From deficits to assets.
Over the last couple of weeks, I attended an asset-based community development workshop. The workshop's emphasis was on shifting whole communities from focusing on their deficits to their assets. Going through the material and listening to the testimonies, I realised that this is one of our main focuses at True Potential as well. We actively advocate for people to shift their focus to what is (assets), away from what is not (deficits). I recently sat down with a group of senior high school learners and challenged them to shift their thinking to the internal and external assets in their lives to make progress with their academics. It was amazing to see the lights come on in their eyes as they realised that they are not subject to lack or deficits, but that they do have assets to take steps forward. In this blog post, we will explore ideas on how to cultivate a mindset of thinking from what assets are available to you to move forward.
What is an asset-based mindset?
An asset-based mindset, simply put, is using what you have and what is available to you instead of focusing on what you do not have. An asset-based mindset turns your strengths, relationships, background, current surroundings, etc. into assets that can be used to move forward in life.
Some believe that our negative bias (focusing on what we don’t have) comes from our survival instinct. If we focus on the fact that we don’t have food we are more motivated to go and get food, i.e. survival. While survival may have a role to play, I also consider a Biblical perspective to say that within the fallen world that we live in, the very mindset of not enough is what drove Eve to doubt God and eat from the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The interesting thing about Eve was that she had everything she could ever want. The wrong mindset drove her into choosing to give up what she had. From these two perspectives on our negative bias, we first have to take responsibility for our mindset and then intentionally choose to change our mindset to what God has prepared for us.
". . .the very mindset of not enough is what drove Eve to doubt God and eat from the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil."
How to cultivate an asset-based mindset:
Practice seeing assets:
From a Christian point of view, God has given us everything in Christ that we need to live productive, fruitful lives. With that belief, there must be an asset we can draw on in every challenge we face. The reality, however, is similar to what happens when we look for our car keys. Even though we know it is here somewhere, haste and disorganization create an environment where we don’t see them. To overcome this in the context of assets we want to practice acknowledging the assets in our lives. By acknowledging assets in our lives, we train our minds to focus on what is available to us to move forward. The key is to practice this. Have a look at the Coach U exercise below to find out how.
Commit to growth:
Another way to cultivate an asset-based mindset is to commit to growth rather than submit to being fixed. By submitting to being fixed we resign to the perspective that the status quo is the only perspective. By committing to growth, we acknowledge that we are constantly changing and learning. This commitment will make you curious and hungry to discover new perspectives about what assets are available instead of what is not available.
Conclusion:
God’s desire for us is to live productive, fruitful lives not submitting to lack but living from what He has given us. In Ephesians 2:10 we see that we are God’s handy work in Christ and that He has prepared good works for us to walk in. Because God has given us everything we need to walk in the good works he prepared for us, our part is discovering the assets in our lives that will help us fulfill that good work.
Coach U:
Try this exercise, divide your life into categories, skills, relationships, physical, environmental, etc. Then, underneath each category, try to write down at least five assets that are currently available to you. The key is to verbally acknowledge the assets you write down, for example, “I have friends in my life who love and support me.”
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© 2023 Ivan Venter, All Rights Reserved.
Photo credit: Roman Kraft @ Unsplash
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