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Attitude and Mindset

Making 2014 a year of abundance

By January 13, 2014June 20th, 2023No Comments

How do you view your world?

Do you see a world full of opportunity, possibility, exciting new technology and developments, or do you worry about the economy, your financial future, your children’s future, climate change or conflict?

Your way of thinking colours your reality, which determines your outcomes.

Our brain is inherently set to a negative bias. We tend to view everything as potentially bad or dangerous first, and ask questions to verify those assumptions later. In other words our brain sets us up to be chronically cynical. This unfortunately prevents us from envisioning more positive possibilities.

As a survival technique that made sense but in today’s busy, challenging and sometimes overwhelming world, having the mental adaptability and flexibility to see all viewpoints and alternatives is increasingly important to lead to positive growth.

The media of course loves to take advantage of our negative bias. We are fed a constant diet of doom and gloom stories that we find ourselves drawn to with attention grabbing headlines of disaster and tragedy. But there are alternative ways of thinking we can choose.

Over the Christmas break I like to take advantage of having a few more leisure hours available to catch up on some good reading and one of the books I enjoyed and derived inspiration from was “Abundance: The future is better than you think” written by Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler.

This book discusses was it is to achieve abundance, i.e. for everyone to have the basic necessities for survival: food water and shelter.
The authors examine how our new technologies could help to solve the issue of global scarcity within 25 years and it will be through embracing risk that we will be able to develop the innovative thinking required to achieve this.

This video below embraces some of the thinking behind their assertions. Enjoy.

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You may remain skeptical of their claims. A healthy skepticism is good because it challenges our thinking and keeps our mind open to alternatives, which is different from cynicism that keeps the brain blinkered to the thought that things cannot be different.

Today’s business world is full of new technology, expertise and knowledge. Differentiating ourselves by challenging our preexisting ideas and beliefs is what leads to positive and enduring change.

As Thomas Edison said after 1000 experiments to produce a light bulb; he had not failed, merely found 1000 ways that didn’t work. But how often does our fear of failure paralyse us from even attempting a task in the first place?

Developing an outlook of abundance requires us to embrace the promise of what is possible, balanced by the brain’s natural uncertainty and risk aversion.

How will you make 2014 your year of abundance?

 

Dr Jenny Brockis

Dr Jenny Brockis is a medical practitioner and internationally board-certified lifestyle medicine physician, workplace health and wellbeing consultant, podcaster, keynote speaker and best-selling author. Her new book 'Thriving Mind: How to Cultivate a Good Life' (Wiley) is available online and at all good bookstores.

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