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Claire Fitzsimmons's avatar

Related to this so much particularly as have a teen starting GCSEs today. I’ve started to notice the scarcity mindset more and am trying to choose something around abundance or enoughnees even.

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Sarah Raad's avatar

Courage mumma! We’ve already had a catastrophic French speaking 😂 Monday is when the ones he cares about start… it’s all worth bearing in mind. Because winning and losing is so loaded.

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Marcy Farrey 🧚‍♀️'s avatar

Thank you so much for this series. I was wanting someone to write about this in a practical, applicable way. I’ve been thinking about this a lot and wanting to maybe write something around the story I’m telling myself right now that I’m at a disadvantage because I’m at stay-at-home mom. I am stuck in a narrative right now that says I will always be behind everyone else cause I can’t devote my full attention to building a business.

So many moms talk about having the “privilege” of childcare so they can work or be creative, so of course I think I’m worse off because I don’t have that. Yes, it’s true I have less time. My attention is always divided. But I’m sick of telling myself this story. I want to focus on working within my own lane, as you say. I’m not at a disadvantage. My story is just a different one.

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Sarah Raad's avatar

Exactly this! I also think that even though we know that there is adisadvantage at play, we have to figure out that focussing on that doesn’t solve any of our problems either! It also points to the danger of comparison. We can’t really ever compare where we are with someone else because we’re having a totally different life experience to the other person. We just need to compete with ourselves really, just stay in our lane, set our own goal and target and see what happens. Measure this month success against last month.

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Marcy Farrey 🧚‍♀️'s avatar

Yes! This is where I've been so caught up in the comparison game, feeling resentful over things that are completely beyond my control and that distract me during the precious time I do have to create. I'm so tired of it, and I'm ready to break the cycle. I've decided this is what I'm working on releasing for this upcoming Full Moon.

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Laura Payne's avatar

I am a stay at home mom for the first time in my career, with an 9 and 11 year old and I am realizing now how much I was missing in their lives. They are the jewels in my crown. I was in a C-Level position before I started my own thing. The place I found abundance was through spending more time with them and seeing the world through their eyes. So funny how perspective changes everything.

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Sarah Raad's avatar

It’s genuinely everything isn’t it? I slowed down a lot when my son was born and started working a 4 day week, prioritising evenings and weekends as family and fun time. Never looked back at he’s 16 this summer :)

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Marcy Farrey 🧚‍♀️'s avatar

Yes, I have thought about this a lot! I've wondered how I would feel if I did still have a 9-to-5 to go to every day, and I didn't get the time I have with them now. I know I'd want what I currently have, all of this wonderful time watching them grow. It's just so easy for me to get caught up in all the social posts I see with other moms talking about how getting that time to themselves is so essential for their creativity, and it makes me feel bad that I don't really have that right now. I have a two-year-old and a 10-month-old, and I'm still breastfeeding, so I'm dedicated to them pretty much around the clock. I get some time to myself early in the morning or at night when they are asleep and that's it. But you know what? I'm making it work. I'm still finding the time, however sporadic or limited it is. And I can be proud of myself for doing that.

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Laura Payne's avatar

Wow, you are still breast feeding! What a marvelous time. I remember feeling so drained. My girls woke up around the clock when they were still breast feeding. Between being sleep deprived and the brain fog, I barely remember how I got through. Be patient with yourself. I wrote an article today, mainly for mothers about putting your own oxygen mask on. Perhaps you might find it helpful? Happy Mother's Day! https://open.substack.com/pub/successwithintention/p/unlocking-your-purpose-series?r=23yuvu&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

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Louise Tilbrook ✨'s avatar

This is such brilliant writing and I'm already excited to read part 2.

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Rachel Marie Martin's avatar

Thank you so much for this.

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Sarah Raad's avatar

You are so welcome! If there’s anything else around scarcity and comparison and things like that that you would like me to write about, let me know and I will deliver!

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Rachel Marie Martin's avatar

Okay! Thank you.

Now...i'm mulling my brain....

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Laura Payne's avatar

I love your approach to challenging the idea of scarcity. Abundance is everywhere, if we slow down and take the time to be grateful, it will shine through that clouded glass we tend to look through.

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Anna Rose's avatar

Such an epic piece. And a reminder to me personally why leaving teaching was so important to me. The system is very broken. I also find scarcity such an interesting topic. I have less now than I have ever had but feel so full with life and opportunities. The more scarce you feel life is the less you see. Thank you for this Sarah ❤️✨

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Sarah Raad's avatar

I completely agree. I do, of course, want everyone to earn more money, a lot more money, but it’s not the only metric by which to measure the success of your life. I was listening to a podcast yesterday about improving your money mindset, and one of the points made was about generosity. This didn’t mean generosity with money if you don’t have enough to do that with. But it made the point that there are lots of other kinds of generosity, generosity with your time, with your attention, with your talent and skills, and it really resonated with me. I have believed for a long time now that generosity is a key part of a healthy mindset.

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Marisa Guthrie's avatar

Sarah this is so good. It very much echoes my own views on capitalism and the myriad ways it affects our thinking. Thank you.

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Lisa Bolin 🌸's avatar

I have taken a deep dive into this too. Reframing is so useful as we navigate a world made by others. The world is infinitely abundant and reframing how we see things can help us recognise it everywhere we go. Thank you for your thought-provoking writing, Sarah 💗

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Malisa Vincenti's avatar

I love this so much. And there are so many of us who want to break the system of scarcity. It’s not let me mine before you get yours. It’s not let me get my piece of the pie before there’s any left. It’s - there’s enough for everyone. Let’s make a bigger pie!

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Harriet Mason's avatar

The GCSE point is so so true and makes me so sad and angry, I hadn't thought about it in the context of scarcity mindset, but you're right. Good luck!

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