Business Report

Create Mindset Of Abundance Vs. Scarcity

BY ROSE MILLER

I went to the Multiple Sclerosis Society’s Together for a Cure fundraiser where the keynote speaker gave an eloquent speech about being a victor or victim.

Dealing with MS can be daunting on a continual basis. It can impact your ability to live your life fully. The keynote speaker wrapped up a victorious talk with, “Will life happen to you or for you? Do you see your life as a nightmare or a fairy tale?” She told the crowd how MS will not defeat her.

I was reading Michael J. Fox’s new book where he writes about how he takes after his late mother, who had an impactful positive attitude. He said, “She never added up the losses. She’d always look at the gains.”

Boiled down, these two people exhibited a mindset of abundance versus a mindset of scarcity.

Stephen Covey initially coined these terms in his best-selling book, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” Scarcity mentality refers to people seeing life as a fi nite pie, so that if one person takes a big piece, that leaves less for everyone else.

Psychology studies have found that children who believe intelligence can be developed were better able to overcome academic challenges versus children who believe their intelligence is fi xed in some way. A scarcity mindset can limit a child’s growth.

Studies completed by researchers on adults found that people who had more positive beliefs around aging lived 7.5 years longer than those with less positive self-perception of aging. Embrace those wrinkles because your mindset can prolong your life.

Our local business community should examine whether our actions/words reflect a scarcity or abundance mindset. People complain about how the region is siloed. Business and regional silos are indicators of a scarcity mindset. Silos support a belief we will lose something by sharing resources versus believing we are all stronger and richer together.

I worked with a multi-state business once where the people in the Boston office told me how upset they were that the semiconductor industry picked the Capital Region over them. They had so much more to offer the industry and its employees. Then when speaking to some local businesses, many would say, I can’t believe they picked our region versus Boston or Austin. We don’t have as much to offer as those regions. Good grief.

AARP Survey Finds Seniors No Are Longer Settling For Jobs With Stressful Conditions

Many older workers are no longer settling for stressful working conditions or fully in-person jobs, finds a new AARP survey of adults age 40 and older.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a shift in attitudes about work, with more people prioritizing work-life balance and making workplace flexibility as a job prerequisite, the report said.

“Understanding a Changing Older Workforce: An Examination of Workers Ages 40-Plus” shows that flexible work hours are now a job requirement for 79 percent of older workers, while 66 percent say they would only accept a new job if they are able to work remotely at least some of the time. Most older workers (90 percent) also say they require a job that provides meaningful work.

ence survey:

• Despite the greater emphasis on flexibility and work-life balance, older workers continue to prioritize job stability (88 percent) and competitive pay (87 percent) when accepting a job.

• Retirement savings, pension benefits, and being able to phase into retirement are also important considerations for accepting a job.

• Older workers are worried about job security. Nearly one-third (30 percent) think it is likely they will lose their job within a year, primarily because of a weak economy.

• Age discrimination (37 percent) is cited as the top reason for lack of confidence in being able to find another job within three months, if needed.

The former Mayor of Albany was famous for his abundance mindset. He campaigned for a new convention center for over a decade. People would laugh and say, “We can’t support a convention center.” But his persistence was complete when a new convention center was erected. It is bustling with activity and there are plans for expansion.

The new president of the local black chamber of commerce warned attendees about how she has encountered similar rhetoric. She is originally from the Capital Region. She was happy to return to where her family still lives. She believes the region has a lot to offer and she was excited about the opportunities here. However, she is mystified by how many people have asked her why she would consider moving back here when she lived in another, more exciting city. She encouraged the crowd to reverse the scarcity mindset.

We may be conditioned to have a scarcity mentality. Are promotions and raises scarce, are resources limited, do managers hoard information, is micromanagement abound, and is short-term thinking the norm?

A scarcity mentality can be what keeps us from achieving our goals. It can keep students from staying or new hires from moving here. An abundance mindset communicates there is plenty here for everybody.

We can make the shift from a scarcity to abundance mindset by focusing on what we have, surrounding ourselves with positive mes-

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“During the pandemic, many people took time to reexamine their personal goals and how their job fits into their life,” said Carly Roszkowski, vice president of financial resilience programming at AARP. “Given the high level of burnout that so many older workers experienced during the pandemic, especially those who are caregivers, it should come as no surprise that work-life balance has emerged as not just a priority but a requirement.”

Over half (53 percent) of those ages 40-49 and 36 percent of all workers age 40 and older are caregivers for an adult, typically a partner/ spouse or parent, and report having to work remotely, change work hours, reduce hours, use paid caregiving leave or quit their job altogether to provide care in the last five years, the report said.

Given the need for more flexibility among caregivers and the emphasis on it among older workers in general, gig and independent work has become increasingly common. More than a quarter (27 percent) of older workers are doing freelance or gig work and the number is higher (32 percent) for those ages 40-49. While 89 percent of gig workers say making extra money is their primary motivation, flexible work hours are a close second at 87 percent.

Additional findings from the Value of Experi-

• Over three in five (64 percent) believe older workers face age discrimination in today’s workplace, and among them, 94 percent viewing it as commonplace.

• Two in five (41 percent) report experiencing some type of ageism at work in the past three years, but only 13 percent have made a formal complaint to a supervisor, HR representative, another organization or a government agency.

“The number of older workers is projected to grow significantly over the next decade, and understanding older workers’ needs and concerns benefits both workers and employers,” said Roszkowski. “For example, paid caregiving leave can help workers maintain productivity and help employers stay competitive in the marketplace.”

The Value of Experience survey is AARP’s multicultural work and jobs study. The sample was comprised of 2,000 respondents ages 40plus in the labor force (i.e., those working fulltime, part-time, and those who are not working but looking for work), including 1,079 Black workers, 1,103 Hispanic workers, 693 Asian American/Pacific Islander workers, and 644 LGBTQ workers ages 40-plus.

The data were weighted to be nationally representative. The survey was fielded online from Sept. 15 to Oct. 12 in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.