Abundance vs. Scarcity Mentality

I understand this thinking very well. I didn't listen to the interview with Gates, but could completely understand hist type of thought process. I surround myself with positive like minded thinks, I am not willing to waste my time with negativity.

Good Morning Bob!  I didn't hear this interview but do understand the philosophy. I don't like to be around negative people.

Nothing could be more true.  Though it's not always easy, I make a concerted effort not to disparage my competition.  If someone tells me they're getting a better quote elsewhere, I respect that, assume he/she has put things on equal footing and remind my customer about all I have to offer.  I used to use this opportunity as a chance to talk down the competition and explain why my prospect would later regret working with them. 

Look, if we're confident in what we offer, we can project that.  And where there is value in that service, we will find our future clients.  There is no scarcity of business, and all problems are opportunities.

Great post.

He is looking at the big picture. Very interesting post Bob. The interesting thing about Bill Gates as you all know is that he and Warren Buffett are giving away most of their cashola. They are really helping the world.

Nice motivational post BOb!  I try to elimate or limit the amount of time I spend with TOXIC folks!

Howdy and morning Bob, I learned in sales many many moons ago, the fastest way to put in the minds of and to get folks to thinking about your competitors is by you bring them up to others.

Happiness sure is Homemade

Have a good one

Dale in New Hampshire

Suggested.  I think this is one of the best posts I have read in a long time.  I have occasionally fallen into the scarcity trap myself over the years, but I have always tried to think like this and hopefully leave the scarcity mentality behind and spend the majority of my time in abundance.  Thanks again for the reminder.

Bob, I'm going to have to disagree with you, at least on a portion of your post.  I get the whole abundance vs. scarcity philosophy.  When we compete for a listing, it's done solely off our capabilities, not at the expense of our competition.  Frankly we don't even ask who else they're interviewing, we either win on our own merits or we don't get hired, that simple.

Our AR posts aren't generally in a negative attitude and are written to share the knowledge we've gained from Active Rain members.  We're practicing the abundance mentality, because if it was strictly about us, we wouldn't bother writing tutorials or Ask An Ambassador posts about how to better work within the framework of Active Rain.  After all, that's stuff we already know how to do.

Pointing out that copying/pasting isn't the way to do things as a blogger isn't tearing down the profession or being petty.  And I fail to see why I should applaud someone for "bettering themselves" if they're doing so by stealing the work of others that worked hard to create it.  Bill Gates has a different product to sell and a tiered system, all we have as agents to offer is our knowledge/expertise.  You take that from us and you have indeed stolen the only thing we have to sell. 

If a blogger wants help learning how to do it right, myself and others have written literally 100's and 1000's of posts that provide ideas for blog posts, picture sources, building their business.  They walk that path, I'll tip my hat to them and answer any questions they have.  But choose the shortcut?  Sorry, I can't condone that.  That behavior is not what this community is built on.

No I don't applaud rule breaking.  I think it's wrong and practice does NOT make perfect if you are practicing wrong.  I applaud those who reach out for help.  A mistake that is corrected when pointed out... now that I can also applaud.  But continuing to break the same rules once you've been warned... Just like in baseball I think you ought to get thrown off the field.

I spent a few years as a newspaper reporter way back when...long before the internet. There was an instance where a reporter in another town not far from where I was published and claimed an article I wrote as their own. I did all of the hard work - the investigation, the interviews, the background checks..everything..and the other reporter took it as their own.  That is stealing. Plain and Simple.

If I do the hard work, interviews and background checks for a blog I write, no one has permission to STEAL from me.  It's not about disparaging someone else - it's about following the rules and the laws. Steal from me and I will make it known. If you really want to use something I created, ask permission and give me credit...and we'll be just fine.

It is a mentality that works for him because of the grand scale his product is marketed.  If he was not so large and market share was tighter, I believe he would have a different view.

I don't give a high five to anyone who thinks the way to get ahead is to circumvent the rules.  If they violate the COE then they should be reported to the local RE association and if they plagarize a post on AR they should lose their points.  I don't worry about my "competition" because I'm to busy focusing on my own business.