To have abundance is to have a very large quantity of something. Abundant thinking is often associated with positive thinking. I like to think it also means knowing there is enough for everyone, enough business, enough opportunities, enough friendships, enough time. We are all gifted the same amount of time each day.
Chris Anderson is the editor-in-chief of the UK Wired Magazine and also the author of the great book book Free, where he challenges readers to embrace a gift economy and shares that ‘today’s knowledge workers are yesterday’s factory workers’.
Knowledge is in abundance and we need to share that knowledge with those around us. It is readily available and free for most.
Rory Vaden shares in his book Take the Stairs, ‘the most important skill for the next generation of knowledge worker is not learning what to do BUT rather determining what NOT to do’.
While information and knowledge is in abundance, we have to make conscious choices about how to share this and what to abandon. Productivity is often about deciding what not to pursue, rather than trying to pursue everything. One of our biggest challenges is making that choice when there are so many available to us.
Chris Anderson in Free continues to share ‘abundance thinking is not only discovering what will become cheaper but looking for that will be more valuable as a result of moving to that’. Time has become more valuable! We need an abundance mentality of how we can invest our time more wisely, with people we enjoy more, doing things we enjoy more if we want to filter our daily decisions to choose the most impactful activities.
To choose more abundance you can try these strategies:
Decline invitations that don’t excite you – when you receive a request from someone to attend something you aren’t super excited about or delighted to attend, graciously decline their invitation. Save your time for things you are energized by.
Fully commit – if you are working on a project- give it your all. If you are in a conversation give it your whole heart, if you are relaxing with a book fully immerse yourself in it. Choose that you will fully commit to the person, the project or the time allocation.
Be generous – when you are able to share your time with others make it a priority to remain undistracted, when you share a meal with someone cover the costs, when you drive through a toll gate pay for the car behind you (it is funny to watch their faces in your rear view mirror), when you buy flowers for you grab an extra bunch for someone you care about.
Abundant thinking includes knowing how to share your time, attention and energy with those around you. What can you to do today so abundance wins and you increase your daily impact? Share your ideas with us here on our blog.
P.S. If you want to download Chris Anderson’s PDF of Free – click here
