No one has to lose for someone to win.

I just watched a video of a US citizen looking to renounce her citizenship because she has not lived in the US for more than a decade. She has other citizenships.

In the comments, some people are saying she should renounce it, and something along the lines of “Many other immigrants are waiting in line, looking to take her place.”

I can’t help but think:

What is this mindset?

Why must someone lose for someone else to win?

That’s not how it works. A US citizen renouncing her citizenship isn’t going to free up an immigration quota somewhere.

You can’t swap citizenships.

A legal immigrant has to forge their own path through a temporary or permanent residency process, and apply for citizenship years later in their own right.

Whether or not a US citizen renounces or keeps her citizenship is of no relevance.

I also can’t help but draw a parallel:

The same goes for money.

Everyone has to forge their own path.

For me, some of the ways I make money include web design, consulting, the stock market—but that does not deprive someone else’s capacity to make money in other ways that suit them.

Opportunities are endless.

Even in the case of business owners who compete with one another, the same principles apply if you look at things from an abundant mindset rather than a scarcity mindset.

Let’s explore this example.

Say, through a brilliant marketing strategy, Business Owner A ends up taking a portion of Business Owner B’s customers, at this point in time.

You might think, “Oh, Business Owner B is losing…”

But nobody is actually stopping Business Owner B from improving their own operations, from innovating new solutions to the point where Business Owner A becomes irrelevant to them.

Yet, both business owners are profitable and they now make money in their own, somewhat separate ways.

The only actual downfall that could have happened is if Business Owner B succumbs to the scarcity mindset and finalizes their own defeat by themselves, instead of tapping into an abundant mindset to spotlight any other opportunities.

No one has to lose for someone to win.

Losing and winning is relative, and everyone has to forge their own path.