The Hidden Prison of Scarcity, and How to Walk Free into Abundance
A Conversation with Julie Cairns, Creator of The Abundance Code
When it comes to wealth, most of us are taught to believe that “more is better” and that abundance is something we have to hustle for, prove ourselves worthy of, or manifest by ticking off a checklist of behaviours and mindsets.
But what if abundance isn’t a thing to be gained…
What if it’s something to be remembered?
I sat down with my dear friend and Wealth Builder Club guest expert, Julie Cairns.
Julie used to run one of the biggest financial trading education businesses in Australia, is the author of The Abundance Code, and the creator of the documentary by the same name.
Her work blends decades of financial experience with powerful insight into the beliefs and conditioning that keep us trapped in scarcity and how to gently dismantle them so we can receive the fullness of our lives.
💛 You can watch the full conversation here:
🎥 👉 The Hidden Prison of Scarcity - with Julie Cairns
Scarcity Isn’t About Stuff, It’s a Paradigm
Julie opened our conversation with a simple drawing she made after writing her book. It shows two very different “forests”, scarcity and abundance, that reflect two completely different ways of being.
Most of us have grown up in the scarcity forest:
- Hustling for worth
- Competing for resources
- Gripping tightly to “what we’ve got”
- Comparing, proving, pleasing
At the heart of this paradigm is the belief that there is not enough. And even deeper than that...
The belief that we are not enough.
But in the abundance forest, everything changes:
- There is more than enough to go around
- It’s safe to share, rest, invest, and receive
- Success doesn’t require burnout
- Generosity and collaboration flow naturally
Abundance isn’t about having more, it’s about being more present to what’s already here.
Abundance is not something we go and get. It’s who we already are.
“We Are Abundance.”
And this isn’t just woo or wishful thinking.
This shift changes everything.
When we stop trying to earn, prove, or manifest our enoughness, we start creating from a very different place.
From that core of enoughness, we make wiser money decisions.
We create with clarity.
We invest with intention.
We stop chasing and start choosing.
That’s when real wealth and real freedom begin to flow.
The Invisible Bars that Hold Us Back
So what keeps us trapped in the scarcity forest?
Julie calls them belief bars, and they’re often so deeply embedded that we don’t even realise they’re there.
After working with thousands of clients in the finance and trading world, Julie identified 7 money myths that keep most people stuck in scarcity.
Here are just a few:
- “There’s not enough to go around.”
- “More money, more problems”
- “If I become wealthy, I’ll lose my relationships.”
- “If I slow down, I’ll fall behind.”
They might not be objectively true… but when we believe them, they become true for us.
How to Dismantle a Limiting Belief (Gently)
Julie shared a beautifully simple process for starting to loosen the grip of a limiting belief:
- Name the belief - e.g., “There’s not enough”
- Ask: Is this helping me or hurting me?
- Crack the belief’s “absoluteness” - find even one example where it’s not true
- Choose a slightly more helpful belief - even if it’s not perfect
- Practice. Loosen. Repeat.
This isn’t about replacing one rigid belief with another.
It’s about creating space between ourselves and the conditioning we’ve absorbed so that we can come home to the truth of who we already are.
Good News, Bad News? Who Knows?
In our conversation, Julie shared the ancient parable of the farmer whose “bad luck” turns into “good luck” again and again.
Each time the villagers say, “That’s terrible!” or “That’s wonderful!”
He simply replies:
“Good news, bad news… I don’t know.”
The willingness to not know, is the key that unlocks our inner prison.
Because when we stop trying to control, predict, and force life to follow a script, we become available to receive the abundance that’s already here.
And THAT is the kind of freedom worth leaning into.
Final Thought
“The door to your prison is already open.”
You don’t need to hustle harder.
You don’t need to fix yourself.
You don’t need to be someone else.
You are already enough.
And the more you remember that, the more life, joy, money, connection, and creativity you’ll receive in every form.
I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.
With big, juicy enough love,
Ann x
🎥 Watch the full conversation with Julie here:
👉 The Hidden Prison of Scarcity - with Julie Cairns
