Hope & Abundance or Scarcity?
What direction are you traveling in? Abundance? Scarcity?
Note: If you have not taken the CliftonStrengths assessment, please read on. The most important concepts will still make sense.
Whether you have taken the CliftonStrengths assessment or not, you may identify as an “Achiever”. According to Gallup, “Your Achiever theme helps explain your drive. Achiever describes a constant need for attainment. You feel as if each day starts at zero. By the day's end, you must achieve something tangible to feel good about yourself. And by "every day," you mean every single day -- workdays, weekends, and vacations.”
Achiever is also the most frequently occurring theme in the CliftonStrengths assessment for the 31 million people that have taken the assessments (on all continents).
For me, Achiever is number 10 in my results which means it is something that I lean on each day. In fact, I begin every day with a list of tasks to accomplish - even on weekends. Maximizer is my number one theme and describes my orientation towards making good things great. Responsibility sits at number 9 in my profile and indicates that I have an emotional connection to following through on my commitments (and that I can sometimes overcommit). For me this theme was born out of growing up as an only child and so much more that I won’t get into here.
Achieving and Maximizing are valuable themes and orientations and, yet, sometimes when I get out of balance, I can feel like I am on a hamster wheel with no ability to stop or slow it down. You might be asking “yes, so what”?
The “so what” is that we can cause long-term damage to ourselves when we move into an unsustainable cycle of accomplishing. There are a few cues that may occur in our lives that can provide insight that this is happening.
We may feel overwhelmed or under water and believe that we cannot get ahead, no matter how many hours we work.
Those around us may provide direct or subtle feedback that we are more “prickly” than usual. I have a good friend who provides a “gentle mirror” for me when this occurs in my life.
We may feel sick or tired often and unable to recover.
We may feel like we are lacking joy in our lives because we don’t perceive that we have time to pause.
We may notice that we are feeling resentful and angry because we are “doing all the work” whether at home or at the office.
As a coach, I am honored to travel with clients deep into the inner landscape of their thoughts, beliefs, and purpose and meaning (or spirituality). Together, we take time to explore what limiting beliefs may be holding people back and how to live in alignment with values and in ways that are congruent with what is most meaningful and sustainable as we design our lives moving forward.
We explore with curiosity and self-compassion the origin stories that fuel the perceived need to achieve that may get us “stuck” in burnout and overachieving. To share an example from my background, in my family two limiting beliefs my parents held were that there were never enough resources (money) and working hard should be painful. When I find myself moving from a scarcity mindset (family of origin beliefs) vs. an abundance mindset or from fear, rather than a hopeful mindset, I find myself in a state of constant overwhelm and shame.
What resonates with you? What is important for you to notice about patterns of behaviors, beliefs or thoughts that may no longer serve you? What possibilities would you love to explore?
This blog is meant to be a public service message not an advertisement for coaching. Yet, based on my own experience, coaching has been one of the most powerful tools in my life to move the needle on the deliberate change I longed for.. Trusted coaches over the last few years, held the space for me to do the deep inner work that was necessary to create the foundation I needed to move into possibility and prosperity.
If you are someone you know could benefit from a Discovery Call about creating abundance, don’t hesitate to reach out.
Warm Regards,
Stacy