April 16, 2026

We live in a world that often tells us there is not enough. Not enough money, jobs, time, or even success. This premise is based on the scarcity mindset that I wrote about last week.

There is another way to think.

Are you the person who makes the most of what you have and what you do? Do you focus on your well-being and are grateful for what is in your life? You have a sufficiency mindset. There is no feeling of lack, no rush or scramble to accumulate more. You are grateful for who you are and what you have.

What is the “Sufficiency Mindset?” According to Rakesh Seth, sufficiency is not about settling for less. It is about realizing I have enough for today. It is the shift from “never enough” to “already enough.” When we live from sufficiency, we make wiser choices, experience greater peace, and open the door to collaboration, growth, and optimism.

According to Renee Fishman, “Cultivating a Sufficiency Mindset,” in the spiritual and personal development world, we hear that an “abundance mindset” is the antidote to a scarcity mindset. Time, energy, money, and opportunities are in abundant supply, yet the teachers who talk about abundance, hit us with messages about where we are lacking.

Contrasting this idea of an abundance mindset, Wayne Muller, author of Sabbath, wrote that the abundance mindset is a response to the fear of scarcity. People who are afraid of not having enough may reach for more than is needed. He added that the true antidote to scarcity, therefore, is not abundance, but sufficiency — the belief that what we have is enough.

“Sufficiency is not an amount at all. It is an experience, a context we generate, a declaration, a knowing that there is enough, and that we are enough,” wrote Lynne Twist, author Soul of Money.

The sufficiency mindset is one of the most creative mindsets that one could have.

We can get creative in our learning by investing our resources to flow through our lives to our future selves. As author Twist indicates, sufficiency is not abundance, however, we can move our money toward that which will serve us, we can focus on our wholeness, and our well-being. We can learn to collaborate with others, in the process of making the most of what we have, build personal resilience.

Twist defines abundance as more than we need — it is excess. “Abundance is merely the other side of scarcity. You strive to get more than you need because you believe or fear there is not enough.”

According to Yiqing Zhao, you would think an abundance mindset is a good thing. However, she has seen too many people creating “abundance” as an overcompensation of lack. They are striving toward abundance is still driven by fear and scarcity.

Blogger Kari Watterson wrote that each time you affirm that you have enough, you are training your brain to trust in your capacity.

Here are some key aspects of a Sufficiency Mindset according to Medium.com:

• Self-worth: You believe you are enough right now without needing to prove it through constant achievement.
• Resources: You trust there is enough resources to go around, this helps to minimize greed and fear driven hoarding.
• Remember, where you pay attention is where you put your energy. If you own more things, consume more things; then more energy will be spent on external things, leaving less energy to making internal improvements.
• Consumption: You prioritize experiences over material obsessions; you may seek to reduce your consumption to fit within the planetary limits.
• Balance: You embrace ambition, yet you balance it with gratitude and contentment.

“Scarcity shrinks our world. Sufficiency expands it,” wrote Seth.

We can make the most of our existing resources effectively without needing more. This is where creativity and collaboration with others comes into play. Money and energy are resources that can be shared or invested in.

“Sufficiency is an act of generating, distinguishing, making known to ourselves the power and presence of our existing resources, and our inner resources,” wrote Twist.

According to Seth, if we shift from scarcity to a sufficiency mindset, it will no longer be “never enough” to “enough right now,” we will be able to find financial security, energy, optimism, and prosperity.

Joyce Chen pointed out that the pervasive belief “that more is better” has detrimental consequences on business and personal development. Chen highlights that there are three truths of Sufficiency:

1. Money is like water. Regardless of the flow, you direct where it goes. Money is a current, it can carry our intentions. It can carry different possibilities. Money is a form of energy. It can move value. Money can carry positive or negative energy.
2. What we appreciate. In the context of sufficiency, appreciation is a powerful practice of creating new value in the deliberate way that we place attention on what we already have. What we appreciate grows in value. You can think about it in terms of our relationships. When you place attention on an employee, friend, spouse, or child, they begin to blossom and grow. Appreciation is the beating heart of sufficiency. What can we appreciate? See the world with fresh eyes and perspective.

• Collaboration Creates Prosperity. In a “you vs. me” world, collaboration and reciprocity cannot exist. However, if we think of resources as a flow, resources are meant to be shared. People can grow. Businesses built on sufficient mindset can lead to long term growth and fulfillment.

Take a pause. Close your eyes. Breathe in for a count of four, hold breath for a count of four and breathe out on a count of eight.

Here is a meditation:

Pay attention to your breath. Take deep breaths. The deepest breaths you have taken today. Breath is sustaining you. Now…Pay attention to any bodily sensations. Allowing what is. Is anything lacking in your physical body?

Now, take notice of time. It is just now, the present moment.

Bring to your mind anything that feels scarce. Is there anything lacking? When you look outside yourself, you may see something lacking. However, when you look inside, there is always enough. Enough for now.

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“Sufficiency isn’t an amount at all. It is an experience, a context we generate, a declaration, a knowing that there is enough, and that we are enough.” — Brené Brown.

Resources:

Image by freepik.com Retrieved on 4/14/2026 from https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/still-life-with-human-brains-watering-can_48110814.htm

Chen, Joyce. “Shifting from Scarcity to Sufficiency with Joyce Chen.” Who We Are with Rachael Lim, Episode 8. 5/27/2024. Retrieved on 4/10/2026 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-vyn8GCeso&t=537s

Fishman, Renee. “Cultivating a Sufficiency Mindset.” 11/28/2019. Retrieved on 4/9/2026 from https://mymeadowreport.com/reneefishman/2019/celebrating-sufficiency/

Hanley-Dafoe, Ed. D, Robyne. “Burnout, Discovery, and a Sufficiency Mindset.” 8/11/2021. Retrieved on 4/9/2026 from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/burnout-discovery-sufficiency-mindset-dr-robyne-hanley-dafoe-/

Muller, Wayne. Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in Our Busy Lives

Seth, Rakesh. “Scarcity vs. Sufficiency: Rethinking Prosperity in Life and Work.” 9/24/2025. Retrieved on 4/10/2026 from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/scarcity-vs-sufficiency-rethinking-prosperity-life-work-rakesh-seth-tjpdc/

Twist, Lynne. “The Surprising Truth of Sufficiency.” Awakin.org. Retrieved on 4/9/2026 from https://www.awakin.org/v2/read/view.php?tid=673

Twist, Lynne. “Sufficiency is Not Abundance.” Awakin.org. Retrieved on 4/9/2026 from Retrieved on 4/9/2026 from https://www.awakin.org/v2/read/view.php?tid=2097

Twist, Lynne. The Soul of Money: Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Life.” W.W. Norton & Company. ©2003.

Waterson, Kari. “The Sufficiency Mindset-An ADHD Strategy for Rebuilding Self-Trust.” Retrieved on 4/10/2026 from https://kariwatterson.com/building-momentum-with-a-sufficiency-mindset-tackling-procrastination-one-step-at-a-time/

Zhao, Yiqing. “Why a Sufficiency Mindset is What You Need.” 4/19/2021. Retrieved on 4/10/2026 from https://medium.com/illumination/why-a-sufficiency-mindset-is-what-you-need-852311d006a6