The Gap vs The Gain
As high-achievers, we spend our whole lives looking forward.
To what’s next.
The next goal. The next revenue level. The next business size. The next achievement.
Now, I’m all for high-achievement. In fact, I’d love to see more high-achievers in our industry. Advancing and pushing things forward. Making our industry and the outcomes we create better and better. Having a greater and more positive impact on the lives of the people we set out to help.
But the problem with always looking forward - to what’s next, to what we haven’t achieved yet - is that it puts us in The Gap.
And if we’re constantly focused on The Gap, on what we haven’t done yet - it often causes us to feel pretty negative about ourselves, our business and the world around us.
Because no matter what we do or achieve - it’s never enough. There’s always more.
This causes us to push ourselves more and more, never resting, never taking a break, never celebrating what we’ve actually accomplished - because, well, there’s always more to do.
And the more we focus on The Gap, the more our body produces cortisol, the stress hormone, which pushes us into fight or flight and eventually leads to burnout (or worse).
Not good.
In his book, 10X Is Easier Than 2X, Dan Sullivan talks about a different approach - focusing on The Gain.
Whereby you intentionally shift your focus away from The Gap and towards The Gain. To what you have achieved. To what has gone right. To celebrating your wins (no matter how big or small).
Focusing on The Gain produces dopamine (the feel good hormone), lowers your stress levels and allows you to think more clearly and at a much higher and more strategic level.
Now I’m not for one second suggesting that you don’t focus on the future, or set big goals or build out a plan for how you’re going to get there.
That is fundamental to building a successful business.
It’s more about what you focus on along the way.
Do you choose to focus on The Gap and get stressed out about all the things you haven’t yet done? Or would you rather focus on The Gain and feel proud of yourself, what you’ve achieved and how far you’ve come.
I ran The Gain vs The Gap training for all of our Boardroom clients a month ago and it has been an absolute game changer for them.
Try it for yourself - focus on The Gain vs The Gap. Celebrate your wins. Get excited for what you’ve already achieved and allow this focus to build the momentum for your future.
To Your Success
Josh ‘The Gain’ Stone
PS: If you’re interested, here are 4 ways I can help you right now:
- Join the Leaders In Engineering community designed specifically for leaders and business owners
It’s our Facebook community where leaders and business owners are learning the strategies and leadership skills to step up and thrive right now – Click Here to join
- Download our FREE PDF guide – “How To Build A High Performing & Highly Profitable Engineering Team”
Learn the skills to get the most out of the people around you. Build a high performing team that generates incredible profits and allows you to have more fun and to spend more time with the people you love – Click Here
- Book in a Catch Up
This session is designed for you and I to touch base, to get to know each other a little better and to really look at where you are now, where you want to be and then we’ll make a plan together for how to get you there! – Click Here
- Work With Us
Join our training program designed to help you focus on the core areas of growing your team, your business and yourself in the process. Together we'll work on winning work, business development & client relationships. We'll look at strategies for team performance, project performance as well as your leadership skills to motivate and get the most from the people around you. We'll also focus on your growth as a leader, effective delegation to those around you and only focusing on the strategic activities that move the needle and make the biggest difference. - Just send me an email at [email protected] with the word “PROGRAM” and I’ll get you some more information.
