Embrace Scarcity: The Powerful Life Hack That Might Birth Your Next Innovation
On dealing with the anxiety of uncertainty, and transforming your limitations into possibilities.
Disclaimer: Not scarcity mindset1 okay.
It’s been a whirlwind. I took my first plane trip since COVID-19 happened; discovered the train and bus I took my whole life ceased operations (until further notice); fixed the house I was never quite familiar with; had a mind-numbing gum-ache; and almost experienced a flood.
Everything crazy 🤯😩 happened within a week—more or less.
Out of all, I’m in a new place that is so so strange to me and is presented with a bunch of limitations.
Into The Great Unknown—
👆🏻sounds amazing. But if you take off your rose-tinted glasses, you’ll discover that sometimes it’s hard to surrender to the unknown, especially if you know it entails a bunch of limitations.
Eg: when the Universe decides to put you in a spot where a natural disaster is about to happen, also the same place you have very limited knowledge about. 🙃
Just two weeks ago I was this optimist, level-headed person, armed with confidence I could tackle whatever would happen to my way.
But until the rain poured non-stop for 3 days, and I had a sleepless night fighting a war with my toothache.. poof! Confidence gone.
Anxiety was manifesting over me, taking over my whole perception.
Uncertainty has the ability to turn you into the worst person you’d imagine yourself to be.
🌊 Mind turbulences of entering The Great Unknown 👇🏼
(1) Not knowing what to do, (2) not knowing what’s going to happen, and (3) not knowing what other people are thinking and feeling
These three “everyday unconscious” circumstances breeds anxiety, according to Julie Beck.
Uncertainty makes you feel super-anxious
Unlike back at home where (1) the Wi-Fi is full speed ahead, (2) the microwave is at your disposal whenever you want to reheat food, and (3) the environment is tolerable should any distractions try to knock on your doors...
Here, I have no Wi-Fi (yet), and I am greeted with a flooding incident. Who wouldn’t have imagine the worst-case scenarios would ultimately happen when you’re so limited with backup resources and knowledge?
In an ambiguous or unpredictable situation, the brain is going to look for clues in the environment, things it knows from past experience are associated with threat or safety. If this is unsuccessful, and the brain can’t tell what is dangerous and what isn’t, then anything could seem like a threat.
Facing uncertainty and scarcity has its way of dropping your confidence below the ground.
Imagining the worst outcomes would take place can make you dispirited, and not wanting to overcome hurdles because in your head, the brain signals “that’s it. I’m done.”
But if you do that, you lose.
Being on the move means you need to deal with the scarcity of resources
It’s easy to whine and cry about whatever limitations the Universe has put you in, but that won’t get you anywhere.
We are not what’s happened to us. We are, what we try to make out of our current circumstances and resources.
Right now, yes, I am thrown with limited resources. But that does not determine how I would come out of this situation.
Reframe your attitude 🧠: think of the worst situation you’ve been in, and really dig deep into how you tackled it.. That would instil a spirit of “I’ve experienced something similar (or worst), this won’t kill me”.
Newsflash 💬: It is possible to choose to look at the bright side even when no one else is. Who does this? The optimists.
Another newsflash 📣: Positive thinking can be learned. Positive thinking is not just exclusive to the privileged or the wealthy, but accessible to everyone regardless of creed or color.
Two advantages of scarcity:
Prioritization with an intentional focus
Question—have you ever had this goal at the back of your head, but you told yourself you must have this, that and that, only then would you take action?
And when you do have all the above, that goal never happened? 🌚
“Your brain freezes when facing too large of a scope. It doesn’t know which path to go down.” — @JulianWhen you have so much at your disposal — time, money, and energy, you may end up wasting them on “procrastinating”. You explore every “avenue” and “tests” instead of truly taking action with focus.
Having scarce resources on the other hand, can make you focus.
True creativity and innovation
Constraints give us no option but to deal with whatever cards are on the table and solve problems.
History has a long list of tales on how great innovations were born out of times of scarcity (aka the Recession). & there’s no need to look so far back, just think of the major shift in your everyday life because of the Pandemic.
Rewind ⏮ back to your best problem-solving moments…
What made them so great (in your eyes, or others)? Was it rushing for the deadlines? Or was there, any sort of scarce element presented?
💬 At the end of the day, when you feel stuck in a rut because of the multiple options and opinions offered on the table, maybe it’s time to...
Operate in scarcity during times of plenty
And when you’re presented with limited resources, perhaps all you need is a little mind shift of “these are enough”, and work your way around them.
Current Obsession
Four Minute Books — whatever book summary you're looking for, they have it.
Serious Things
"Doing nothing is itself a surprisingly difficult skill" — Mark Manson in The Point is to Stop
“You have to offend those who don’t care about living life to the fullest,” Shreya Badonia
The Internet is a permission-less economy — can’t recall where I read this but exciting times, eh?
Recently finished
Matt Hogan’s Hard Stops vs. Soft Stops — a different “scarcity” hack to keep track of your goals and batch your time
Elsewhere
Never too late to inculcate discipline back in your life. Now that I think of it, discipline is my mantra for 2022.
Occasionally I do these quizzes on @thefarinsights IG Story so uhm let’s be friends on IG! 🥶 or Facebook
So…. I made a reel? Hehe 🎞
From Kuantan City
I didn’t know why my heart kept telling me to come here, to a home I’m unfamiliar with. But now I know why, it is to deal with decades-old baggage that will hunt me down in the future if I don’t face it heads on right now.
Let me know your thoughts!
…on what do you think of this week’s letter (or just about anything) by replying to this mail, tweet me or DM me at @farihahfuaad. Your responses help me improve greatly. 💜
When you are so obsessed with a lack of something — usually time or money — that you can't seem to focus on anything else, no matter how hard you try.