Coaches: Do you have clients that seem unable to move forward—stuck somewhere—in your coaching program? Are they captive to a scarcity mindset? The belief that there isn’t enough can be exhausting and limiting. It is hard to stay up and motivated if you buy into a scarcity mentality, and your brain will only see evidence to support your belief. This can trap you into a very small space indeed!
How Scarcity Shows Up
There are many ways scarcity shows up. Not enough money? Your clients will feel stressed out whenever they think about income or expenses. Not enough time? Their subconscious will help confirm that by putting time delays and procrastination opportunities in their way. No one available and interested in a long-term relationship? They certainly won’t find them if they don’t believe they are there! Or perhaps not enough clients for their businesses? They will end up questioning their value and why anyone would choose them over all the other people offering similar services or products.
You’ve worked diligently with these clients to help shift them to a more successful path, but maybe logic and facts and encouragement aren’t enough. Maybe there’s something happening deeper in their powerful subconscious that’s resulting in their lack of progress. In “The psychology of scarcity,” Princeton University psychology and public affairs professor Eldar Shafir, Ph.D., and Harvard University economist Sendhil Mullainathan, Ph.D. said that a scarcity mindset also increases the likelihood that you’ll make mistakes because it consumes “mental bandwidth—brainpower that would otherwise go to less pressing concerns, planning ahead, and problem-solving.”
Half-Full or Half-Empty?
We all understand the idea of glass half-empty or glass half-full. Which category does your stuck client fit into? Think for a minute how each actually feels. Half-full? Optimistic, looking forward to whatever is next, generally happy. Half-empty? Not a fun place to be. There’s anxiety and worry and dread there. If your clients are half-empty kind of people, can you imagine the relief they would feel releasing that heaviness?
Perception Equals Reality
Whether half-full or half-empty, their beliefs are involved—their perception of what is true. If they changed their perception, they’d free their brains up to make more effective decisions and better plans. They would be able to follow through with all your coaching advice and strategy. And that should result in better outcomes, right?
Let’s Explore Together
If you’ve got clients that are stuck like this, I’d be happy to have a chat with you about how I can help. You can book a virtual coffee with me here, and we can explore this issue together.
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