FROM SCARCITY TO PLENTY
BUILD THE LENS THAT SPOTS WHAT OTHERS MISS
3-Minute Read
For each of us, the world is either one of scarcity or plenty. In which do you live?
In 1960s Texas, Rosie Gutierrez wanted more for her kids than poverty. One morning, she looked at a neighbor’s familiar trash pile and saw something new: opportunity. For a dollar a load, she started hauling. First with her car, then came a truck, a crew, a contract, an enterprise. Surrounded by lack, Rosie chose to be the catalyst for the change she desired, and that choice changed everything.
Rosie’s shift was not about trash; it was about vision. She trained her mind to notice supply where others saw nothing. That same shift is available to you.
Scarcity shows up in every dimension of life: time, money, team capacity, skill, advancement, peace, health, love, impact. Where is it showing up for you right now? This week in The Grip, we explore two foundational principles for turning scarcity into plenty, and we give you a practice to make this your new operating system.
Imagine always having more than enough of what matters to you; how would that impact your mission?
Let’s dive in.
transforming scarcity to plenty
Principle 1: Plenty Starts With Perception
Whether you live in a world of scarcity or plenty is driven by perception, and perception is driven by language. You always get the experience you say you’re having. Here’s the good news: if you want to stop living in scarcity and start living in plenty, it begins with new language.
Declare scarcity, and you will find more of it. Declare plenty and soon that’s exactly what you’ll see. It trains your brain to surface resources, allies, and options that were always there but previously invisible.
Focus your attention with questions to identify opportunity hidden in plain sight:
What is already available, accessible, or working?
How can I leverage this to serve others?
What’s the advantage in this?
This shift creates inner ease, which frees the brain from threat mode and unlocks creativity, clarity, and decisive action—the raw ingredients of sustainable scale.
When you see plenty, you will act in a manner consistent with plenty. This week, practice seeing yourself as surrounded by the conditions you wish to experience. We’ve got a great experiential practice to help you do that. Follow the step-by-step instructions for Practicing Vivid Imagination from our past issue of The Grip.
Practice this exercise and you will create a sensation of plenty on the inside which will fuel you to create plenty on the outside. Seeing plenty as accessible—in advance—precedes the way of making plenty real as a result.
Not yet part of The Plenteous Life community? Subscribe to The Grip! Every week you’ll receive additional video, audio, and pdf tools directly in your email inbox to help you transform at both work and home.
Principle 2: Plenty Materializes Through Responsibility
Plenty is a context, not a wish. If something is missing, it is missing because you have not yet created it. And that’s great news! After you choose the lens of plenty, take responsibility for building what you want. This is vital for making plenty a material reality.
When you lack plenty, the only thing actually missing is the commitment to create it. Responsibility turns vision into velocity. What new commitment would generate plenty in your life?
Proof In Plain Sight
The most iconic companies today transformed scarcity to plenty right before our eyes. If you want the deep dive on the origin story of each, check out its link:
Airbnb: The world saw overpriced hotels and no vacancy. Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia saw air mattresses on living room floors.
Chobani Yogurt: What others dismissed as a shuttered Kraft factory, Hamdi Ulukaya turned into America’s top yogurt brand.
Uber: The world saw too few taxis and endless waits. Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp saw millions of idle cars and drivers ready to roll.
1-800-GOT-JUNK?: What others dismissed as trash, Brian Scudamore turned into a $300M trusted service.
WeWork: The world saw overpriced, rigid office leases. Adam Neumann saw underused buildings that could become shared hubs of energy.
Netflix: The world saw dreaded late fees and limited rental options. Reed Hastings saw the internet’s potential to stream on demand.
Amazon Marketplace: The world saw single retailers constrained by shelves. Jeff Bezos saw millions of third-party sellers with near-infinite inventory.
Where are you declaring scarcity and calling it reality? What supply are you ignoring because it looks ordinary, unglamorous, or messy? What are you willing to build that shifts your world from lack to plenty?
“When you see plenty, you will act in a manner consistent with plenty.”
Plenty is not luck; it is leadership. Choose the lens that reveals what is already available, then take responsibility to create what is missing. Ease replaces panic. Intentionality replaces drift. Impact compounds.
This week, decide on one area where you will practice plenty. Name the resources you already have, design the smallest useful move, and make your offer. The moment you choose to see plenty and act from it, you change what is possible for your team, your family, and your legacy.
Keep creating.
key takeaways
Perception drives reality: language primes your brain to see resources that were always present.
Plenty becomes material through responsibility: commit, design the smallest useful move, and build.
A simple daily practice can flip your operating system from lack to leverage.
May you prosper in every way!
Becky & TPL Team
52 Maxims of Conscious Choosing To Create the Deeply Satisfying Life You Desire.