next step. Does that make sense? Yeah, that makes so much sense. And I'm starting

to realize that I am more of a scarcity mindset kind of person. And it's not bad. It's good to know where you stand because it's something that we can work through to get to the outcome. We know that not everybody starts at the exact same start line. If you have a bit of a scarcity mindset, you might be even further behind the start line. And just to get to the start line is a hustle in itself. And I think that so many people think that the answer is just financial literacy. and here's another podcast on investing and here's how to do it. And you know what? I wrote this book of the A, B, C, D and E, F step for you to actually invest. Like I have actually given you guys step-by-step instructions on how to invest. Here's how to review a platform. Here's how to

integrate it into your budget. Here's how it looks over time. This is what compound interest does. You actually have that knowledge, but maybe that next step that you're not taking is due a scarcity mindset. And if we don't address that, you're not going to take that step because that step makes you feel sick. That step gives you anxiety. And the second we have anxiety about something, warning lights go off and we go, this must not be the right thing to do. I know everyone's saying it's good, but I feel disgusting about this. I feel anxious. I feel really unsure. Maybe I shouldn't be doing this. You're right. Maybe I'll just put it to the side and look at it next year. You look at it next year, you're anxious again. But we're not addressing the

underlying idea of where this mindset or where this approach has come from right and I think that to do that is really important yeah absolutely this hypothetical story about my doctor friend really has me feeling I think that I'm attached to this person I don't know who this person is what should we name her I don't know Emily is a good name let's call her no okay we call her Emily we'll call her Emily no Emily I'm Emily sounds like a doctor Emily sounds like a doctor it's a very doctor-ish name. You reckon? I want Emily to learn how to be more of an abundance mindset sort of person. So tell me what is abundance mindset? I'm guessing this is like optimistic thinking. Yeah, absolutely. It is. And I don't want to say being more positive because

that sucks. Like I hate when people are like, just be more positive about it. Yeah, like I'm actually, I'm going to hit you because that's not just an option. But people who look at the world from an abundance mindset know that there are more than enough opportunities to go around for everybody out there and that one person's success does not come at the detriment of somebody else's. And often you see this at school where, you know, young kids, like I remember because I had a bit of a scarcity mindset and I still do and I still work towards being more abundance mindset and that's why I talk about it so often because I need to convince myself regularly that this is where I want to be, not where I actually am. But I remember being like, oh, my friend's got an A on

that assignment and I got a B. Yeah, I'm never going to get there. Like, you know, she's got all of this except it had nothing to do with that. I was comparing myself to somebody else for what outcome? To just feel shit about myself? Yeah, great idea, Victoria. That's really good. But essentially, instead of hurrying through their decisions, they make really deliberate, careful choices that are aligned with their values and the life that they want to create. And if there's enough for everybody, then there's no need to compare. There's no need to compete because your success, not at the detriment of mine and vice versa. It's kind of like this quote that I am obsessed with, a rising tide lifts all ships. And I think that she's on the money with a rising

tide, all the ships, that's you guys. Like the more we can create, the more content that is out there, the more our tide rises, the more you guys rise. And it's not to the detriment of somebody else. Yeah, there might be a new little boat that's just come to the marina and they've never actually been on the ocean before. Like they're not on the tide. They don't know what they're up to, but that's okay. You can come along. We've got all this content that you can consume and get up to speed with everybody else, but we're rising and we're doing it together. And I think that that's the most important thing there. Like you do not have to push someone down for you to rise up. And I think that that's where, you know, when I did that recap of like things that are in and out

for 2023 and I said girl boss culture like that to me was out because that often aligns to I do well and everybody else doesn't do well and I will step on people to get where I need to go and that makes me sick we don't do that no but you can literally get where you want to go without snatching a piece of pie from somebody else wow that's actually very good to know yeah it's a fantastic analogy as well rising with the tides I like it for everyone that's really cute I really like that. So V, what are some personality traits that are associated with abundance mindset? Yeah. So someone with an abundance mindset, firstly, I've written down a list again, so strap yourselves in. So firstly, they consider the opportunities in a situation by focusing on

the areas of growth and improvement. They lead with control by taking responsibility, which inspires them to act with confidence and clarity. They spend their mental energy on new possibilities by being flexible and adaptable to their circumstances so they can see opportunities where some people don't see any. They think about the challenges and growth ahead and that actually makes them feel really empowered and engaged. Their positive attitude inspires and energizes others to perform well. They collaborate well with others by sharing knowledge and success, which is kind of like the rising tide lifts all ships. It's kind of like, do you remember at school when people would be like, oh, can I see your notes? Like literally. I was that kid. Yeah.

But like that's abundance mindset. If that person says, yeah, no worries. Cause from my perspective and I was that person that I would literally, and at uni, I actually made money from doing this. I used to sell copies of my notes that I took in lectures because lots of people wouldn't go. And I was a super freak and I would go to every single lecture and I would actually get mad anxiety if I didn't go. So I took these beautiful handwritten notes. And after the lecture, I would go to the library and scanning was free. Printing wasn't, but scanning was free and I'd scan it and put it in my emails and people would pay me like 10 bucks per sheet of notes because they didn't go. Yeah, right. But I was under the assumption, and this is maybe negative, I don't know,

who knows where we're going with this, but I was like, I can give you my notes. I can literally hand it to you on a silver platter, but if you don't read them and you don't put the work and the time and the energy and the effort in that I have, you're definitely not going to be successful even if you've paid for this copy of notes. Right. So you didn't feel threatened that if they have the knowledge you have, you will be. I will give you absolutely everything you need to be successful.

I love that. But at the end of the day, that success is up to you and whether you're going to put the energy in. Because, like, if I hand you these beautiful notes that I wrote, which, by the way, because I knew I was selling them, I, like, fully ruled the page with, like, the red line. You know what I'm talking about? Stunning.

Also would highlight things and I'd scan it in colour because obviously. You're running a business now. Yeah, exactly. I'm a business lady have been from the beginning, but I was like really like, well, what's the use in, you know, hiding my notes and being like, oh my God, no, if you didn't take notes in that lecture, like baby already didn't go to the lecture, you're already behind. You're already going to have to do the work. And if you just think that having the notes and paying for them is going to put you ahead, it's not. Yeah. It was already there, ready and available for them.

Yeah. Like go for it. But anyway, so I think that that's where my abundance mindset started. I feel like I mix between the two, like some things I'm a bit scarcity mindset about, some things I'm a bit abundance mindset about. So it's not one silo or the other. And I think that's important to point out. So you're not just an abundant person or you're not just a scarcity person. You could be abundant in every other aspect of your life. Like I was when it came to notes, but when it came to money, I was really scarce. Does that make sense? It could be a relationship as well. Like you could have abundance in every other aspect of your life, but have some type of relationship trauma. Therefore, you've got a scarcity mindset when it comes to creating

personal relationships. So it's not just money. It's not just one aspect of your life. It can kind of cut and paste different areas around. Does that make sense? Yeah, that does make sense. So the last thing before you ask another question, I do apologize, is people with an abundant mindset, they often think big and like to embrace risk, which I think is important because risk is a really big part of investing. Not only do you have to understand risk, but you have to be willing to take some level of risk to get some level of return. And obviously there's this risk return trade-off. The more risk you take, the more likely return you could anticipate. And that's why if you've got like a term deposit, there's less risk involved. And that's why the percentage rate that

you're going to get back is less. Whereas if you invest in Australian shares, that's a bit more risky and then international shares that's a bit more risky again because the more risk you take the more likely return you get but someone who has abundance mindset fully comprehends that whereas somebody who has more of a scarcity mindset sees that risk return trade-off and goes oh heck no any level of risk is giving me anxiety any level of risk is unacceptable and that's often because they don't fully comprehend what that risk means they go oh I could lose all my money it's like when you talk to people about the share market and it's so interesting because obviously I worked as a financial advisor for years and I would talk

to people and be like yeah like I work with my clients and you know create share portfolios and I manage their money and they're like what you just invest it what if you lost all your clients money and I'm like oh well you know the way I invest is actually for the long term and if you look at the share market over a 30-year period of time like losing money is actually you know that hasn't happened over that frame of time and you know the clients I work with you know understand that we don't actually invest for a short period of time and we understand the economics of the market. And if the market goes down, like I have educated my clients in a way where they know if the market's down, shares are on sale. Like maybe we could pick up some more.

It's not time to sell. Whereas people who have more of a scarcity mindset might convince themselves to invest and go, oh, this is great. No worries. Like I've taken the next step. I'm so proud of myself. And then the market shits itself back and they shit themselves and go, oh my God, my share portfolio is down. Oh, I better sell it all because I don't want to be left with nothing. And what they don't realize is, you know, they might've gone and bought 10 shares and those 10 shares might've been worth a dollar each at the time of purchase. So it was worth $10 in total. Their share portfolio might now be valued at $5, but they still have those 10 shares. And if they rode the rollercoaster and waited and didn't buy into this mentality of fear

and anxiety that would ride the roller coaster back up. Those 10 shares might be worth $10 again and then it might be worth $15 and 30 years from now, it's probably worth $20 or $30. However, if you sold your 10 shares for $5 when the market's down and you wait for the market to re-recover, you then have to spend double what you got your shares out for to buy back 10 shares at $10 again. And it puts you in a position where you're actually shooting yourself in the foot. and we saw it a lot over the last two years because obviously COVID has thrown us in an absolute spin when it comes to the market in general. We saw a lot of people posting on community or message me, but over the last two or three years while COVID has been happening,

two micro-investing platforms that are really popular in our community are Raise and Spaceship and people would get on them with not enough education about the market because they were easily accessible and then the market would drop and they'd be like, oh, my spaceship's doing so badly. So I just sold it all out and I'm out. It's so silly. Investing is not worth it. I can't believe that these people talk positively about it. I lost 30 bucks. And you would ask a follow-up question and be like, oh, how long were you invested for? Oh, six months. And you'd be like, yeah, you're meant to invest over the long period. You're meant to invest in things that you understand. And I think one of the things that is really important when it comes to investing is one,

understand the long-term scarcity mindset, understanding whether that's going to shoot you in the foot when something does happen, but also understanding what you're investing in. And often if you're choosing just a micro-investing platform, you just accept the terms and conditions that they have and the portfolio that they've put together without comprehending it. Whereas often I find that people who go to different platforms, like they might go to Sharesies and they've picked a specific ETF because it aligns with their values and they've picked a few direct shares that align with their values, they're less likely to sell out of that because they feel really committed to that cause whether the market is up or down whereas if you don't fully comprehend

what is going on in a portfolio and just download it because you saw somebody else was using it that's where you're more likely to find yourself in a bit of a pickle or feeling like you just want to get out because you feel like you've lost your money does that make sense yes absolutely makes sense scare the cats hey that's really really bad let's cut that out move on no keep it oh no okay it's quite clear that i need to uh absorb all of this no you need a break because that was a terrible joke i need to go have a nap yeah have a nap have a kick cat is that there that's not even us have a break i am so happy that you made a bad joke right after my bad joke that was a good joke i don't know what you're talking about no that's true

don't find me all right let's take a break we'll be back soon Mmm, this is delicious. Oh, my God, V. I'm so glad we literally had a break and had a Kit Kat. We did. I treat you right. You're so good to me. I should have known the tagline because the tagline,

it's literally on the packet. What did I say? Have a nap, have a Kit Kat. It's close enough. It's actually better. I don't want to have a break. I want to have a nap. A nap, exactly right.

But who's benefiting from a break? No one. Have a nap. Go straight to the nap. A break reminds me of those 15-minute breaks I got when I was in retail and I wasn't ever sure what to do with them because it's not long enough to pop out and get lunch because by the time you got back, your break was over.

But it also was too long to just like stand out the back and twiddle your thumbs, you know. Absolutely. So like when you say break, I'm like, hmm, I don't want a break. The worst 15 minutes. And unpaid too. Of course. Like you're just going to make me stand out the back for 15 minutes.

can't I add my 15 minutes to my half an hour lunch break and then have a good day? No, they never let me do that. Anyway, moving on. It's very clever though. Now being in the break, I was thinking about how I'd like to adopt an abundance mindset. It's good to know that it is possible. Absolutely, it's possible. We can do anything we set our minds to, Bec. Oh my God, that's amazing. Well, let's have a think about it just in the investment world. How can we change our scarcity mindset to more of an abundance mindset? I think that's actually a really important delineation because, as I said before, scarcity mindset could actually exist in any facet of your life. It could be your entire life. It could just be a certain area. But when it comes to investment mindset, I think that's really, really important to talk about because it limits what we can create in the future and the financial freedom that you actually deserve.

like if you're not creating financial freedom or working towards it and you really want to be you're going to carry a lot of guilt later down the road when you're like oh my god I wish I was doing this earlier or you know I speak to a lot of people in their 60s who are about to retire because they've just discovered our podcast they're like I wish I'd known this when I was younger I wish I'd pulled my finger out or I wish I'd put more in my super and I just feel like that's not a position I want anyone in our community to be in and as much as I say look you are where you are life is a journey. And I know that if I had this education when I was 21 and got into personal debt, I wouldn't have listened to it. I would have been like, that's cool. Bye. I'm living my

best life. Like my mindset was so different, but if you're open to change and you want to create change, it is entirely possible. You've just got to have the information at the right period of time to facilitate that. And sometimes just having the information isn't enough. You've actually got to want to change. So first I want to talk about, I guess, how to snap out of that scarcity mindset and the psychology of what's called reframing. So it's taking one situation and changing that view from a negative to a positive. And I think that that can actually be really, really helpful. So instead of saying something like, oh my gosh, like I can't believe I have to get up in the morning and go to work. That's the worst. You might change it to, oh,

in the morning I get to go to work. It doesn't always have to be the super sickly sweet amount of positivity. Like that's actually, from my perspective, unobtainable. I'm not always super sickly sweet and I don't actually want that in my life because this would be weird. Let's be honest, if I was super positive all the time and I said, instead of I have to go to work in the morning, I was like, oh my gosh, I love going to work. I'm not going to believe that. No, no one would. reframing it to a take of gratitude to well I get to go to work I mean I'm not super super pumped but I get to do that and that's a privilege in itself I think reframes it to a positive mindset that's not that super sickly sweet like do you know what I mean because I feel like some people

online are like reframe it to the positive and you're like no I'm not gonna do that it's almost like toxic positivity would you agree I mean literally it is toxic positivity but the next thing I would do is really focus on what you do have. So scarcity often scares people from making career changes or taking risks because they think there aren't enough opportunities. Like, bet got a new job, therefore I won't get one because like there's only so many that go around. It's now time to think about the positives that you do have to let you move forward. The next thing I'm going to say, controversial, but audit the people around you and surround yourself with positive people. The people around you will really influence you. That quote of you

are the sum of the five closest people to you, I genuinely believe. And spending time with positive minded people will often have you soon thinking in that same way. This one's a bit sappy and I know we said no toxic positivity, but practice gratitude. You don't have to be overly sickly sweet about gratitude, which I feel like every influencer and their dog is harping on about, especially because it's new you, new me, like let's write in our gratitude journals. I get it. And I'm not making fun of that. I mean, I am making fun of that, but like, I'm not making fun of that if it works for you, but I also know that it wouldn't work for me. But gratitude has been shown to positively improve mental health and wellbeing. So if you want to create a gratitude

journal or just have a little piece of paper beside your bed, I bought a gratitude journal actually at Kiki K and instead of it being like heaps of pages of empty paper it's like five little dot points each day and it starts the sentence for you which I find really helpful because I'm not that good at journaling without prompts yeah so that was really helpful and if you create a journal and write down five things that you're grateful for every day it can reframe your life literally the other thing I want to say this is like share them with your partner share them with a friend, call your mom, call somebody that you care about and share them and create that accountability. Because Beck, if you and I live together, which would be elite,

by the way, because like I'm a really good cook and you bring the vibes, like that would be really good. But if you take those five things that every single day I have an accountability that, all right, every day Beck and I tell each other our five things. Do you know what you start doing? you start looking for more positive things so if I know or I'm going home tonight I'm going to tell Beck my five things and you know what can actually help taking a photo of it and I know that's really lame it could be a picture of a kitkat on a desk and that could be one of your positive things and that five things I promise will turn into ten because you're consistently looking for more positive things to share so if I know or I have to take five positive things home to tell Beck

about tonight. I'm just looking for positive things all day. And the more you start looking for things, the more they start appearing. And this goes back to that manifestation conversation we were having the other day where I said, I don't particularly believe in manifestation because it's all about what you're looking for and those things showing up. And I use the example of the bright yellow Honda Jazz. Like if you think about that as a car, I can't remember seeing one. But if I start telling you to look for one, you're going to see more of them, right? Yes. Confirmation bias. Exactly. And so the more you're looking for positive things and the more you have some

level of accountability to deliver five things, or it could be one, like let's just start with one. I need to share the most positive thing that happened today with Bec when I get home. Instead of going, oh, Bec, how was your day? Oh yeah. Oh my gosh. It was the most stressful thing. Stop talking about that. What was the best thing about your day, Bec? And you go, oh, okay. Well, Victoria snuck out of this recording studio and stole a KitKat for me and brought it back. That was pretty like that is going into my gratitude journal yeah okay perfect but it doesn't need to be these big overarching things and it could be a really personal gratitude where you go you know I'm really grateful for my Kit Kat no one else would understand that because it'd be like what

the heck Kit Kat's the worst chocolate ever do you know what I mean like it's really personal and I think that by practicing gratitude it can actually change your life and I'm going to stop harping on about it because it's going to become some kind of self-help podcast that it absolutely shouldn't be. The next thing I want to talk about is recognizing the possibilities. Again, this feels like a little self-help kind of book. I'm not mad about it. Watch out, Brené Brown, we're coming for you. I'm learning a lot today. This is great. But when you recognize the possibilities, it's important to focus on one thing that can train your brain to let other things go unnoticed. So rewire your mind to look for possibilities and

solutions instead of letting problems get you down. Kind of like the yellow Honda Jazz. If you're looking for it, I promise more of it appears. It is crazy. The same thing happens with opportunities. So if you have your head in the sand, you're like, oh, jobs never come up. Babe, you're probably not looking for them. Like you don't have your eyes open. You're not looking for them. But if you start looking for them, I promise they appear in abundance. It is crazy. And then the last thing I want to say here is the tunnel vision caused by scarcity mindset actually means other important things end up falling by the wayside. So start escaping that little tunnel you've created by organizing your time or automating some tasks that might actually

help you build an abundant future. So that might be actually setting up an auto-invest program. So you might have decided to invest, but instead of having to do that each and every single month, you might just set up a direct debit on your app and go, all right, well, I'm going to do this. I'm just going to set and forget. This makes sense. This actually puts me in the best possible position. Does that make sense? Yeah, that completely makes sense. I'm really liking these, I feel like I'm going to go away and practice gratitude and try to not look... I am generally a pessimist. I know I may not seem like it. You don't. You must be working hard on that. I'm going to be working hard, especially after this episode. Manifest your Honda Jazz.

Absolutely. That's all I've ever wanted is a yellow Honda Jazz. A yellow Honda Jazz. Honestly, I promise. Do you know how funny it is though? Because we mentioned that a couple of weeks ago on a pod episode. The amount of messages... Please keep sending them to me though. The amount of messages I've got of people sending photos of Honda Jazz's to me that are yellow I'm like thanks babe they're like oh my god it was true I saw three today I'm like no no no I want I want all your Honda Jazz content you know what I'm gonna start posting on my story so spam me with your Honda Jazz's I'm here for it if you drive a yellow Honda Jazz let's be friends even better even better you are manifestation queen you are the yellow Honda Jazz that is powerful

V, before you touched on reframing mindset, I'm wondering if we could go a little bit deeper with that. Yeah, okay. So reframing is actually a super powerful tool that I think I learned about in the first year of psychology. And it's really about reframing a circumstance. And the way I learned about it was in reframing questions to potential clients as a psychologist where, you know, they might say something and you want to continue the conversation,

but you don't necessarily have a question. So you reframe it and go, wow, Bec, you just said that you're negative about X, Y, Z, and you kind of reframe what they've just said. So one, they feel heard, but two, they might elaborate on it from a different perspective. So you might've had a negative take and I might reframe it in a positive light and be like, oh, but it might not have all been bad, right? And you go, oh yeah, well actually, and you might open up about a different facet of that experience that you're explaining to me, because the job of a psychologist isn't actually to just tell you the answers. In fact, the answers always come from within the client.

So it's about reframing it so that maybe you see it from a different perspective and go, yeah, actually hadn't thought about it that way, Victoria. Well, actually, my mum used to. Does that make sense? So you're like, reframe the question. So the idea is that the frame through which a person views a situation really determines their point of view. So they might have rose coloured glasses on and everything is hunky dory. They might also have their sunglasses on inside, which makes everything look a little bit darker than it needs to be. And you might want to be like, oh, hey, have you tried these yellow lenses? Like, what if we have a look at it from here? So imagine looking through a camera lens. The picture you see can actually be changed depending

on what sunglasses you're wearing and what camera lens filter that you put on or what Instagram filter is on that picture or what's the beauty filter on TikTok. Like, I swear that is not helping anybody at this point. But by slightly changing what is seen in the camera, the picture is both viewed and experienced differently. And this is really positive if we're changing our mindset because you can go, oh, I do see that really negatively. What are some tools, i.e. glasses that I could put on that help me start to see it differently? But it can also change things to negative, right? And this goes back to, again, I mentioned TikTok. I genuinely feel like the TikTok beauty filter is giving people unrealistic standards of what beauty actually

looks like because it's automatic and you just go, wow, there's so many beautiful people. on my feed. I can't believe these people always look that good or their skin is always that perfect, et cetera, et cetera. And that is the way you're viewing that circumstance. It's the lens that has been put on that situation, which then determines your point of view. And I think that that is actually a really good example because it's the same as your outlook. So when the frame is shifted, the meaning changes and the thinking and the behavior often changes along with it. So if you can literally put the glasses down or take your sunglasses off while you're inside and maybe put some rose colored or some maybe like yellow tinted ones, they don't look that

hot on, but that is okay. I think that that can actually put you in a better position and choosing to reframe can actually be, can be exhausting. Like I learned it at university because it is something that you need to practice and learn. It is not something you can be like, oh yeah, cool. I learned on the podcast about reframing. I now do that all the time.

You have to work at it. you have to consistently change it because your mind as a human being is automatically negative. Like that is human nature. And the reason it is human nature is because we used to be cave people and leaving the cave was a risk. Leaving the cave was a risk. Yeah, we needed food, but was the risk worth it? Yeah, I'm pretty hungry, but also there's bears and stuff out there. And automatically as a survival instinct, we are negative because the negative actually protects us. And if you grew up in a scarcity mindset, then being negative protects you, right? Like being negative and going, don't worry, I'm not going to ask mum for that. That's not worth it, is going to translate

into you being an adult who doesn't want to spend money on stuff because it gives you anxiety. You're evasive of it. So I think it's really important to understand how that can actually impact you and what that means and choose to reframe it. But that is going to be work. I'm not going to put my rose-coloured glasses on and be like, it's so easy. It can be. But that's why we want to have maybe a daily task of sharing something we're grateful for or having a gratitude journal or having something that can put us in that perspective where we're going, all right, I'm moving from scarcity mindset to this, or even just reflecting on your own interactions that day and going, wow, like that was negative. How could I have approached that differently? Or how would

I approach that to feel like I'm being my best self in this circumstance, I think can actually be really, really helpful. And I guess to summarize all of that, the second you can start reframing the way you view investment and how that works, the second you can start creating the financial freedom that I know you all deserve. And I think so many of us limit ourselves because of our experiences or our upbringing or the way that we view things. And that might not actually be reality. That makes so much sense. It's really, really good to see where that kind of mindset comes from. And It's not just because I'm a negative person or whatever else. No, absolutely not.

It's ingrained in us. It's the way we grew up and it's a defense mechanism. Like being negative is a survival instinct and often if you have been through some level of trauma or a circumstance that maybe was beyond your control, we revert to being negative and it makes sense because it's survival. That's how we make our way through the world. But it's now 2023 and we live in this world of abundance and you can create anything you want, but we've actually got to lift that mindset up and put this other mindset on if you actually

want to be successful in that realm. That's a really good takeaway. I'm going to go out into the world and put my rose-colored glasses on. Now, that's all we have time for today, V. Thank you so much for that input. Let's go and have some more Kit Kats. Yeah, absolutely. We're going to take a break and have a Kit Kat. I think you got it wrong still, but that's okay with me. Oh, did I? Okay. Well, I'll just cancel myself and see myself out. But you know what? I believe I can do it better next time because I have an abundance mindset. There she goes. Yeah, absolutely. But as always, we would love it if you joined our Facebook group where our community shares money, tips and tricks every single day of the week, free of judgment. So she's on the

money on Facebook and send me your yellow Honda Jazz pictures. I want to see them. If Facebook's not your thing, you can also find us and tag us in your Jazz pictures on Instagram. And we're also on TikTok. I mean, I'd love to see a TikTok of all the Honda Jazz's that you saw that were yellow this week. And as always, please don't forget to rate, review and subscribe. It really does help our little podcast. But we will see you on Friday, my friends. Have a good day. Bye, everyone. The advice shared on She's On The Money is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's On The Money exists purely for educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. If you do choose to buy

a financial product, read the PDS, TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards your needs. Victoria Devine and She's On The Money are authorised representatives of Money Sherpa PTY LTD ABN 321 649 27708 AFSL 451 289. Thank you.