Book: Gap and the Gain

The GAP and The GAIN

Core Concept: The book centers around two mindsets: "The GAP" and "The GAIN." The GAP is a toxic mindset where individuals constantly measure themselves against an ideal or future aspiration, leading to dissatisfaction and hindering happiness. The GAIN, conversely, involves measuring progress backward, appreciating how far one has come, and fostering a sense of accomplishment.

Key Themes and Ideas:

• The GAP vs. The GAIN:The GAP is defined as measuring yourself against an ideal. "Measuring yourself against an ideal is an endless race to nowhere." It's a state of dissatisfaction where nothing is ever enough. "When you’re in the GAP, you see everything though your GAP-lens. Nothing is ever enough. Nothing ever will be enough. You can’t see the GAIN in yourself or others."
• The GAIN involves appreciating progress by measuring backward from your current position to where you started. "The only way to measure the distance you’ve traveled is by measuring from where you are back to the point where you started.” It fosters self-determination and uniqueness. "When you’re in the GAIN, you become unstoppable...Yet, the more you’re in the GAIN, the less you compare, compete, or even care what other people think about you."
• Happiness and Success:The book challenges the conventional pursuit of happiness. "It’s an enormous burden to be in the mindset that happiness is something you need to go out and get.” Instead, it posits that happiness is a starting point, expanded through recognizing GAINS. “You’ll make happiness your starting point, which you expand every day of your life.”
• Traditional goal-setting can be detrimental if it reinforces GAP thinking. The focus should be on progress and GAIN, rather than constantly striving for an elusive future state.
• Self-Determination and Internal Reference Points:A crucial aspect of escaping the GAP is becoming self-determined, which means defining your own success criteria and using an internal reference point instead of comparing yourself to others. "To be free, you must be self-determined, which is to say that you must be able to control your own destiny in your own interests.”
• The book stresses the importance of autonomy and ownership over one's life. "Being self-determined means that you’ve made yourself the reference point, rather than measuring yourself against something external."
• "Wants" vs. "Needs":Embrace "wants" rather than being attached to "needs." Wanting empowers you and creates abundance, while needing creates scarcity. "When you take the wanting approach to your future, it also means that you’re leaving behind the world of needing."
• It's possible to be committed to a "want" without needing it, enabling better performance and a flow state. "By no longer needing what you want, you are actually far more enabled to get it."
• Transformation of Experience:The book touches on the idea of reframing past experiences and transforming them into GAINS, regardless of how negative they may seem initially.
• The book argues that how we view the past is shaped by our present mindset. "We reinterpret or reconstruct our memory in light of what our mental set is in the present."
• Practical Strategies:Define Your Success Criteria: Spend time writing down your own definition of success. "Spend 20 to 30 minutes with no distractions writing down your answer to this question: “I know I’m being successful when . . .”
• Measure 3 Wins Daily: Focus on and record three wins every day to retrain your brain to see GAINS.
• Mental Subtraction: Imagine the absence of positive things in your life to appreciate them more.
• Implementation Intentions: Pre-plan responses to potential setbacks or triggers to avoid falling into the GAP.
• "Tiny Habits": Use small, easily achievable actions to create new habits that support GAIN-focused thinking.
• The Compound Effect: The GAP and GAIN mindsets have a compound effect over time. "Train Your Brain to See GAINS."

Illustrative Examples:

• Dan Jansen: The Olympic speed skater who finally won a gold medal when he shifted his mindset from needing the medal to appreciating the GAINS in his life.
• The British Rowing Team: They won Olympic gold by filtering every decision through the question, "Will it make the boat go faster?"

Target Audience:

• Entrepreneurs
• High Achievers
• Anyone seeking greater happiness, fulfillment, and a more positive mindset.

In essence, "The GAP and The GAIN" is a guide to shifting perspective, fostering gratitude, and creating a more fulfilling life by focusing on progress and personal growth rather than constantly chasing an unattainable ideal.

RYT Podcast is a passion product of Tyler Smith, an EOS Implementer (more at IssueSolving.com). All Podcasts are derivative works created by AI from publicly available sources. Copyright 2025 All Rights Reserved.